EMILY POV
As we approached the gallery, my heart began to beat fast, it was beating so fast that anyone close to me could hear it. the day is finally here, the day that will decide my faith. after moments of walking we got to the art room and saw so many people in coporate and expensive dresses looking at different drawings. i was scared and happy at the same time. after walking from one drawings to another,i saw someone stopped at the front of my drawing and was staring at it, i looked around to find mrs perkins but i could not find her, so i decided to walk up to the person just to see a familar face "you" i said as i saw the guy i helped earlier, that words were the only thing that came out of my mouth " oh, you" he replied "what are you doing here" he asked again "i drew the piece you are looking at" i replied trying to read his face for some disappointment but i couldn't find any, i was really surprised, i guess i have improved alot " nice piece" he said and walked away. " just that?"i said to my self "hmm, i guess it was not pretty to his liking or he just had a weird taste" "i will take this piece" heard people saying to other artists and they looked very excited. sponsors after sponsors came and just pass my drawing, but no one wanted to buy it,i was so discourage, my drawing was the only one remaining and all the sponsors had left, i couldn't control my tears so i ran outside and sat at the corner of the stairs, i bowed by head to avoid passer by mocking me for crying outside. "water?"i heard somebody saying, i raised up my head to find the pretty boy staring at me, for some reason staring at him made me feel at peace. "thank you" i said as i opened the water and gulped it down. "why are you crying" he sat down beside me "its nothing" i said as i gulped down the remaining water "i can see that your painting is the only one remaing" as he said that he reminded me that i was a failure. " so you are here to laugh at me hmm?" i said but i was not angry. " no, no, dont get me wrong. honestly you drawing style is amazing, i might not be a big fan of art but i can tell a good drawing when i see one" his words comforted me and i felt relieved that someone felt that way about my painting ' your drawing really reminds me of my brother, he was a great artist" he added " was?" i asked and i could see his face becoming sad " its ok if you don't want to talk about it, its no big deal" i tried my best not to pry " thank you he said" a car stopped in front of us "its time for me to go" he said and stood up " it was nice meeting you, whats your name" he asked " emily, emily davis" i saidc as we shooked hands " nice meeting you emily i'm" he was interrupted from the car horn " gotta go bye" he said as he waved me and entered inside the car and zommed off. "who were you talking to" mrs perkins said which took me by surprise because she wasn't there at first. 'uhmmm nobody mrs perkins" i said as i stood up from the stairs " someone already bought your drawing" she added and my face lit up with joy, i was really excited because i already thought i had fallen apart " really" i jumped for joy, i couldn't control my tears as i hugged mrs perkins " well done dear" she hugged me back and patted my back. finally i can be able to pay the bills and help my dad with some stuff around the house. " here is your money, its $7000, take it" mrs perkins handed me a check, i couldn't believe my eyes as i cleaned my eyes and pinched myself to see if i was still dreaming. it was really amazing, making that amount of money for the first time.
Mrs perkins and i went to the bank and withdrew the money, it was really huge ' here" i said to mrs perkins as i gave her $3000 from the money "no baby girl, you deserve this morning you have earned it, besides i have a lot of money you know" she smiled at me and patted my hair " no ma, you deserve it, you have been so kind to me and i'm happy you are my mentor, without you i wouldn't have sold this drawing, if you don't take the money as your student, then as my mother figure i insist you take the money please" her face softened a little and i could see her tearing up but she is good at hiding it. " thank you baby girl, i will use it well" she said as she walked to where the car was parked and we drove off. " can you please stop at the super market, i would love to get some groceries and clothes for my dad" i said " no problem and thats a good idea" mrs perkins said as the car come to a stop at the super market. " thank you mrs perkins, i will find my way back home from here." i said and backed the door behind her. " are you sure you will be ok by yourself, i don't want anything happening to you" she added and i smiled at her " i will be fine mrs perkins, and i will call you immediatly i get home, so don't be scared. i assured her and she left me. i walked into the super market and i bought some new clothes for myself, like i really deserve it, i bought some new shoes too and got some groceries and got some new clothes for my dad and i was left with $2500 and i took a cab and went home. when i got home i saw my dad waiting in the sitting room with newspapers in his hands, i guess he was bored and started to read newspaper. " hey daddy!!!" i shouted and my dad jerked up " hey princess, you scared me, please don't give me an heart attack" he said and got up " i sold my drawingsssss" i screamed and dropped the groceries on the floor. " really?" my dad asked as he hugged me " congratulations princess" he smiled at me. " so what have you got here" he took out the things one and one and placed them where they are surposed to be placed " i got this for you dad" i brought out the clothes i bought for him and i could see he was emotional " not now dad" i teased him. " this is a happy occassion and not a sad one, so no crying" i said and hugged him " here is the changed " i handed him the remaining money " use it to start the business you've always wanted" i said and cut the hug " thank you baby girl, but i can't accept your money" he said and dropped the money back on the table " no dad take it, ok take it as an investment and you will pay me back, how does that sound?" i said and smiled at him "that sound like a great idea." he said and hugged me again. " are you hungry" he said and released me from the hug. " of course dad, i'm straving" i held my stomach as it groaned in hunger. " i will prepare your favourite" he said and quickly ran to the kitchen.
