Page 21 of Becoming His Muse
He leaned back in the chair and stared at her momentarily. He found himself doing it often when he was with her. She was beautiful, plain, and simple. A vision all on her own.
He hadn’t noticed that the same employee had returned to take away the last dish and leave mints until he heard the lid being placed back on the tray. Elion grabbed one and popped it into his mouth while Olani grabbed the other.
He looked at his watch and found that it was a few minutes after ten. He placed his hands on her waist, standing. He knew she had to work tomorrow and didn’t want to keep her out too late.
As they began to head toward the entry they’d come through before, he saw Shaw beside the service building. The other man was on the phone, and Elion waved at him, Shaw waving back.
Once they were at their cars, Elion pulled his phone from his back pocket. This was officially the end of their fourth date, which meant that by the site’s standards, they were free to exchange numbers as long as they continued to input their dates into the site.
“I think it’s about time that we exchange numbers.”
“It’s as if you read my mind,” Olani responded, pulling her phone from her clutch. The two exchanged phones to put their numbers in.
When they passed them back, Elion slipped his back into his pocket before leaning down and kissing her lips softly. The last thing he needed was to get carried away the way he had upon first seeing her, the way he had after their last date.
“I’ll see you this weekend,” she stated as she opened her car door.
“I’ll call you,” he responded. It was better for him to be honest with them both because he knew he would call her before they saw one another again.
“Okay,” she replied, and Elion kissed her one last time before watching her get into her vehicle. He stepped back and watched her as she left before going to his car.
Sliding behind the wheel, he started it before pulling out of the parking space and then out of the lot, heading toward his house. He enjoyed his date with Olani, but then he’d also enjoyed all the ones before. Tomorrow, he’d pick up Clara’s present. It was time he thanked her for minding his business.
10
Elion pulled up outside of the cooking class ten minutes before it started. He’d chosen a time earlier in the day because those classes were smaller than those taught at night. Clara questioned where he was going, and when Elion told her he was just heading out for a bit to get some inspiration, which wasn’t really a lie, she asked if she could come with him. He had to remind her that he got inspired best when he wasn’t distracted. At least, that had once been the case. Now, it seemed he got inspired when distracted by a specific woman.
He decided he would take Clara out to dinner tomorrow, give her the gift he’d gotten, and let her know that her little ploy worked because he was doing what she’d set out for him to do. Date. Elion also knew his niece well enough to know that she would put two and two together, and he’d much rather tell her first. She didn’t catch an attitude with him often, but when shedid, it rivaled his older sister’s, and he never wanted any part of that.
Elion had only been sitting in his car for a few minutes when he saw Olani pull into the parking lot. He got out and headed to where she was parking in an empty space a few feet away from his. He opened her door for her as she turned the car off, extending his hand to help her out.
His eyes roamed over her, slowly taking her in. They’d been out several times, and she looked just as beautiful each time he saw her. It didn’t matter what she was wearing; she made it seem like the best thing he’d ever seen on a woman.
Today was no different. Olani was dressed in pale-yellow high-waisted shorts and a black ribbed knit tank top tucked into them. She’d paired the outfit with sneakers of the same color. Her coils were pulled on top of her head, secured with a silk yellow scarf. Elion thought it should be a crime for something so simple to look so good.
“Hello, Sweetheart,” he greeted before leaning down and kissing her. She’d told him she didn’t mind if that was the way he wanted to greet her, and he had no intention of disappointing either of them by not doing so.
“Hey,” Olani greeted with a smile when they pulled apart.
Elion allowed her to lock her car doors and place her phone into her back pocket before he took her hand in his and led the way inside the building. There were only two other couples in attendance. This class would have a total of five, and there were still a few minutes left before it started, so he knew others could still show up.
They greeted the instructor and the other two couples, and Elion moved them to a station away from the others. Once the class started, it would give them more privacy to talk to one another.
Elion looked the stations over. All of them were identical and housed a stove, a small refrigerator, a sink, and two counters with drawers on each with open bottoms for the cooking utensils. Olani opened one of the drawers, and they found cookware inside.
One other couple walked in right at one o’clock as the instructor went to flip the class in session sign.
“Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Duncan, and I will be your instructor. Today, we’re going to make two different desserts. We’ll start simple with some fudge and then move on to mini Damson crumbles. Everything you’ll need can be found in your refrigerators.”
They took out the ingredients Duncan listed and showed them along with the necessary cookware. When he signed them up for the class, Elion didn’t know which desserts they were going to make, but he enjoyed chocolate, so he wouldn’t complain that they were making fudge. It had also been a while since he’d had any.
As they followed Duncan’s instructions on making the fudge, Olani sparked up a conversation.
“Did you find the tool you were looking for last night?”
Elion turned his attention to her as he continuously stirred the melting chocolate chips into the sweetened condensed milk. He’d called her the evening before to talk while he sketched the design for a sculpture. Clara was out with friends, so he didn’t have to worry about her walking in on him mid-conversation while he was in his studio. He’d been looking for his 4B pencil, wanting to give a softer look to the sketch because it helped him determine how natural or sleek he’d make the actual sculpture.
“I did not,” Elion responded. He’d used the 5B instead, but it bugged him that he didn’t know where the other one was. He was meticulous with keeping up with his tools. Whether that was sculpting equipment or his sketch pencils and pens. “It may bewith a random drawing pad somewhere. I’ll buy another one if I can’t find it.”
