Novel Square
Taking Him on a Tour
Taking Him on a Tour
I turned to smile at Hayden and was surprised to see him watching me. Quickly, I turned away,
suddenly feeling very conscious of his gaze.
“Do you want to hold her?” Hayden asked.
“Sure…I’ll try…” I said as I tried to take the cub into my arms from Hayden.
Carefully, Hayden transferred the cub that he was holding into my arms. The cub weighed more than I
initially thought but her fur was so soft that I didn’t mind bearing the weight at all. Fortunately, she
seemed well behaved and didn’t wriggle around as I held her. Looking down at her in my arms, I was
reminded of how precious life is. Her clear eyes as she stared up at me was mesmerizingly beautiful.
“Malissa seems to like it here. You should bring her here again,” Daniella suggested to Hayden brightly.
“Yea…” Hayden replied softly.
I doubt that I would get to come here again unless we some how make it back here in the remaining
few days that we have left together. Of course, neither of us bothered to explain that to Daniella. It was
just a thought that crossed my mind and remained unspoken.
…
After a very simple but entertaining lunch at the cafeteria with Daniella, we left the tiger preservatory to
head to our next destination. It was already mid afternoon when we got into Hayden’s car. As always, I
had no idea where he was going to take me. Based off my previous experience, I knew that asking
wasn’t going to lead me to any answers.
I sat quietly as I enjoyed the peace of the drive and the scenery that flew by outside of the car’s
window. We were driving back into the city and soon enough we were smack in the city center. To my
surprise, our destination was a very well-known art exhibition hall. It was one of the most famous and
definitely one of the biggest in the country.
Every art student or anyone interested in art must have visited this place at least once in their lives. Of
course, that also applies to me. I’ve been here three or four times now over the course of my time at
university. Apart from the famous artwork that were permanently on display, the place had many halls
for special rotating exhibitions. Since my life was disturbed by the mafia, I haven’t had the heart to
follow up on any art news and had no idea whose collection or what they were showcasing now as their
special exhibition.
“Are you here to see the special exhibition?” I asked Hayden as entered.
“I’m here to walk around and kill time,” Hayden responded a little too frankly.
Ok. I never really expected him to have a love for art or anything but putting it that way was a little
harsh. There are many interesting things to see and do here even if you’re not totally into art.
“Well, in that case, what about I give you a little tour? Maybe…it’ll be a more interesting way to ‘kill
time’?” I suggested.
“Sure. Do whatever you want,” Hayden replied in agreement.
I wasn’t sure why I proactively suggested that. I guess, I just didn’t want him to look so bored and
disinterested when he’s at a place that I thought was very inspiring. Since I’ve been here many times
before and as an art student, I knew many of the famous pieces and their story, I guess I would make a
decent guide.
“Do you have to meet someone or go somewhere after? At what time?” I asked.
“I’ll let you know when it’s time,” Hayden replied softly.
“Ok, then…” I said before leading him into one of the main exhibition halls. This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.
I showed Hayden around as I talked animatedly about the famous works of art and also highlighted the
ones that I personally like. Hayden seemed interested enough. At least, he was willing to listen to what
I had to say and followed me around.
“You really like art, huh?” Hayden spoke up suddenly while I was showing him a very large painting.
“Of course. I even chose to major in it even though I knew that it would be hard to make a living out of
it,” I said before laughing softly at my own decision.
“Will you join the exhibition with your friends?” Hayden asked as he continued to admire the painting.
Oh…I guess he still remembers the exhibition that Jenny invited me to join. Come to think of it, I
haven’t given her any definite answer. That was the case because I haven’t really made up my mind
about it. I was leaning towards rejecting it though.
“Do you think that I should join the exhibition?” I asked as I glanced over at Hayden
“I think you should,” he replied, sounding very certain.
I was about to ask him why he thought so when I realized that that wasn’t what I wanted to know or
what I really wanted to ask. What I really wanted to know was…
“Do you want me to…join the exhibition?” I asked, rephrasing my question to better reflect what I
wanted to know.
“Of course,” Hayden said without hesitation as he turned to face me. The smile he showed me took my
breath away and I felt heat rise to my cheeks.
“I see…I’ll think about it,” I quickly mumbled my reply as I turned to look the other way.
Hayden didn’t say anything else, and I was struggling to find a topic to discuss with him to break this
suddenly awkward atmosphere between us. That was when a thin man dressed in a black suit came
walking up to us.
“Excuse me, Mr. Torex,” the man said as he came close to Hayden.
With a deep bow, the man extended what seemed to be a hardcover book to Hayden. Hayden reached
out for it and thanked the man. Without another word, the man bowed once more and turned on his
heels before walking back the way that he had came from. I cocked my head to the side in wonder at
what had just happened. Did Hayden order a book to be delivered? I could tell from the image on the
cover that it was a book regarding artworks.
--To be continued…