James pov
I walked into the car and sat down, I removed my tie because I know I was done for the day, I looked through the window to see if Emily was still there, for some reason she looks so familiar and I wondered where I knew her from, I pondered for a while before David brought me back. " down to earth James, what are you thinking about" he asked and I jerked up " hmm" " I said what are you thinking about" he asked again. " remember that girl I told you I met at James competition two years ago??" I asked. " yes, I know, the girl's eyes that you said keeps hunting you and making you drawn to her" he mimicked and laughed. " stop it dave" I blushed. " for some reason this girl I met today reminded me of her, she has the same eyes and the situation also felt familiar" I said trying to remember if she's truly the one. " you mean the girl you were staring at intensively and smiling towards?, oh com'on man, that might be dejavu, you know how these things happens, and besides your mystery girl doesn't look like someone that stays around here" he answered and smiled at me. " or are you crushing on this one instead" he teased " oh com'on man, that's impossible" I whined "give love a chance James, besides you are still young and the girl is really pretty too, you guys will make a really good couple" he said " you know man, how my family is like, they might have probably hooked me up with some random rich girl who will be able to help our business" I said and my mood changed. "I understand, but you can't let your family continue to dictate your life and make you miserable" David said as he stopped at the super market. " what are we doing here" I asked. " I need to get some groceries for mom, you know how she hates to see that there are no food in the house, so before she cuts my neck off my body let me go buy some, do you care to join me?" David asked as he opened the door for me to come out. " sure let's go, I could use a snack and some fresh air" I got out of the car and he locked the door behind me. We walked to the supermarket door and went in. I went to the snacks shelf and picked up a few snacks that I love, honestly I prefer snacks to food that our maid makes, every since Jason died nothing has ever felt the same again. I picked up some chocolate as well. " hey buddy are you done?" David asked and tapped my back. " almost done" I picked up one last snack and went with him.. " what's the problem now" " I can't seem to remember what type of chicken part mom likes, if I buy the wrong one I will get killed , you know how she can get when you don't do things correctly" we stopped for a while and suddenly got some chills " I don't even want to remember" I said as I walked to the chicken section and picked up all the chicken parts. " I think that will solve the problem" I gave it to him and smiled, so let's go pay for our items" as we walked to the counter I saw a familiar face and remembered it was Emily. " David she's here" I tapped David and pointed at Emily's direction "who??" David asked looking at where I was pointing to. " oh you mean the girl you met at the gallery" he shouted abc I quickly covered his mouth. "Shut the fuck up dude, so you want her to catch me staring at her" I removed my hands from his mouth and walked away. " hey, why don't you go talk to her" David said and I removed all our items from the cart to the counter to all be paid for. " hell nah, I won't do that, besides she is out of my league" I added as I gave the sale girl my card who was flirting with me but I didn't even care. " at least talk to her, even if you don't fall for her or like her, she helped you escape the reporters" I stopped for a while " fine, I will go talk to her" I said trying to look for her " I can't find he, I bet she gone" I said feeling a little bit disappointed. " You missed your luck" David said and shook his head in shame " let's go now, we are already late" we headed to the car and drove to David house.. on the way I could not stop thinking about Emily, there is something about her that keeps me drawn to her, why does she look familiar, I will ask her when I see her again, I hoped .
