"Dimitri! HOLD STILL!" Anya shot her hot husband a 'look'.

"I'm TRYING!" He said exasperatedly. "But you're painting too slow! And this is embarrassing!"

"I can't rush through this!" she fired. "And it shouldn't be THAT embarrassing! It's not like I haven't ever seen you... like that." She giggled. "We've been married almost a year now you know."

Dimitri groaned and fidgeted some more. "That's not the point! I'm getting COLD."

"Just a few more minutes!" Anya concentrated on her canvas, carefully selecting her next color.

"You'd better not draw my face on that." he frowned. "This is absolutely embarrassing! What if someone recognizes that? Or me!"

"They won't! I'm not going to draw your face! I'm just using you as a model! We've been through this SEVERAL times, Dimitri." She made a small stroke with her brush. Dimitri could tell she was doing detail work.

"That WILL have a leaf on it, right?"

"Yes, HE will have a leaf. It's not an 'it', Dimitri."

"Thank God you decided NOT to paint something Classical. As if I like Renaissance any better..."

"Would you like me to do Classical? I can take the leaf off if I change the style." A playful smile emerged on Anya's lips.

"NO!" he shouted. "I'd rather you do Impressionism!"

Anya rolled her eyes and picked up another brush. "Impressionism. Really, that's so controversial! And HARD!"

"Controversial." Dimitri snorted. "I thought you liked it."

"I do! But there WILL be older judges in this exhibition 'Mitri! And not everyone has accepted Impressionism!"

Dimitri sighed and made a dramatic display of brushing his hair out of his eyes. Anya had decided to enter an art exhibition a few weeks earlier, and her style of choice had been the Renaissance era. Her painting was oils on canvas, and reflected a young man standing amidst some greenery, with a single leaf over, well, certain parts of him. Dimitri had encouraged his wife at the start of the project, hoping it would give her something to do besides spend his hard earned money at Chanel with Sophie. But when he found out WHAT she was painting, and WHO was going to be her model, his opinion changed. Very quickly. He had tried to get her to change, and do an Impressionistic painting, maybe showing some people walking in the park. He liked Impressionism, and he knew Anya did too. But noooooo, she HAD to do something like this. And she HAD to get HIM to model.

"Can I put my boxers back on?" Dimitri asked.

"In just a minute."

He watched her face, intense on the painting, following each brushstroke as she moved the fibers across the canvas, her wrist making quick movements every now and then. Dimitri smiled. She was beautiful. Even when she made subtle movements. His face grew red suddenly. "Come on Anya, can I PLEASE put the boxers back on?!"

She sighed and looked at him, then back to her painting. "Yes, I suppose so. I'm finished with THAT part anyways." She picked up some green paint. Dimitri dove for his boxers, which were lying on the couch nearby. Then he took a look over Anya's shoulder.

"ANYA!" he yelled.

Anya cringed. She was hoping Dimitri wouldn't look. Yes, she'd drawn the leaf like she'd promised, but she'd failed to meet one other of Dimitri's requests.

"Well, he has BLONDE hair!" she argued, before Dimitri could say anything more.

"I don't care! He looks too much like me!" Dimitri wailed.

"He does NOT." Anya said frowning. "And I'm not changing him." She smiled slightly at the portrait. Dimitri frowned.

"I know exactly what YOU'RE thinking." he said shortly. "You'd rather have some guy you created instead of me!"

Anya tried not to laugh. "Dimitri, do you honestly think that?" She flashed him a pretty smile.

He smirked. "Well even if his face looks kind of like me, you sure added more muscle to him." Dimitri frowned at the thought, feeling one of his arm muscles.

Anya stood up and kissed him. "Well, just because I happen to like what I've created doesn't mean I like it better then what I HAVE. And your muscles are FINE."

Dimitri grinned and wrapped his arms around Anya's waist. "Are you sure? I mean, I could always start working out or something."

