Page 51 of Becoming His Muse
“Fine,” Clara conceded, forking a large portion of ramen in her mouth. “There are two commission requests on the website. They came in yesterday, so I figured you hadn’t seen them, and two sales came in this morning for those feather pieces you did a couple of weeks ago. I’ll pack them up later this evening and drop them off for shipment on my way into town in the morning.”
Elion nodded. “Thanks. I’ll look at the requests tomorrow. I’m going to enjoy the rest of my day off.”
Clara stopped the fork halfway to her lips and turned to look at him with a shocked expression. “Yeah, you’re definitely getting some. I need to meet this woman because you just said, “day off.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard you utter those two words in any combination that signified not working.”
He rolled his eyes because she was being overdramatic. Well, slightly. He took time off work, mostly when he had a creative block, but he enjoyed what he did. He’d turned something he was passionate about into a career. So, it never felt like work to him until he approached the exhibit deadline.
“Speaking of this woman. Have you chosen where you’re going on your final trip?”
“I have.”
“Well, where are you taking her?” Clara probed.
“Somewhere you will not be, my dear niece,” Elion responded, standing.
“Rude,” she replied as he walked out of the living room and to his bedroom.
He changed into a pair of swim trunks, grabbed a towel, and went outside. Placing the towel on one of the lounge chairs, he dove in headfirst. The initial shock of the cold water surrounding him was short-lived, and he surfaced a few seconds later.
Clara asking about the final trip he and Olani were supposed to take their last week, according to the dating website, had him thinking about what that meant for them.
He liked Olani. Enjoyed spending time with her and getting to know her. He’d fallen into the habit of texting her in the mornings and FaceTiming her to tell her goodnight. They were in a relationship, plain and simple, but where would it go from there?
The premise and end goal of the website was clear, and it hadn’t changed. Is that where they would find themselves in two weeks when they spent that week together uninterrupted?
He was asking himself that question when, ultimately, it was his call to make, was it not? That was unless he asked, and she said no. However, he didn’t see that happening, were his emotions to sway him that way. She’d joined the site looking for marriage, for a husband. He’d joined because his niece had been minding his business, but he hadn’t been looking. They hadn’t become members with the same goals, though he’d stayed on the site because he wanted to date her and get to know her.
Elion sank back under the water. Dwelling on it would not give him the answer, and honestly, he didn’t think he would have it until it was meant for him to, regardless of how long it took to come to him.
21
Elion booked tickets for the last event he wanted them to take part in on their week-long trip. He was proud of himself for having it all planned out and set a week and a half before they were supposed to leave. She wouldn’t know where they were going until they made it to the airport, and he was okay with that, but she would have a clue of the destination type when he went over to help her pack.
With that being finished, he turned his attention to his next exhibit. He’d chosen the artist he wanted to have featured with him and contacted them a few days ago. They’d been excited about the opportunity, stating they hadn’t been in an exhibit before, which he thought was tragic because their work was terrific.
He gave the young lady the theme of the sculptures he planned on showing when she asked, but he told her she in no way had to create her paintings around it. He also told her thathis team would take care of all the planning and help her get her pieces to the venue and set up the evening before.
Now, he needed to create at least two more pieces. He had six but wanted to add a few more. It wouldn’t be hard for him to sketch and develop them. The pieces for this show were coming along much easier than they had for his last few, and he was grateful for that.
He placed his tablet aside and headed to his workroom. Elion decided that he’d use his tablet to plan their trip, His niece was nosey, and if he used the computer in his office, which she had access to for orders, he was sure she’d try to find out where he was taking Olani. It wouldn’t be a big deal if she did, but he preferred to keep it to himself. Clara told him he should be the one to plan the trip, and he wanted to do it without input from anyone else.
He grabbed his sketchbook and sat down at the table. He flipped to a clean page and let his imagination lead the drawing. The other exhibit pieces were covered and off to one side of the room. The exhibit was in five weeks, and like he always did with any upcoming event, he turned off commissions on his website. He liked to give himself the six weeks leading up to finish the last one or two sculptures he planned or to cast any that were done.
As he drew, he made a mental note to buy his and Clara’s tickets. They were going to visit their family the week before his exhibit. He hadn’t seen them since the beginning of the year when he’d had an exhibit there. Elion supposed he should get ready for them to question him about his dating life. He hadn’t told them he had met anyone, but he didn’t put it past Clara to have told his mother.
She was close to her grandmother, and instead of bringing up something right when she heard it. His mother was notorious for holding onto the information until she saw him face to face. he had never been a fan of that because it felt like being blindsided.However, he would be prepared for her this time were it to happen.
He spent the next hour and a half sketching the design to his liking. As with the others, this one came out easily, and he knew that sculpting it would be the same way. It would flow from him with little effort. Instead of starting the sculpture right away when the sketch was finished, Elion drew out the final one. It would allow him to make them one after another without stopping to think about the next design.
He checked his watch. Olani was meeting with a potential client, and he wanted to see how it went. She wasn’t off work yet, and he figured it could wait until they spoke that night. Until then, he turned his focus back to the design before him.
Elion walked out of his en suite, running a towel over his hair later that night. He tossed it to the side as he picked up his phone and lotion from the dresser and went to sit on the bed. He pulled up Olani’s contact, pressed dial, and put it on speaker before laying it on the bedside table. She answered it after the third ring.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Sweetheart. How was your day?”
“Hey, baby. It was pretty good. Were you able to work on your sculpture?”
