Can You Cope With Such Fire?

A woman in the picture was sitting in a beautiful gazebo which was surrounded by flowers. Her face was calm and thoughtful; her head was leaning against wooden bars. The bushes of roses located in the sides of the gazebo perfectly matched the color of the dress that she was wearing. Soft pink.

Her body seemed relaxed as if she has just finished her dance which she had been performing for a long time. Her eyes did not depict any emotions but something would make you want to gaze into their depths, without stop. Probably such a feeling occurred in every spectator who had observed the Mona Lisa painting in reality at least once.

Bright red sun over her head added the aura of mystery and enigma, having the spectator emerged into the world portrayed on the canvass.

"Amelia."

Elena didn't even have to read the name of the painting to understand who was depicted on it. Without a doubt, it was her mother. She looked just like she remembered her the last time she had seen her. But how was that even possible? Why was her mom portrayed on this painting?

"Goodness gracious! I cannot believe my eyes! Who's the author of this work?" Marie exclaimed with surprise, "This style, this technique of the brush strokes, the choice of the color palette, everything perfectly matches the style of Liu Yang! As if this picture is the missing puzzle piece in the collection. We are unable to see the face of the girl in other paintings but here, she finally demonstrates her face. And what a great name, "Amelia", this name really fits her."

Elena was listening to her administrator and she had so many thoughts that her head was about to explode. "Marie, you think that Liu Yang may be the author of this painting? If so, when was it painted?"

"Mrs. Anderson, I am just saying that the style surprisingly resembles the one of the last Mrs. Lee, I'd say, it's practically identical. But, being a huge fan of her works, I know for sure that she hasn't painted anything like that. All her works have been bought for huge money while she was graduating school, namely this "Fragments of Time" collection. Then, having graduated from school, she married the heir of the Lee Pharmaceuticals owner and moved to the States. She also had one exhibition which many collectors wanted to buy for a great deal of money as well, but she refused to sell it. And as far as I know, those paintings are in the house of President Lee. Am I right?" Marie asked, knowing about the bonds between Elena and Chen Lee.

"Oh, yes, that's right," Elena replied. She never attached much importance to this, because what is before the eyes often goes unnoticed. And just now she realized that in the house of her father there were in fact many pictures of his late wife.

"What do you think, how old is the painting?"

"Hmm, I can't say for sure," Marie replied, "To answer your question, we need to make a clearer analysis, but it looks younger than others. I think it is about ten years old."

Ten years old? This information made Elena think even more. In her dream, this picture was not yet finished, and the girl working on it was, apparently, Liu Yang. Maybe that's why her face seemed to Elena as familiar, but then she was no more than sixteen years old by her look.

And if we assume that she really painted it, then this picture should have been with all the others from the collection. But Marie said that there was no such picture among the works of Mr. Lee's wife, and if the picture is really about ten years old, then Liu Yang couldn't be its author since by that time she was no longer alive.

Elena frowned and rubbed her temples; she felt that all these thoughts made her head hurt.

"How do you like my surprise, dear Elena?" Carter sneaked up in his manner and grabbed the girl by the waist. Such a habit of absolutely no sense of tactfulness began to frankly annoy Elena. "Admit it, great show, huh?" He leaned closer to Elena's face, and she felt his breath close to her cheek. His cologne caused nausea in the girl, and she immediately pulled away from the man.

"Mr. Carter, I've heard about your habits and behaviors, but I ask you to respect my personal space when you communicate with me," Elena replied as if sloshing him with cold water.

But it didn't hurt the man at all, and without any objection he moved away from the woman, creating a distance between them, "Oh, sorry, I forgot myself, as always. From now on I will be more attentive," Carter winked playfully and took a sip of champagne. "But you never answered whether you liked my improvisation. You know, it was difficult to persuade such a well-known singer, Lina Jones, to take part in our event. I hope you appreciate my efforts?" The man raised his eyebrows, obviously making it clear that he was waiting for a compliment from the lady.

"Right, I think you shouldn't have bothered so much, but since everything went well and the audience greeted Miss Jones with enthusiasm, then I have no reason to be dissatisfied," Elena answered with complete indifference in her voice. She could not express her dissatisfaction since it was a public event, but she, too, had no desire to praise him. At the moment, the woman was interested in another question.

"Mr. Carter, regarding the picture, who is its author? Can I contact him somehow?"

