The ends of my short yellow floral dress billowed in the wind, lifting up to the point that I had to use my hands to pin it down. Teddy seemed to take no notice of it, simply looking out along the sea coast as he strolled by my side. It was a fine day, supremely sunny with a gentle breeze that caressed my skin.

He was closest to the cliffs, unbothered by the substantial drop that could spell the end of his life. I tried to read his facial expressions, but they seemed to conflict with one another at certain intervals. The straw basket swung on the left side of his body, probably heavy since it was filled with our entire lunch.

I was nervous to go out with him today, but after everything he had done it felt right to accept his invitation. The breeze felt wonderful against me, and the fresh sea air enlivened me. I looked over my right shoulder, vaguely catching sight of the dark silhouette of his humble home. It was nice to know we were so far away from it now, and I secretly hoped his behaviour would lighten now that we were no longer inside of it. I slipped my hand against his left rib-cage to get a hold of his arm, propping his upwards until I could rest mine comfortingly against his own. He looked down his long nose, allowing a tiny twitch of his lip upwards in satisfaction. “How are you feeling?” he politely asked.

I swayed my body weight to the left, hitting him hard enough for him to sense my mood. “Good,” I cheerily replied.

“When’s the last time you had a picnic?”

I looked past him, taking in the azure blue sea with heaps of white foam smeared atop of it. “When I was a little girl,” I softly replied. “How about you?”

“When I was a child.”

“And yet, you have a basket.”

“It never left this place,” he informed me with a strain to his voice. “Everything has been kept intact. Entirely the same.”

“And why should it ever change?” I asked him in a peppy voice. “When the house is so beautiful.”

“Fond of that word,” he observed in a low tenor. “You will say the same thing when I show you the portrait I completed.”

“Will I?”

“Yes, once we sit down I will show it to you.” His eyes were focused on the changing shoreline, almost captivated by the ripples and waves that leaped over each other. “We won’t wander that far.”

“This place stretches out for miles on end.”

“There is a sense of seclusion.”

“Does all of this land belong to you?”

“This portion really doesn’t belong to anyone. I suppose if I ever found myself with neighbours I would build a wooden fence, or be like the olden days and build a wall full of rocks.” He caught my growing smile. “I would like to improve this place and make it feel like a home. The only problem is, it can never be truly mine. It is haunted with memories.” He looked downwards at his feet. “But that is to be expected. I should have gone insane by now, but you see I haven’t.” He turned his gaze to my side profile. “At least, you do not see me that way.”

“I don’t.”

“Thank you for that,” he muttered. Eyes closed somberly, he eventually turned his head to the left to look at the sea. Teddy seemed to gain strength at its presence, a sense of calmness at the pale blue sky and vibrant hued sea. It was not long until he picked out a flat patch of land, and placed the straw basket down neatly. The small blanket I was carrying under my left arm was unearthed, and I laid it out flat so that we could have a seat. Teddy sat first, immediately stretching out his legs with exhaustion.

I became busy opening up the straw basket, and gasped out loud once I saw what was on the very top. “Is this it?” I asked with excitement. There was something wrapped in crimson red tissue paper that squished under my finger when I pressed upon the surface. “Could I-”

“go ahead.”

I sat down beside him and happily tore at the decorative paper. Teddy took the wrappings so it would not fly away in the wind, and soon enough I saw a glossy white frame securing the portrait of myself. My grin stretched from ear to ear, and then I laughed in ecstasy at the image. “It looks just like me,” I childishly pointed out. “And you added some colour.”

The man beside me was blushing with embarrassment once I turned to look at him. “A little.”

“It’s beautiful,” I unknowingly said. “Brilliant, really. I wonder where I should put it. Maybe in the living room, so when someone comes over they can see it. I must show this to my parents. This is so…” I stopped myself short, once I realized how much I had been raving about the portrait. I lowered it over my lap, but the smile could not fade away from my face. A hand was lightly pressed against the top of my arm, and when I looked up I realized how close Teddy’s face was to mine.

“I’ve never seen you smile so much before,” he related in a low tenor.

“I can’t help it.” I lowered my gaze from his. “You make me look like some great beauty.” My smile grew even more at the sight of it. “You must give me one of yours as well. Oh, but not one where you are looking sad. I would like it to look just like this! Could you, Teddy?”

“Could I… what?”

