Provenance-original story

[Sabria]

Hi everyone. This is a rendition of some weird daydream I had about 2 years ago. It's a much shorter version of the original story. Also, I'm really new to writing. This is actually my first finished piece of fiction.... my first piece of fiction is ongoing at 20 pages (nowhere near the end either). Anyway, this story is really sappy like maple syrup so sorry about that in advance. Thanks for reading. Comments are welcome as well as criticism. So feel free to leave either. (end disclaimer  )

Provenance

         "Casey... Casey! Move your feet will you. It's only a few more feet until we reach your apartment." Casey blinked a few times and repositioned herself on Elaine's shoulder. Her body felt heavy and her eyes were no different. The next time she opened them she felt herself fall forward and instinctively caught herself on her kitchen counter. Elaine was already five minutes into a lecture that Casey surmised consisted of empty threats and complaining about familial duty to watch over her and pry into her personal affairs. Casey found herself nodding autonomously when she heard the "will you be okay by yourself" line, signifying the lecture had ended. She heard her sister's heels as they clicked down the hallway. The lights were so bright in her kitchen and Casey soon found herself shakily walking into her living room. She felt really dizzy and soon found the floor to be adequate for sleep. She turned her head to face the wall and found herself staring at "it" once again. She ran her finger up the edge of the cracked frame, and began reminiscing about how she had purposely dropped it and lost her job.
         The painting had been hanging in the art exhibit for about a month when Mrs. Kessington expressed her desire to own the piece, Casey knew her as a regular customer who often replaced whatever art she purchased. Casey knew as she removed it from the wall that she couldn't give it to her. She felt her fingers loosen and gravity was her accomplice.
         It wasn't exactly the most beautiful painting she had ever seen or anything, but she still found herself engrossed with it. There were many figures that covered the scene of Elizabethan England, but her eyes were always drawn to only one, who she referred to as the sorrowful prince. The other figures seemed to all have been drawn in pairs, but the sorrowful prince stood alone and could only gaze at the girl with the golden curls who grinned in the direction of a tall man with dark eyes. Casey stared at the scene until sleep overcame her consciousness and she succumbed to it.
         Her head was pounding and it kept getting louder and louder, it seemed to be screaming her name.... No wait. It was definitely her recently ex-boyfriend Keith. "Damn" She was soon stumbling toward her apartment door. "Keith, I really don't have time for this. I honestly believe the reason I broke up with you is because I hate you." She rested her head on the door momentarily, and closed her eyes. He always made everything so difficult. She could hear him grumbling angrily before he kicked the door in.
Casey fell hard hitting her head against the floor, but that pain quickly traveled up to her wrist as Keith pulled her out from under the door. He was yelling and his grip around her wrist tightened as his anger increased. Normally she could easily placate him, or simply outright lie about her feelings for him to make him stop, but she just felt too tired to do anything. Everything became fuzzy and the room turned white.
         The tightness around her wrist had vanished and instead was replaced by a gentle grasp around her fingers. She sat up from her bed, and looked around her apartment. Keith was gone and her door was fixed. Her eyes then traveled down her arm were she was shocked to find a man sleeping at her bedside. He awoke abruptly and she soon found herself staring into the pale green eyes of her sorrowful prince. She slowly slid her hand out of his and unlocked herself from his eyes. She slid off the opposite edge of the bed and leaned up against her window. Still baffled by his appearance she said the first thing that came to her mind. "What happened to Keith?"
         The man slowly rose from his kneeling position and calmly put on a pair of white gloves before he spoke. "It seems your barbaric friend was unfamiliar with the art of dueling" He smiled wryly. "I performed the challenge as is customary with my region, perhaps he was unfamiliar to the use of pistols. Regardless it matters not, I am glad to see that you are well My Lady. I have protected your honor and tended to your wounds. Also, I hope I'm not acting to presumptuously, but would you mind if I began to court you My Lady?"
         Casey cleared her throat before she spoke. "I'm sorry, but do we know each other?" The man laughed softly "Avoidance is most becoming in your case. We've exchanged glances of desire for months now and you still want to act coy. My name is Lawrence Alington, and you have saved me from the sea of despair." He began to take steps toward her and Casey could only watch in disbelief as he confirmed her loss of sanity. "You broke the frame to free me from the shackles that Margery had confined me to, as so our love could replace my misery and blossom into a rose of desire." He gently lifted her hand from the wall, drywall underneath her nails, kneeling he kissed it gently and smiled when he met her eyes. She stared subconsciously back into his eyes and couldn't help but think "he's even more beautiful when he smiles, and I couldn't possibly date anyone worse than Keith right?"
         It had been two weeks since Lawrence had interrupted the mundane flow of her life, and Casey had slowly found herself growing accustomed to dealing with his overly dramatic personality, and ignorance of pretty much everything. She found that there were many things she simply had to ban him from doing. This list included using the stove/oven, driving, dueling, ironing, and using the dishwasher (since superglue isn't as super as it claims). Since losing her job at the art gallery, Casey found herself taking a pity job working as a secretary at her sister's boutique. Although, she had originally thought that if she were working for her sister it meant she had reached a whole new definition for the word depression, however, she felt surprisingly content. She had come to admire her sister's work ethic, and found herself eagerly awaiting her welcome home surprise of McDonald's adorned in roses. Lawrence's act of courting was far more entertaining than any date she had previously been on with Keith. Even their last date when he "rescued" her from the villains of the IMAX Theater, although it was a movie she would have to pay to see again with her sister at another time, she couldn't be mad since he still held an adorable sincerity about him that made her happy just to be around him.
