Vivienne

Anger rose from the pit of Denise’s stomach when she heard the apparent interest in her model.  Fighting the urge to strangle her friend, Denise winked and flashed her sharp smile. “A tiny secret.  I can’t really tell you, at least not right now.”  Denise paused and looped her arm with her friend's arm, “Perhaps one day, but for now..let’s just call it love.”

“Love.” Bouncing lightly, Tatum followed a step behind Denise as they made their way to the big art studio. “Speaking of love, can I grab a ride with you back to well…the place.”  Tatum lowered her voice, “...after we are done for the evening?  We have the room all night.”  She giggled and blushed.

Releasing her friend's arm and still mildly angry, Denise shook her head none-the-less. “I shouldn’t aid in your clandestine affair with your guy, but I am in no position to judge.”  She shrugged and added, “I go that way home anyway.”

“You’re the best.”  Tatum sat down in front of her easel and began eating the sandwich Denise gave her.

Desperate need to cover up what she was feeling, Denise hid behind her own painting she’d been working on all week.  The four sections were nearly complete, each of them with a variation of her model's blue eyes within them.  While Denise waited for her model to resume her place on the sofa, she looked over her week of work.  Upper left contained just the set of aqua-glass eyes, with a faint outline of the woman perfectly shadowed.  Moving to the upper right side, Denise had made a rendition of her model laying on the sofa with flowers painted on her skin to match the events of Monday night.  Folding her arms, Denise peered down to the lower left quadrant and smiled.  Before her the perfect rendition of her model lay on the sofa-chair, hourglass and flawless as though the small picture could come to life and walk off the canvas.  

Denise looked away from the last frame that was currently empty, “Tatum.”  She whispered.

“Mm?” Tatum placed her hand over her lips politely while speaking through a small bit of food in her mouth. “What’s up?”

Unpacking her supplies for the evening, Denise laid out her various brushes and pencils before uncapping the ink and paint close to her. “I have a slight detour before I get you to Henry.  It shouldn’t take too long.  Maybe I can come get you from the diner?”

“Oh!”  The young blonde swallowed the remains of the sandwich quickly. “If I go there, then I don’t need the ride.  I can call Henry and he can meet me there.”

Looking at Tatum though she’d lost her mind, Denise casually mentioned the obvious. “Doesn’t that whole thing defeat the secret in the first place?  I mean the whole town will see you driving off with him.”

“I think I can pull it off.”  Tatum whispered in a hush tone and then tapped on her lip in thought. “Can you swing by after your detour?  See if I need that ride?”

Professor Baker proudly strode into the studio just before Denise answered her friend.  Giving Tatum a little wink, Denise nodded and mouthed, “Yes.”

“Ladies.”  The older gentleman addressed his students. “Tonight is the last night for our lovely model.  If we could, let’s give her a nice and quiet clap as a thank you for her divine cooperation over the last five days.”

More graceful than a swan, Denise’s model appeared on the little platform and bowed at her knees and tilted her head in respect to the class.  Denise felt her model’s soul-capturing blue eyes penetrate her chest and grip her heart like they’d done all week. “Best part of the night.”  Denise whispered as her blood boiled in her body.

Giggling lightly, Tatum saw the blood rush into Denise’s cheeks. “That is no secret.”  Wiggling her finger playfully at Denise, Tatum leaned closer to her friend. “Please tell me your detour is up there.”  

“What are you suggesting..”  Denise softly mewed and quickly closed her legs in the effort to slow the pressure building in her panties.

Pressing her two index fingers together and then tapping as she twisted her wrists, Tatum nodded. “Nothing more than I have witnessed from you all week.  She takes your breath away.”  She winked and put her finger over her lips. “You’re safe with me.”

When her model dropped her robe for the final time and flowed like water back to her lounger, Denise stopped breathing until she swooned and was caught by Tatum just before she passed out.  Sputtering and catching her breath, Denise sucked in air desperately as the rest of the room looked at her. “So..sorry, Professor.  I got dizzy for a moment.”

Professor Baker crossed his arms, “Are you sure Miss Crow?  I can escort you to the nurse if you want me too.”  

