The Matisse Puzzle in two short stories

Earlier today, I took over A Literary Perusal on Facebook, where, among other things, I offered to give away an Amazon Gift Card to the author of the most interesting short story containing the words "Matisse" and "puzzle.' I did this competition last week as well, if you remember. Jennifer Theriot was the winner that time, and, as a result of her success, she was invited to contribute a material to the present blog. Just like last week, the story was expected to be 100 words in length, or thereabouts. Today's winner, Gabriela Sin, was duly acknowledged as the author of the winning story, but after the end of the contest another story arrived, which also caught my attention. It had been authored by Belle Marie, who was only slightly late.
I decided to publish both stories here, on The Matisse Puzzle blog, where visitors can read them and, if feeling compelled, pass some comments on them.
Without further ado, here are the two stories:

Gabriela Sin

"He was a beautiful Matisse and I a spectator, always learning something new from him. He would never stop being my own unique puzzle to solve, and I his student to teach. No words would need to pass through us, for us to understand what the other wanted. He would always be there for me and I for him. It was at that moment, walking down the aisle in my father's arms, that I knew that the smiling man I saw in front of me would forever be my other half."

Belle Marie

 “You’re impossible!” She threw her hands up in defeat.
“I prefer to think of myself like a puzzle. Put the pieces together.” He trailed off as he wrapped his arms around her and tried to steal a kiss.
“And what? Make a Matisse? Beautifully complicated?” Lily tried to pull away but his warm hold was too much to resist.
“You don’t have to understand art for it to be art,” Luke murmured as he kissed her softly.“I prefer to think of myself like a puzzle. Put the pieces together.” He trailed off as he wrapped his arms around her and tried to steal a kiss.“And what? Make a Matisse? Beautifully complicated?” Lily tried to pull away but his warm hold was too much to resist.“You don’t have to understand art for it to be art,” Luke murmured as he kissed her softly.“Impossible,” she grumbled.“According to you –  beautiful too.”He chuckled as she rolled her eyes. He had won this round. So damn stubborn.

As it's easily noticeable, the two stories are very different. While the first one is narrative in nature, the second one is based almost exclusively on dialogues (and well done too). However, they have something in common: a special clarity and an inclination toward tender sentiments.
Well done both Gabriela Sin and Belle Marie.

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