Chapter 9 Friends

Nessian had dropped the image he wanted me to produce on my Facebook account, as well as other details he wished to be added to the portrait. With my color pens and all the necessary tools, I set to work starting from 8 PM. Knowing I had important work to attend to, I returned from work early, slept from 2 PM to 6 PM where I woke up and got my dinner ready, ate it and rested for a while watching some movies on my phone.

The work Nessian gave me was a tough one for beginners but it wasn't for me, my artistic skills were really a talent I was born with before learning it in school. I took to drawing at a tender age, eight to be precise. At ten, I was already drawing like a semi-professional. It wasn't a task for me but a hobby.

At 12 AM, I was done. The portrait looked super-splendid in my eyes. The background had a cloud setting, it was like two lovers in paradise. A heart shape was drawn above their heads while Nessian and Lucy held on to each other in a romantic style like some pre-wedding picture. I believed that Nessian would be utterly surprised when he set eyes on the work I produced for him. Giving great comments was a great source of encouragement to me especially when no one was around to do that for me. It gave me a sense of fulfillment.

Lucy had taken whatever place I could have in Nessian's life. I was left to have him as a friend and nothing else. "That's not what you should be looking for. Just forget about him." A voice told me. I could see the soft charming eyes Nessian looked at me, his eyes scanning all over my body. There had to be some great thoughts he was having about me.

Picking up my phone, I decided to send a message across to Nessian that I was done being super-excited. He would come online in the morning and get awed at how fast I could be, a second thought told me it would be a bother especially if his messages gave out some annoying notification sounds.

"Let me just do it." I returned all my tools to their places and went to bed feeling the need for rest after having completed work. To my surprise, Nessian was online. My mind was forced to wonder what could be keeping him till early in the morning. "Chatting with his girlfriend!" I frowned at the thought, "Lucy's gonna get a splendid gift there. Wish I had a boyfriend that would show me such love."

"Good morning sir." He saw the message but didn't reply. The small icon of his face beside the message told me he read it but didn't reply. "So sorry to disturb," I added after no response came. Again the icon dropped to the recent message but no reply came forth. "Why is he not answering me?" Different thoughts ran through my mind. Him forgetting to turn off his data and going to sleep that way came up, this came and I almost believed it to be true when the typing dots appeared below my last message. My heart almost dropped.

"Perhaps he was on something earlier." I reassured myself.

"Good morning, I asked you to address me as Nessian." It dawned on me that this was the major reason he didn't reply. "I'm sorry I feel kind of bad addressing my seniors by name except if they are relatives or close friends."

"Really! What would you say if I tell you that I feel awkward having someone call me sir?" This was a trap for me as I knew not what to reply. Anyway I needed to say anything, since no idea came up I used a blushing emoji to cover my silence. It was the best I could do in such a situation, such an emoji had different meanings to which I left Nessian to choose the one that complied with his question.

"Why did you actually message?" To this I got a reply. "I'm done with your work."

A smile must have lighted across his face. "Are you serious? You can't be serious. My previous artist took three days to complete a work that is not as complex as this."

"I told you this is my work, a talent indeed and I find it as a hobby. I started drawing and painting at eight."

"So you were born into this?" I smiled at his question. "You're a genius. Anyway thanks, tomorrow I'll get to see what you've got there."

"Alright, anytime you're chanced even if it's in the morning." I wanted to get done with him and continue with other tasks. The thought of getting him interested in me was no longer existent, the only thing I wished was to get my eighty pounds and put that into feeding.

"Wouldn't you love to tell me more about yourself? I'm forced to say this but the truth is that I just like you."

'This must be a dream,' I reacted to myself.

"Well, thanks. I'm Ava, I told you my name earlier and my work is the artist's job. I sell flowers as well."

"That's not what I mean. I know those already."

"But we barely know each other?"

"Never mind, I just want to know more about you. If it's something else you think, we can just be friends at least for the short time I'm in London. Came for a holiday and will be back to America in three days. What do you say?" My thoughts went back to the advice my dad gave me before I left home. I placed another careful assessment on Nessian, he wasn't an irresponsible guy.

"Fine, we can be friends." Nessian blushed, I added a similar sticker. I was falling in love or what? Was glad it wasn't in real life, there is no way I would avoid being nervous. The thought of enquiring why he was online at such an odd hour came up, to ask this I needed to summon courage. "Why are you online at this time? Thinking you should be having some sweet sleep?"

"I stayed online till this time because of you."

My eyes widened in surprise, "Why me?"

"Because I was inclined to chat with you." I was mute, I didn't know what to say again because I was confused.

"But you've Lucy?" I couldn't imagine why a charming guy like him would suddenly take interest in me when he already had a good looking girlfriend.

"She messaged me some minutes ago accusing me of getting entangled with some other girl here in London. She says I'm no longer attentive to her like before."