Anya laughed. "Don't you dare! I like you just fine the way you are 'Mitri!"

"I'd better go upstairs and get dressed." he smiled. "I don't need to be standing in my living room in BOXERS." With that, he disappeared up the staircase. Anya watched him until he was out of sight, then sat back down to her work.

She smiled as she put the finishing touches on the painting. After a few minutes, she was done. Anya sighed and leaned back in her chair. Three weeks of work, finished. Finally. Anya smiled. She was so hoping to win this exhibition. The judges were to give out prizes for whoever had the best painting. And the big day was tomorrow!

Suddenly Dimitri re-appeared, buckling his pants. "Done?" he asked.

"Yes! Finally." Anya smiled.

Dimitri scowled at the painting. "It still looks too much like me!" he muttered.

"No one else could tell." Anya said cheerfully. "Just you 'Mitri. And I'm not changing it."

Knock, knock!

Dimitri and Anya turned and looked through the kitchen to the backdoor. Only two people came to that door. Vlad and Sophie. "Come in!" Dimitri called. The door swung open, and sure enough, Sophie came bouncing in.

"Bonjour!" she laughed, lightly stepping into the living room. She noticed the canvas sitting in the middle of the room. "Ooh-la-la! May I see?" She winked at Anya.

Anya laughed. "Sure!" She motioned for Sophie to look at her work.

Sophie grinned at the painting. "Ooh, très bon!" she smirked. "It looks like you, n'est pas Dimitri?"

Dimitri groaned and ran his fingers back through his hair in agony. "ANYA! I TOLD YOU!"

Sophie began to laugh. "Mon Deiu! It isn't that bad Dimitri! Just a SLIGHT resemblance! Why, only I could tell! And maybe Vlad of course, but no one else will know!" She looked at the painting again. "You'll most defiantly walk away with first prize Anya."

"And I'LL die of embarrassment!" Dimitri groaned.

Anya rolled her eyes. "You will not. No one there will even KNOW you, let alone figure out that you modeled for my painting!"

"Which reminds me!" Sophie smiled. "The Exhibition is TOMORROW! Anya, mon amie, you need a new dress for this affair!"

Dimitri raised an eyebrow. "She just bought three new dresses last week!"

Anya shot Dimitri another 'look'. "Yes, and I've already worn them. I need a new one for this!"

"I will NEVER understand..." Dimitri began. But Anya cut him off.

"You're a MAN. Of course you don't understand! I can't wear an old dress to this sort of thing!"

Dimitri threw his hands up in the air. "I work five long days a week, sometimes six, and you spend money like it grows..."

"Off trees." Anya repeated.

He glared. "Don't buy something expensive, PLEASE."

Sophie giggled. "You and Vladdy! You both complain about money! Well, get your purse Anya! We'll try Chanel. You ALWAYS have the BEST luck finding dresses there!"

Anya grabbed her purse off the table and laughed. "I do find nice things at Chanel."

"At the most expensive place in town." Dimitri said sulkily.

"It is not. Christian Dior is the most expensive place in town. And NO, I don't shop there." Anya replied. "And while I'm gone, don't TOUCH my painting. GOT IT?"

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't think of such a thing!" he grinned his famous grin at her.

"Yes, well, I don't want to come home and find it messed up. And if I do, you'll be in more trouble then you could imagine." With that, Anya carefully placed a large cloth over the painting. Then she turned and walked out the door with Sophie. "Bye 'Mitri!" she called out. Dimitri leaned against the doorframe and watched Anya and Sophie leave. Anya blew him a kiss as she walked off. He smiled and returned it. Then he watched her until she had disappeared around the corner.

~*~

"I like the green." Sophie said critically. "It looks very nice Anya."

Anya did a quick twirl and watched her form in the mirror. She sighed. "But I don't like the length. Or the neckline."

Sophie groaned. "Here, try this blue one." She handed Anya a blue dress, which was long and flowing. Not really the typical 1920's style, but it was still pretty. Anya held it up. It shimmered in the light, reflecting a lighter blue when she moved it around.

