My Escort

29 - We Only Die Once

Song: Justin Bieber - As Long As You Love Me
~we both know it's a cold world, but I will take my chances.~

Guys, I wanna say, thank you so much for the love. It's still an early phase in my book and I'll never forget my day ones. Mark my words!

***

It's a beautiful Thursday, I can't deny that. Exactly a week away from Austin's birthday and we decided to dodge away from our very busy lives. He has no important meetings scheduled for  today and neither do I. We decide to stay home and bake brownies, cupcakes and prepare dinner for just the two of us after giving Cassie the day off with pay.

"You look ridiculous." I say chuckling at Austin's appearance.

"How?" He grins before looking down at himself.

"Seeing you in an apron and head wear, it's weird. Mr. billionaire, the business tycoon, in a kitchen, covered in flower."

"I'm rich. It doesn't take away my rights of being human. Plus I'm happy to be given a chance to do stuff like this again. You bring back the old me, you know. The one with culture. I always found it hard to escape just a day from being a ruthless entrepreneur who enjoys everyone hating on my good looks and sense of style, and just relax. You did that." His smile is perfect and I mentally snap my fingers not to day dream in the middle of our conversation.

"Have I ever told you, you've made me the happiest girl alive?" I stride across the marble floor to be closer to him.

"Do you ever wonder what I'd do without you?" His eyes dart between my eyes and my lips, mentally trying to decide which one to stare at. I shove my arm around his waist, tilting my head back as his tall figure towers over me.

"I won't ever have to wonder that." My voice is soft as I accept his kiss, his flour covered hands cups my cheeks.

We share the roles when we return to the baking. The comfortable laughter and talking among ourselves fill the air as well as the smell of the ingredients. I thought I'd take more than just baking to bring me peace but this is simply more than enough. His smile illuminates my entire universe and his voice... his voice, the sweetest music I've ever listened to.

"What're you guys doing?" An additional voice enters the room and I'm not pleased for the third party.

"Oh hey Emily. We totally forgot you were coming." Austin says.

"Emily! So nice to see you! I guess we planned to spend the day together?" My smile is sheepish and I know it.

"The guards let me in. Well, you too look.. cozy today. This is good. Taking time off to spend with each other and bonding, that's good."

"Well, we try." I tell her prior to stealing a small smile at Austin.

"Did you make the lists?" She removes her glasses, placing it in her purse.

"They're upstairs and we're covered in flour. Can we just like, say them out loud?" I ask.

"Sure! Go for it."

"Well the bad things in my life are..
- my past relationships..
- losing Aiden.
- not being able to make many friends in high school.
- my anxiety.
- I don't do everything right all the time.
The good things are..
- Austin.
- Choosing to be an escort because I met Austin..
- Gina, my best friend.
- my parents and other friends.
- my dog Sidney.
- this beautiful house.
- school
- being on a magazine and getting booked for different gigs.
- being financially stable.
-and last but not least, getting closer to God."

"What is the difference between the two lists?" Emily smiles, she already know the answer, she just wants me to say it.

"Well one is good and one is bad." The sarcasm cannot hide, earning a snort of laughter from Austin. None of my emotions could ever hide when I speak and that's not always good.

"No, it proves that the good outweighs the bad. You listed 5 bad things but 9 good things. Your blessings almost double the amount of your setbacks. And that's the most important aspect about life. Bad things happen to everyone, we are all assigned to our own downfalls. But we rise up, move on and try again. The struggles only to prepare us for something good, it makes us stronger. And that's all that we should focus on, the good." She states as Austin and I nod in complete agreement.

I'm learning to appreciate and fixate my focus more on what I've gained and not what I've lost. And then it hit me... I might not have made many friends back then, but I found Gina, and she's 10x better for me than all those fake people put together. I might've ended up in a bad relationship, but it made me stronger to find the beautiful one I'm in now. If I hadn't seen the bad in people then I wouldn't have noticed the good now.

"Yeah, we only live once right?" I shrug.

"No. We only die once, we live everyday." Emily's simple words seeps through my veins. "What about you Austin?"

"You know what Emily, forget about the list. I have everything I've ever wanted. I have all the happiness I've ever needed." He glances over at me. A proud smile releases from both of our faces.

Emily smiles satisfyingly, as her eyes evaluates both of us.

For the rest of the day, we spend only an hour talking to Emily as we finish up our activities in the kitchen. She wanted to let us be alone, realizing that we planned the day in that sequence.

Something pops up in my head as Austin and I eat and watch a movie. "Be right back." I say to him as I get up. He nods, removing his arm from around me.

I head upstairs with my phone to the empty room where I put the painting. I smile as my eyes drags across it, I unlock my phone, dialing a number. I ignore the notifications my phone sends me after automatically rejecting Mark's calls.

Am I going to have to get a restraining order against him? Why is he trying to torment my life now of all times? Doesn't he have Eva to attend to or something?

"This is Nathan." The person on the other end answers, ridding my mind of the Devil's spawn.

"Uhh.. hi Nathan. It's Yas again." I'm not sure why I let out a nervous giggle but it happened.

"Oh, the pretty one." The features of his stern voice always soften when he discovers that it's me and I'm unsure how to feel about that.

"Thank you... I guess. Listen, about the painting... I want to return it."

"Wh.. why?" He stutters.

"It's nothing personal. It's just that.. I'm on like this personal journey shit and I think the painting will only serve as a dark shadow in my life. I don't need that."

"But.."

"Don't worry, you can keep the money."

"Wow. Really? Are you sure?" He asks as he tries to not let the relief seem so obvious.

"Yes." I say confidently.

"That's a lot of money Yas, if there's anything you need.. anything at all.."

"Well, there's one thing you can do for me." I say as an idea summons itself to life.

"Just name it."

"Can we meet?" I ask.

***

Well, Nathan is becoming a little frequent...

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Xoxo