You know what they say about moving on? It’s easier said than done, that’s exactly what happened to Nicole, because one month after her divorce, she was still wallowing in pain and self pity, barely leaving the house, not like she left the house before the event that happened but it became even worst, she barely left her room, the past two month have been just there, she developed a pattern, wake up, take a bath, eat, draw, paint, go to bed, and the next day she did the same, okay it wasn’t like she spent her days crying even though she did cry, let’s just say she went back to her old self but insert a lot of sadness, the only difference is that she wasn’t hiding her work anymore, that was what kept her going, as of last night, she had over ten million loyal followers and today, she decided to accept the invitation of one of her artist friend that she had made online, his works were top-notch and she had been so excited when he followed her and sent her a message and since they have been exchanging ideas, today, she had come by to help him with the works he had to do, and she hadn’t been disappointed when she met him, Aron was nice and a very good teacher, the few time she had met him, she has learned a different new things, not to mention he is very patient too.
“This is so good, sometimes, I feel you do better than me,”
Aron complimented her work, Nicole smiled, she knew her works were getting better and better but having Aron whom she admired compliment her was huge for her, he had such a huge following and had lots of awards to his name, he was like the god of artist and it felt so good getting compliments from him and being this close to him.
“Thanks, Aron, but you know you are better,”
“Nah, I am telling the truth,”
“Thank you,”
“So? How would you like lending or renting out your gallery to me for the exhibition,”
Aron said when they stood close to her painting they were almost done with, she shot him a look, he had an upcoming exhibition, he plans on showcasing his works, she knew a lot of people were already eyeing his works and that it would be a huge success, what she didn’t know is he planned on renting a place for it, his place was big enough in her opinion and she couldn’t give him what he wanted, she had told him about the property Rafael had given to her, now she wished she hadn’t done that.
“No, I can’t do that,”
“Come on Nicole, you will make money from renting to me and gain exposure too.
“I don’t want the exposure, that place already has a lot of it, and I don’t like that,”
“Why are you like this? You didn’t even give it a thought before you declined,”
Aron accused, there was nothing to think about, she wasn’t going to rent it to him.
“Aron, no way, I can’t do that, it’s one of the reasons why the hotel and the gallery are still not in use, yes, I agree with my parents that I am wasting them but I wish it pissed Rafael off to see what he worked hard for not being used, that way he would want it back, I don’t want it,”
Nicole said, she didn’t want anything to do with either of them, not even with the gallery as beautiful as it is, maybe because she knew going to the gallery which is known to be hers by everyone will draw attention to her, she was fine painting in her studio at home as for the hotel, that was even worst, she didn’t even know what Rafael had been thinking when he did that, she couldn’t question him, she didn’t see him anymore unless it’s on the internet which she only uses when she uploads her latest work, or on the television which she rarely watches.
“You are one stubborn girl, you should have disputed and sent them back to him if you didn’t want them,”
“Aron, can we not talk about this? I already told you my stand, there are many other places we can hold the exhibition,”
Nicole responded, she didn’t know why Aron was so bent on using there for the exhibition, there are a lot of local places to choose from, lots of beautiful places too, she would have said Vhrisma but even Vhrisma was hers too, sadly, her favorite art store belong to her and she couldn’t even go there because she was damn sure someone will film her and she didn’t want to be on the papers for any reason.
“Fine, so where do we hold it?”
“Grace is coming back for the weekend, we can go around looking for a good location,”
“Grace? You know she hates me and doesn’t like being around me,”
Aron complained, Nicole still couldn’t tell why Grace think Aron isn’t a good person, she has only met him twice and she made it known that she didn’t like him, Nicole couldn’t say she was a good judge of character but Aron was nice to her and she has learned a lot from him in the short time they have known each other, less than two months to be precise, the first time she spoke to him was the day she stepped out of the wheelchair and had checked her page, that was even a month ago, she met him a week later, with Grace, then again when she went to deliver artwork to the nursery school, today was the first time they really spent a long time in each other’s company and so far he hasn’t done anything to put her off, he was polite and nice.
“Okay, don’t worry, Grace will come around soon, even if she doesn’t like you now, she likes me and would do anything for me, so what do you say we go center hunting on Saturday?”
She asked with a smile.
“Of course, I can’t turn down a date with a pretty lady,”
“It’s not a date Aron, and we are not going alone,”
“Yeah, I know but still like a date,”
“Call it whatever you want Aron, let’s just finish this okay?”
“Sure and you know what else will be nice?”
“What’s that?”
She asked looking at him, he really had a way of making her smile, she liked him, liked his company.
“Us having a drink together after this,”
He said touching the tip of her hair, she felt her heartbeat increase as they both stared at each other…