Chapter 9: Artworks
Oceana's eyes darted through the rows of vegetables on sale, searching for the slightly cheaper vegetable which would be more affordable for her and budget friendly "it's so expensive" Oceana sighed deeply, the rise in the prices of goods was too alarming. "You don't have to cook…..,..if u don't wanna spend so much , you can order takeouts" Raymond said from the side, Oceana tilted her head slightly catching his lean masculine figure from the corner of her eyes "bad guy" Leo glared at Raymond fiercely as he then pulled Oceana away from the isle Raymond was at "brat" Raymond snorted as he picked a few vegetables randomly and begun to walk away,
He glanced at the direction Oceana was in and with a chuckle he walked off.
Oceana on the other hand finished her grocery shopping quickly, she could feel a full ache in her purse at the amount she had spent so far which was more than she had budgeted on her way "big sis I'll make more money in the future" Leo assured her and she nodded, as she quickly paid and led him back home
The supermarket was a short walk home hence it was convenient for both of them to walk which took only a couple of minutes before they alas arrived home. "Kitty"Leo pointed to a tiny kitten pulling Oceana back to look at the tiny kittens, she couldn't help but wonder how he had seen the kittens "there's 3 kittens" Oceana commented as she scooped the kittens into her free hand
They were so small and judging from how wet they were the rain earlier must have rained on them
At least they were alive
And under Leo's influence Oceana alas took the kittens home "are those cats?" Lester asked, a little bit wary of the small creatures "yea" Leo nodded like a rattle drum "mom's allergic to fur animals" Lester said to Oceana who was putting away their shoes and coats "but I want kitty!" Leo frowned clearly displeased, he wanted to keep kitty "you can only keep one" Lester said to his son, he knew Leo all too well the brat would want all the animals to himself "I'll keep the other two" Oceana replied as she walked to her bedroom with the kittens and Leo in tow. "What about mom?" Lester asked worriedly "do I look like I care?" Leo slammed the door shut and Oceana placed the kittens on a towel to dry, she then turned on the heater to warm them up
"I don't turn on the heater often due to rising electricity bills" Oceana sighed "what can we feed them big sis?" Leo asked excitedly "I haven't raised any animal, I'll have to check the internet for informations on that" she replied and Leo nodded. She left the kittens to him to handle while she went about dinner preparations
"Oceana did you really bring cats into this apartment" Irene snapped clearly displeased at Oceana's attitude "they're in my room" Oceana replied as she continued cooking "what do you mean by that! I'm allergic to fur animals! Isn't that enough reason to throw the animal out or give it to someone else" Irene frowned even more, staring at Oceana who didn't care a little bit about her, she felt frustrated beyond words
Other daughters tried to make their mothers happy but Oceana Lyndon was different
Did she even care about her, her mother?
Irene was pissed
However Oceana wasn't bothered, she finished making dinner and served it all up for herself and Leo "it smells so good" Leo grinned as he hurriedly dug into his portion "eat slowly" Oceana cautioned him with a small smile on her face as she watched him eat before digging into her own portion "it's so delicious big sis" Leo smiled wildly as he stuffed his mouth with food "his mother's coming to pick him up soon!" Irene frowned at Oceana seeing the empty pot of food "mom" Lester sighed as he walked over to the kitchen stove to begin cooking "don't I deserve to be treated even a little fairly by her!" Irene lamented bitterly, she was annoyed at herself and her daughter who wasn't trying to help her to make things work. Lester glanced at his mother then at Oceana, he wondered when both parties would reconcile
Oceana couldn't be bothered with neither Lester nor Irene, she fed Leo till he was full then she cleaned up the dishes and sent him to bed before going into her room and shutting the door.
