Page 3 of Becoming His Muse
“Barely,” Elion responded. She wouldn’t be able to buy liquor until next year, so technically, a kid to him. “Second, dating would relax you.”
“Or stress me, which I have no intention of allowing to happen because I don’t have time to meet people. Work keeps me busy.”
“Then maybe you should join a dating site or something.”
Elion swallowed the sushi he’d just eaten. “If I don’t have time to meet someone, what makes you think I have time to date, period?”
“If you say so,” Clara responded, and he hoped she would drop the subject, but he knew that she would more than likely bring it up again. In those times, he wished she hadn’t gotten so much of his sister’s personality. Her stubbornness, in particular.
“Eat your sushi. I have a private commission I need to get started on this afternoon.”
Clara nodded and returned to telling him about a paper she had to write for one of her classes as they ate. Elion found his eyes drifting to where the server had stood once more before focusing on the conversation with his niece.
When they finished their food, they threw their trash away and left the restaurant. The drive to the house took half an hour. Elion preferred to live slightly outside of city limits.
He entered the house while Clara went to the apartment over the garage. When she’d moved in with him during her freshman year of college, she wanted some sort of independence, so Elion hadn’t forced her to live in the house but instead told her if she wanted to live in the apartment, she could.
It worked out perfectly when she started working for him two years ago. That way, when they irritated each other regarding work, they could separate in different areas.
Elion went to his studio, turning on some music. He pulled up his email and went over the client’s vision for the commissioned sculpture. Typically, he didn’t take requests of this nature. However, this was one of his long-term clients, and they had spent undeniably large sums of money with him. So, Elion had made an exception since he stated it was a present for someone.
Grabbing some materials with an image in mind, Elion got down to work, hoping what he saw intersected with what his client envisioned.
2
“You did what?!” Elion questioned. He’d heard exactly what Clara said, but he was hoping that she would follow up with “just kidding” or “it’s a joke” the second time around.
However, as she nibbled on her lower lip, a sign that she was nervous, he knew she was not joking. He couldn’t fathom what made her do it, and a large part of him didn’t want to know.
“Look, I know you’re upset, but I figured it couldn’t hurt,” she responded. “You said you didn’t have time for dating, and this takes a bit of the guesswork out of it.”
“Clara, you submitted an application for me to be someone’s husband. That’s beyond dating,” he told her. Elion failed to see how his niece didn’t realize this wasn’t a good idea.
He knew that she was young and impulsive, and while she’d been nagging him now and then about going on dates, he hadn’t thought that she would take it into her hands and do somethinglike this. Signing him up for a regular dating site was one thing; yes, he’d still be upset about it. However, signing him up for a marriage site was in a league of its own in the reckless department for Clara.
Clara sighed. “It isn’t like they match you with someone, and you have to marry them right away. Thereisa dating process. It’s twelve weeks, and the dates are set up by and through the site. In week six, there is a weekend trip, and the last date is a week long vacation. That’s when you decide.”
“Are you listening to yourself?” Elion questioned. “Who knows whether or not they want to get married in three months?”
“People have gotten married a lot sooner than that, and you don’t have to marry at the end of the time frame. Both parties can walk away. Besides, they give you date options that the two of you can choose from to help you get to know one another,” Clara responded, and Elion knew she was trying to pitch the idea to him, make him think she’d done him a favor.
“That isn’t the point, Clara.”
“If you’re worried about the information I submitted, I didn’t make anything up and just put things about you.”
“I don’t care, Clara. You shouldn’t have done that. My love life is none of your business.”
“You mean your lack thereof, and fine. You probably won’t get any matches anyway,” she mumbled before standing and walking out of his art room.
Elion leaned against the table, rubbing his temple. The whole situation had managed to give him a headache in under ten minutes. He knew that Clara had meant well, but it wasn’t her place, and the fact that he’d told her, on several occasions, that he didn’t have time to date didn’t mean that she was supposed to take it into her own hands. She was more than likely correct,though. He doubted he’d get any matches, so he wasn’t going to worry about it.
Elion gave the sculpture he’d just finished a once over. He’d need to do some buffing and smoothing, but he was satisfied with how it came out, especially since he’d been following someone else’s request. He’d asked them to give him three weeks, but he’d been able to do it in a little over two. So, he’d get it ready to ship out once he put the finishing touches on it.
Exiting his workroom and going to the kitchen, Elion opened the refrigerator. He hadn’t eaten since that morning and figured he’d make himself a sandwich. He grabbed all the ingredients he needed and a bottle of water.
After making sandwiches and putting everything away, Elion grabbed his plate and took it into the living room. Turning the television on, he left it on whatever channel it was and began to eat his lunch, albeit a late one since it was almost four in the afternoon.
When he finished, he planned on attempting to start the first piece of his next collection. His team was still bugging him about it, even though Clara had been doing an excellent job of putting the next meeting off by telling them he was working on commissioned pieces, which wasn’t a lie.
