Monsieur LeBlanc's beady eyes traversed the crowd gathered in his 90th exhibition. He sighed and waved his well-manicured hands.
"They cannot get enough of my art." He said to the earnest looking lady sitting near him with a recorder.
The journalist pursed her lips and averted her eyes to stop herself from rolling them.
She had done her research. Born plain old Harry Smith he had said goodbye to the indeterminate brown hair Harry had spotted by giving them a blonde Gallic flair. A single errant strand of ice blue fell on his angular face. His eyes had been enhanced by liberal application of kohl.
A high cravat of florid colours hid his weak chin. Mr who looked like an average accountant in a mid-sized organization had been transformed by the artist into a piece of art himself.
The journalist quickly turned her rueful smile into a fake one and reached for her 5th canapé. As she looked wistfully at her empty plate, a scent of rosemary wafted near her, signaling that another culinary treasure was nearby. As Monsieur LeBlanc rambled on about his work, she looked around.
A lady in a white apron was looking benignly at the crowd. She had warm puppy dog eyes, mousy hair, and rose-hued cheeks. Her demeanor proclaimed that she was a cook.
"Here!" Monsieur Leblanc shouted, losing his sophisticated French accent for the Suburban New York accent that had been bred into him.
"Oh, I was looking at the lady standing over there. Is she the caterer?"
The artist balled his fists. "She's my twin sister and I agreed to let her cook to help her out."
The journalist cocked her head to one side "Do you mind if I ask the connoisseurs here about your work?"
LeBlanc hesitated as he looked at the crowd focused on the movement of waiters rather than the canvas.
"Hmm." He managed to say before barreling down towards his cook.
As the journalist mingled with the crowd, she heard snippets of conversations.
"I come for the food."
"The canapes are divine."
"I'd buy his art if it came with the food, haha."
"Someone should put this food in a museum."
"This is true art."