TWO MONTHS AGO
“Elaine, how is the search for small artists going? Have you found anyone yet?” Phoebe asked as she entered the office in her small black gown barely covering half of her tights
“The search is going well but can you just put on some skin hose at least? How will you be comfortable in that?” Elaine remarked shaking her head
“You are an artist and you are still this judgmental? Don’t you know that one of the beauty of arts is ability to express it freely and lovingly? I am a work of art so why are you restraining me from expressing myself freely and lovingly?” Phoebe countered
“You can as well go naked then since you want to display your body art badly” Elaine stated and resumed clicking on the arts in front of her while Phoebe looked at it with her until it got to a particular art.
“Stop! Stop!!” Phoebe screamed making Elaine jump
“Who painted this?” she asked bending over a little
“This was painted by someone we don’t know. There is nothing about the person except that they goes by the name umbra” Elaine replied
“Umbra? Makes sense” Phoebe remarked with a satisfied tone
“What do you mean by that?” Elaine asked turning to her
“Search up the name for me, I want to see their other works” Phoebe instructed and Elaine searched him out within seconds.
They went through his account for some minutes and Phoebe was very impressed with his work. Although he haven’t posted many works, the few he had were very impressive to her.
“I can see why the person is named Umbra” Phoebe muttered
“Why?”
“If you look carefully, there is always a shadow over the painting. It is very light but evident. This means that the person is trying to hide a bright light behind a darkness that in turn casts a shadow” Phoebe explained and Lawrence came in at that moment
“Good morning” he shouted with continuous snapping of his fingers as he danced to the music playing on his earphones
“Good morning sir” they both greeted and he smiled at them before walking to his office
“I think we might have found the gem you are looking for” Phoebe said to him and he stopped immediately
“You found one? Let me see, I hope it is a wonderful gem this time” he said walking over to the computer where Phoebe showed him the works she was talking about
“Yesssssssss this is it! This is what I have been talking about. This is the aura I have been picturing. Just like you have said, this is the gem” he almost screamed and Phoebe smiled in satisfaction
“What should we do with the artist?” Elaine asked looking at him
“What do you mean what? You should get in talking with them immediately! The works of this artist must be featured in this exhibition and of course as the highlight” He stated with all seriousness
“But he doesn’t have anything except for his name, how will I contact him?” Elaine complained
“That’s up to you Miss Elaine” he shrugged and went to his office
“Seems like you will be busy for the next few days” Phoebe muttered to her and patted her back before going to her own seat.
She spent all day asking around in the artists’ communities if anyone knows the identity behind Umbra but no one seems to know the artist. For ten days, she kept searching frantically, sending messages to his inbox and comment section on the app but she didn’t get any response.
She was about to give up after trying for the last time on the fifteenth day when a response suddenly came through from him.
“Oh my God! He responded!” she screamed and Phoebe was taken aback at the suddenness
“He did? What did he say?” Phoebe asked running over to check his reply
“I am sorry for not replying sooner, I have been extremely busy but I will think about your offer and get back to you since Lawrence Manon have been an artist I admired for a long time so I will consider this offer as a honor” Umbra replied
“I hope he gets back soon and with a positive reply at that, it seems we will have a peaceful exhibition this time around” Phoebe sighed and went back to her seat.
****
Tom finished showering that night when he picked up his phone and logged into his account that he couldn’t visit for the past fifteen days due to hectic works at the office. He saw the messages and comments of the offer and wanted to accept right away but he stopped for a while to think over it once again.
He sent a reply that he would think about it and then placed a condition that he would only work with them if he will not be revealing himself but they declined and said the main point of the exhibition is to broadcast both the art and the entity behind it.
He was torn between turning down a rare opportunity from his favorite artist that he had been looking up to for decades and accepting the offer which means him revealing his face. He couldn’t arrive at a conclusion about how to go about it until the instant Amber begged desperately for her job in front of him.
“I will do anything you want” she pleaded with desperation in her eyes and the thought of making her Umbra in his stead dropped in his head.
He decided to reveal her as Umbra for the exhibition and display his art which was his only true dream. He didn’t want to cause any frenzy to the company so he chose to stay anonymous but as fate would have it, his works spoke for itself.
“I know you must have been wondering why we signed a contract, what exactly I want from you and how long this will last. I will iron out all everything right now and you listening to me talk means that there is no turning back no matter what because you have become my own” he stated clearly
“From now henceforth, you will be revealed as the artist UMBRA” he revealed and she was confused about what he was saying.
After painting her face to convince her that he was indeed the one, he proceeded to negotiate about their contract terms and what she would have to do.
“You will only have to come out as Umbra and take on the project. It is very simple because you will not be required to draw anything new. The already done works will be what will be displayed at the exhibition so you just need to show up at the exhibition and do the needful which is answering questions and briefing them about the inspiration behind the arts” he explained to her and she went mute for several seconds.
“Answering questions and briefing them? I don’t know anything about art itself and also I don’t know what your works represent so how can I speak on your behalf? Also what if I am asked a question that I cannot answer?” she asked in fear
“That is why you will have to study on art since the exhibition is three months away and also we will be discussing everything about me when we meet here. The questions that will be asked during the exhibition will also be sent to me for revision and practice so you don’t have to worry about that” he narrated and she sighed
“This seems like an easy task that is not easy, I don’t think I can do this. It is wrong to deceive people! On no account should you do that! Why don’t you want to go public? It will be great for you and your company so why are you hiding the fact that you are the one behind the works? This is me deceiving myself, my family, your fans and the one holding the exhibition in general so I don’t think it is right” she said standing up to leave
“Well we have no choice then, I guess our contracts end here and you know what that means” he said standing up too and she went quiet for a while.
Even if it meant ending her job, she felt it was better than deceiving people because it would surely come back to bite her sooner or later so she didn’t let the threat faze her but she also had many things to take care of so she couldn’t just throw away her job right at that instant.
“Can you give me some time to think about it then?” she asked and he nodded
“Sure! You have a week to do that” he said and she sighed before leaving the house since she had somewhere to go.
As she was going to Eddy’s house to celebrate his birthday with him, she couldn’t stop thinking about the offer and she was tempted to tell Eddy about it and ask for his opinion but seeing the situation on ground, Tom doesn’t want anyone to know about it. She was murmuring to herself about what would be the best option when someone ran past her on the staircase and she paused for a while but since the face was covered with a cap and he doesn’t look familiar, she just went on her way to Eddy’s room.