Cherished by You

CHAPTER 6-

MIKA
Saturday

I stopped the treadmill and got off. My towel motioned across my face to soak up some of this sweat that was pouring from my forehead and my breathing got shallow. My music was still playing as I walked to the locker room to collect my things to head out for the day.

It was 7 am and I was trying to get a quick workout in the morning since I was on call today and was planning to do other things with my day. I wanted to decorate my condo a little and get some new bed sheets and stuff for my room.

I sat on the bench in the locker room taking a quick sip of water, then grabbed my gym bag and coat and headed out of the gym and to my apartment which was just a 5 minutes walk away. Right before I left, the guy at the front desk of the gym stopped me to try to start a convo. He was talking about the gym and asking me about my workouts. He said he was new here and was still learning about the amenities they had at this new gym. He was cute, brown-skinned, beard, buff, usually the type of guy I'd like, but it was kinda weird for a minute.

Sadly, because I was thinking about what Candice said, I gave him my number when he asked for it and he wrote his on a paper and gave it to me as well. I hope he doesn't text me.

"What yuh cooking today?" my mom asked on the phone.

I trudged through the snow real quick because I was freezing.

"Just some curry chicken I think and white rice maybe. I don't really feel for a big meal today," I said in my Caribbean accent.

Candice was still here and she was going to help me cook today she said. She had bought some of the stuff we saw on Pinterest for Gina's baby shower already and she was starting to put some of them together in the meantime.

"Oooh that sounds good," mom said, then the line got silent for a little as I swiped my key card and went into my apartment building. "How are you doing honey? With work and everything?" I smiled at the doorman, Mr. Thornburn, and then hit the elevator button.

"It's going good..." I breathed stepping into the elevator.

Work was good honestly, but I was starting to feel like I was stuck a little. Don't get me wrong I loved helping kids and taking care of them when they were sick, but I was turning thirty and I was feeling like there was other stuff that I wanted to do with my life. I've been studying to be a doctor for almost twelve years of my life and wanted to know what else there was in the world for me to do.

Growing up, I had always been into art and even minored in it in college. It was interesting to me growing up, but I never wanted to commit to it fully when I was in college and had the opportunity to decide between art and medicine. I was just scared of the idea that becoming an artist may mean that there may be times when I might be struggling, just till I really got my foot in the door or got things started. That wasn't something I wanted to commit to. And what if I regretted it? I wanted to get into the business of art and become an art dealer, but medicine was safe.

"What are your plans for today mummy?"

My mind was still stuck on this career stuff. I wished that I was brave enough to make the change. I told myself that eventually, I'd get into it. Like I still painted and drew sometimes, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for and sometimes it felt like something was missing. Even subconsciously, I think that's why I moved to New York. It was one of the biggest states in America for the art world. Maybe I still wanted to be part of it...

I took another deep breath brushing everything off my shoulder and finished the conversation with my mom before I unlocked the door and went into my condo.