A few minutes later, she was standing before the mirror again. Anya smiled. "I like it Sophie, but it's not really in style."

"Oh, that doesn't matter!" a sales clerk smiled, coming up behind Anya. "That particular dress is very pretty. It's a new design just for this summer! We're expecting it to be very popular."

"And it looks très belle on you Anya." Sophie smiled.

Anya smiled. The dress followed her every movement, the sleeves came down tight to her elbow, then flowed out to her wrists in sparkling shimmers, and the neckline was curved just enough to be pretty but not reveal much.

"I think I'll take this one." Anya said decidedly. "It IS very pretty."

"Then it's settled!" Sophie beamed.

Within fifteen minutes, the dress and a new pair of shoes had been packaged and paid for.

"What now?" Anya asked brightly, turning to Sophie.

"Lunch?" Sophie suggested. "All this shopping has made me quite hungry!" Both girls laughed, then told the clerk they would be back later in the afternoon to pick the dress up, and walked out for a nice lunch.

~*~

Dimitri wandered back into the living room. He'd asked for the day off, mainly to help Anya, and now he had nothing to do. He sighed and sat down on the couch, and stared at the covered painting.

Dimitri began to fidget as he sat. He wondered what the painting looked like. Just like it did when she covered it up! he thought. But an overwhelming curiosity had built up, accompanied by utter boredom, and Dimitri finally couldn't stand the temptation any longer.

He slowly raised the cloth off the painting.

A smudge! Dimitri frowned. It was a small flaw, one bit of paint that hadn't quite dried when Anya had covered it up. Dimitri sat down and contemplated. Don't mess with it, he thought. She'll kill you. But Dimitri couldn't seem to listen to himself. Suddenly he grabbed a tube of green paint. Go figure the smudge would be on the leaf. Dimitri bit his tongue and began to work. He'd have it fixed in no time! And Anya wouldn't ever know the difference!

But thirty minutes later, the small smudge was still there. Only NOW, it wasn't quite as small. Dimitri panicked and grabbed a brush. He'd only made this worse! What had he been THINKING?! Dimitri turned to TRY and fix the slightly bigger smudge, which he'd created, but in doing so, he made a swipe with the brush and...

CREATED AN EVEN BIGGER MARK!

Dimitri almost screamed. He stood up and knocked the chair over. Oh geez, he was in trouble! Why had he messed with it!? Panicked, Dimitri grabbed the phone. Who to call? Vlad? No, Vlad couldn't paint. Camille! Cam! That was it! He'd know what to do! Dimitri quickly called his editor.

"Parisian Times, Camille Moulins speaking."

"CAM! It's Dimitri!"

"Dimitri?" Cam put his pen down. He grinned. "Don't tell me you want to come in and work on your day off!"

"No, no, it's nothing like that. Listen, I need some help here!"

"Yea, well I can't come over there! Some of us have to work today you know!" Cam smirked. He and Dimitri were good friends. Which probably had something to do with the fact that Dimitri was his best journalist. That, and Cam just liked Dimitri anyways.

"CAM, LISTEN!" Dimitri cried. "I'm in hot water! My wife did this painting for the Louvre Exhibition, and she went out to buy a dress..."

Cam shook his head. "Wait, don't tell me. You messed it up didn't you?"

"YES!"

"Why are you calling me? I'm a writer, not a painter! Come to think of it, why'd you mess with it? You're a writer too! Unless you write your articles in paint before you type them!" Cam grinned.

"Oh, VERY funny!" Dimitri growled. "Just give me the name of an artist!"

"Monet."

"NOOOO!" Dimitri yelled. "An artist to FIX this painting! I can't HIRE Monet! I don't make that much money! Unless you want to raise my salary in the next two seconds! I need someone who isn't well known and wouldn't mind touching up this minor mistake!"

