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She had tumbled into its world and had subsequently altered it with her presence. She was trapped by its frame and tinted with its color as if its ambiance had placed a veil over her eyes that changed her perception completely. She was back in that moment again living it second by second as if it was happening for the first time. Here, standing in the Tate Modern, she was once more with him and she felt as if her heart might burst with the enormous deception of it all.
Evey was amongst a few dozen people who had wandered into the museum out of the unrelenting drizzle that afternoon. Art was no longer a priority in society and many works and their galleries had been banished by the office of the High Chancellor for their “lude and degenerate nature”. Forgotten but not gone; Evey knew for a fact that many invaluable works had been salvaged by V and now lived underground, once again abandoned with their caretaker’s passing. A fist closed around Evey’s heart as this thought passed over her. She had been back to the Gallery several times over the past six months, but there was never any sign that he was there. The “terrorist” activities had also ceased. It was as if he had evaporated into the night that had brought him to her.
The piece that had enraptured her was a nude portrait of Adam and Eve, which probably accounted for its continued presence in the Tate: the Chancellor had a soft spot for the biblical classics. Despite the implied carnality of the subject, which was no doubt counterbalanced in the Chancellor’s mind by its didacticism, the artist had also conveyed an air of intimate tenderness. Within the frame lived a country of two people bound to each other through necessity and isolation. His naked body shielded her from the light while he gently directed her into his atmosphere as she shied away from and into him at the same time, seeking the comfort that he promised. Was she imagining it or did Adam have long dark hair? Was that a hidden reflection of desire and fear in Eve’s face? She leaned in for more details, barely able to believe the transformation happening before her when she nearly tripped up one of the few patrons roaming the gallery.
“Ouf! Oh, please excuse me, sir!” she said trying to regain her composure. “Sorry about the foot. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, my dear. Are you…” the man in the damp fedora didn’t have a chance to finish as a middle aged security guard ambled forth.
“Please remain a respectful distance from the artwork, miss.” He said without much enthusiasm.
“Sorry. It was an accident. I got caught up in the piece, and then I got tangled up…. Where did he go?” She looked around but saw that she was alone with the guard.
“No one here but us, miss. I, for one, am glad for the company.” He smiled at her in a doting sort of way. “It gets awfully lonely sharing my days with silent faces. But it’s my job to do this: you really can’t be that close to the art, dear. Look there’s a nice bench right over there – you can get a good look from there, right?”
The guard escorted her to the leather bench and she sat down obligingly. He stood beside her perhaps trying to extend the only meaningful contact that he would have that day.
“What was it that fascinated you so, if you don’t mind me asking?” He stood staring at the painting waiting to be enlightened. “I’ve looked at it for months and months and never found it to be anything special. Don’t much care for bible stories and all that….”
“It’s not the story, it’s them. It’s such a private moment – it’s like we’re trespassing. Imagine the instant that he understands that she has ruined his paradise, and he chooses to be with her anyway. He’d rather be expelled from the garden than live alone in the sheltering grace of a perfect ideal…”
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”V ? Where are you?” She searched the darkness but the gloom of his bedroom was absolute.
“I’m right here. Right in front of you. What’s wrong?”
“I…I don’t know. I woke up…I had this tremendous fear that…you were gone. Gone for good.” She shook slightly inside her nightdress. She breathed in hard and hoped that her voice wouldn’t crack. “I had to find you.”
“And found me you have, Eve.” His hands found her in the darkness and pulled her into the warmth of his chest for comfort. She realized that he was naked. “It was just a nightmare. You’re safe here – don’t you know that?”
His arm cradled her like a broken bird as the other hand stroked her hair, her temples, and her neck in soothing patterns. She didn’t mention his nakedness – it no longer seemed important – she had invaded his turf, after all, and he could do as he liked here. It seemed ages before she allowed her arms to wrap around his waist and return the embrace that he offered. She breathed in his scent commingled with his warmth and felt the room shift around them like a thick blanket enveloping them together.
“I do feel safe, V. But why should it also frighten me so?” she murmured into his chest. A hand raised her face upwards.
“I wouldn’t tell you, even if I knew the answer.”
“Why?”
Seconds passed in silence, then she felt breath dance across her cheekbones.
“Because I never want you to leave me, Eve. This world that we’ve created together is perfect, and, it’s the only thing that frightens me.” His lips silenced her and siphoned all but the joy of his kiss from her.
In the darkness, their lips, and arms, and murmurings cemented their citizenship within their country of two. Their world was perfectly fulfilling and self-contained. But in the morning, she awoke in a rented room above ground with all of her worldly possessions packed into one small suitcase, and no explanation.
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“Hmmmm. I never saw it that way before.” murmured the security guard. “Puts a whole new spin on the redeeming qualities of original sin, doesn’t it?”
“What?” Evey said as she was snapped out of her revelry for the second time. “How?”
“Well, Eve went against God’s law and then tempted Adam with it. But faced with the choice between God and Eve, he chose her. Her sin made him fall from grace but it also produced fidelity and love, which are pretty good things, aren’t they?” The security guard’s face wrinkled paternally as he spoke.
“Yes, I see your point.” She smiled back at him. “Sadly, not everyone would do the same given a similar choice.” She rose to leave being suddenly overwhelmed by the conversation.
“Ha! Some blokes just like to play it safe, dear. Never you mind, though – some guy’s gonna grab you and never let you go some day! If I were twenty years younger, it’d be me!” The guard chuckled good-naturedly. “It was a pleasure chatting with you, miss. Come back and see us again sometime.”
She turned to wave goodbye and hurried toward the exit before she allowed her emotions to run away with any more paintings. She passed the man in the fedora at the room’s threshold without seeing him. It was just as well. A casual glance wouldn’t have revealed the man’s pained expression to her, nor would she have detected the tears sliding down the inside of his latex mask.