THE EXHIBITION

**Three months later**

After three months of working hard on various fronts and trying to get my new life under control, the day

of the exhibition finally arrived. Throughout the past three months I’ve been keeping myself busy by

juggling my parttime teaching job, my university project, prepping for the art exhibition and spending

time visiting my grandmother in the hospital.

I woke up extra early today to ensure that I had enough time to do any last-minute preparation for the

exhibition. After all the hard work that I put in, I was sure that I did my best and now all I had to do was

pray for the best. I got up from bed, showered and put on a nice burgundy dress that I had saved up to

purchase so that I could wear it to the exhibition. It wasn’t rare for artists to get some commission or

land jobs at their own exhibition, so I had to dress up for that.

I put on my dress and applied some light make up before checking my reflection in the mirror. Guess

this will do for the day. Glancing a little to the side of my dressing table, my eyes focused on the photos

that I took together with Hayden that day that we went to the amusement park together. We looked so

happy together and it made my heart ache a little at the memory. It all seemed like a lifetime ago.

I still miss you…

By this time, I had already come to terms with the fact that I probably won’t ever see Hayden again.

He’s no longer a part of my life and I wasn’t a part of his either. Just like how we lived in different worlds

before we met, we have now returned to our own worlds. Never will our paths ever cross again.

I no longer cried my eyes out late at night whenever I look at the photos that we took together at the

amusement part that day. Everything about him, the times that we spent together and the memories

that we created together had all become precious memories in my mind that I would treasure. I look

back at them with a smile while I felt thankful that once I got to share a part of my life with him, no

matter how short our time together was.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I grabbed my bag and hurried to the door. I put in the effort to wake up

early, so I can’t be late. Now isn’t the time to daydream. After arriving super early at the exhibition,

walked around with Jenny checking that everything was in place.

“I think everything is ok. Sorry, Jenny, I need to go now. I need to pick my grandmother up from the

hospital,” I said, sounding apologetic.

“So, the doctors allowed her to come?” Jenny asked in surprise.

“Yes. They finally did. It’s amazing, at first, I couldn’t believe it. However, she can’t be out for long, so I

was thinking of bringing her here before the exhibition starts,” I explained quickly.

“Wow. Sounds like a plan. You go ahead. I’ll do another round just to be safe,” Jenny said before

smiling encouragingly at me.

“Thanks, Jenny,” I said before smiling at her.

…

A week before this I told my grandmother about the exhibition again and she got very stubborn about

wanting to come and see it in person. Although I told her that I could take photos to show her later or

that we could do a video call while I was there, she had turned down all the options that I suggested.

She was adamant about coming to see it in person.

“It’s like your graduation project. How can I miss it?” she said. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

“It’s not entirely up to me, you know? We need permission from the doctor,” I reminded her.

“Then let’s get permission,” she said like it was no big deal.

“We can try…” I said followed by a sigh.

“I’ll convince them. I feel so fit. There’s no reason for them to keep me from going,” my grandmother

said firmly.

“If you say so…” I replied.

To my surprise, somehow, my grandmother managed to convince her doctor to let her go out for a short

while on the day of my exhibition. However, I wasn’t allowed to bring her out without a nurse, and she

had to be in her wheelchair the whole time. Those two conditions did not hold my grandmother back

and now here she is with me and the nurse at the exhibition hall.

“Wow! This place is huge. Congratulations, Lisa, you’re like an established artist now,” my grandmother

said as her eyes took in the large hall.

“Not really…but thanks, grandma,” I replied, feeling a little shy at her compliment.

I showed her around as the nurse slowly pushed her wheelchair along. The theme of my exhibition was

‘precious memories’ and it combined various paintings in both water and oil colors that reflected

precious memories from various phases of my life. Of course, the key painting that I wanted to show

my grandmother is the painting of her that I had finally completed for both my university project before

and had added more finishing touches to make it exhibition ready.

“This is the star of this whole exhibition,” I proudly declared as I waved my warms to bring her attention

to the painting that I painted of her.

“Wow. It’s changed from the last time that I saw it. It looks…prettier…brighter? I’m not sure but it

definitely looks much better than before,” my grandmother said as her eyes sparkled.

I watched her smiling face as she stared up at the painting displayed on the white wall. She was right,

the painting was brighter now because of some new colors that I added to it to make her standout more

from the background.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“I love it, Malissa. You’re so talented. I’m so happy that I came to see your exhibition. I’m so proud of

you…” my grandmother said before her voiced cracked a little and she started to sob silently.

--To be continued…