Lies, Lies And More Lies✔️

41: Twilight

"...and she was like 'I dare you, Ana!' and I was like 'I do dare, Ella!' and then—" I felt a flick on my arm and the sting brought me back to reality.

"Ana!" I glared at Naborhi as I rubbed on my arm to soothe the pain. She scowled in reply.

"I've been talking to you for like ten minutes and I'm sure you haven't heard a word I said." She accused and I sighed as I readjusted my position on my bed. I sat up and rested my back to the head board of my bed.

"I'm sorry. There's just a lot on my mind right now."

"Derrek?" She asked and I gave another sigh, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

It had been a month since I saw Derrek at the hospital. I'd heard from Tosin who had heard from Alex that Derrek had been discharged from the hospital a week after the accident and his mom and sister had flown down to check in on him. I had wanted to see him so many times but I had to stop myself everytime. Deep down in my heart, I knew it was only right to let Derrek live his life without feeling tied to me because of a stupid contract. He had a real fiancée who he probably loved and who most definitely loved him. Tosin had also mentioned that his fiancée had moved into his apartment to take care of him. He didn't need me. He never did.

"It's not just Derrek. I've been applying for jobs for the past month and nothing." I said in frustration.

"Don't you think that maybe you should go back to work for your parents?" Naborhi suggested and I shook my head in disagreement.

I had thought about that for a long time before I actually brought myself to quit working for my parents. The truth was that I wasn't happy working for them. I was miserable everyday and after everything that had happened with Derrek, I realized that life was too short to spend it doing something I hated. I decided to find my own path in life and I was going to start by finding myself a job that was best suited for me.

"Have you thought about painting again?" She asked after a few moments of silence and my lips pulled upward in a smile as I nodded.

"Actually, I have." I answered, getting off my bed. I walked over to the wall by my wardrobe and picked up my latest painting that I had kept by the wall. I placed it on my dressing table and waved Naborhi over to check it out. "What do you think?" I asked as she walked over to me.

"Wow, Ti! This is really good!" She complimented, brushing her fingers over the surface of the canvas. It had been a painting I had made of the sky at sunset. The painting was colored with pink, blue and orange colors to give the hue I had captured in my mind. I had painted it the day I had returned from seeing Derrek at the hospital. I had been feeling all sorts of emotions and the only way I ever learned how to release them was through painting.

"I call it Twilight." I said, watching Naborhi assess the painting.

"I love it!" She declared. "You know, I've got a friend who just opened up this art gallery in Banana Island and she would love your works. She's scouting for upcoming artists right now."

"You don't have to, Ana. This is just a hobby. I'm not looking to display my works." I politely declined as I moved to pick up the painting and Naborhi slapped my hand away.

"Nonsense! You have a gift and you've hidden it for so long! I don't know why you were always so insecure about your art works when you were so confident about everything else."

"My art is very important to me, Ana. It's the only thing I'm really good at and I don't want people's opinions and criticisms ruining that for me." I said honestly. I recalled the time I had been brave enough to submit my work to a gallery and I could still remember how much they hated it. My hopes and dreams were shattered to pieces and it took me a long time to be able to pick up a brush again. I didn't think I could put myself through that again. I never told my friends about any of it, how could I when they were all sharing their success stories with me? I didn't want them to think of me as a failure. That was why I had gotten myself entangled in this fake engagement of a mess in the first place.