“Give me your self-portrait where you look like this?”

“I will give you anything you want.”

“You don’t look so haunted here.” My thumb rubbed the side of the picture frame affectionately. “You almost look happy.”

“I hardly know that feeling.”

“Oh, Teddy,” I laughed. “You know that’s not true.” I leaned forwards and examined the contents of the straw basket. “I must put this portrait somewhere special. Could you hold it for a moment? I will get out our lunch. This is a great idea.” I was hardly aware how much I was rambling in front of him. “I don’t know why I was wavering so much with the idea. After all, we are friends.” I instantly regretted the word, and the silence on Teddy’s end made me think he felt adverse to the idea as well. “It is nice that we get along so well,” I said as a way of an excuse. “And I don’t bother you.”

“No, Sela.”

“I haven’t upset your nerves?”

“No, you haven’t.”

“It is a pity that I won’t be working here anymore.” I pulled out a container full of potato salad. “But you will get more work done that way.” Bean salad was gathered next, and then I set out to find the bowl of fruits that I had cut up this morning. “You are quiet.”

“I was watching you.”

“I am not doing anything interesting,” I complained. The wrapped up sandwiches were gathered next, and then I settled it down in the small space between us. “Just getting our lunch ready.”

“Maybe dinner too,” he suggested with a cunning look to his eyes. An eyebrow arched upwards, once he caught a certain expression flash across my face. “Another time then.”

“You wish to spend so much time with me.”

“Is that so hard to comprehend?”

I sucked in my bottom lip, vainly trying to distract myself by gathering plates. Teddy placed a hand over the top of my back, forcing me to look up at him. His face softened before me, full of emotion. “No,” I whispered soft enough for only him to hear it.

“Stay,” he entreated. “I am not asking you to stay the night, only the evening.”

I nodded my head in ascension, even though a small part of me feared the consequences of such actions.

He removed his hand from behind my back and let it fall upon the navy-blue blanket. I took that opportunity to prepare the last of our lunch. In time our plates were full with food, and we sat together by the high precipice to look out at the water. A seldom boat would cross over the horizon, skirting the azure blue sea at an easy pace. There was peace all around us, a comfortable feeling that was shared between two friends. I knew that Teddy wanted more than that, perhaps, more than I could possibly ever imagine. I had to heed the advice of my friend and employer though, and take things incredibly slow with him.

“You will miss me when I am gone,” I pointed out in between bites of food.

“Are you going somewhere?”

I smirked at him, which earned a naughty shake of his head. “Sela,” he warned. “Tell me.”

“I won’t be here starting next week.”

“You could still come,” he replied with a smug smile. “Just not be out working in the garden.”

“What would you have me do here?”

“We could go on picnics like this one,” he suggested. “I could drive you around the countryside. Go on long walks or trails. Bike rides.” He paused to eat a mouthful of food. “You could sit with me in my study room, or watch me paint in my studio. It would be nice for Luna and myself to have a companion.”

I elbowed him at the side in annoyance, not because I did not like the idea. It was a good one, and I feared that small part of me that was too eager to accept his offer.

“I could take you out for dinner sometime,” he added after he stopped looking at me. “Or we could go somewhere - somewhere far away from here.”

“Where?”

“We could explore up north,” he suggested. “Go to Scotland. Maybe Ireland? We could go to Europe.”

“Or somewhere warm,” I added.

“Yes, that too.”

“As companions?”

He opened his mouth, but some secret fear overwhelmed him, and then he promptly shut it with pursed lips. I leaned into his side, catching the rising colour to his cheek.

“Or something more than that?”

“You already know the answer to that,” he grudgingly replied.

“I do.”

He cleared his throat with purpose. “I am just waiting on you,” he sighed out. His chin tilted upwards, staring at the clear blue sky overhead. I watched his deliberate movements, knowing he was holding something back. I stared at him for a long time, so long that I had forgotten the food resting on my lap. When he finally lowered his chin, his right eye darted in my direction. “Watching me?”

“How does it feel?”

“Ummmm,” he murmured. “Different.”

“Usually it is you that does the watching,” I easily quipped.

“Can you blame me?” he countered with a sudden energy to his voice. Teddy turned his gaze completely in my direction, letting it focus on my lips. “Sela,” he added in a sensuous voice that was dripping with desire.

