Yesterday, when I was scrolling through my social media account, I saw this video of a woman who gave her husband a very beautiful portrait of himself so he could hang it in his office or wherever.
The portrait was so big and the husband had been an emotional wreck when he saw it. He had loved it and said he was going to place it in a spot where everyone would see it.
I didn’t blame him at all for being that emotional. If I had been given such a portrait, I would hang it on the highest rooftop so that the world could see. And that was what gave me the idea for my current task.
I knew Atticus wasn’t the same as the man I saw on my social media but I was willing to give it a try. The worse he could do is to reject it, not kill me so I was determined to give it a go.
That was the sole reason why I had been locked in my studio since morning without a single meal, drawing.
I didn’t have any photos of Atticus to use so I was just drawing from my head. Well not completely from my head, I once saw a photo of Atticus online, he was looking straight at the camera and had this little smirk on his face that made him more alluring so that was what I was drawing.
I was almost done with the portrait, the only thing left was just a few finishing touches. I had Justin send someone to find a place that would be able to get it framed in just a few minutes or an hour tops.
The portrait was just a drawing of Atticus’ upper half. He had this irritating smirk that made him look more appealing and made me weak in my knees. I made my finishing touches and stood up to take a step back so I could admire the work I had done.
Sometimes I just want to brag and gloat about how talented I was but I hold myself back. If another person took a first look at my drawings, they would be unable to tell if it was a drawing or an actual photograph unless they took a second or third look at the photo or rather drawing.
A soft knock made me tear my eyes away from the drawing to the door and I watched Justin step into the room. His eyes found the drawing so easily and I was happy to see the amazement in his eyes as he stared at it.
As an artist, I found true happiness when people appreciated my art.
“We found a place not too far from here that could get the job done in an hour at most” He moved closer to stand beside me in front of the portrait.
“But I must confess, your hands are magical and must be protected at all cost” I could hear the awe in his voice and I could not stop myself from blushing.
“Stop…it’s not much” I giggled shyly.
“Not much, she says.” He scoffs playfully “This looks like a real photo. Why aren’t you even doing this professionally? You would make tons of money with this?” The groan that left my lips following his statement was instinctual.
“If I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I’d be a billionaire” I rolled my eyes at the statement.
“Well technically, you are already a billionaire” He pointed out the obvious and I scoffed with a playful roll of my eyes.
I pulled the paper off the canvas carefully and placed it in a box so that it wouldn’t get crumpled along the way before handing it to Justin.
“Please get it to them in one piece and have it brought back as fast as you can. Remember the frame should be black and nothing else.
“Yes ma” he said and even threw me a mock salute before he walked out the door.
The sound of the door must have irritated my stomach because it grumbled in protest as soon as Justin shut the door behind him.
Hunger was finally showing its angry head and I knew I needed to eat with the little painful stab I was getting in my stomach.
I left the studio and went to the kitchen to see if I could get something to eat. The minute I stepped through the kitchen doors, I could already see the disapproval on Lorenzo’s face.
He disliked me being in the kitchen and somehow I knew it wasn’t just because I was the so-called mistress of the house.
I paid attention a lot and noticed that he barely allowed anyone in the kitchen except the helpers and that was when he needed help setting the table or running little tasks around the kitchen. The kitchen was like his baby.
“I don’t want to hear it. I am eating here and there is nothing you can say to change my mind” I told him before he could even get out a word.
“But…” he started to argue but I stopped him.
“I told you I don’t want to hear it. Where is my food? I would literally die in the next one minute if I don’t see food” I warned him and he grunted in annoyance before taking out a plate from the shelves and dishing out a meal for me.
One thing I loved about him was that he always had food ready, no matter the time of the day.
There was a time I came into the kitchen to get a snack and I almost died when I saw him standing in the middle of the kitchen doing whatever.
He placed the plate of pasta in front of me and I could not hold back the moan that left my lips as the aroma of the food assaulted my senses. No matter how often I ate his food, I could never get used to how good it tasted.
I wasted no time in digging into the food. Just like every meal, this one tasted amazing. There was no way I was ever going to let him go in this lifetime. I made sure to take my time eating the meal so I could savour the taste.
Just as I finished eating my meal, I heard heavy footsteps heading towards the kitchen and shortly after, Justin came into view. I hitched my brow up in surprise at how fast it was.
“So fast? Are you sure it was done properly because this was even faster than I anticipated” I grabbed the napkin from the table and used it to wipe my hands which had gone a little greasy from the turkey I was tearing down when they came.
“I can assure you that you are going to love it.” I narrowed my eyes because I had a hard time believing him.
“I guess I’ll have to see for myself. Where is it?”
“In his office. I told the boys to place it there first”
I left the kitchen and I could hear Justin walking behind me. I went straight to the office that I had entered for the first time this morning when I was finding it hard to decide what colour the frame should be.
I figured if I wanted him to put it in his office, it should at least match the colour of the office.
After seeing the office, I was glad I was giving him something. The office was so plain and practically empty except for the chairs, table, file cabinet and files and I could hardly imagine how someone could get work done in such a boring atmosphere.
The frame was placed on the couch at the side of the office. It was black and plain just like I requested and not too big that would stand out in an unappealing kind of way since I knew Atticus would hate it.
I turned to Justin with a wide smile and I laughed at how his shoulders sagged in relief as if he was expecting me to yell that I didn’t like it.
“It’s perfect. Where do you think I should place it?” I figured since he was a man, he could be able to give me a better opinion.
“I think it’s best to let him place it wherever. Just leave it there and let him do the placement” He suggested and I liked it. That way it wouldn’t seem like I was forcing it on him
“That’s a nice idea. Thank you”
He gave me a short bow and left me alone in the office. I ran my fingers along the side of the frame and loved how smooth it felt to touch. The quality was top-notch and made my drawing seem like a million bucks.
Now I just have to wait for him to come back from work and show it to him. I don’t know what his reaction would be but there was no way he would throw it out right?