"Elena, just call me Philip, what is with such formalities? I do not know the name of the author, because the picture was not signed when I first saw it. But we can ask the person from whom I actually bought it." Carter replied, a pleased smile on his face, an additional reason for getting closer to Elena was just playing into his hands.

"And who is this?" she asked.

"Oh, you have already seen her. This is Lina Jones." Carter looked around at the guests, trying to find the girl.

"She had just left the hall through the service exit," Armand replied in an even voice, immediately realizing that Philip was looking for her. All this time he did not take his eyes off the girl, and as soon as she finished singing, Armand followed her gaze. She, as if sensing his close attention, glanced back at him, but immediately turned away and left the hall.

"Oh, right, she said she couldn't stay," Carter recalled his agreement with Lina that she was going to leave as soon as she performed the song. He looked appreciatively at Armand, this man was unfamiliar to him, but even in the eyes of such a man like Carter, a tall blond man with noble features looked attractive. Deciding not to focus his attention on the stranger, he turned to Elena, "I think if we follow her now, I will have time to introduce you to each other. Lina is such a person who is difficult to find in one place and even more difficult to achieve a personal meeting with. How do you like my offer?"

Elena nodded her head in an affirmative, "Are you coming with me?" she asked Armand, although she knew what he would answer. The girl noticed that the talented singer literally captivated his attention; moreover, to be alone with Carter, even a minute, was not the most pleasant idea for her.

"Definitely," Armand smiled and followed them, he wanted to better understand what he felt, and an extra meeting with this mysterious woman could help him do it.

The trio passed through a small corridor and found themselves on the street from the side of a closed parking lot, where Lina was already preparing to get into a big black SUV accompanied by her bodyguards.

"Lina, baby, wait a second! I want to introduce you to someone!" Carter shouted, wanting to attract the attention of the girl.

She stopped and turned around, her face expressing extreme discontent. "Carter, if I once again hear the word "baby" from your lips in my direction, then I will order my boys to tear off your fat finger that is hanging between your legs, cut it into small pieces and feed it to you instead of dinner, you got it?!"

Carter's face turned white, 'She's joking, right?'

Elena barely kept a laugh, 'And she really is as smart as a steel trap.'

Armand's eyes were full of amazement, 'Hmmm, what an interesting person.'

Lina, having understood the thoughts of Carter, continued in her spirit, "If you think that it was a joke, then I really have to upset you - a sense of humor is not my cup of tea."

"Well, bab... Miss Jones," Carter corrected himself in time when the threat flashed in the woman's eyes, "Um, by the way! Please, meet, this is Elena Anderson. She is the organizer of this exhibition."

Lina dropped a look at Elena, looking at her up and down and extended her hand, "Lina Jones."

Elena extended her hand in response, "Elena Anderson." Although there was not much enthusiasm in Lina's look, Elena did not feel any embarrassment or negativity from this person. Rather, she wanted to know more about her. Especially since they looked about the same age.

"And how can I be of help to the head of Lenali Enterprise?" Lina was not a person who was looking for favoritism and preferred to speak straight away.

"Mr. Carter, I beg your pardon." One of the gallery employees called out to Philip, to which he waved his hand, and, apologizing, left.

Elena sighed with relief, initially, she did not want to discuss the picture with Carter being around and the universe heard her desire. "Miss Jones, I would like to know about the painting that Mr. Carter presented to the public. He said he bought it from you. Is it true?"

"You can just call me Lina. And yes, it is true. What exactly do you want to know?" The girl was absolutely straightforward.

"I-" Elena wanted to continue her question, but she was interrupted by a phone call. She looked at the display and wanted to put the phone back in her pocket, but Lina stopped her, "You may answer. I'll wait."

Elena felt a little awkward, but in the eyes of the girl, she realized that she really had nothing against a temporary interruption of their conversation. Elena nodded her head and stepped aside.

All this time, the third man, who was standing behind and did not participate in the general conversation, did not, even for a moment, take his eyes off Lina.

The girl tilted her head to the side and ran her hand down her neck in a seductive manner as if she was gently massaging her muscles to relieve tension. Then she crossed her arms over her chest, and finally replied to a gaze that had been chained to her for several minutes.

"Hey, handsome, do you intend to burn me with your hot gaze? Are you sure that you can cope with such fire?" The girl asked, without taking her eyes off Armand.

He didn't answer, he just grinned, and they continued to play eye-to-eye until the first one looked away, but no one was going to give up.

A minute later, the corners of Armand's lips were sulking in a seductive smile, "I was thinking here that I wouldn't mind stepping out on a limb."