I was fixed before him, unable to respond to his words. He leaned forward ever so slightly, and to my surprise I was not fighting back. His eyes narrowed on my lips, while the darkness to them heightened to such levels that it was nearly black. I shut my eyes just when his lips pressed down against my own, morphing slowly into the first kiss before he went in for a second one. My body shuddered by his touch, feeling the warmth of his hand carve around the side of me until it rested against my back. I found my lips responding to him, embracing them quickly. Our bodies swayed forward and backwards ever so slightly, eagerly kissing each other harder than before. He tilted his head to the left, obtaining a new angle where he could press his luscious lips against my mouth. I could feel my chest hammering hard, like my heart was thumping quickly from the excitement of it all. Teddy deepened his kisses, letting out a tiny moan before he went in for more. I was left speechless, practically frozen by the fierceness of it all. Thankfully, he slowed down his efforts and let it come to a stop. Teddy inched his head backwards while swallowing hard. We were unable to look at each other straight in the eyes, although I could feel that my cheeks were flaming red with undeniable heat. Teddy was a good kisser, amazingly so. I licked at the whole of my lips and then cleared my throat. He brushed his plate full of food off his lap and placed it neatly over the straw basket.

“Just getting it out the way.” He reached for my own and laid it upon the basket there as well. His hands stopped moving, and then he rested it over his lap. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while now.”

“I know you did.”

“Did-did,” he stammered out nervously. “Did you enjoy it?”

A smirk came over me, a rather guilty one. “Yeah.”

“Want to…”

“Yeah,” I answered him back quickly, and then brought an arm around the back of his neck to urge him forward. He fell into my body, crashing hard against my chest before he went in for more. His kisses were brash, full of energy that made a warm sensation flood the lower half of my body. His fingers entangled themselves in my loose hair, lightly tugging at the ends in a possessive manner. I leaned my chest heavily against his strong own, kissing him in a passionate way like I had never done before. He applied enough weight to steer me downwards, and then quickly pinned upon the floor until I was resting over the edges of the blanket. Teddy kissed the side of my cheek, lovingly pressing the tip of his nose into the side of my face.

“Teddy,” I said for the first time ever, for I began to fear that things were becoming too heated. “Wait.”

He pulled himself upwards, although he laid his left hand over the firmness of my stomach. “Yes?”

“I just…”

He moved backwards, since he was able to catch my unspoken words. “Sorry,” he quickly apologized, before he helped me back up.

“I’m still new at this,” I told him shyly. “It’s not your fault.”

“You haven’t had a boyfriend?”

“No, not really.”

“Oh?”

“You had a girlfriend,” I recalled. “So, you are more…”

“Yes, I had a girlfriend,” he interrupted in a firm tone of voice. “That was a long time ago though.”

I nodded my head while pushing a lock of hair behind my ear. His hand reached upwards and soon I felt the warmth of his fingers dragging along my cheekbone. He stopped just under my temple, letting his fingers curl over the lock of chestnut brown hair that I had just pushed behind my ear. I could feel the intensity of his gaze again, that undeniable desire that he wanted to give into. “Am I different from her?” I found myself asking aloud.

“Yes,” he hushed.

“How?”

“She was very different from you.” He leaned backwards, dragging his fingers away from my face. “She wanted to go out more. She never liked coming up here. She lived in a different part of town, almost a city I guess you could say. Yes, she was a city girl.”

“Very different from you then.”

“My ex was an artist,” he informed me. “We bonded through our love of art. I would never admit it aloud, but she was even better than me.”

“Do you miss her?”

“I’m not sure,” he mused aloud. “Been over five years. People change by then. I’ve changed.”

“In a better way?”

He turned his body in a different direction to face the tranquil-like sea, and then tilted his head upwards as a long exhale escaped him. “In a way, yes.”

I placed my fingers over the back of his hand, rubbing it softly as it rested over the blanket. “Thank you for telling me this.”

“You asked.”

“Yes, but I know how reserved you can be.”

“Aren’t you?”

I laughed at his comment, for it was painfully accurate. “Not as much as you,” I promised him. “And I went out with guys, but I never had a proper boyfriend.”

“Never met the right one?”

I nodded my head eagerly. “Yeah, and I am the type of person that likes to take things slow. Logic will win every time.”

Teddy immediately wore a puzzled expression. “I thought you were the type to be ruled by your heart.”

