Yes, My Alpha: Vibrant Violet

Ch 2: The Sire (Part 3)

During the afternoon of the fourth day, Esme and Cecil were out on a walk through the gardens of the Baldwin estate. Now that Cecil felt better, Esme was taking the chance to get to know him. Cecil had servants buy Esme clothes muttering something about it not being proper for her to wear the same ones so often. So, she had been dressed in a new outfit picked out by Cecil.

"It looks better than expected," Cecil remarked looking pleased with his work, it wasn't anything complicated, Esme wore a simple button-up shirt with dark trousers. But the difference in quality was noticeable. Cecil was dressed well himself, wearing a light-yellow blouse with white vest and light tan trousers to match. The colors reminded Esme of spring; it was a pleasant look on him.

"Well, it's easy to surpass expectations when they're low." Esme remarked snidely, "That isn't what I meant." Cecil sneered; Esme snorted finding his annoyed expression amusing. Cecil gave her a dirty look and turned his head looking forward. "What do you do for work?" He asked, "Isn't it a bit late to do first date questions Cecil?" Esme joked; Cecil side eyed her. "I had to make sure the body was worth getting to know the mind." He replied smugly.

"You're very thorough then." Esme quipped back holding her hands behind her back. "I had to be absolutely sure." A flirty look was shot Esme's way by Cecil. "Cecil the bedroom is a fifteen-minute walk away." Esme deadpanned. "Yes, but there are six guest rooms along the way." He added grinning. "Lord have mercy." Esme grumbled tugging her collar.

Chuckling came from Cecil before he spoke up, "So what do you do?" He asked, "I'm an artist. You've been in my studio." Esme walked in step with Cecil as they talked. "I don't really remember." Cecil confessed with a slight wince on his face. Esme bit the inside of her cheek, "Well that's fair." She replied. "How good are you?" Cecil questioned; Esme glanced over into the open window of one of the rooms of the Baldwin estate.

Like many her paintings hung on the walls, in clear view of her window one hung just above the fireplace of what looked like a drawing room. Though Cecil wouldn't know, she had been painting under a pseudonym for years now. "Decent I suppose." She replied in a light tone, she decided it was better not to bring it up.

Families like the Baldwin's didn't care about alpha women art. Which was part of the reason why she had been painting under a pseudonym for so long. It was easier to sell that way, she had gotten quite popular because of that. If the Baldwins weren't willing to take an alpha woman into the family, they wouldn't be willing to hang an alpha woman's paintings... Even under a false name.

"Are you as good as the painter Edward?" Cecil asked curiously, Esme pulled her hands back behind her back squeezing them. Despite her racing heart she kept a calm face. As expected, he was a fan of her work; Edward was the name she had been using. She only picked that because that would've been her name had she been a boy. "I don't know about that." She replied vaguely. "You should show me one sometime." Cecil replied with a slight smile, "There's already one here. I painted one of your mother. She commissioned me." Esme replied, Cecil stopped walking and looked a little embarrassed.

"Right." He spoke, Esme at first thought it was because the context of the commission being a way to test Esme for Cecil's reaction. But there was different look on his face. Esme sighed, "They put it in a storage room, didn't they?" She asked, Cecil flinched, no one would want a signed painting by a woman on display. Especially an alpha at that, again older investors and families would get the wrong idea seeing that.

"I'm sorry." Cecil apologized; Esme held her hand up. "She bought it, she can do whatever the hell she wants with it." Esme shrugged; Cecil looked unsure. "Esme." He said softly, "Cecil I already know." Esme said with a crooked smile. His brows furrowed he looked angry now, "Has father been disrespectful to you as well?" He asked quietly moving closer to her. Esme grabbed his hands holding them. "Cecil don't worry about them. Us doing this together is between the two of us. I came here to help you; I don't care about what they think." Esme said reassuringly.