Sitting for a portrait

The next day, a little after ten o'clock, Adolf returned to Dreufey's apartment, ready to continue his work.

Directed by Adolf, Dreufey sat down in her sofa, turned towards the light, and gazed into the distance.

Every now and again, Dreufey got out of her sofa to stretch her legs and loosen up, and to see the progress Adolf was making. It was fascinating to see how quickly he sketched out the overall composition, including the appropriate alterations required for the mythical theme of his painting.

Instead of a modern sofa, Dreufey was seated on a divan. Instead of light green wallpaper with dark green leaves and pink flowers, she was sitting against a grey stone wall draped by a tapestry in shades of red and burgundy. But it was Dreufey's face and hair that Adolf was primarily working on. He was determined to capture the lustre of her skin and the brilliance of her hair.

"This is the hard part." he explained. "If I can only get this right, I can finish the painting at home."
"But wouldn't you rather finish it here?" Dreufey asked.
"There's no need for that. I would only be in your way."
"No, you wouldn't. I want you to finish the painting here at my place. That way I can see it evolve into its final form."
"If you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all. In fact, I insist. I want you to complete my portrait here in my apartment."

Dreufey went on to suggest that Adolf should stay every day for lunch so that he could continue his work in the afternoons.

"It will speed up the process. Besides, I like your company."
"You do?"
"You know you really need to loosen up! Why shouldn't I like you?"
"Well..."
"You're too uptight. You need to relax more in my company. I'm sure that will help you complete the painting, and having lunch here with me would help to that end, don't you think?"

Adolf found her insistence strange, but her offer was too good to refuse, and the task at hand was sufficiently interesting to make it a desirable proposition. He couldn't believe his good luck. She was a beautiful model, and instead of him paying her, she was paying him, and serving him lunches to boot.

He worked tirelessly through the day, focusing on her face, her hair, and her elegant figure. But he didn't insist on her sitting before him all day. When Dreufey got up to stretch her legs or tend to household tasks, he would focus his attention on the background and work on that until she returned to her sofa.

There was no lack of things to bring forth in his creation. He wanted to make the painting his best ever. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, and he was determined to make the most of it.

Apart from occasional breaks, Adolf didn't leave his easel except for an hour for lunch when he joined Dreufey for their meal in her dining room.

Comfortably seated at Dreufey's table, he revealed more about himself, and his various passions. He talked about the proud history of the German people, and about his love and longing for the past which he saw as better than the present.

"That's why I love this project," he said. "It brings me closer to a time when men were men and women were feminine and lovely. Modernity is ruining society. There's decadence everywhere: women with short hair, degenerate art, degenerate music, and social and moral decay. It's going to be the end of us."

"We need to return to our roots. That's what we need to do. Maybe even revive our pagan past. Painting your portrait makes me feel this all the stronger. We need to get back to our old ways."

"Luckily, I'm not the only one who thinks this way. There's plenty of good art and music out there. Wagner for instance; the Ride of the Valkyries. It sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it."

Dreufey was happy to hear about Adolf's passion for Norse mythology. It would make it easier for her to complete her mission. However, she couldn't help noticing that Adolf hadn't studied the belief system very well, because if he had, he would've known that the gods are not all that fond of war, and that most of them try to avoid it as much as possible.

One day, during their lunch together, Dreufey had finally had enough of Adolf's ignorance, so she decided to set him straight regarding the gods by telling him about Freya and other peace-loving gods.

"You see, you don't have to be a warrior in order to go to heaven," she explained. "And Valhalla isn't the destination of all warriors. Half of them go to Folkvangr, and for good reasons. It's a much nicer place. Only warriors who like to fight go to Valhalla. Everybody else, including people like you and me, go to Folkvangr."
"Really?"
"Well, there are other places too, but Folkvangr is a favorite. You can look it up for yourself. Any good book on the subject will tell you this."

Adolf looked at Dreufey in silence. Then he asked:

"How is it that you know so much about Norse mythology?"
"I grew up in Iceland. That's where most of this knowledge is kept."
"So that's why you have that accent."
"Yes, I haven't been able to rid myself of it."
"But with a name like von Haven, your father must be German."
"That's right. He's a fish merchant. It's a good business."
"I can see that. It's a nice place you got here. He must have paid for most of it."
"All of it, actually."
Adolf looked at Dreufey with a mix of envy and admiration. "Some people are just lucky, I guess."

Then their conversation turned to other matters.

After lunch that same day, Adolf wasted no time going back to work. He put on his apron and started touching up on details even before Dreufey had time to sit down. Engrossed in his work, he continued unabated into the evening. This was no different from how things had been on previous days, but this particular day he suddenly became aware of the time, and in a sudden hurry to leave.

