Talk to the maid

“You sure you can’t spare 5 minutes?” I told the maid.

She turned around as her cheeks turned tomato-red. “Uhh… yeah. I probably could. If you insist.”

“So, what’s your name?”

“Oh right. I’m Vicky.”

She offered her hand to shake, so I did just that. Somehow, she seemed to blush harder when we touched. After the handshake, she brushed her hair behind her ear and looked away from me. The poor girl seemed overwhelmed by her nerves.

“So how long have you been a fan?”

“Not for long, if I’m honest. I try my best to keep up with my fellow artists, but it can be hard sometimes, y’know?”

“Oh yeah, I can certainly relate. So what kind of art do you do?”

“Portraits mainly. You know how people sell portraits on the street? I do that. Well, I used to anyway.”

“Oh nice.”

“I do some other styles too. You wouldn’t happen to wanna take a look at some of my art.”

“I’d love to.”

“Okay.”

Vicky fumbled with her pockets before eventually finding her phone. Her fingers danced on the screen. She’d wince when she made mistakes, but eventually, she brought up the photos of her artwork. As she had said, most of her work was portraits, but she also had some more creative pieces. One that stuck out to me was a painting of a worker who had been packed into a cardboard box.

“Y’know, you’ve got some real talent.” I said.

“You really think so?”

“Absolutely.”

An ear to ear smile filled Vicky’s face as she took a deep breath. “Wow. That means a lot coming from you.”

“Maybe I could talk to some friends and get your work in a gallery.”

“You’d really do that?”

“Well, I can’t make any promises, but it can’t hurt to try, right?”

“Pretty much. It’s kinda hard to network and all that when you’re stuck at work.”

“Ugh, yeah.”

“Speaking of work, I better get back to it. It was nice chatting to you, Tony.”

“Likewise. Maybe we could catch up sometime?”

“Well, I’m free tonight.”

“Perfect.”

We exchanged numbers before I left the mansion. I couldn’t quite tell why I was so enamoured with Vicky. Maybe she reminded me of when I was starting out, or maybe I was just happy to be in the company of someone a little more down to earth.