Few minutes later we arrive at David's condo, yeah at least he had a great taste for houses and cars but for the rest things, Nahhh, he dresses like an old man when he is at home and dress maturely to the office but he still had a weird taste. His condo was pure white with a swimming pool at the middle of the house, a bar could been seen from the gate, David has always loved drinking, that was the only way he could get by. He is a drunkard but I could not blame him though, we pushed the big door opened and came across the giantic hall ways after taking 10 steps the living room was in site. The tv screen sat perfect on the wall, Monalisa paintings on the wall and a lot of drawings on the wall, David has always loved art but he never got the opportunity to achieve them, "boys, you are home" mrs keele said as he hugged his son and me at the same time. "how was work today" she asked. mrs keele has always being like a mother figure in my life. she has been the one taking care of me ever since jason's death and i love her alot, even more than my own mom, unlike my mom, she takes care of me and corrects me when i'm wrong. David told her about how our day went. " are you sure you are ok james" she came close to me and gave me a warm hug when she heard that i went to the gallery because she knew how much i hated galleries. "yes i'm fine aunty, besides david was there with me" i said and gave her a warm smile. "he even met a girl today,i think he likes her" david said and laughed out loud and his mom gave me a questionable look. "DAIVIDDDD, I'M GONNA KILL YOU" i said as i chased him around the room. "james is that true" mrs keele asked me a nd i stop, but david was still teasing me and i wanted to hit him so badly, but i remained calm. "it's not true, she just looked familar and her painting looks like yhat of jason, so i spoke to her and later bought her painting, thats all" i told her. " it's a big lie, he totally likes the girl but can't talk to her because she is poor and his parents might not accept her" david said and i felt like killing him. " james look her baby" mrs keele puts her hands on my shoulders " love is a beautiful thing, it doesnt matter the person status or don't care if its accepted or not, all that matters is that your happy, the heart doesn't care about if the person is poor or not, as long as she makes you happy go for her and worry about the future later" she concluded. " so are you guys hungry" she asked and david shouted YESSSS, david has always been a lover of food and could do anything for food " did you get what i asked you to get from the super market' mrs keele asked " yes we did, we didnt know the parts of meat you wanted so i bought all" i said and david handed her the bag " thank you james you are the best" she hugged me and left for the kitchen " heyyy!!!!, what about me, don't i get a hug" david shouted " no son, i love james more than you" she screamed and laughed " momm!!, but i'm your son" he shouted again " but james is the best" she laughed " fine i give up" he said and walked up to me. " are you jealous man?" i laughed at his reaction " shut up james, and i'm not jealous" he said and sat down on the couch coupling the ps5 and ready to play. " relax man, your mom loves you alot and you know that, and nothing can ever take that away and you know that" i patted his back and i could see him smiling. " i know that, thanks man" he hugged me and gave a pad. " so you want me to whip your ass again right?" i laughed and i collected the pad from him. " GAME ONNN" i said and we played games till mrs keele came with plates of food on her hands. "who's hungry!!" she smiled and dropped the plates on th table. the aroma of the food filled the entire room. " mom the food already tastes delicious" david said as he picked up one of the plate of chicken breast soup. " how do you know when you haven't tasted it" mrs keele said and walked out of the room and came back with orange juice in her hands. i drank the soup and sigh a sigh of relive, i haven't eaten home cooked meal in while, especially meal made with alot of love. " this tasted amazing aunty" i smiled at her and she blushed " oh, stop it james, its not that good" she whined and left the place. after eating and chatting with david for a while. i bidded them goodbye and went home.
I went straight to my apartment, i didn't want to go home because i was in a good mood, i parked my car in the garage and went to my apartment. it was my resting place and my peace. i love the apartment because of the night view. itcwas really pretty and helped me think and relax, i pulled off all my clothes and took a hot shower and came out in my bathrobe. i sat at the balcony of my apartment and my mind drifted off to emily. " i know i have met her before" i said to myself and i poundree on it for a while and then i reembered the painting. " shoot!!" why did i forget about it. i quicly wore some comfy clothes took my car keys and went to my car and picked up the painting. i went back and hung it on my wall. " it suit my wall perfectly" i said and smiled, then my phone rang and it was my dad " where are you son" he asked me even without greeting. " i'm at my apartment" i said without greeting him. " anyways, thats not reason i called, i called to let you know that the client approved to do business with us on one condition that you will take care of the production" he said and i could tell he was very happy. " fine i will take charge of the project don't worry" i said rubbing my eyes because i'm so tired " that, my son, and before i forget, we should get dinner sometime, you know we haven't been bonding for a while now and i would love to spend time with you" " good night dad" i hung up because i didn't want to reply. i went to my room and immediatly slept off. tomorrow we try again.