“You think?”

“I guess I was wrong,” he soberly replied. “But it is best to have a balance.”

I rubbed the top of his hand tenderly. “In a way, yes.”

He leaned his body closer to mine, resting his weight over the side of my arm. He turned his head in a way to admire my side profile, and I knew instinctively that Teddy wanted to kiss me. I stayed perfectly still, but the slow twist of my mouth upwards betrayed my true feelings. He responded with a quick peck of his lips against my cheek. “We should eat,” he suggested, and then reached forward to retrieve our plates.

My mouth was soon stuffed with food. I found my eyes wandering over to the left of me, taking in the bareness of the land on that side of the field. The grass was higher on that end, and the unruliness of the land assured me that people seldom walked in that direction. The sound of seabirds ignited the air, enough to blend harmoniously with the sound of lapping water. I contemplated going down there, but it was something that had to be discussed with Teddy first. “How far is the drop?”

“Excuse me?” he asked in a painfully harsh tenor that I was unaccustomed to hearing.

“The drop?”

His jawline tightened significantly until he could no longer look in my direction. “Why are you asking me this?” he inquired in a strained voice. There was a look of defeat to him, a terrible sense of pain that creased the top of his brow.

“I was wondering…” He squinted his eyes tightly. “If we could go down to the bottom?”

“Why?” he asked in a sharp tone of voice.

“To walk along the sandy beach.”

He sat there silently, and after a while he was able to regain his composure. “We can’t go through here. There is no way downwards. If we return to my house, I could show you a route, but it is a long walk and it will not be an easy one.”

“Okay.”

“Would you like to do it?

“Did I say something to anger you?” His teeth clenched together. “I never meant too.”

“It was a mistake bringing you here,” he relinquished. He took a large bit of his tuna sandwich and chomped down on it harshly. It was clear I had said something to upset him. His body physically turned away from me, focusing on the left side of the cliffs that was closer to his house. He stopped eating suddenly and then took to standing upwards, he kicked the edge of the blanket downwards and then slowly strode over to the cliff’s edge. I watched him look at the bottom of the cliffs, head bent downwards with a look of destitution. It was not curiosity that made Teddy look downwards, it was something else. “Good riddance,” was uttered softly under his breath, after he kicked a stray pebble off the cliff to plummet to the bottom. It was only then that I realized I struck a sensitive cord.

“Teddy?” I called out, but he chose to ignore me. “Teddy!” I called out in a much louder voice. My plate was pushed away from me and then I quietly strode towards him. His arm was taken up with a steady grip, my fingers pressed firmly into his forearm. “I never meant to upset you,” I gently reminded him. I tugged on his arm to gather his attention, and then used my left hand to tilt his chin until it could face my direction. “Look at me,” I pleaded.

He blinked at the image of me, and then nodded his head in agreement. “I know you didn’t,” he hushed with a great deal of pain.

“Should we leave?”

“Do you mind if we don’t go down there today?” he asked me in turn. “I am not ready for that.”

“Yes, of course.”

“The next time you come along I should be in better spirits. You could bring your bathing suit.”

“Go for a swim?”

“Dabble our feet in the water,” he mentioned. “The waves are too strong here to swim. At least, not for your first time.”

“Okay, that will work.” I let my finger glide past the edge of his chin to feel his strong jawline. He closed his eyes as the sensation overtook him and instinctively leaned into my touch. There was something sensual about my hand movements, the way his face smoothed out willingly as the seconds wore on. He opened his eyes eventually and then took a large step forward to close off the gap between us. I watched him hook a long arm around my frame and with a sudden jerk he tugged me forward. “You are going to kiss me again, aren’t you?”

“I intend on always kissing you, Sela,” he warned. “You shouldn’t have let me have a taste.”

I rubbed my hand at the back of his nape, liking the irresistible look in his eyes. Teddy was the first to lean forward and parade my mouth with longful kisses. It was just as good as last time, which encouraged me to go at the tip of my toes to kiss him back. His arms were tight around me, pressing me firmly against his chest. I was nearly off the ground at one point, but his arms were strong enough for me to feel secure in them. The back of his hair was balled up in my hand, tugging on it lightly with something akin to aggression. He was stirring all kinds of emotions inside of me, feelings that I wasn’t used to.

