Page 64 of Becoming His Muse
“WasI the only person you were dating? Sounds like past tense to me.”
Elion refrained from answering as he saw their server approaching over her shoulder. They placed the food on the table before them and removed the covers before leaving them again. Silence sat between them, and he had a thought, a different way he wanted to approach this.
“We should eat, then I want to take you somewhere else to finish this conversation.”
He wasn’t sure she’d agree, but he’d do what was necessary to get her to.
Why had she agreed to go somewhere else to continue their conversation? Better yet, why had she not turned around when she realized where he was leading her? Since they’d both driven to Shaw’s vineyard, she’d followed him to their next destination. She’d only been there once, but she’d known he was leading her to his house the moment they’d turned onto the street.
“This man has some nerve,” she mumbled to herself as she watched him get out of his vehicle.
Olani was still contemplating whether she wanted to back out of the driveway and go home when he walked to her door. She paused briefly before letting the window down.
“What am I doing here?”
“I want to show you something.”
“I’ve seen your bedroom. I don’t plan on seeing it again,” she responded, glaring.
“Then it’s a good thing that isn’t what I’m trying to show you,” Elion countered. “Ten minutes. That's all I’m asking for.”
She rolled her window up, turned the car off, and stepped out. “Ten minutes.”
Olani followed him to the front door and then inside. He turned on the light in the living room, put his keys on the hook by the door, and continued deeper into the house. She followed him, and they stopped in front of a set of double doors. He flipped the switch outside the doors before opening them.
She looked around as she stepped inside his studio. Sculptures lined the room. Larger ones standing against the walls, smaller ones on the abundance of shelves housed in the large room. There was a drawing table and a large covered piece in what she assumed was his designated work space. On the far wall sat nine more covered pieces that were smaller, around three feet tall, she would guess.
Olani approached the shelves closest to her and took in the sculptures that occupied them. She was at a loss for words; she’d only ever seen sculptures that unique and beautiful in a modern art museum. She’d assumed from the way he spoke about his craft, the amount of work he put into it, that he was good, but she hadn’t known to what extent. His pieces were museum-worthy.
He allowed her to look around the room uninterrupted, but she was aware of his eyes on her the entire time. She moved from one shelf to another, taking in all the unique pieces.
“Are those your exhibit pieces?” she asked him, nodding to the covered ones.
“They are,” he responded, moving from where he’d been stationed, watching her. “No one’s seen them yet,” he added as he walked over to the first one and removed the covering.
It didn’t take Olani but a second, and her eyes widened. “Is that…” she trailed off.
“A pottery table with an owl mug, yes,” he finished for her before uncovering the other five.
Olani wasn’t sure of what to say as she took in the beautiful pieces. From an outside perspective, one would ask how the sculptures in front of her went together and why he’d put them in one collection, but to her, it was apparent. The pottery table with an owl mug on top, the zip lining couple, the wine bottle with a vineyard on the label, the drone, the dancing couple, the lovebirds, the panther, the castle, and the boat. They were all dates they’d gone on.
She hadn’t realized he’d uncovered the largest one until he placed his hand on her waist and turned her to look at it.
“Those are for the exhibit, but this one is mine. I started it before we left. I finished it a few days ago.”
Whatever deity that had been on her side, helping her keep her emotions in check, left her, and Olani found herself crying.
He’d sculpted her as a ballerina. The skirt flared as if she was mid-twirl in a pirouette position. The natural hair framed a face that looked exactly like hers. She opened her mouth but couldn’t form words. She swallowed and tried again.
“How did you…” She didn’t have to finish for him to understand what she was asking.
Elion stepped in front of her, taking her face in his hands. He wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “I’ve memorized every dip, curve, and groove. Every beautiful line that forms you, everything that you are. I could sculpt you with my eyes closed and find you in a crowd of people while wearing a blindfold by breathing your air.”
She had to fight back the tears that wanted to spill again from his words, and while hers seemed to fail her, he continued.
“There isn’t another person on this planet that I can do that with, that I want to do that with. I asked if Iwasthe only person you were dating then because I know I’m the only one you’re dating now and will be the only one for the rest of our lives.” He took a step back and held a box up between them. “This isn’t what you wanted, but it is a promise that it’s where I want us to go.”
He opened the box, and her fighting her tears a moment ago was rendered useless. Inside sat a ring with a platinum band, an infinity diamond design across the top, and a larger diamond sitting in the middle.