"She says this and you still think of me? I don't really want any issue with your girl. So please stay away, you should only be a client and nothing else." I told him openly, I wasn't ready for a battle with another girl over a man. I'd been hearing of that, and don't want it to be recorded in my life.

"You're pushing me away?" I read his message but didn't reply to it. "But I can't take your statement for a NO!"

"Ok." That was the only answer I could think of. I felt it would annoy him more than giving another detailed response which he wasn't willing to take. When you have a crush on someone and the person says something related to your feelings, you can't avoid getting amazed. I wondered if Nessian already knew how I felt about him, one thing I battled hard to hide from him but here was Lucy, a major obstacle which seemed impossible to conquer.

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Nessian's POV

Right from the first time I set my eyes on this fair girl, my heart can't rest. I wished she was mine, Lucy can't in any way be compared to her. All I wish is that I could turn back the tides to the time I met Lucy, this time around I'd go for Ava.

"Where are you from?" The privilege to ask her more questions came up after she accepted me as her friend. "Well I don't really know my real place of birth but my foster parents are from London." This reply seemed controversial, I wondered how one wouldn't know where she came from.

"Really?" My confusion was getting the whole of me. "I don't really get you, tell me more dear?"

"I'm an orphan, that's how I see myself. Don't know if my parents are still alive but my foster parents told me I was picked by the street in the cold of the winter."

This brought tears to my eyes. I imagined how such a beautiful young girl could have been picked up in such an inhumane condition. "What if she died?" I asked myself, I wouldn't have met her.

"I'm so sorry, I can't say anything again." She added a tearful eyes emoji to her response. I could feel her pains, I wondered if I would survive in such a condition.

"Sorry baby."

"Why are you calling me baby?"

"You look like one, not a kid actually but you're tender to me."

"Stop kidding me, you're in a relationship already. I don't really want one, just focused on how I can get money to further my education." This reply struck a heavy blow on my face because if there was a way to dump Lucy for Ava, I would. Taking her to America would make me the happiest person on earth. "Stop illusioning yourself, she's not interested." My inner mind struck another blow with its statement.

It was actually true that Ava wasn't interested in any relationship with a man that had a girlfriend already. The way she spoke, she wasn't a one-night stand girl that would gamble away her body and dignity for a cool guy with money. I didn't fancy the whole one-night thing personally. She was not like most girls who would be head over heels in love with a rich and handsome CEO like me.

"Which level did you stop?"

"I just completed my high school before I came to leave here."

"I think you must have left home?"

"Yes."

"And you're living alone?"

"Of course." Ava was truly a disciplined young woman. Even at living alone, she still had the attributes of a girl living with parents who were strict and disciplined. "I love you," I added sub-consciously.

She widened her eyes in a sticker, I realized what I just said. Well I decided to justify my statement. "Ava, by that I mean I just love you, nothing in and nothing out. I salute your self-confidence, honesty and diligence. Just wished I could see you through college."

This must have brought a great amazement to Ava, the next thing I saw a pleading sticker and an emoji. I tried to ignore it, "It wasn't my responsibility." I thought. "But you said you love her, you can do that for her." My heart had a way of tormenting me but in this case it wasn't a torment. Helping Ava would not be a difficult thing because of the interest I had for her.

"I think we've chatted too much, let's go to sleep. This is 12:48 AM." Whatever I wished to do would come as a surprise to her, I loved suspense. In my life, I never really told anyone what I was about to do the next moment. My mom once told me that gifts are best served when presented as a surprise. The gift I was presenting to Lucy was likewise a surprise, so would be the one I had in mind for Ava.

"Are you dismissing me?"

"No, not at all. I just feel you need to go have a good night's rest. You have been working all night and tomorrow you need to go early to work." I attempted to put my words in a nice way so Ava wouldn't notice I was dismissing her. Talking more might force me to say what I intended to keep a secret.

"It's alright," she blushed. "See you tomorrow, good night!"

"Wait!" I stopped her right before she went offline. "I will come with a gold frame for you to place your work on and a glass cover to place over it so nothing would happen to the actual drawing in rain or sun."

"No problem, I'll do that for you." By her words, she seemed so kind and courteous. Ava was someone I would love to have as a partner, it wasn't long when I discovered myself that a partner is quite different from someone you called a girlfriend. Though I loved Lucy, she was insolent and foul-mouthed on the slightest mistake on my part especially when she was having her monthly flows.

"Thanks baby."

"You're welcome manny." Ava laughed, I laughed as well. Soon we found ourselves sharing tons of laughing emojis, since we weren't talking like in a call.

"Okay, tired. Good night." It was Ava's turn to dismiss me, I hated letting her go but I had to do that. "Good night girl."

After Ava went to sleep I lay down on my soft bed facing the ceiling of my luxurious lounge. Ava is a cool girl, all kinds of soft feelings came over me as I was thinking about her. I just wished I had such an angel as my girlfriend, since I couldn't have her, I resolved to take her as a best friend if she would accept. "Let's just see how tomorrow turns out." I said to myself before drifting to sleep.