Page 9 of Becoming His Muse
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Elion stated once they were both seated. “I apologize for being late. Traffic into the city was terrible for a Wednesday evening.”
That caught Olani’s attention. She’d sent her advertisement to a sixty-mile radius, so she wondered how far he’d driven.
“Oh, you don’t stay in town?” she questioned.
“I stay just outside of it. I like living close enough to the city that I can get to it quickly, but I also enjoy the seclusion.”
“I can understand that,” Olani responded. “You’re a sculptor. I assume the seclusion helps with the creative process.”
He nodded. “It does. The quiet allows me to get lost in what I’m doing, though it doesn’t seem to be helping at the moment.”
Olani was about to ask him why that was when their server approached the table asking for their drink order. They’d come when she was first seated, but she’d asked them to return when the other part of her party arrived.
She turned her attention to him, allowing him to order, only for him to defer the choice back to her. Deciding to surprise them both since one of his answers had been that he enjoyed trying something new, she asked their server to bring them a bottle of their most popular wine.
When they were alone again, she turned back to Elion to find he was already looking at her.
“You said that being secluded wasn’t helping you work. Are you having an artistic block?” Olani questioned.
“I suppose you could say that,” Elion responded. “I’m attempting to start on pieces for my next exhibit, but I’m not fairing too well.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Elion chuckled. “Don’t be. I tend to run into blocks now and then. Especially when trying to start a new project so close to my last one.”
“How long ago was your last project? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“The last exhibit was about a month ago.”
Olani thought for a moment. “I’m not an artist, and I won’t pretend to know anything about timelines when it comes to work as one, but that sounds quick. Maybe you need a break. A few weeks to focus on something different, and then you’ll be able to get back into the swing of things.”
Olani watched as Elion stared at her for a moment. He didn’t say anything, and she thought she might have overstepped somehow. Here she was, meeting him for the first time and trying to tell him what to do when he probably had his process of doing things.
“I apologize. It wasn’t my place to get into your business.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s just that Clara, my niece, always tells me that. It sounds different coming from someone else.” Elion shook his head slightly. “But enough about me. You run a temp agency. Tell me about it.”
Olani weighed what she wanted to say for a moment. Usually, when she’d discuss her work with someone she was out on a date with, it always went the same way. So, she figured she’d give the cliff notes version.
“There isn’t much to say about it. I started it right out of college, and my main focus is to find everyone that registers with us permanent employment while sending them on temporary jobs if I have to until that happens.”
At that moment, their server returned with the bottle of wine and poured them each a glass, asking if they were ready to order. They were not since neither had looked at the menu, so they asked for a few more minutes.
When the server left them, she picked up her menu and looked over it. She’d been here a couple of times, but she wanted to try something new. It only took her a few moments to choosewhat she wanted, and when she had, she placed the menu back on the table.
“So, you started your business out of college,” Elion continued where the conversation left off. “What made you want to go into job placement?”
Olani paused for a moment. She hadn’t expected him to ask her that. If she were honest, she hadn’t expected him to ask her any follow-up questions. What she did usually wasn’t that interesting to most people.
“I saw several of the people I went to college with graduate and still have difficulty finding a job. I didn’t want that to be me, and I wanted to help people in their situations. So, it just seemed like a good idea.”
“Was it challenging to get started?” Elion inquired. “I know that you had to gather businesses. Did that take you a while?”
Olani shook her head. “No, I started gathering businesses my last year in college and contracting with them. I was upfront in letting them know the timeframe I was looking at to get started. I also started collecting job candidates even though they hadn’t graduated yet.”
“That was smart, and it makes a lot of sense. Colleges are the best places to find job candidates.”
Their server returned, and they placed their orders. When they were left alone again, Olani drank the red wine their server had selected. She looked at the bottle, mentally noting the name to buy some for herself. She’d never been a fan of dry red wine, and this semi-sweet was perfect.
