Love's Portrait by Anna Larner

Author:Anna Larner [Larner, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635550580
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2019-02-21T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Georgina whispered, “You okay?”

“Yes. Thank you. I am, as a matter of fact.”

Molly looked so proud, and if possible her smile seemed even brighter. “Good for you. Let’s go.”

Georgina guided Molly along the Lerner Gallery and out into the cool of the stairwell and up the wide, low stone steps. Molly stopped halfway to admire the view of the ornate stonework and leaded windows.

“It’s so grand, isn’t it?” Molly cast her gaze from the decorative ceiling to the worn stone floors. “It almost has a cathedral-like feel and is so different to the Lerner Gallery. Where are we heading exactly? And more to the point, what happens if we get caught?”

“Don’t worry, we’re not trespassing.” Georgina glanced up the stairwell to the levels above. “The whole building has been hired for the evening.”

“The whole building? Wow.”

Georgina shrugged. “They’re a corporate partner. Third floor.”

“You’re taking me to the loos?”

Georgina laughed. “Somewhere with a slightly better view.”

They climbed until they reached their destination.

“Oh, you mean the restaurant?” Molly said, slightly out of breath. “My mum and I once tried to have afternoon tea, but it was so busy.”

“Well, I confirm it’s not busy tonight.” Georgina led Molly into the elegant dining room which had closed for the night. The space was lit only at the entrance by the light of the landing. Not that it was dark. Light flooded in from the city itself, reflecting against the windows and sparkling in the polished surfaces and glinting against cutlery and glassware. The city spread out before them, illuminated in all her urban splendour. The rooftop restaurant of the National Portrait Gallery commanded one of the most captivating views of London.

Molly went straight to the window. “I always make a point when I visit the museum of stopping for a moment just at the entrance to the restaurant to glimpse the view across the rooftops of Trafalgar Square.”

Georgina joined Molly close at her side. There was only one view in that moment that captivated her.

“And there’s Big Ben.” Molly glanced at Georgina. “I love that they’re restoring it.”

Georgina dragged her gaze from Molly to look out to her city which had once been everything she needed and was in that moment a distraction from everything she wanted.

Molly pointed into the distance. “And Whitehall and the London Eye. It’s such an awesome view.”

The city’s lights rested on Molly’s cheeks before tangling themselves in her eyes.

You’re so beautiful. Georgina stood utterly transfixed by the sight of Molly—the enchanting woman from the square, the woman who made her father’s death somehow tolerable, the woman who made her laugh, the woman she’d opened up to who had listened to her with such empathy, and the woman who in that moment she just wanted to kiss.

“Does living in London ever become normal?” Molly turned to face Georgina again. “I imagine it never…” Molly’s words drifted away as she blinked into Georgina’s gaze, her lips falling slightly open.

Georgina hadn’t planned to kiss Molly right there and then. She just couldn’t not.

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