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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 their commission request. Little Hayden sat at my heel as he stared up at me. It was as if he could sense my nervousness and wanted to comfort me.

Without hesitation, I bent down and scooped him up and placed him on my lap. His eyes stared at the computer 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 their commission even at the super-high rate that Hayden had quoted. After they paid their deposit, I would have ten commissions all lined up for me to work on. That would probably take me almost two months to complete.

"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 commission. Honestly, it was more stressful to work on now that I was being paid a high price for it. 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 first commission 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 relax 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 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 before laying flat 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 plastered 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…