Jack hugged her as he was all but pounced on – whatever had made her nervous, it was clearly something very good. He took the card, looking over it curiously, but couldn’t keep from smiling. “Really? Oh, th-that’s great! I’ll have to meet with her as soon as possible.” He would have asked more about this new friend, but he wanted to hear the rest of Katelynn’s news.
She nodded happily as she felt a few bursts of warmth spring out to soothingly warm her chest, pleased with his reactions so far. In a way it was sort of embarrassing as well since she felt like a puppy who wanted to please her master. Blushing at the thought, she brushed some bangs out of her eyes. “I-I told her you were working on something else at the moment and she was pretty understanding about it. She wants a l-landscape painting but you guys can discuss that..since she’ll be your client.”
Helping to spread his name was a pleasure for her since painting was his passion and somehow she imagined his future filled with fancy parties where he would dress in expensive suits, drink wine, and talk about art with critics – but then again he might have already done that in New York.
“Now then..the next surprise..” she whispered as she moved from his arms to where she had hidden the large, rather thin, wrapped gift, taking it out from its hiding spot and holding it in front of herself. “H-Here..” A Leonardi da Vinci original of a woman with a rather secretive smile that appeared almost like the Mona Lisa but different and unique.
He was about to ask more, when she held out the gift. He took it, sat on one of the beanbags with the large, somewhat awkward object balanced on his knee and began delicately removing the paper – Jack of all people recognized a wrapped-up painting when he saw one, and he knew the need to be very careful in unwrapping it.
When he saw what was inside, he gasped.
“K-K-Katelynn …” For a moment, he just gaped. A da Vinci? An authentic one? The Renaissance painter was one of Jack’s heroes not only in terms of art, but when it came to creativity in general. His works were considered treasures. “H-how did you get this?” He hardly dared even touch it.
Jack Maple 