“No, I am fine.”  Denise reassured the older man.

 Looking up at the model, Professor Baker smiled. “Lady Ra..”  He stopped himself. “Alas, I am under strict confidence to not mention your name.  My apologies.”  He watched as the model blinked her lustrous cobalt eyes slowly in acceptance. “We just wanted to thank you for your…time…this week.”  He started to softly clap, followed by the rest of the students.

Clapping for a few more seconds, Denise started to rub her hands together and pondered what to put in the final section of her creation. “Hmmm…something simply magical, I think.”  Denise quietly murmured and looked up at her model once more.

Captivated.  Twin blue eyes were locked onto Denise’s curious hazel ones and the rest of the world melted away for the young artist.  Secretly Denise had hoped that Marion would do something that was just for the two of them and without saying a word, her model had done exactly what Denise desired. “You sly little minx.”  Denise purred quietly as she scratched at her palm for a second then grabbed a skinny paintbrush and mixed a deep red on her palate.  “My dear..Marion..”  Denise softly admired before closing her eyes and letting herself go with the image in her head.

Thin lines of blood seemed to come up from the back of the canvas first forming a set of macabre eyelashes before rolling down to shape an eye.  Completing the look, the blood shaped itself into a semi-circle and then drew another set of smaller crimson spikes. “Perfect, No..wait…”  Denise traced out a small tear of black on the right side of the bloody streams. “There.”

Dropping her paintbrush, Denise turned to Tatum. “I know it is a little abstract, but I like it.  What do you think?”

“I don’t get it.”  Tatum looked at the long blood colored lines. “It looks like a bloody eye.”

Frowning, Denise turned to her friend. “Yes, it is a bloody eye.  We were told to look past the model.  See beyond the flesh, right?”

“Denise, that is no flesh.  The other things you have there, all seem to fit fine.”  Tatum shrugged, “You might have to explain it in detail to Professor Baker.  I don’t get it at all.”  Tatum smiled, “It is you though.  I said on Monday that you have a fascination with dark themes.”  Tatum leaned on her hand. “Though, now that I look at it, the black tear makes sense.”  She looked over the model once more and shook her head. “How is anyone that beautiful?”  Taking a deep breath, Tatum smiled. “I get it now, I had to ponder a bit.”  

Cleaning off her one brush, Denise nibbled on her lip and smiled. “You do?  Tell me what you get from it before I tell you what I was thinking.”

“Ah, okay.”  Tatum laughed and swished her own egg-white brush on her painting. “Her eyes are like a pool of desire.”  She pointed the end of the brush at the model. “If you aren’t careful you can stare at them all night.”  Tatum picked up another brush loaded with blue. “You took her most striking feature and are telling a tale of caution.”  She pointed to the black tear. “We both know that black has so many meanings.  I think it’s part of the cautionary warning, that could lead to..death.”

Impressed with the way her friend thought, Denise shook her head. “You got half of it.”  Denise picked up a piece of charcoal and started to add depth to the image. “It’s a duality.  Red gives us warning, sure.  Red lights mean stop or emergency.  Red also is the gift of passion.”  Denise layered the red ringed iris so that its shadows had a subtle heart shape behind it. “I guess I could call the section Fire and Desire.”

Tatum raised both of her eyebrows and her eyes went wide, “Denise.  That is beautiful.”  She pointed to the professor. “Don’t put the name on it, that ruins the effect.”  She pointed at the bloody looking canvas. “Finish your depth and maybe put some highlights on the red, but my word Denise…”  Tatum clapped silently, “You are such an amazing artist.  Promise me you will never stop.”

Scribbling furiously, Denise laughed. “Not a chance, I love doing this.”

Diligently working on the finer details of her painting, Denise lost track of time and before she realized it Professor Baker had called for all the ladies to place their art in the storage box he’d brought into the room.

Inspecting her painting once more, Denise lightly blew the traces of leftover charcoal from the white background before sitting back and nodding to herself. “I like it.”  When her model stood up and covered herself with her robe for the final time, Denise looked up and waved while the others in the room clapped.