His Nanny Mate By Eve Above Story

Chapter 34: The Exhibit
Moana

I couldn’t bring myself to avoid Ethan’s exhibit after he had asked me to go so many times. So, after putting Ella to bed, I went to Selina with my hand on my stomach and a frown on my face.

“I’m afraid I might have contracted food poisoning,” I said, feigning illness. “Can you keep an eye on things if Ella wakes up? I’m going to go to urgent care.”

Selina frowned, looking at her watch. “Do you need a driver?” she asked.

I vehemently shook my head. “No. It’s okay. I’ll call a cab.”

“Well… Alright,” she said, pursing her lips. “Be careful.”

After that, I put on a simple dress that could pass for urgent care attire if anyone were to question me, and flagged down a cab outside of the penthouse.

Just as I suspected, the art gallery was packed to the brim when I arrived. As I got out of the cab, I felt a lump rise in my throat; all of the other patrons seemed to be dressed lavishly, which made me feel incredibly out of place.

There was a line with a bouncer to get in. I stood in line, patiently waiting my turn.

“Name?” the bouncer said, eyeing me up and down suspiciously as I walked up to him.

“Moana Fowler,” I replied.

list,” he said. His voice was gruff and indifferent, and before I could say anything else, he

have an invitation from Ethan,” I replied, clutching

look at me, simply scoffed. “I highly doubt the artist personally invited a human. Quit wasting my time and get out of here. You

behind the bouncer, “I did invite her. Come

of murmurs making their way through the line of people waiting. The bouncer’s eyes widened, and without another word, he

hand on my back. “He’s just doing his job. These art openings

at all of the wealthy-looking people that were milling about

Ethan said with a warm smile. “Unfortunately I have to participate in some involuntary networking with a few of the patrons here, but feel free to take a look around. And have a glass of champagne, too.” He reached out, taking

and nodded, watching as Ethan disappeared into

a deep breath and a sip of the champagne for courage, I made my way into the gallery so I

back of the gallery, creating an atmosphere that almost made the artwork come alive. Groups of patrons milled about, many of them using sophisticated ‘art speak’ to describe

not speaking to anyone — not that anyone would have spoken to me, either — with my glass of champagne in my hand as I closely studied each and every piece of artwork. Each piece seemed to fit into a similar theme, which felt

particular painting that caught my eye, however. It was small, tucked away in a corner of the gallery, and no one else seemed to notice it; but I did. I felt entranced by the depiction of a young boy, staring out at the viewer from a black void. His face was sad, but there was also a hint of something else behind it that I couldn’t quite read. It was as if he was secretly mocking

my trance. I jumped a bit at the sound of his

startled me,” I said, feeling my face flush. “Yes. I

favorite, too,” Ethan replied. “I

a silence before Ethan spoke. “Did

actually,” I replied, my hands shaking a bit nervously as I reached into my purse and pulled out a single, folded piece of paper and held it out to Ethan. “It’s not much. Just a

my heart rate quicken as he carefully studied my drawing. It was the same drawing that I had been working on in my bedroom the night

finally said after a few moments, “this is stunning. You didn’t mention

face go red at the famous artist’s words. “R-Really?”

the drawing back to me. “You’ve got some real talent. You should try to tap into it a bit more; I could see you doing really well with your