Page 95 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

“Your heart appears to be functioning normally, and there are no signs of any new abnormalities or issues.”

I look up as the doctor starts cleaning the gel off my chest. A rush of relief washes over me once his words finally hit me.

“Yeah?” I sit up and put my shirt back on.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” he nods. “But if you start to feel more tired than normal, please let us know.”

“Thank you,” both my mum and I say simultaneously.

As soon as we leave the appointment, my mum whirls around and hugs me. “No news is good news, right?”

“Yeah, see?” I say, smiling at her as she pulls away. “I told you I was fine.”

“Right,” she says with a relieved sigh. “Do you want to have dinner with me and Philip?”

I grimace. It’s not that I don’t like the man; I’m just not close to him. He was cool with me at first, but then he started giving me weird vibes. My mum told me he came home late due to his job and would often smell off.

It was not like another woman’s perfume, but it was something weird, like iron or sometimes smoke. When I asked him about it, he laughed and said he needed to shower more.

Weirdo.

“I have plans tonight,” I lie. My plans are to stay home and browse on my phone while I lay on the couch.

My mum’s face falls, making me feel like an overgrown ass.

“Maybe next time?” She asks hopefully.

“Sure,” I say, my phone vibrating with another text notification. I ignore it so I could focus on my mum.

She turns to walk away but I quickly stop her. “It’s only 1:00 PM. Do you want to grab lunch?”

Somehow, my lunch date with my mum bled into the evening, and I look at the time to see it's already 6:15 PM. After I reject dinner with her and my stepdad, I quickly drive home and throw myself on the couch like I originally intended.

Fuck, I’m tired.

Exhausted even. I feel like I just ran a mile, and my muscles feel sore even though I haven’t lifted them in months. Groaning, I pull my phone out of my pocket and scroll through my messages, realizing I left Briar’s texts unanswered.

Crazy Migraine:

-Either you’re ignoring me again, or you’re super busy. Either way, I shall continue chatting with my BFF4L, Rurik’s Phone.

-Hey, Rurik’s Phone. How are you? I’m doing fantastic. Thank you so much for asking me.

-Since you’re Rurik’s phone, maybe you can answer a few questions for me. Like… what’s Rurik’s favorite color?

-Who is his favorite artist?

-Favorite place to travel?

-What’s his favorite thing to paint besides landscapes?

-What does he think of me?

-Does he miss me?

For fucks sake, this woman. She’s definitely crazy. A certified psycho.

I close my eyes with a groan, pinching the skin between my eyes to relieve the headache I can feel already forming.

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