         "Casey" Elaine whispered over her shoulder. Casey looked around nervously when she realized the phone had been ringing for several minutes during another one of her episodes of daydreaming during work sessions. She heard Elaine laugh when she finally pushed the correct button to answer the phone. After finishing the call Casey noticed Elaine was now sitting next to her. "He must be quite the guy to have you acting so absentminded.... So when were you planning on introducing him to your sister?" She watched as Elaine's glance met her eyes and saw her expression change. "Casey, are you blushing?" Elaine smiled and leaned back. Casey was still too stunned to reply. She kept replaying thoughts in her head, about how would her sister react to Lawrence's odd behavior or how she could explain it in a way that sounded normal. She felt her face was flushed and leaned her head back on her chair. She sighed loudly which implied to Elaine that it wasn't something she wanted to discuss yet.
         "Hey Casey, did you hear about what happened to the owner of that gallery that you used to work for?" Elaine pulled up a chair, crossed her legs, and rested her elbow on her sister's desk. "He's really handsome, and they say he used to visit the gallery almost everyday. You've met him right?" Casey turned around to face her sister. "No, I never actually met the owner. Why? What happened to him?" Elaine quickly grabbed Casey's wrist and pulled her excitedly into her office where she turned on the tv.
         "Artist and gallery owner Allen Lawrence is still reported missing having last been seen leaving his apartment complex two weeks ago. The young artist has been reported to have been suffering from depression, but colleagues report that his attitude had seemed unusually positive several weeks before his sudden disappearance. If you have any information regarding Mr. Lawrence's whereabouts please call the toll free number at the bottom of your screen." Elaine giggled and bounced her hair. "I bet you wish you had met him before you were fired right?" Casey could only stare back at her sister and clench her fists. "I do know that particularly arrogant individual after all it seems. Do you mind if I leave early today? It seems an emergency has come up at home."
         As Casey approached her apartment she wasn't sure what she was going to do. He had been lying to her for two weeks now and treating her like an idiot. She quickly opened the door and laid her purse on the counter. She looked around the room and saw that "Lawrence" was already on the phone explaining the details of his disappearance. Casey quietly walked over to her dinning room and sat down as she listened to his call.
         Allen had finished and took the chair across from her. "Do I get to explain first maybe? I mean, before you start yelling at me and accusing me of things that you're probably misunderstanding." Sitting there waiting for him had given her anger enough time to subside, and now she hated him for it. Now that she wasn't angry anymore all she felt like doing was crying. She could feel the tears in the corners of her eyes. She hated herself having realized that she had come to love him, and maybe the person she loved didn't really exist to begin with. 
         Allen spoke slowly "About two months ago, I had come to realize that no matter how many people, towns, or country landscapes I painted they only caused me to feel resentment. That was when I painted that painting there displayed eloquently on your living room floor. I felt like I was stuck in time while everyone else kept passing by. I painted what I felt at the time and I ended up painting a self portrait as well. Actually, I resented "Margery", the curly haired girl, for being so ignorant of those suffering around her." He laughed. "But you are so weird. You looked past the pretty scenery and the happy people and every time I saw you, you were looking at me. You gave me hope. That day when I officially met you.... and Keith, I was actually on my way to give you your job back and possibly ask you out for dinner, but you had never met me, and honestly I'm a bit arrogant and kind of a jerk. After I beat up your ex, pretty badly at that, I thought to myself that if I actually was the man you were always staring at, that then maybe you would give me a chance. It was stupid I know, and really hard to find a costume store before you woke up that sold the attire I needed to pull it off. But even after everything I put you through I still will admit that I'd do it all again if I had the chance. These past two weeks have been the happiest of my life, and I'd gladly continue to act like a total fool if it meant I could stay with you."
         Casey straightened herself in her chair. "You dented my car, broke half of my dishes, and almost burned down my apartment because you were afraid I would refuse to go to dinner with you?" She couldn't help but laugh and smile upon realizing he was the same idiot she fell in love with. "You're insane. You fixed my door and got rid of my ex, I would have asked you to dinner after I regained consciousness."
         "Actually I've never washed dishes before and didn't mean to break them. My English accent is horrible I thought for sure you would have figured the whole thing out sooner." He stood up from his chair and leaned over the table. "Would you like your job back?" His face now inches from her face. "Dinner with me? Please." She leaned forward until her forehead touched his. "No McDonald's today? I would have eaten it with you forever."

[Black Miserie]

It's a wonderful and amusing story! Keep up the good work!

[Sabria]

Thank you so much Black Miserie! I'm so happy to hear that I'm not horrible at writing, especially short stories, which I am not accustomed to writing. I'll try and post another story, but it will be ongoing and longer, but I'll do that later after I proofread it :)