Page 23 of Becoming His Muse
She nodded. “Listen, I was minding my own business. Nobody told her to start that fire. Least of all me, and I was not going to look like a guilty party when she eventually got caught.”
“And yet, you still got in trouble.”
“Yes, but at least I didn’t get my ass whooped, and that was all I cared about. Besides, Xola was always doing something she didn’t have any business doing when we were kids. So, I chose what shenanigans to get involved with and which to steer clear of carefully. That was a steer clear moment.”
They finished their food and continued walking the path until they made it back to his car. They grabbed the desserts and went over to one of the picnic tables. Elion went to a nearby ice cream truck to ask for some spoons.
The desserts were delicious. Olani had never been a fan of just chocolate, but the fudge was good. She enjoyed the crumble far more. So, when it was time for them to go, she told Elion he could take the fudge since he seemed to enjoy it so much and asked if she could take the rest of the crumble, to which he agreed.
When they made it back to where her car was, he got out and helped her out. She was coming to see that he was quite the gentleman, which added more brownie points in his favor that just kept racking up.
Before allowing her to get into her car, he cupped the side of her face and kissed her. Olani allowed him to lead the kiss because she was coming to realize that it didn’t matter how he kissed her; he was always doing so with a purpose, and she enjoyed it.
They said their goodbyes when they pulled apart, and she slipped into her car, starting it. She backed out as Elion watched and headed home. She needed to come up with packages for their weekend getaway that was coming up. While she was a bit nervous about going away with him for the weekend, she was also excited. She hadn’t been on a trip with someone she was dating in years and was looking forward to it.
11
Elion sat across the table from Clara. He’d brought her to one of her favorite restaurants. He’d used her finishing her paper for one of her finals as an excuse to do so. She’d finished a week and a half before it was due to be submitted, and he knew she was relieved to have it completed. Now, she could focus on studying for her other finals that were coming up next week.
It was a Tuesday evening, and the restaurant was filled with people who came for happy hour and the food. They had their drinks and were waiting for their food. He was listening to Clara tell him about plans she had for the summer and which weeks she would be gone to visit her mother and siblings.
“It looks like you’ve been able to work on a new sculpture. I take that to mean you’ve gotten over your creative block for the most part,” Clara stated after pausing in conversation to take a drink of her lemonade.
“I have,” Elion responded. “I’ve finished two pieces.”
Clara got excited. “Are they for the next exhibit, or are they singular pieces for bidding?”
When Elion finished the first piece, his plan was to add it to his website for collectors to bid on. However, that changed with the completion of the second piece. He hadn’t done it on purpose, but the pieces were of the same style, and he decided he would continue in that fashion for his next exhibit sale.
“They’re for the next exhibit.”
“Do you know how many pieces will be in this collection?”
Elion shrugged. “I have no idea.”
When their food arrived, the two continued to converse as they ate. Clara informed Elion of some things she wanted to implement once she graduated after her upcoming fall semester regarding planning his exhibits and promoting them when she took over.
Elion listened to her ideas, and he admitted they were good ones. He just didn’t know if he was going to allow her to take on so much. He knew that she wanted to, and she was confident that she could do it, but Elion had a team for a reason. While most of them went through Clara, he knew her taking on the planning and promoting would be a lot.
Clara was an intelligent young woman, and she did a great job at staying on top of his schedule, guest teaching, which he only did once or twice a year, and keeping up with pieces for auction, the winners, and making sure they got packaged and shipped on time. Elion would give her the opportunity to try since that was what she wanted to do, and they would go from there after she graduated.
When they were finished with the main course, they ordered dessert. While they were waiting, he pulled a slim jewelry box from his pocket. He held it out across the table to Clara. His niece looked at it for a few seconds before taking it.
Elion watched her open it, and Clara smiled at the charm bracelet inside. There were only three charms on it, which were her initials. He’d seen her looking at it on her laptop a few weeks ago when they’d been eating lunch together at home.
“This is pretty Uncle Elion. Thank you, but what’s it for?”
He leaned back in his seat. It wasn’t that he didn’t buy Clara things now and then; he tended to save more expensive things for her birthday or Christmas. He’d paid quite a bit for the bracelet he knew she’d probably been saving for. Even though he knew that she could afford it at any point with what she made, Clara had always been wise with her money.
“You minding my business has worked out for me. So, this is a thank you.”
“Me minding your business?” Clara questioned, confused for only a second before realization dawned on her. “You went on a date with your match!” she stated excitedly.
Elion found himself chuckling at how excited his niece seemed by his dating life. He wouldn’t put it past her to have been trying to figure out how to get him to do so since she’d started college. He hadn’t dated in the past two and half years before Olani, choosing to focus on his craft.
“Tell me about her. Tell me about your date,” Clara stated.
“She’s intelligent, fun to be around, easy to talk to. She’s absolutely gorgeous, inside and out. I feel like we have a good connection, and we’re both willing to try new things together.”
