Page 12 of Becoming His Muse
After pulling on his boxers, Elion moisturized before getting dressed. He exited his bedroom and went to the kitchen, where he found Clara placing different ingredients on the island.
“Hey, how was your study group?” Elion questioned, looking over the things she’d laid out. It seemed that she wanted to make grilled chicken pitas for lunch.
“Hey, Uncle Elion. It was much better. The guy I was telling you about last time didn’t join us. So, it was much more productive.”
“That’s good,” Elion responded, going over and washing his hands.
“I’m hoping he’ll continue to be absent from it. We don’t like to tell anyone they can’t join the group because it’s all about helping one another, but he makes it hard for everyone to focus and get things done.”
“Sometimes, you have to think of what’s best for the whole. So, if you all banding together and asking him not to return is best for the group, it may need to be done,” Elion informed her, drying his hands off.
As they made lunch, Clara fretted over her finals coming up next month and a paper she had to write as one of them. Elion listened, giving appropriate responses, but he knew his niece well enough to know that she was her own worst critic. She’d worry and push herself when she would ultimately do fantastic in the end.
However, Elion would never say that to her because it would seem as if he was invalidating her worries and making light ofthe situation when he knew that her education was essential to her.
After making lunch, they grabbed their plates and a drink and entered the living room. Once seated, Elion handed Clara the remote and allowed her to choose what they would watch since he’d chosen the last time.
She chose a comedy special, and as they watched it, Elion came to the conclusion that either he was just too old to find the comedian funny or his niece, being of her generation, didn’t require much to make her laugh.
Once they finished their lunch, they finished the special before the two of them returned to the kitchen and cleaned it together. When they were finished, Clara headed to her apartment over the garage, and Elion returned to his workshop. His creative juices seemed to be still flowing, and he wanted to finish the sculpture he’d been working on.
He decided to smooth it over one more time before polishing and varnishing it. He’d chosen marble to work with because he wanted the sculpture to look sleek, almost prim, but without losing the element’s natural inspiration.
A couple of hours later, when he’d finished, Elion looked it over. The varnish would take a bit to set, but he was pleased with the outcome.
Olani took the glass of wine that Xola was offering her. They were seated in her cousin’s living room after having dinner together. She’d been sitting on a request for another date with Elion, and she hadn’t yet accepted it. She’d been waiting until after her date that was scheduled for thatSaturday evening. However, after waiting almost an hour for them to show up, Olani decided she’d been stood up.
So, she and Xola, who’d been present on each of her dates watching from a safe distance, left. Olani told her she would pick up some takeout and meet at Xola’s house. While they’d been eating, Olani received a communication from the site. It was Raymond, the man she was supposed to meet that evening, informing her that he’d been called into emergency surgery and didn’t have time to let her know ahead of time. He apologized and asked to reschedule.
When she sent her survey to him, she knew he was a surgeon, and the possibility of him having to conduct emergency surgery wasn’t a slim one. Olani decided to reschedule with him, but she wouldn’t give him two options like the last time. She would give him a time, date, and place, and it would be up to him to make it work. If he couldn’t and work required him again, she would understand that, and they could focus their energies on other people.
Olani had also gone ahead and accepted the second date with Elion. She wouldn’t make him wait an entire week just because someone else couldn’t keep their date with her. Olani confirmed for the upcoming Wednesday, and true to his word, Elion suggested taking her to a pottery class.
“So we didn’t discuss your dinner date Wednesday,” Xola responded. “But it looked like you were having fun.”
Olani took a sip from her glass. “I was. He didn’t immediately try to get me to ditch dinner and have sex in his car, and he asked questions about my work as if it was one of the most interesting things he’d ever heard of.” She paused for a moment. “And it didn’t feel like forced interest.”
“That’s always a good sign. Elion’s an artist, right?”
“He is. His focus is sculpting, but I get the feeling if he wanted to, he could do anything else artistic.”
“How old is he?” Xola questioned after taking a drink from her glass.
“He’s thirty-four, no children, but he has two nieces and a nephew.”
“So, he’s only a few years older than you are. A couple of years older than me, so he isn’t one looking for some young arm candy,” Xola responded with a decisive nod.
Olani laughed at that. Elion hadn’t been looking for anything at all, considering he wasn’t the one who filled out his survey and simply hadn’t seen a reason not to go on the date once it was confirmed. However, she was glad his date with her changed his mind.
“We’re going on another date on Wednesday. He wants to take me to a pottery class.”
“Pottery sounds fun. What studio and what time? I’ll be sure to be there.” Xola responded.
Olani shook her head. “We’ll be in public again, and he said something about renting one of their private rooms so he could teach me. So, you won’t be able to see us.”
“That doesn’t matter. As long as I can see you come out of the room, get in your car, and head home, I’m all good,” Xola told her. “Besides, you were the one that said I could come to make sure you were safe. I’m extending that past the first date.”
“Fine,” Olani conceded, taking another drink from her glass. “I’ll text you the place and time.”