Cam went silent.

"Hello, are you still there? Cam, answer me!" Dimitri cried, pacing the living room.

"MINOR mistake?"

Dimitri fell on the couch.

"Exactly HOW minor?" Cam grinned. He was deciding that this was a nice break for a day at the office. And amusing as well. Dimitri was always the one to have such fun adventures. Cam had accepted the fact that Dimitri's life was MUCH more interesting then his own shortly after Dimitri had been hired. And he loved it.

"That's not important." Dimitri snapped.

"I'd like to know exactly what you did to this painting!" Cam smirked.

"I messed it up. BAD, if you MUST know."

"An artist to help you fix it..." Cam rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmmm..."

"Cam, I need an answer like, NOW." Dimitri frowned. "I have not the SLIGHTEST idea when my wife will be home, and..."

"Abel Derain."

"WHO?"

"He's a very good artist. You know that painting in my office?"

"The one of the bridge, and the water..." Dimitri tried to remember.

"Yea, that one. Hang on, let me give you his number. He's nice, he'll do it for you. Besides, he's a good friend of mine. Just drop my name."

"I was planning on it."

"Yea, yea..." Cam began to sift through his desk for the phone number. After a few minutes, he supplied Dimitri with the phone number. "Just call him. Let me know what happens!"

"If I live that long." Dimitri muttered.

Cam laughed. "Thanks Dimitri, I needed the break today!"

"Very funny." Dimitri said. He hung the phone up before Cam could reply.

~*~

Dimitri almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the doorbell. He ran and opened the front door, slinging it back and staring out. A young bearded man stood before him. He smiled. "You must be Dimitri Leongard?"

"YES!" Dimitri cried, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. "Please, come it! You must be Abel Derain?"

"Oui! I am. Please. Call me Abel." The man sat his box of art supplies down on the floor. "You work for Camille?"

"Yes, I do." Dimitri said quickly. "You did a great job on the painting in his office!"

Abel nodded. "Yes, well, thank you! But really, we'll have to chat some other time about it. Right now, we have more important things. Like this painting you messed up."

Dimitri cringed. "Yea, well. Here it is." He lifted the cloth cover. Abel gasped loudly.

"Your wife, she is an excellent painter! But you, Monsieur Leongard, had best stick to writing. Look at this awful blob!" Abel quickly retrieved his brushes and set to work fixing the mistake. Dimitri stood nervously behind him, praying Anya wouldn't come home any time soon.

Abel turned around. "Please, do not stand behind me. It makes me nervous."

Dimitri nodded and stepped back towards the other side of the room. "Oh, of course. Right. I didn't mean to."

"And don't talk. I like to concentrate."

Dimitri sighed. "I'll just... Go in the kitchen!" He disappeared in the kitchen to find something to drink. About fifteen minutes later, Abel wandered in. Dimitri quickly stood up and put his glass down.

"Is it fixed?" he asked, sucking his breath in.

Abel laughed. "Oui, it is fixed. You will be fine Monsieur Leongard. But I suggest you NOT tell your wife?" He smiled, and Dimitri caught the drift.

"Right, of course. Here. Thank you. You just saved my life." Dimitri paid Abel for the service. The artist smiled and accepted Dimitri's money.

"Merci!" he grinned. "I KNOW everything will be fine. Zee painting is perfect once more. And I hope your wife wins zee Exhibition. Au Revior!"

With that, Abel was gone. Dimitri exhaled and sank into the chair. A slow smile spread on his face. "Well, you did it again." he murmured to himself. Anya wouldn't ever know what happened. Dimitri smiled and picked up the phone to call Cam. His boss would be interested to know what happened. And happy that his best journalist was still alive.

The one thing Dimitri DIDN'T think to do, was to look at the painting again. And most unfortunately, Anya didn't uncover it for viewing when she arrived back home. She was too busy thinking about her dress. Somehow, it became the last thought on everyone's minds...

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