Opening up the responses to the request form, I started going through them one by one and sorting them based on the detail of the request. As I read the requests, my brain began thinking about ways that I couldplete my work without meeting the client in person.


    I could paint from a photograph and some requests actually wanted me to paint based on a photograph so I could work on those requests without any issues. For other requests, would doing some kind of video call help act as a reasonably good alternate method? Honestly, I haven’t tried it before, but it might be worth a shot.


    The issue was that most clients probably didn’t know the process of getting their portrait painted. Perhaps, I could get back to them to ask if it was fine if I didn’t paint them in person. There were so many requests that I had to find some way to prioritize them. I hated to admit it, but Hayden was right. I wondered how many portraits I could finish in a month. Perhaps one per week?


    That would make it four per month. If I rushed a little, perhaps I could do six or eight?


    Judging by the number of requests, the booking would be full for almost a year. That’s just crazy. I spent a good portion of the night working on sorting the request and reaching out via email to the clients to ask them more about their requests and expressing my sincere apologies and regret for not being able to meet them in person.


    I didn’t know how the clients would react, but I couldn’t do anything else but pray for the best.


    The truth was, I probably needed to brush up my skills before I could start on a realmission. It has been a while since I’vest sketched or painted a portrait. The most realistic date to start working on my firstmission would be around a week’s time from now.


    I felt tired and that spat that I had with Hayden just now didn’t help out with anything at all. After taking a quick shower, I went straight to bed. Little Hayden was peacefully sleeping in his small little bed in my living room by now and I envied how easily he could drift off to sleep. It was like he could fall asleep anywhere and at any time.


    Unlike that little puppy, sleep did note easy to me that night.


    My mind was too filled with thoughts about my work and now and then my thoughts would drift off to Hayden. I wondered what he was doing and if he was sleeping well. Hopefully, he wasn’t having trouble sleeping like I did. Then again, I don’t think that little argument we had just now would disturb him at all. Then why is it bothering me so much?


    I shut my eyes tightly as I covered my eyes with my hand and rolled around from side to side on the bed. This is useless, I can’t seem to go to sleep no matter how hard I tried. I sat up in bed as my head started to throb a little painfully. Am I about to get a migraine? Seriously?


    Earlier, I was too shocked and too busy trying to get the truth out from him. In the end, I forgot to thank him properly for all that he’s done to help me out. Sure, perhaps he did a little too much and kept it all a secret from me. However, I knew that he meant well, and I owed him at least a word of thanks.


    From how I reacted and what I said to him, he must have thought that I was such an unappreciative and selfish person. I felt horrible…


    Tomorrow is a Saturday so Hayden should be home all day tomorrow. That meant that I had the whole day to find a way to apologize to him properly. Wait, what if he decides to go out?


    The surest way was to catch him very early in the morning. Thanks to Auntie, I now knew where Hayden’s room is so if I head there early in the morning, I was sure to catch him before he woke up. I was convinced that that was the best n. However, with that n in mind, I still couldn’t go to sleep. As time ticked by, I felt more and more anxious.


    Before any thought ran through my mind, I had gotten up from my bed. I wrapped a loose robe over my short night gown before running out of my room in my slippers. It waste at night, and I wasn’t sure if Hayden was already asleep or not but that didn’t stop me from proceeding along the hallway that led to Hayden’s wing of the mansion.


    While on my way to his bedroom, my brain tried to figure out what I would say to him exactly. This wasn’t an easy task. Hayden is such an unpredictable person. It was so hard to figure out what he was thinking or feeling and that made it so hard to handle him. If I said the wrong thing, I’ll end up angering him more than before and that would be a disaster.


    I wasn’t sure of anything apart from the fact that I wanted and needed to see him right away.


    I didn’t realize that I had been in such a rush to get to Hayden’s bedroom until I was standing right in front of the door to his bedroom with my chest heaving up and down. The sound of my shallow pants was the only sound in the silent and deserted hallway. I can’t believe that I just ran all the way here. What has gotten into me?


    It was like I had so much foolish courage before but now that I was standing right outside of his room, I suddenly felt quite scared. What did I do just now? How did I end up here and at this hour? This is just too crazy…


    --To be continued…