“Dear God, Aston! I am beginning to think of your plan to dethrone the devil as the prince of darkness. This place is as dark as the vanta black and as cold as the devil’s heart,” Steve said suddenly at the moment he entered Aston’s room.Unbuttoning his blazer, he sat on the only vacant chair in the room facing the rather unfazed Aston, “Need I remind you that the world—outside this abode of yours—is still beautiful and would be delighted to be graced with your presence.”For the first time since Steve entered Aston’s room, he turned his gaze away from the slightly opened window where he’s spent most of his time peeking out into the universe of form to look at the only person who seemed to understand him better than anyone else.“Have you ever felt the world is against you? That even mother nature laughs at your misfortune?” Aston said with a pallid and toneless quality to his voice.He walked away from the window where he had been standing for what seemed like forever to take a seat
He didn’t talk to anyone, and he didn’t let anyone in except, of course, Steve.At that time, Steve had spare keys to Aston’s house, and every room in the houseSteve walked behind Aston, giving him a comforting squeeze on his shoulder. “I need you back, man. We all need you back.”He sat back on his seat, resting his upper body weight on the table. “What if we find you another muse? It’s not impossible.”At that, Aston’s ears perked up, and he felt he wanted to hear what his friend had to say.“How about we enroll you in an art class, eh? Eh?’ Your interest and love for art steamed from your first art class in primary school, so what if it’s going to work the second time?” Steve supplied.Aston wondered what his friend was on about. He was a professional artist who painted realistic paintings, so why in the world would he enroll in an art class?!He should be the one teaching art students. Obviously, Steve must be joking or possibly high on something.“You are joking, right?” Aston a
“Hmm,” he responded groggily, still unaware of where he was or who was talking to him.Stella didn’t know what to do. Should she drive him home or take him to her place?She wanted a night of fun, but she knew she couldn’t just leave Aston there. So much for a night of fun, she thought.With much struggle, she was able to get Aston into her car and drive him to her place.She took him to her room and threw him on the bed, struggling to catch her breath after the entire energy-draining job she had just done.Aston weighed almost double her own weight, and she experienced the occasional loss of breath while getting him into her car, into her apartment, and up into her room.She stood there, taking in the piece of art that sprawled out on the bed. If only he would just notice her; if only he would just see her as a woman and not just his agent.She longed for his touch; she longed to be with him, but he never saw her even though she had been loyal to him in every way.‘’Sasha,” he murmur
He remembered what happened the first and last time he was there, and he dreaded the thought of it happening again.“Oh no. I brought my car, so I’ll drive home. Thank you for dinner.” With that, she turned around and strutted out of the restaurant leaving behind a confused Aston.Aston stood in front of the huge building with ‘CENTRAL ART ACADEMY’ written boldly in blocks.He never thought he’d have to attend art classes after his secondary school, but here he was again, enrolled to be a student again.He contemplated turning around to go home, but he knew Steve would have his head, so, with one last heavy sigh, he walked into the building.“Well, hello. Don’t just stand there. C’mon in,” Mrs. Michael said, smiling at the young man standing awkwardly by the class door. She then added while looking at him, “Just sit anywhere you’d be comfortable, and let’s begin the class.”Feeling all eyes on him, he walked to an empty space far away from everyone else.Yes, he knew he was supposed t
“Well then, you two, get along!” She ordered, giving them a glance. She then before adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose and focused on the files on her desk.Still confused about how to approach the other student, Aston watched as she stood up and approached him.“Hi, I’m Dorothy,” she said, extending her hand for a handshake.“I’m Aston,” he responded, accepting the handshake and looking up at her face for the first time, and Aston felt his heart skip a beat again in years, making him confused even further. Her face held an amused expression, with her eyes twinkling in excitement.“Lovely to finally meet you, Aston. How about we get started?” She suggested while looking at him with anticipation. Her voice still had an excitement evident, although somewhat subtle.For the umpteenth time, Aston was confused again. He could not help but think to himself. Finally, meet me? Whatever she meant by that.“Oh yeah, right,” he finally said, standing up from his seat, and the pair b
“Looks like someone had a wonderful day. Tell me about it.” He snaked his arms around her waist and smashed her body into his claiming her lips in a toe-curling kiss.“Hmm,” she moaned in response, momentarily forgetting what she wanted to share with him.Her hands made a move to touch him, but he held them and gave her a stern look. Knowing what the look meant, she quickly retracted her hands and tried not to think too much about it again.“You’re all sweaty and reek of fried chicken,” she pointed out“That’s because I have been busy in the kitchen preparing my fiancé’s favorite meal,” said Paul disappearing back into the kitchen. “Go shower and join me at the dining table in 15minutes.”Tiredly, she dragged her feet to the room to shower and prepare for the night. She had already showered after the class to get rid of the paint, but she was unable to get some of the paint off.She took off her clothes and walked into the bathroom in hopes of taking a very long bath, but she remember
In one swift moment, a bang was heard, and the whole dining table came crashing down, sending a wave of shock throw Dorothy.She had seen this happen so many times, but she could never get used to it. He promised to change.He said he was going to be better, but after two years and nothing had changed.The last time, it was the TV that suffered it, which took a while to replace, and now, the dining table had also felt the impact of Paul’s fist.The table was ruined; dinner was ruined too.“You love being a whore, eh? You love letting different men run their hands all over your body under the guise of art, right?” He barked the vile words pacing the dining room.The words made her feel she had just been prickled with over a hundred pins.“I am not a whore, Paul!. I am not! I love art, and you know it!” She yelled at him.He scoffed before he said, “Oh c’mon. You’re just using art as a cover-up. You enjoy the way these so-called artists of yours touch you.”He then grabbed her shoulder
For heaven’s sake, he wasn’t some teenager going through hormonal changes, so why couldn’t he stop thinking about Dorothy’s body and, even worse, smiling and blushing at the memory.‘’I guess we can now deduce my idea wasn’t laced with foolishness after all,’ Steve said with the smug look still on his faceAston scoffed, rolling his eyes at him, and said, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I am still not convinced the class will do me any good.”“We’ll see about that, mate. We’ll see.”The whole weekend felt like torture to Aston. He longed to see Dorothy again, and it seemed the weekend was taking too long to end.Everything was confusing to him; what he was feeling about Dorothy and why he was feeling that way didn’t make any sense to him, but he just wanted to see her again.When Monday finally came, Aston could hardly wait till 3 pm when classes started, and by 12 pm, he was already at the building waiting for Dorothy to show up, but she didn’t.Class started, and she was still nowhere