He made a low moaning sound once he departed from my lips that showcased his pleasure of kissing me. “I could get used to this.” He yanked at my hand to bring me away from the cliff’s edge. Our feet casually trampled over the blanket and soon enough he dragged me downwards to be seated next to him. “How about you?”

“Yeah,” I lightly laughed, for it was strange to see his expression so smooth and youthful. There were laugh lines at the sides of his face and tiny crinkles about his eyes from him smiling so much. “Teddy, how old are you?”

“Oh, I’m thirty-four.”

“I thought so.”

“What about you?”

“Twenty- seven,” I confidently told him. “There isn’t that much of an age gap.”

“You look young for your age,” he deliberated aloud. “A young face then.”

“I got it from my mother. No one ever believes her age.”

“I’ve got my mother’s looks too.” A large hand dragged over the back of his neck once his thoughts took a different direction. “I have my father’s eyes, so cold and black.”

“They are brown.”

“So, you’ve noticed?” he asked with alarm. “It is hard to tell, unless I am in a certain light.”

“The amount of times you stared at me, I was bound to notice,” I assured him. I fell into his chest, and then kicked my feet up to become more relaxed. My plate still had some food on it, but I would save it for another time. Teddy curled his arms around the front of me, letting his fingers glide over the front of my stomach in a meditative way.

“I like you, Sela,” he said out of the blue.

“I know you do.”

He let out a low sigh that was full of aggravation. “There will be things I need to tell you.” His wandering fingers froze over the top of my abdomen. “You will have to wait until I am ready.”

“Take your time,” I assured him. “There is no rush for anything.”

“When I first arrived at Harry’s house he thought I was a mute.”

“Harry?”

“My guardian, Harry Leas.”

“So, he took care of you then?”

“Yes, he lost his wife and was very lonely. He wished to have a child. I was up for adoption and he found me. I became a son to him, a son he never had.”

“And was he kind to you?”

“Yes. Everything that I am is directly because of him.” A brief pause succeeded, where he dropped his hands away from me. “The good things at least.”

“And are you still close to him?”

“He died about three years ago,” Teddy soberly relayed. “I was sorry to see him go, but I guess…” I could feel him moving behind me, probably repositioning himself against the blanket. “Things like that come with old age.”

“Did he live in the house with you?”

“No.”

“Where were you?”

“He was a museum curator. We lived closer to the city.”

“So, he was a historian?”

“Henry was many things! A talented pianist. A scholar of sorts. He was very gifted at cricket, and enjoyed golf on the weekends. He was a man that could hardly stay still, so you could imagine his astonishment once he met me.”

“You enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle,” I knowingly relayed.

“Yes, and that is the reason this house fits me so perfectly. I feel as though I could never depart from it, but there is something - something in my soul that warns me that I should. I have been so long attached to it, but it is darkening some part of me.”

“How so?”

He was silent on his end, a strange occurrence for him. “I am a changed man once I enter those walls,” he finally revealed to me. “But you have noticed that already, I imagine.”

“Yes, I have.”

“I must be free of it,” he mused aloud. He looked over to the left, taking note of the barren field with some interest. “Free of the pain and the anguish.” He shook his head with some regret. “But its claws are etched deeply into my skin. It won’t let me win. Not this time.”

“Could I help?”

He turned his gaze to my side profile with a pleasant look in his eyes. “You already have,” he promised me. “We should go to the grocery store afterwards. I thought it would be nice to plan out our dinner together.”

“Should we go out for dinner?”

“You want to go out?” he worriedly asked me. “Here?”

“You could take me to your favourite restaurant.”

“I don’t…” He lowered his gaze nervously. “I never go down to the village to eat.”

“Why not?”

“I prefer to stay here,” he meekly replied, though I sensed that he was hiding something from me.

I reached for his hand and held it tightly. “It would be nice to get dressed up, Teddy. Go out and spend some time outside of the house. You know, like a proper date.”

“I thought you wanted to take things slow.”

“That was before you kissed me.”

He tilted his head to the left, silently agreeing with me. “We could pop in and look at the menu. It’s a last minute decision, so I doubt they will have reservations.”

“Not if I call them first.” I pulled my phone out of my dress pocket and turned on my cell phone data. “Let’s see what restaurant they have over here. What are you feeling? Asian? Italian? Oh, what about a seafood restaurant? I imagine their fish would taste good, if they get it from their local fishers.”

