Progression


    A few days past by peacefully in Hayden’s mansion. Hayden went out to work as he normally does.


    However, my days are much busier than they used to be. After mustering up the courage to be bold


    enough, I sent the email to the clients with Hayden’s rmended price quote. My hand was shaking


    while it hovered over the keyboard. I closed my eyes and held my breath before opening them wide


    with renewed determination before mming down my fingers onto the enter button to press ‘send’.


    After the emails left my outbox, I prayed that the clients didn’t think that my price quote was out-of-this-


    world crazy. Hopefully, at least one of the clients would go forward with theirmission request. Little


    Hayden sat at my heel as he stared up at me. It was as if he could sense my nervousness and wanted


    tofort me. Without hesitation, I bent down and scooped him up and ced him on myp. His eyes


    stared at theputer screen curiously before turning to look up at my face.


    “Let’s hope that we get some work….” I spoke to him softly as I petted the soft fur on his forehead.


    To my absolute surprise, some clients started replying to my email within a few minutes. What was


    more surprising was that at the end of the day all clients decided to go ahead with theirmission


    even at the super-high rate that Hayden had quoted. After they paid their deposit, I would have ten


    “Your mummy just got employed, little boy!” I cried out happily as I carried Little Hayden up into my


    arm.


    I danced around the art studio with Little Hayden in my arm happily. Grandmother, are you watching


    this? I’m finally going to make some decent money from my artworks. I think it won’t be long now until I


    can call myself a professional artist. Grandma, can you see this? Are you proud?


    Evening arrived much sooner now that I had so much to do. I had started working on my first portrait


    Before during practice or when I was painting or sketching leisurely, I wasn’t pressured much by


    anything but my own desire to improve. However, things were very different now. The client’s


    expectation weighed down on me. What if they didn’t like my work? Would they feel disappointed after


    having paid so much for it?


    The firstmission that I had decided to work on was a portrait of a young woman who apparently


    was the only daughter of one of Hayden’s business partners. She had requested for a realistic portrait


    of herself based on a photograph where she posed formally in a light pink and very elegant gown. Her


    chestnut brown hair was piled up on top of her head elegantly and decorated with pink roses. Overall, it


    was a very elegant and sweet portrait.


    I spent almost the whole day on the rough sketch of the portrait, but I was still unsatisfied with what I


    had achieved on the canvas. My back hurts and my neck felt stiff from going at it for a long while. I


    decided to take a little break to rx in the sitting room with Little Hayden while I wanted for Hayden to


    return home.


    Just when the sun set, it started to rain. First it just drizzled and then it rained harder until it became an


    outright storm. It was strange for it to rain in this time of year. I went to stand close to the window as I


    Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org.


    watched the rain beat down onto the ground from the sky above. It got dark very fast probably because


    of the storm. The sound of thunder roared loudly in the distance.


    Stormy nights like these always gave me a bad feeling that something disastrous was about to happen.


    I never really had a feeling like this until that stormy night when Ethan returned to our room soaking


    wet. Whenever a fierce storm like this happened at night, I couldn’t help but recall the events and the


    pain of that night. It seems so far away and long ago now as if it had happened to someone else that


    wasn’t me.


    Little Hayden whimpered beforeying t down on the floor next to my feet. He was probably scared


    of the sound of the thunder just now. I’ve read somewhere that some dogs can get very scared of loud


    noises like that of the roaring thunder. I crouched down beside the small puppy before lifting him up into


    my arms and hugging him close.


    I looked up at the dark sky from the window and wondered where Hayden is right now. Hopefully, he’s


    safe and dry. He’s probably driving home right now, and I hoped that he would get back here safely. It’s


    got to be a challenge driving through this storm.


    …


    “Malissa…” a familiar voice called my name.


    I turned around to see Hayden walking into the living room. His hair was wet and stered to his head.


    His clothes were also drenched through.


    “What happened? Why are you so wet?” I asked as I rushed to his side.


    “I got caught in the rain a little. It’s nothing. Have you had dinner?” Hayden asked casually as he ran


    his fingers through his wet hair.


    Droplets of water started dripping from his hair and his clothes onto the floor. Little Hayden came up to


    him and started sniffing his legs.


    “No, I was waiting for you. You must be cold. You should take a shower first,” I suggested quickly.


    “Can I do it here?” Hayden asked.


    “Umm…sure. I’ll tell Auntie to grab you some clothes,” I said before heading out of the room.


    “Thanks,” Hayden said before smiling at me.


    I nodded at him before he disappeared in the direction of the bathroom.


    --To be continued…