Back Better Than Before

[8] Art Galleries and Best Friends

Stephen stared at me in shock. "Why a job?" He asked. "I told you that I would pay for everything that you need. Then why would you want to work?"

Adrianna frowned. Stephen didn't understand. "I want to be independent." She said quietly. It was just like before. Back when she lived with the Montclairs, no one understood what her independence was. She was just a maid to them. But not anymore. She was going to change that. That was why she escaped her prison in the first place.

"It's dangerous for you to work outside. And then what? You will be reported to the Montclairs and you will be taken back to them. I don't know why you didn't want to stay with them and escaped. But I do know that you don't want to go back. And not to mention that when the Montclairs find out that I hid you in my house, they will try to ruin my business."

"I'm not stupid! Don't you think that I know the dangers? I thought through this. I have thought through this. And don't worry. I won't be going back to the Montclairs anytime soon. I just got my freedom and I won't be losing it anytime soon." Adrianna didn't know where the sudden burst of confidence came from but she needed now. "I know that you are helping me and risking your business but this is my life! And I want to decide for myself for once. I'm tired of letting other people decide for me and think that it's right!"

By the time Adrianna finished her rant, Stephen was staring at her open-mouthed. He blinked a few times and opened and closed his mouth. "I didn't think that I was restricting your freedom. I apologize. I didn't mean too." He genuinely looked guilty. Adrianna felt embarrassed all of a sudden. She bit her lip.

"No, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I guess I just got mad and exploded. I should be grateful that you are helping me but I don't want to be dependent on someone again." She tried to apologize.

"I would say that it's my fault but I don't want to sit here all day blaming ourselves. So tell me your plan for working without being found." He smirked.

"Oh, I-" Adrianna's idea seemed like a good idea when she thought about it but it suddenly didn't seem as good. What if it didn't work out? She had yelled at Stephen with confidence before but what if it wasn't possible and she got tracked by the Montclairs? No! She had to be confident. If she wanted her revenge, she had to be confident about her plans. "One minute." She told Stephen and quickly ran to her room and grabbed one of her sketchbooks, not the one with her nightmares but another one that had basic sketches of flowers and places. There was nothing in the sketchbook that related to her past or her revenge.

She ran back to Stephen and showed him the sketchbook. "My idea was to start an online art gallery. I would put up images of my sketches and paintings and customers can select whichever painting they would like. After they select it, they can fill in their address and I'll ship the paintings from the local post office. All payments would be by credit cards. I could open a bank account under a fake name. I won't be tracked or anything." She explained quickly, trying to convince Stephen that her plan would work.

Stephen sat on the chair, thinking. Adrianna felt like she was in trouble and was awaiting her punishment. Adrianna could hear the minutes ticking away as Stephen sat attempting to find faults in her plan. Adrianna's palms were sweating. She was so close to her freedom yet so far. She knew that if Stephen said no, she would have no resources to get her art gallery or her revenge.

After what felt like an agonizing wait, Stephen finally nodded his head. "It could work. We could add a bit of changes to make your art gallery even more popular." Stephen was going to explain more when his phone rang. "One minute, I have to take this call." Stephen left the kitchen and Adrianna sank into one of the chairs. She felt relief and something else. Something she couldn't understand.

Stephen walked out of the kitchen and into his room and answered Adrian's call. "Hello." He answered.

"Hey dude. I need a favor from you." Adrian answered, his usual playful voice noticeably missing.

"Is everything okay?" Stephen asked. Adrian rarely asked for favors. He was usually helping others.

"Yeah. Look, I'm extending my vacation. Can you grab a couple of files from my office and have them handed to my parents' house?"

"Your parents' house? Weren't you in London for vacation?" Stephen asked.

"Yeah. But mom fell ill all of a sudden. So I came back. Hey, when you send the files, can you make sure that a red colored file is sent. It's in my desk drawer." Adrian asked. Before Stephen could reply, he said "Okay, thanks. I have to go. Bye."

Stephen was confused. Adrian was worried about something. Adrian was always smiling and he enjoyed life without a care, so him being worried must be important. In the 16 years that Stephen had been friends with Adrian, he had only seen Adrian worried a couple of times. Stephen decided to personally go to Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez's home and see how Mrs. Hernandez was and find out why Adrian was so worried. 

********************************************************************************************

Hi guys! So here's another update. I'm planning on revising this story when I finish. So I just wanted ask your guys' opinion.

Do you prefer first point of view or third?

And do you guys prefer only one character's point of view or multiple characters' point of view?

Thanks to everyone who voted, commented, and added this story to their reading lists. 

Keep reading,

-R