When We Bend


    I stared at the in white paper in front of me with my lips pursed together tightly as my mind struggled


    toe up with any ideas for the website. Although I had readily promised Hayden that I would have


    ideas to show him when he got back, I had clearly underestimated the task. After almost an hour of


    thinking, I wasn’t sure what I wanted the website to look like. Apart from the basic functionalities that I


    could reference from other simr sites, I had no idea how to make my website stand out. The biggest


    issue was how to make the website represent my style of art.


    My n was to sketch out a few websiteyouts to show Haydenter today but so far, the page was


    white, pristine, and very empty. I shouldn’t have promised him anything so easily. Changing my


    approach a little, I turned on theptop and started researching website of other artists to see how they


    showcased their online portfolio. Some website had forms for visitors to fill in to request for


    Since painting my grandmother, I had started to like sketching and painting portraits so maybe there’s a


    market and demand for that? After spending almost another hour checking out various relevant


    websites, I decided to go with something white, in, and very simple for my own website. Hopefully,


    after adding in photos of my art works, the website will somehow automaticallye to life on its


    own…


    I wasn’t sure if Hayden would buy any of the ideas that I had or the direction of my thought, but my


    hand started moving to sketch out some basic homepageyouts for my website. When I chose to


    major in art, I had many worries include those rted to making a living out of it. We were poor so


    choosing to be an artist at the time felt like an incredibly selfish choice to make. However, my sweet


    grandmother was so supportive of it.


    Now was the time of judgement. It’s time to see if I can start to support myself independently by being


    an artist. Hopefully, I can go back to teaching my art sses again soon too. I wasn’t sure if that was


    an option anymore, but I hoped that it was because I did enjoy teaching my sses.


    A few minutester, I had a website design sketched out but after looking at it I let out a sigh. The


    sound of the page tearing cut through the silent room as I tore the page out of the notebook before


    crumbling it and tossing it into the nearby bin. Time to try again…


    It was like a little miracle had just urred when I managed to sketch out threeyouts that I thought


    were good enough for me to show Hayden. Now that the designs were done, I realized that I didn’t


    know when Hayden woulde back exactly. I haven’t heard from him since he left the room and the


    mansion for the hospital. After a moment of hesitation, I was dialing Hayden’s number.


    “Hey…umm…I was wondering when you’ll be back…” I asked, suddenly feeling quite shy although I


    was just asking him a very simple question.


    “I’m almost done, maybe I’ll get back in an hour or so. Wait for me?” he replied smoothly.


    “Ok…did everything go well with the checkups?” I asked worriedly.


    “Everything’s fine. Don’t worry,” Hayden replied before hanging up.


    I stared at my phone once the line had disconnected and prayed that what he was saying was true.


    Suddenly, there were a few soft knocks on the door, and I instinctively knew that it must be Auntie.


    “Come in!” I called out loudly.


    The door opened, this time without needing to be unlocked from the outside first. Although, I spent my


    day in the same room as I did before, it felt very different to know that the door was now locked from


    the inside and not from the outside. My freedom was still limited but it felt like I had won an important


    battle in this war of regaining my freedom now that I was allowed to wander the mansion and itsrge


    gardens.


    “We brought you clothes!” Auntie announced proudly.


    I watched in amazement as the maids wheeled in a rack of clothes that were from my apartment


    followed my multiple racks of clothing that I had never seen before.


    “Thank you so much. So fast…” I said, truly impressed.


    Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    “Oh…and this as well…” Auntie said softly as she came to stand by my side.


    I peered down to see the pills that I had asked for in her hand. Looking up into her face, I smiled at her


    to thank her before taking the pills from her. I let out an internal sigh of relief. At least, now there would


    be one less thing for me to worry about.


    After thanking her a couple more times, Auntie and the maids left the room. The arrival of my clothes


    was perfectly timed. I still had some time before Hayden got back so I decided to take a shower.


    Putting on a casual dress felt so good after being stuck wearing short night gowns and robes for like a


    week. The weather seemed perfect today, so I decided to abuse my newly granted privilege of going


    out into the gardens.


    ording to Hayden I needed a group of bodyguards toe with me though. So, where can I get ‘a


    group of bodyguards’?


    I touched the doorknob and almost cried out with joy when it turned, and the door opened. The sight of


    the empty hallway never looked so pleasing to me before. The men in ck were no longer stationed


    right in front of my door and that was a little troublesome now that I was looking for them. I walked


    along the hallway towards the stairs and to my pleasant surprise, a group of men in ck were


    stationed there. Perfect!


    “Hi. I want to take a stroll in the gardens so can you guyse with me?” I asked, a little hesitantly.


    These are pretty much Hayden’s orders, but I wasn’t sure if they were aware.


    “Of course,” the man who seemed to be the leader of the squad replied without hesitation.


    Wow, that was easy. Great!


    --To be continued…