I'm Not Saying I'm a Gold Digger

The number three can be a crowd or it can be company. It was the later case for the group of three that made their way through the night to the art gallery. Art Majors always frequented there but only seniors had the privileged of actually entering the private display room. Their time had finally come. With Shari's hand intertwined with Jhon and Lacey standing, not awkwardly on her other side, they entered the gallery. It was more than excitement that fueled this group of students. Lacey had been thoughtful enough to bring enough booze to leave them all caught in a nice buzz.

“Heyy,” Lacey sang announcing their entrance into the private room. She held up her bag which was brimming with more cans of beer.

As a result they were applauded and offered seats on the floor. The Gallery was unlike most galleries. It was created by an alumni of the nearby college and meant as a hangout but also a possible way of getting students' pieces out there. The Gallery was a huge warehouse. Inside rooms held art by category but in the way back of the warehouse was the private room. And that was where the real fun was. It wasn't meant for anyone else but seniors from the college. Art commissioners would surely be appalled by all the drinking and smoking that was going on. However the owner didn't mind because inside the private room there was no real art.

Every inch of the room was lined with photographs of paintings, sculptures, drawings, photos. If one looked at the ceiling they would be assaulted with pictures as well. There was only one rule, the pictures were not to be touched. Art students liked to touch. So instead of focusing their energy of rearranging pictures or anything else, they dedicated themselves to the floor. Tons of different outlets of art were displayed on the floor. One day, even one of her signature graffiti pieces would be embedded on the floor, Shari mused.

Lacey eyed the radio someone had brought to play music. It was just in her reach. Laughing, she connected her iPod to it and began blasting her favorite music. Shari laughed along with her, pausing only to smile at Jhon as he gave her hand a squeeze. From the little she learned about Jhon, she knew he was a really sweet guy.

“Okay this is too awesome,” Shari yelled over the music. “I mean have you seen the photo? And the floor? Too sick.”

“I can't believe you just said 'too sick'.” Jhon yelled back in response.

“Then what word would you use to describe this?” Shari retorted.

“Why use words?” Jhon replied.

She gave him a confused look and watched as he got up and disappeared. In just moments he was back carrying an array of art supplies. Shari wrinkled her nose at him.

“When you can use art right? That's so corny,” she said but her smile contradicted her words. Her face lit up when she some paints. “Finger painting with me!”

Jhon and Shari scoured the room for an ideal place to paint. The thing about the floor was that it was a mess of drawings and scribbles all on top of each other. It was as if each person tried to incorporate the material that was already on the floor into their own piece. If they were too look at the floor from afar, it would look like one huge piece of art.

“Here,” Jhon shouted pulling at Shari's arm. She bent down to look at the part of the floor he pointed at. “It's perfect.” Shari nodded. She couldn't agree more.

The two set to work. They dipped their fingers into paint and worked seamlessly together. Their thinking was in sync. Not only were they incorporating the previous designs into their own piece, they were incorporating each other. Shari sat back for a moment as she surveyed what they had done so far. It took her breath away. She only had to add one more part. Shocked, she watched Jhon paint in the exact colors she had just wanted. He looked up at her and smiled.

“It's a no brainier,” Jhon said.

Feeling a bit competitive because Jhon had been the one to finish the piece, Shari swiped a blue finger across his face. Jhon was not to be outdone. He placed his whole hand on Shari's cheek. She sported a face with five colored blobs on her face. With a sly smile, Shari drew a mustache and beard onto Jhon's face. Jhon pretended to twirl his mustache for a second. They both fell into a fit of laughter. Suddenly Jhon with his reddened finger moved towards Shari.

He painted her lips red and kissed her. Stunned for only a moment, Shari kissed him back. When they parted she let out a loud laugh.

“You have red all over,” she said.

“So do you. We're matching.”

Shari's stomach fluttered. She had never felt this way about anyone. It had only been hours but Shari knew that she really liked Jhon.

“Shari Anne Cohen,” Jhon whispered. She looked up at him questioningly, but he only shrugged. “Just wanted to say it.”

“SHARE!” Lacey screamed as she tumbled towards the couple. They warded her away from the wet paint. Gingerly she took a seat next to them. “SHARE!” she screamed again.

“Uh yes?” Shari asked concerned for her friend.

Lacey shook her head and pointed to Jhon. “He needs to share you.”

Shari stared at her friend to see whether or not Lacey was serious. She wasn't. “Okay we need to get you out of here unless you want to miss classes again.”

“You say 'okay' a lot,” Jhon suddenly said. Shari glared at him. That was something she was sensitive about. Jhon held up his hands as he chucked nervously. “Sorry?”

The company made their way out of The Gallery unaware that awed students happened open the painting they had created. Though it corresponded well with the floor it also stood out a lot. There also seemed to be something spectacular about it but none of the drunk students could figure it out. One student, though was sober. She stared at their work and gasped. She blinked once. Twice. She shook her head wondering when and how someone managed to spike her drink because she obviously couldn't be sober.



An unexpected call came for Shari after her date with Jhon the next day. The date went as she had planned. It was filled with laughter and getting to know each other more. They were connected. She couldn't figure out how or why and couldn't deny she liked it. The call was another matter. It was a foreign number. Shari debated on picking it up, but realized it could very well be Leon. She pressed talk on the last ring.

“Shari Anne Cohen,” she replied politely.

“It's me,” a man with an Australian accent said assertively.

Shari rolled her eyes. It could only be Leon. Now that Lacey had pointed it out, she did realize that his accent was sort of sexy, only made better by age. “Of course it is, Mr. Australian no last name. So what's up? I assumed you're not calling for the heck of it. ”

There was silence on the other line. Shari thought he had changed his mind about working with such an inexperienced girl. However, Leon was just mulling over how rude she seemed to be. She still hadn't apologized for ruining his billboards or thanked him again for his generous offer. This would be helping her in every way, giving her exposure. Leon decided the reason she had no manners was because she must have been orphaned. After all, what type of parents would let their child disrespect older generations like she just had?

“I have a prospective business partner. He's Japanese. I want you to make a painting so I can give it to him as a gift,” Leon explained. “I think you're good and I rather not spend unnecessary money on an over priced artist.”

She took his compliment with a smile. “Do you want anything specific?”

“Fish, there as to be fish,” Leon replied. Shari gaped at this. Why fish? “You have until the end of the month.”

The end of the month was less than two weeks away. Before she could say more he hung up. She tried calling the number again but it went straight to voice mail. For a few seconds Shari looked around the busy city street. She looked for cameras or suspicious people, anything to tell her that the call was a joke. But it was the city, if there was evidence of a prank, it would not be easy to spot. So she put the strange requirement out of her head and made her way towards the last billboard she had inked.

Leon had yet to paint over the billboard. In fact he hadn't painted over any of the six she had vandalized which was a miracle in itself. She reasoned that he probably didn't have the money or the time to clean up her art. Whatever the excuse, it made Shari happy to see her work proudly displayed to the whole city. Except there was something different about the work she created. It still filled her with awe and pride as to how she could have created something so magnificent. Yet something was different.

She glanced from the billboard to the photos she had taken on her camera. There was something off with the cherry blossoms and the bird. It was as if the cherry blossoms had grown and had entangled the crane further into its web. The bird seemed further away as if it had been warned about crane and was taking all precautions. This was the depiction of a scene with not an ounce of hope. Like Leon said, yes Shari's work had been pessimistic but the changed billboard was more than that. It made Shari sad. She fought back the sudden tears. Lacey was right.

There was something horribly wrong with Shari.