Amber was picked up from the hotel by the car Lawrence sent over when she finished dressing up for the event. Her heart was almost jumping out of her mouth as she stepped a foot into the exhibition venue with her black bow mules heels and her teal wrap dress to match. The reporters rushed to worship her gracious entrance with series of camera flashes as Lawrence introduced her.
“I had released the names of every other artists and left one hidden purposely because they needed time to reveal themselves to the public. I don’t know if you are familiar with the artist with the awesome stroke on the internet but ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to reveal to you the face of Artist Umbra” Lawrence introduced and the camera flashed nonstop as she stood up and walked to his side for identification.
Her mother was busy watching the news at the hospital when she suddenly saw Amber on the television being revealed as an Artist. She was confused about all that was going on because she had never seen her holding a painting brush not to talk of painting something worth exhibiting.
“Did she pick it up as a side interest?” she murmured to herself in confusion but threw the expression out of the window immediately the other patients in her ward swarmed to her side to congratulate for having a successful daughter like Amber.
She was grinning through the compliments because she was not sure on how to take the sudden fame but what would she do? She will just patiently wait for her to come back and clear the atmosphere.
Emily was also peeling apples at Jessica’s place when Amber came up on TV and the knife parted ways with her fingers in shock. She could not believe that Amber was the artist Umbra she would always gosh about to her.
“What is going on here?” she muttered with wrinkles of shock all over her forehead. Jessica who rushed out at the sound of the fallen knife asked what she meant until she saw Amber waving happily on the screen. “Is that not your roommate? What is she doing there?” she questioned and Emily could only shrug. “She is the one but I am here shocked at this revelation” she replied, trying hard not to stutter.
The other employees at work too also were shocked at the revelation that was popping up both on the TV and on the internet. Everyone was caught in the frenzy except Tom, of course, it was their plan after all.
She walked through the hall’s passage as she sighted various works made by other artists, she was able to recognize almost eighty percent of the artworks, thanks to the insane research and reading she did on them and their works so it was no problem for her blending in.
The event started and Phoebe mounted the stage as the curator to introduce each artist’s work to everyone present and the press. She invited them on stage to interview them according to the scripts that has been given to them and they all answered eloquently.
She was finally invited on the stage for her own question and answer session too and her heart began to race again. She managed to overcome the fear and sat quietly on the chair as Phoebe turned to her to start the interview.
“It seems you are the highlight of the show tonight, do you want to tell us how you feel?” Phoebe asked and she released a shy smile before sweeping her hair to the back of her ear. “I was surprised at the grand welcome thrown at me suddenly but it also made me realize the thrill of people waiting for me to unveil my face” she answered perfectly and Phoebe proceeded with other questions.
“You were always strict with your identity and didn’t reveal yourself to the world until you were reached out to by our team, is there a special reason why you decided to honor our invitation that you had turned down in the first place?” Phoebe questioned and she stroked her fingers for some seconds before replying, “I am someone who doesn’t like attention that much, I just want to find happiness in what I do without people awing at me or trying to rush my peace but then I realized that there was nothing I could protect by laying low. I had thought I could leave everything behind and just live for the people I love but then it occurred to me that my true self might disappear with time if I don’t take action now”.
The answer she gave made everyone wowed at its brilliancy. She although didn’t mention it directly that being in the spotlight would aid her life and abilities, she managed to pass an inoffensive message across that she has so many things to protect and she can only do that with the help of her fame.
“That is impressive” Phoebe remarked before asking another question, “What is the inspiration behind your strokes? Is there a correlation between the strokes and your name?”.
“There is no lie that the name UMBRA sprang up from the stroke of my brushes but it was a decision to honor a friend I had lost several years back. The friend was the one that gave me the name when they saw the pattern of my strokes because I enjoy painting within a shadow aura” she responded and Lawrence’s eyes twitched but he quickly composed himself.
Several other questions were asked which she gave answers to brilliantly and smoothly before the interview session was wrapped up and the display of artworks began. The auctions also began and all her artworks were sold out before any other artists’ artwork, at a very high price at that.
Elaine was wowed about her speech, elegance and beauty as she kept staring at her all day. She wasn’t opportune to meet her beforehand and ever since she saw her, she couldn’t keep her eyes off her throughout the event.
The event finally wrapped up as a success and she was invited to a dinner party with the other artists so they could create friendships and also get to help each other where needs be. She was glad to meet awesome minds and didn’t fail to tap tips from them on how to get more insight into the art industry so she doesn’t mix anything up.
Phoebe dropped her at the hotel after the dinner and reminded her of the interview she has the following morning so she washed up straight up and went to bed without wasting time so she couldn’t check the outcome of the event happening back at the company.
****
After seeing the state of the highlight dress, Tom knew there was no way out and declared that it would be announced that the highlight section will be scraped off. Anger was boiling at a side of his body while pain was taking over the other, the feeling of disappointment and failure was overwhelming for him, so much that he couldn’t even speak up for quite some minutes.
He scratched his hair hard in frustration and closed his eyes in defeat, engulfed in despair. He mounted the stage with heavy feet and grabbed the microphone, “Dear beloved people, we had shown the snippet of tonight’s highlight dress but we are sad to announce that we will not be revealing it today because we discovered that we need to reserve it for another greater event where it will be revealed in its full glory”.
One of the reporters rushed up to throw a question at him as soon as he made the announcement, “Is the designer aware of this change of plan? Why are you changing the plan at the die minute?”. He was about to give a response when Dave Lin cut in and stood up in anger, “I wasn’t informed about this, and I am not in support of this. I want to see the highlight dress right now except you have something to hide” Dave demanded and everyone shifted their attention to it.
Joseph rose to his feet amidst the tense atmosphere and clapped to garner attention, “There is nothing to hide from you, Mr. Dave Lin. We will show you the dress just like you have requested” he stated before turning to face Tom who was glaring at him for agreeing to what he didn’t send him to agree to.
“CEO Tom, you should clear this air of doubt and bring the dress out to assure our Dave Lin that Shellhouse Mall has nothing to hide. I think that is the fastest way out of this ruckus” he added and Tom was about to counter him when the voice of Chairman Holland boomed through, “Just show them the dress to prevent further damages”
He had no choice at that point and closed his eyes before signaling to the employees to bring out the ruined cloth. The employee unveiled the mannequin that was brought in and everyone gasped at the sight of the ruined cloth.
“What the hell is going on here?” Dave shouted in shock as his eyes landed on his damaged work. The reporters swarmed the area as they tried to get the shots of the cloth from different angles
Before Tom could even get the chance to explain himself, Dave marched forward to the stage and turned to everyone, “I want a full compensation for this and I will be cancelling my contract with Shellhouse over this issue” he declared and murmurs took over the arena making Tom’s shoulders drop in defeat.