Teddy was silent behind me, although I could feel his gentle breathing that brushed against the top of my crown.

“Mexican food? Oh no, they don’t have that here. Pity. Well, they have a fancy restaurant in the village that looks quite nice. They have pictures too, if you want to see.”

“Wouldn’t you rather eat it at my place?”

“I could,” I pointed out selfishly. “But it would be nicer to try something new.”

“Alright then,” he submitted with some reluctance.

“This is your hometown. I thought you would want to show me around here.”

“I try to avoid it as much as possible.”

“But why?”

He eased me off him, not wanting me to lie against his chest any longer. “I just do,” he said in a curt tone of voice, which meant he would not add anything further. It wasn’t until he was reaching for his plate of food that I remembered Daphne’s warning about the locals and their ceaseless gossip about him.

“Okay,” I began. “We can go to the grocery store and pick up something for tonight.”

“You really mean that?”

“Yes. I think it’s only fair. Next time when we are closer to my place I will show you a restaurant that I often go to with my friends. Deal?”

“Yes, Sela,” he said with utter gratefulness.

“I just don’t want to upset you,” I admitted. It felt like I had a bad habit of doing that, but when Teddy had so many secrets, how could I not? “So the grocery store and then home,” I decided aloud.

“I will make you the best seafood dish you’ve ever had,” he assured me with a sparkle to his eyes. “It will be absolutely…” His cheeks dented profusely as he tried to hold back a smug smile. “Oh, I can’t help it,” he laughed out sheepishly. “Sela, I can assure you that it will be absolutely beautiful.”

“Yes, I know I overuse that word.”

“Uh huh,” he quipped with a steady gaze on my person. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

For once I was left to my own devices. I was able to wander about his studio in idle amusement, taking every opportunity to explore his treasured place. Teddy was upstairs changing for tonight, which allowed me every opportunity to explore his home. Frédéric Chopin’s elegant ensemble echoed from Teddy’s music room, steadily streaming its way over to his art room across the hall. I was bent over to pull back a rich silky cloth that covered a set of canvases. They were works of architecture; ancient stone buildings that appeared to be from different parts of England. Many of these houses would be the envy of any person; illustrious country houses with a view of expansive farmlands or rugged stone bridges that hovered over a winding stream. It was clear he travelled far and wide to obtain these landscape images, a hopeful sign that he left the house from time to time. I placed the cloth over the canvases again, and then looked over my shoulder to see that he had not appeared yet. Rebellion stirred within me, so I swiftly headed over to his large table where he had once kept that secret sketchbook. I pulled out the small compartment to find that it was missing, which made me regret my wilful decision to invade Teddy’s privacy in the first place. I scoffed under my breath in misery, before opening up another compartment that was just down below. I pulled out a heavy stack of paper, noticing that his drawings were deliberately done for a fashion magazine. Women dressed in the latest fashion captured my attention, for I was enamored by the vibrant colours that radiated off the model’s smooth porcelain skin. I began to envy her as I flipped through the page. To my horror I found myself questioning my own physical appearance, and whether Teddy liked it at all.

As an artist, Teddy would have undoubtedly encountered such glamorous looking women, so what could he possibly see in me? I pulled his stool closer to the right and took a seat, knowing Teddy would not come downstairs for another few minutes at least. The pages fell over the table quietly, while my eyes scanned the next few pages with serious contemplation. Over time a series of models began to wear less clothing, and soon enough they were dressed in only lingerie. I blinked at them slowly, seeing women of every colour and curve exquisitely depicted by the careful strokes of Teddy’s inked pen. I had a strange inclination that they were earlier sketches, for they lacked a certain quality that my self-portrait contained. Teddy was right that it took years of experience to become the artist that he currently was, for these very images were a testament to them.

I tilted my head to the left once I reached a set of thick creamy beige papers that looked old and withered as they rested in the palm of my hand. My lips puckered inwardly, half-startled to see the depictions that had now captured my attention. Multiple drawings of nude women were sketched upon the page. Great detail was poured into the background with the use of a coloured pencil; a long russet-hued tapestry gilded with rounded golden shaped leaves were printed on the grand curtains behind a naked model. Most of the ladies were lounging on a curved mauve coloured divan. There were some models that brashly stood before their artist without a shame in a world. As for myself, so innocent and h