ANISHA'S POV
Tessa was the one who came to welcome us at the gate. The whole family came out of the house and stood around Dylan's car. Chris was the one driving is. The moment I stepped out of the car, I suddenly started feeling very awkward. Amelia was standing by the house door, hesitating to come forward. I wanted to smile at her but the image of a little baby left alone, with ants all over her, flashed in my mind and I quickly turned my head away.
We were ushered into the family lounge, and everyone seemed very happy to see us. Although Chris would have chosen to stay in the car, they insisted that he too joined the family in the house. There were more people than I had expected. In addition to Amelia, Tessa and my grandparents, there were Amelia's two step-sisters and her step-brother. These had brought along their families as well. It was a full house. All of them stared at us, and as soon as I sat down, I started regretting why I had brought nothing with me. I could have picked a basket of fruits or just something small, yet I brought absolutely nothing.
Brushing the thought away, I looked around the room and saw many portraits hanging on the walls. They were all painted on canvas, beautiful, but the painter must have been an armature. The pictures lacked a detailed finer touch, and in some places you could see that the pencil strokes had run out of line. However, they still looked decent. I looked from one picture to the other, and realised that all of the people in the house had their pictures hung on the walls, except of course myself. I imagined how it could have been to grow up with all these people, and to also have my picture up the walls. The grandfather must have caught my sight, and as if reading my thoughts, he quickly said to me, "oh we can hang your portrait too. Just give me a picture of yourself, I will have it painted in no time. We have a friend who does these painting for us," he chuckled and looked embarrassed.
"No, don't worry about that," I answered.
They introduced everyone to me, each and every person by name, as well as what they were doing in life. Almost all of them commented on how much I looked like Amelia, and I just smiled and nodded.
I introduced Dylan as my boyfriend and Chris as Dylan's PA. the family was overwhelmed to have Dylan in their home, and of course the younger ones requested for pictures with him.
The grandfather was requesting that I agree to get a new birth certificate, one which changed my date of birth from the 10th to the 11th of April, and also to change my name from Anisha Meyerton to Anisha Everdeen. He said he had thought long and hard about it, and was ready to help me locate the Everdeen family so that they too could be involved in the name changing process. I just responded that I needed more time to think it over.
Dinner was served, and it was a nice meal. Amelia kept her eyes on me. I could feel her eyes on me, yet each time I lifted my eyes to meet hers, she would quickly look away. Soon after the dinner, we bid our farewells. They really wanted us to stay, but we told them we were really busy, and so we left.
In the car, I had so many mixed emotions. Dylan held me in his arms, and without saying a word, he made me feel peaceful. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep in his arms.
I woke up to Mrs Silva speaking softly to me, "are you not attending lectures today, Miss Anisha?"
Oh my! Where was I? I looked around to see that I was in Dylan's bedroom, but from the looks of it, he was long gone.
Mrs Silva laughed a little and said, "you looked too tired last night. You fell asleep in the car, sir Dylan told me."
"Oh," I murmured and stood up to get out of bed.
"What time are you dismissing today?" she asked me.
"I…I have lectures up to 3PM", I yawned lazily.
***
Soon after 3PM, Chris called to tell me that he was waiting for me at the students' parking lot. I quickly walked there and saw him. I peeped in the back seat and found it empty, Chris chuckled a little, seeing my disappointment, "he is at work. He sent me to pick you up."
I nodded and plunged myself into the back seat. Chris started driving. I was so lost in my thoughts that it took me time to realise that he was heading in an opposite direction. "Where are we going?" I asked him.
"Sir Dylan asked me to take you to where we're going."
Expecting the best, I decided not to ask any further questions. I was taken to a beauty salon where a team of people attended to me. In a short while, I was dressed in one of the most elegant dresses I had ever worn, and I had light make up on. What was happening? Was all this for a special dinner or what? I could not help but wonder. Chris drove me to a place which I had never been to before. With Dylan, each time he took me out, he would take me to a place whose existence I never knew before, yet we all grew up in Southrain. It just served to show me that we came from worlds apart. He visited the fanciest malls in town, he went to boutiques and salons where he was greeted by name.
Christ parked in front of a very classy building and opened the door for me.
"Chris! Is Dylan with you today?" an old man smiled as he shook Chris's hand.
"He is busy today. But I brought Miss Anisha here, as per sir Dylan's word to you." Chris held the car door for me. I stood and greeted the old man.
"Of course of course! Oh I must admit, the young man has a fine eye for beauty! I can't wait to work with this angel!"
I was led into a magnificent room. As soon as I stepped in, I realised it was an art studio; but not the ordinary one. This one was too magnificent. Huge lights were hanging from the ceiling, angled carefully at the huge board standing in the centre of the room. There was a chair, and some rolled up canvas packed neatly on a table. The walls were decorated with out-of-the-world canvas paintings of flowers, animals, and people. Chris introduced the man to me as the best artist in the country, and he told me that I was to take a sit and have my portrait worked on.
"My portrait?" I could not help but gasp.
"Yes," Chris smiled.
Oh Dylan! What had a I done to deserve all that.
"Sir Dylan saw how sad you were yesterday, when you didn't have any portrait in your family home. So he said you can have one in his mansion."
Oh! I blinked several times and told myself that really; I did not deserve him.
"He shouldn't have!" I said in a low voice.
"He knew that you would say that." Chris chuckled.
"Come on now, Princess," the old man held my hand and led me to a chair. He told me that he was going to do an outline with me seated right in front of him. As per Dylan's request, the artist wanted to make a live painting, with me seated right there in front of him. But he mentioned that if I were too busy to visit him on several days, he could continue the work with a picture of me. What he wanted for his initial outline was to see me in person.
His hands worked swiftly on the huge canvas, and my heart was melting at what this man Dylan had done for me. He was spoiling me too much. Chris left the studio, promising to come back for me.
The painting went on. I was happy that the artist was very jovial. While he painted, he threw in some jokes and made sure I felt at home. When he was satisfied with the sketch that he had done, he said it was enough for the day. I checked my phone to see that it was already 06.35PM, and I hurriedly stood up and dialed Chris' number. It refused to connect. I dialed again, and it refused. I dialed Dylan's number several times, but it was also not connecting. The artist came from the back room where he had previously entered, and smiled broadly at me, "Trying to call for a lift back home? Well, follow me. I will take you home."
Unable to understand what he meant, I walked outside and he led me to the parking area. I wondered if Dylan had asked the artist to take me back home? Surely, I would have preferred to use a cab rather than trouble the old man. There were about five cars in the parking, all of them very beautiful, but one was especially outstanding. I could see the Mercedes Benz logo on it, but I could swear I had never beheld a Mercedes Benz that beautiful. The colour was midnight blue, and it looked like it had just come from its manufacturer. My eyes must have stayed too long on it, because the artist commented:
"It is a nice car, is it not?"
"It is. I haven't seen a car like that in my life." I told him truthfully.
"The rich people of Lakeworld visit this place a lot. That one is a Mercedes Benz Maybach Exelero. One of the best cars around, if you ask me. It has features that no other car has." The old man explained.
"I can imagine," I smiled.
I shifted my eyes to look at the other cars, wondering which one belonged to the old man. He fumbled in his pockets and after announcing that he had forgotten his car keys inside, he disappeared back into the art studio.