Unfiltered Self

April reached the condominium and she smiled as she saw Jace, he must have just finished working as he wore his casual clothing and he was chatting to a new guard that stood behind the desk.

Noticing April walk in with four heavy bags he abandoned the desk and sped around to her side.

"I'll help you." Before she could even refuse Jace took her bags from her hands and walked to the lift with them.

April smiled and nodded thanking him.

"I'm really okay, I carried them from the supermarket so this little distance is not a bother." They entered the lift together.

"Still, you should have got a taxi. I wouldn't let any of my sisters or my mother carry this amount while I am around so I can't possibly allow you. My mother would kill me if I ignored you struggling with bags."

"Okay, I give up." She smiled at Jace as the lift door opened. "I will look into getting a car soon."

"Good, but if you need any help you can always ask me or any other guard at the desk."

April took out her keys and opened the door, Jace left the bags on her kitchen counter and smiled. "Have a good evening."

"Thanks, Jace, safe home." April showed Jace out and closed the door behind him.

After the door shut Jace walked straight into a muscular back. Looking up he saw a pair of indifferent eyes. He knew Dean Davis, he was a powerful, tyrannical and ruthless CEO. He backed away, hitting the lift button. He knew better than to stick around.

"Mr Davis I am so sorry... have a good evening sir." He jumped in the lift quickly and hit the ground floor button.

Dean down up at the young man as he backed away and jumped into the lift like a rabbit fleeing from a wolf. He smirked, am I that scary he thought. He went inside his apartment and huffed at the thought that he had a neighbour now, wondering who had moved in next door for a fraction of a second. He then gave it no more thought as he took off his suit and jumped into the shower. The warm water ran over his sculpted muscles and relaxed them.

He had worked for the past two days straight without a break, after getting full control of the Davis family and Davis Conglomerate he had a lot of meetings to chair. He had already fired several directors and department heads due to incompetence and laziness. But his uncle's men were spread far and deep into the company for him to fully gain control he needed to get rid of those leeches first.

He got out of the shower and dried off, he put on a pair of black jogging bottoms before wiping his hair roughly and throwing the towel away, small drops of water dripped from his hair on to his muscular chest and down his abs.

He poured himself a glass of whiskey and he swirled the amber liquid as he then downed it in one. He leaned back on the bed and lay with his eyes closed but his brows furrowed. What is she up to now?

Meanwhile, April wasn't tired at all, she was pumped after getting a job so she put away her groceries and got into some comfortable loungewear. She then walked to her painting room, she would always spend her time painting so she could lose herself away from the pain the loss of her mother has brought her.

Instantly picking up the brush, she sat on a high chair then piped brown and white colour from the small tube and then entered a state where nothing else matters but her hand moving. She poured her heart onto the canvas, splashing colours on to it, her eyes started to space out into a wider state looking at minor details, her mind understanding nothing but his piercing eyes that were at the tip of her mind, and her lips slowly turned up into a small subtle smile.

This is April without anything to tie her down in her raw unfiltered self.

Colours were mixed into her palette, hues of browns that made skin, shades of blacks that made hair, shades of reds that made lips, shades of blues that made a person's shirt.

After a few hours of painting it was already the middle of the night, April yawned and covered her mouth. Only when she stepped back to look at the finished piece after hours of ongoing work did she notice the picture on her painting. No, not just a picture, but a person's image. She blinked repeatedly almost as if she could not believe the finished painting.

She then remembered the face she had just painted, recognition dawning on her. She had met him twice, once in both lifetimes. She stared intently at the painting and trying to remember the details. She had seen a glimpse of him at the bank but in her past life didn't she nurse his wounds one night when he was attacked.

She tried to piece together the life of her last life, it was her stepsisters birthday night that everything had happened. That night she had left the restaurant alone after being humiliated, when she was walking to her small apartment she bumped into him and had taken him home. Would he need her help in this lifetime too she wondered, her sisters birthday was a few weeks away.

She glanced at the painting again, those eyes captured her soul. She shook her head unsure of what she was doing, she had painted without thinking. She left the painting to dry and walked to her bedroom, falling onto the comfortable bed and wrapping herself in the duvet. Tonight she had a soft king-sized bed all to herself rather than a small bed with damp bedding. She was in a burrito-style cocoon and the warmth heated her from the inside out. She thanked her mum in her heart for the condo before passing out. A lot had happened and she had a lot yet to achieve.