It was seriously time to find a job.
Anya thought as she stared at the pitiful state of her bank account. She sighed. Now that her Grandmother was starting to get better, she needed to make time for her career at this moment.
She sat at her computer and set her resume to design companies. She chose those smaller ones. She wants to start from scratch and to have a new environment to learn from.
She had already started sending her resume yesterday, and she still has not received any reply yet. So today, she sent out more.
She was idling at home waiting for replies when suddenly, her phone rang. She glanced at it and saw a familiar number. It has been weeks since she last talked to him. she avoided talking to him for the past weeks because she felt she would just be tortured. But now, the fresh feeling of starting a new gave her a kind of light and optimistic vibe. So she felt that she would not be affected by this man anymore.
Anyway, whatever he says, she would just let it pass. She would want to know what his business to her now. Is he feeling remorseful, perhaps? Or another wave of insults? She is not anticipating the former, but she can’t help but think, won’t he even feel a bit of guilt and emptiness? After all, they just got divorced. Even if it was just for a while, they were once a peaceful husband and wife.
Thinking this far, Anya picked up the phone and answered it after its second attempt of calling.
“You still know how to pick up a phone, huh?” Andrei’s mocking voice sounded from the other line.
When Anya heard this, she immediately crossed out her former thinking. Nope, not remorseful. Not one bit.
Anya did not reply to his words, so Andrei continued.
“Are you living the life of a rich mistress? Enjoying it so much that you can’t even pick up my call?” He said angrily.
Anya sighed at his assumption again, which she didn’t know where he got it from. She chuckled.
“Someone’s so angry and insecure. Why don’t you leave me alone and let’s mind our own businesses? Go back to all your mistress, you're good at that, right?” Anya asked, amused. She finds this funny, actually. She finds ‘him’ funny. Such a foolish man.
When Andrei heard her retort, he scoffed and sneered more.
“Don’t be so complacent, I advise you. Because mark my words, I will not let you off that easily. Remember that.” He said with a chilling voice.
Anya heard this, and she couldn’t help but shudder. She knew perfectly what this man was capable of. He would forget all morals and feelings just to do all that he wants.
Anya was starting to feel bad about the call, so without further ado, she ended the call.
She was quite bothered by what he was saying. Especially right now that she doesn’t have a job and is nearly broke. If he would got a wind of this, he would be laughing his heart off.
Anya realized that waiting in vain is not good, so she thought of doing freelance for a while.
She edited some leaflets and a promotional page. She attached some samples of her designs.
She posted it on social platforms on designing, construction, and real estate. She captioned it with some catchy words and dropped down her contact information.
When she did this, she also thought of asking for Marie’s help.
She sent the leaflets to her and asked if she could print it out and send it to her colleagues in case someone was interested.
Her best friend gladly agreed.
After doing all this, Anya felt quite productive, even just for a little. She felt hungry so she went to the kitchen to cook for herself.
She opened the fridge and saw that there were only noodles and a bit of veggie available.
She decided to settle for stir-fried vegetables and noodle soup. She cooked the easy dish, and shortly after, she was done.
She placed her freshly cooked food in the bar counter of her kitchen and sat on the high stool.
And she started to help herself with the warm food.
After a heartily and quite satisfying meal, Anya finished and cleaned up her kitchen. She then went back to her computer to check her emails.
And she was delighted with a pleasant surprise.
There were four design orders that she got. Two from Marie and two from people she got from posting on the social media platform.
She was excited by the opportunities. So, she immediately started one of them. It was the renovation of a house. Anya felt this was easy, so she did it first.
She asked any specific taste from the client, and the latter mentioned it one by one. Anya then started creating her design plate.
Hours later, she finished with the initial draft. It was just a rough output just so that her client could picture her design and she could add or change anything she wanted.
She then sent it to her to have her first opinion.
It seems that the client was not that busy and was also an acquaintance of Marie, that it did not take a long time for her to reply. It also seems that the client wants to start the project soon.
Anya and the client exchanged emails and notions for a while. After they arrived in a mutual understanding, Anya listed it down and said she would send it after she polished her design.
The client politely agreed and thanked her.
So, for the rest of the afternoon, Anya happily spent her time doing her first design project.
It was only when the sun was down that Anya noticed the time. She remembered her grandmother, she might be already awake today. So, Anya moved to get ready to visit the hospital and set her design aside for a while.
Anya wore her coat and grabbed her bag as she left her apartment.
As usual, she bought fruits and dinner for her Nana in case she was awake and wanted to eat.
Carrying all these, Anya went on her way to the hospital.
When she arrived at her Nana’s room, she saw that her grandmother was finally woken up.
The old woman looked at her granddaughter and smiled gently. Anya jumped in joy and greeted happily.
“Nana!”
Anya put down all that she had bought and approached her grandma closely. She took her hands and sighed in relief.
“I’m so glad you’re awake! How are you feeling?” She asked concernedly as she surveyed her grandma’s body, looking for something that is hurt or uncomfortable.
Grandma Collins saw the foolish look of her granddaughter and laughed heartily.