"What's the matter?" Dreufey asked.
"I almost forgot, but I have an important meeting to attend to."
"Really?"
"Yes, I have a friend who's about to start a political party, and I want to be part of it."
"Is that so?"
"He's not alone. We're a whole gang of people, and I just know that this will lead to something big."
"And who's this man, if I may ask?"
"He's name is Anton, and he's quite a character."
"I can imagine. You're clearly enthusiastic about him."
"I am. Anyway, I got to go. I'll be back tomorrow around ten o'clock."

Dreufey knew immediately that this must be that other passion that she was to keep Adolf away from, but she had no choice but to let Adolf out of the house.

Having said goodbye to Adolf, Dreufey went over to the easel to have a better look at her portrait. It was a big improvement on what Adolf had on display down at the gallery. That was evident even as the painting had much work still to be done. But there was a flatness to the image. It was still not up to the standard of her other paintings.

Much to Dreufey's dismay, Adolf showed up badly hung over and smelling of tobacco and beer the next morning.

"This is no way to show up for work," she told him.
"Sorry, but we were celebrating Anton's new party. It's now official. We can run for elections."
"We?"
"I'm signing up as a member of his party later today."
"No, you're not."
"What?"
"He's clearly a bad influence on you, and I want you to stop going to his party."
"What are you talking about?"

Dreufey gave Adolf a stern look.

"If you join his party. It's over. You can pack your things and go."
"This is absurd. Why are you acting like this?"

Adolf put on his apron, took a deep breath to steady himself, and started to work on his painting.

"You need to give it more depth," Dreufey said coldly.
"My God, woman! What is this? The inquisition?"
"Don't you agree? It's flat and uninteresting. You need to up your game, or I won't pay you. Just my luck to hire a drunk and a vagabond as my portrait painter."

Adolf threw down his pencils.

"Okay! I won't join his party today. I'll postpone it until tomorrow. Is that better? Can I get on with my work now, or are you going to be like this all day?"

Dreufey figured she'd go for the half victory for now. She had gained a day, and she would just have to come up with something. Then she had an idea. It was a half-baked idea. But it had potential.

"So, you promise not to join that man's party tonight?"
"I promise."
"Good. You want me to make a cup of coffee for you? You look like you could need one."
"Yes. That would be nice."

Things calmed down between the two, and pretty soon, their little row was all but forgotten. The day progressed much like the other days. But when evening came, and it was time for Adolf to go home, Dreufey asked how she could be sure that he wouldn't go and join Anton's party without her knowing.

"I want you to stay the night here in my apartment," she said.
"Jesus! You really are hung up on this thing, aren't you? But why?"
"I don't like this Anton of yours."
"But you never met him."
"No. But you got here all hung over, and... well... I don't like that."
"Okay. If it's so important to you, I'll stay the night. Where's my room?"

Dreufey showed Adolf one of her two guest rooms. It was as well-furnished as any of her other rooms, and much better than his crammed little flat.

"This looks nice," he said.
"So, you don't mind staying the night?"
"Not in this room. It's fabulous."
"You can stay here every night until you finish your painting if you want."
"You're kidding?"
"No. I want that painting finished as soon as possible, and I want you to stay away from that Anton person. It seems to me that this is the right solution for that."
"You're locking me up in your apartment?"
"You can leave any time you want. But if you leave before that painting is finished, I won't pay you a penny."

Adolf pulled his hand through his hair.

"You're one crazy woman. But okay. It's a deal."

Dreufey had saved the day again. But how was she to hold onto Adolf once the painting was finished? She clutched the ruby pendant on her gold chain, hoping for inspiration, but nothing came to mind.

With Adolf able to work full time, from morning until deep in the night, much progress was made over the next couple of days. The time was drawing near when he would declare the painting finished and she would have to pay him and let him out of her apartment.

However, Dreufey wasn't the only one dreading that moment. Adolf didn't want that day to come about too quickly either. He was having a good time. Why should he hurry anything? Besides, there was always something in his paining that could be improved.

It was as if they had reached a silent agreement centred around the painting. As long as it remained unfinished, they could go about their lives without any great worry. He was in a place and with a person he liked. She was with company and in control of a delicate situation.

But this could not last. There had to be some sort of resolution. On recognizing this, Dreufey called Adolf into her bedroom one night before going to bed.

She handed him a hairbrush.

"Sit down next to me," she said. "I want you to brush my hair."

Adolf did as he was told. He pulled some of Dreufey's hair towards himself. It was soft and almost electric to the touch. He gave it a long stroke with her brush. Then another stroke. He pulled her hair to the side and off her back and brushed it with long firm strokes of his hand. 

Dreufey put a hand on his thigh. He put a hand on her shoulder. Then they kissed.

< Previous chapter | Next chapter >