17. An artist

It was dinner time. Liam invited Lara to sit beside him. She was not sure if it was right and the fact that all the other women were looking at her like hawks worried her a bit. But Liam had already put her into her seat so she could not refuse.

Emily was looking at her son in a confused way. The woman hater is making a woman sit next to him. She thought at first that he was only making use of her as a excuse to stay away from other woman. But his eyes were telling something else. His eyes showed admiration and compassion.

After the dinner Emily said," Lara we will drop you home", while nudging Liam on his side trying to get his attention.

Liam was never interested in any woman. Emily really hoped that he would also get married and get settled, but it felt as if that was never going to happen. She wanted him to find his own partner as she wanted him to experience love.

At first, she hoped that he would develop a liking towards a girl from the rich circle. Then she wished that it was just any educated girl. Then she didn't even mind if he said that he liked a guy and came out as a homosexual.

Finally, she hoped that her son would fall in love with just anybody and she was going to agree even if it was a alien. But there were no results until now.

Even though he didn't admit it, if her son was feeling a liking towards a woman, she might as well help in setting her up with him. After all, Lara was no alien and was very beautiful. She was well educated and of extremely good character.

"It is alright. It will only cause you troubles.", Lara replied." Please. We insist", Liam said." Okay", she nodded and said.

He instructed the driver to get the car ready. Few minutes later they were driving in the dark. Liam was sitting in the front while Lara and Emily were sitting behind.

Lara was busy admiring the view outside. A certain someone was watching her through the rear-view mirror throughout the journey.

Emily was surprised seeing the way he was looking at her reflection in the rear view mirror. She saw that Lara was only interested in what was outside.

She also decide to look out. The city looked quite and the lights made it look beautiful.

Shortly they arrived at her house. It was an apartment complex. A beautiful building with a garden.

When they got out of the car, Lara asked," Please come in. You have come all this way to drop me so please let me make you some tea." They nodded and entered.

Her house was a simple, elegant and a little luxurious. Mostly of simple shades. It was clean and well organized.

It was filled with paintings. The walls had a lot of frames. Only one wall was different. It had family pictures.

When they entered, both Liam and Emily were surprised by the number of paintings hanging. She looked like a veracious art collector.

" Please make yourselves comfortable", she said gesturing to the couch. She then went into the kitchen.

A few minutes later she came out with three cups of herbal tea. It smelt really good. She placed the tray down and handed them a cup each.

She took one for herself and sat down opposite to them. Both of them took a sip of the tea." Hmmmmm….", both of them sighed at the same time.

To Liam, who had already tasted her culinary skills it was no surprise. But Emily was surprised by the rich flavour. She had never had such a tea in her entire life.

" You really are good at cooking. I have never tasted such good tea. Is this your own recipe?", she asked.

" Thank you. It is actually my mother's recipe, not mine.", she said in a polite and happy tone.

After a while, Liam said while looking around," You indeed are a veracious art collector Lara".

" Um. Actually they are my own paintings.", she said in a calm tone.

Liam and Emily, "....0_0...."

Both of them nearly choked. They looked around at the paintings once again. They looked completely professional and each style was unique.

Both of them got up simultaneously and went to have a closer look at the paintings. At the bottom of each painting there were her initials. LW. They didn't know what to say.

"I have always wanted to open an exhibition. I have been saving some money for it. I hope to open it soon", she said. She joined them. They were admiring the paintings.

" If you ever plan of selling them, I can guarantee that each of your painting is worth millions", he said. Even Emily nodded. They returned back to the couch after a while.

They talked for a while.

After sometime they got ready to leave." Thanks a lot for dropping me.", she said." You are welcome dear. We should thank you for the tea. It was very refreshing.", Emily replied.

She smiled. She walked them till their car and told her farewell. Emily hugged her and she hugged her back. After that she came back.

"Ufff…. What a tiring day", with this said she went for a shower and fell into slumber.