“Oh, you child, this woman is alright. I feel great now, actually.” She said, now with more energy in her voice.
Anya was glad to hear this.
“Are you hungry? I bought you some food.” Anya said as she took out the dinner she had just bought.
Grandma had been asleep for a while with just the IV sustaining her. She missed the delicious food, so she accepted her granddaughter’s offer.
While eating, the two talked and chatted.
“How about you? How are you doing these days?” Grandma asked Anya. Anya smiled and answered.
“I am doing well, Nana. Don’t be worried about me.” She said nonchalantly. Yet, Grandma Collins looked at her granddaughter carefully.
“How about you and Andrei? What happened to the divorce?” the old woman asked.
Anya nearly choked on her food when she heard this. She coughed a bit and was reluctant to answer.
“Uhm, Nana..”
“Anya, tell me the truth,” Grandma said in her resolute and stable voice. Anya looked at her grandmother’s face and sighed.
“We already passed the divorce certificate. We are officially divorced,” Anya confessed and bowed her head.
Grandma sighed while looking at her granddaughter.
“How did it go?” She asked concernedly. Anya tried to smile at her and said cheerily.
“It went well, Nana. I and Andrei parted ways peacefully,” She answered. There is no need to tell her Nana about the ugly part. It is enough that she knew.
“If that’s the case, how are you doing? Do you have a job? No one can assist you anymore, so I think I should leave the hospital now.” Nana said. Anya immediately rejected her idea.
“Nana, no, what are you talking about? You need to stay here until the doctor’s order!” Anya refuted.
“But the bill would just continue to increase. And you still don’t have a job, don’t you?” Grandma retorted back.
Anya sighed.
“Nana, it's okay. I have four ongoing projects right now, and it is doing well. I am doing freelance, and I can assure you that I can still handle your medical expenses. So don’t
exhaust yourself about this matter. What you need to do is to recover your strength and recuperate. Alright?” She coaxed her grandma.
Grandma Collins could only stare at her granddaughter’s face which was now all grown up. She was taking such good care of her and she was so thankful. Seeing her Anya being stubborn as she was, she knew no one could change this granddaughter’s mind, so she could only sigh.
“Alright, alright. But make sure not to exhaust too much and take care of yourself.” Grandma reminded her.
Anya smiled and acquiesced. “I will, Nana.”
The two continued to eat and chat about a now lighter topic. When they were done eating, it was now time for Nana’s medicine and rest. So, Anya bid her goodbyes and promised her Nana she would come to visit again tomorrow.
Anya went home after that.
When she arrived, she first freshened up and took a shower. After she changed into clean clothes, she went back to her desk and finished her first design project.
The next day, Anya finally finished polishing and finalizing the design. She sent it to the client, and the client was satisfied.
The final drafting would be visiting the actual place to size up and make sure the measurements and design suit the actual building.
Anya got ready to meet the client. She wore a formal dress and brought her things with her.
She met with the client at the project's address. The client was a woman who was renovating her parent’s house. Since it was a renovation, Anya made sure to scrutinize each detail of the old house to suit and adjust it to her design.
Anya and the client studied the plates and the house for a couple of hours. After they were satisfied with what they decided to do, they closed the deal and approved of the project.
Anya shook hands with the client happily. And after a long day, she was quite tired, so she went back to her apartment.
When she got home, she got a notification of a bank transfer.
Seeing the amount she got from her first project, Anya felt refreshed and at ease. She was finally starting to stand up. She happily pondered with it for a while.
In the next couple of days, Anya worked on her other projects.
The second one was a restaurant. It took two days for her to finish and close the deal.
The following two were small bungalows. She liked designing this kind of house, and she already had samples stored. She sent it to her clients and asked for their opinions. She offered to alter and adjust it to their preferences.
The clients liked the designs and only added more details and specifications to the final draft. And because of that, the designs only needed some modifications, and the design draft was done.
So, for a span of 15 days, Anya finished four projects.
Anya felt very productive and satisfied as she looked at the money entering her bank accounts. It was not that big of money, but it was a really good blessing and starting up for Anya. Not only that but the happiness and satisfaction of her clients were what made her the happiest. It gained her esteem and qualifications as a designer. She felt uplifted and had a sense of achievement in her profession. A feeling she had never felt and got in the walls of the Davids. Anya finally felt that she was putting her life back in a good direction.
Meanwhile, a certain someone who had not seen her for days could only relay on reports about her well-being.
Damon sat in his office listening to Anya’s life these past few days. He discovered that she had started working freelance and accepted projects. The clients she had also seemed to be very satisfied.
This just made Damon more interested in her. Aside from that, he felt admiration. This woman was really strong-willed and a great woman. After all that she had been through, look at her right now, standing on her own two feet.
He doesn’t know why but he felt proud of her. He did not make the wrong choice of choosing her as the mother of his child.
Damon pondered over this, as well as the strange emptiness he was feeling.
He has just seen her and got close to her once, yet he feels he is growing greedy. Her beautiful face, red lips, and blue eyes that were staring straight at him.
He wants to see it again.