"Oceana" Otto's voice came through from the other end of the phone as Oceana begun to prepare everything she needed for her bath, she frowned slightly seeing the almost empty bath products
She'd have to spend some money on bath supplies soon and with other piling bills
She sighed
"I'm listening" Oceana finally replied to the already anxious Otto, It was his first time calling her and he really wouldn't have if it wasn't something important "we've got a problem..." Otto bit his lips slightly. "You should be telling Liam not me" Oceana replied flatly "we've got bugs on the last game! I just noticed it tonight while my roommates were playing a game" Otto sighed heavily "I'm not the leader" Oceana replied indifferently "we've been asked to modify the game... which means we are to make version 002 of lonely road" Otto ran his hands through his hair his anxiety and frustration evident in his voice
"What's Liam saying about this?" Oceana asked "we have to work on it first and lonely road….. do you remember lonely road?" Otto asked curiously "I do" she nodded and Otto sighed in relief "it's quite tricky all you have to do is deal with the bugs we'll do the rest" Otto finally as he laid on his bed "I ain't working over time good night" with that Oceana turned off her phone and walked into the bathroom to shower, she wasn't about to work and not get paid "she hung up" Otto stared at his phone's screen blankly, he was amazed at Oceana's attitude towards work "we'll have to sort it out tomorrow….. for now we do the best we can"Theo sighed and Otto nodded as they both focused on their screens coding throughout the night
Oceana finished up her bath, she changed into a comfortable sleep wear and then she picked up her phone and logged into the internet browsing on different topics related to raising cats. The kittens lay in the blanket snuggling close to each other for warmth
They were so small and cute
She turned away and picked up her laptop she had some assignments to submit hence she spent the rest of the night typing vigorously on her laptop
Only finally able to turn in her assignments before dawn "life's so hard"she sighed as she laid in bed, drawing the covers over her body she slowly drifted off to sleep
The next morning Oceana woke up earlier than usual, she went about her routine and got dressed in her usual sweat pants and hooded shirt, she had a pair of old sneakers on and her bag which she wore on her back
She stared at her reflection in the mirror and with a sigh she left the apartment with the two kittens in a warm blanket "why did you text me?" Yuna asked with a yawn, she barely had any sleep all night "Cause I have a task for you" Oceana rolled her eyes at Yuna "you never find me, unless you need something….. now what do you want" Yuna asked and Oceana handed her the blanket with the kittens in it
"When did you become an animal lover?" Yuna asked curiously. "Can't I love animals anymore?" Oceana frowned "no boss" Yuna chuckled " take it to the vet" Oceana pointed out before fishing out some cash from her pocket "I don't know where the vet's are"Yuna pouted and Oceana glared at her "ask around you'll find a vet!" Oceana sighed before waking away "are you leaving them?" Yuna asked earning her a glare from Oceana "I'm picking them up at night now get lost" with that Oceana walked away leaving Yuna on the spot "the vet's are so expensive" Yuna sighed as she turned and walked away.
Oceana glanced at Yuna's disappearing figure and a sigh escaped her lips as she walked away
~Yuna Minamato~
It was still quite early hence Oceana stopped at a breakfast place first to grab herself a quick breakfast. The cafe had just opened up for sales that morning hence the breads were warm, soft and delicious
She ate till her fill while sipping her coffee and working on her laptop, "hi" the cafe owner Cedric smiled as he sat directly opposite Oceana, he stared at her taking in her features "mm" Oceana raised a brow however she didn't stop her hands from working while her eyes perked up to listen to whatever he had to say "it's about white hair" Cedric suddenly said and Oceana's hand movement paused slightly "what happened?" Oceana asked her voice devoid of emotions. "I'm just worried about her" he answered honestly while she stared at him suspiciously, she wondered why a man like him would concern himself with a nobody like Yuna
Whom she had saved once by chance
Compared to rich folks like him common people like them were nothing in comparison
And unlike her, Yuna was an easy target for bullying "I was only worried, I haven't seen her around here in a long time" Cedric sighed as he lowered his head
Oceana on the other hand took her last sip of her coffee, focusing all her attention on him "did you see her with me earlier?" She asked directly staring hard at him "yea" Cedric nodded and Oceana chuckled with one swift movement she had a knife pressed against his neck "what do you want?" She asked coldly, her voice dangerously low and chilling "I just want her to be safe that's just it" Cedric sighed "why would you concern yourself with a nobody?" Oceana asked, she couldn't wrap her head around why someone like him would care about someone like Yuna "boss" the other workers rushed forward seeing their boss with a knife pressed against his neck. "She means a lot to me" Cedric replied with a small smile before pushing Oceana into the sofa "you should take responsibility for yourself and quit making her clean up your messes" with that Cedric stood up, he glanced at his workers signaling them to get back to work "what do you mean?" Oceana asked clearly confused at his words "it's up to you" with that he walked away leaving Oceana and her thoughts
She couldn't help but wonder what Yuna was up to, glancing at the wall clock she finished up her breakfast, rounded up her work and made to the bus station, where she got herself a ticket with different thoughts swirling in her mind
Oceana sighed as she got on the bus, she found herself a vacant seat where sat glancing out the window
Tika catching a glimpse of Oceana quickly wiped her eyes and lowered her head
After that day Hades hadn't called her or tried to explain things to her and when she tried to get to him it never went through
She hadn't even seen him anywhere
How could she bring herself to face Oceana? how could she allow everyone see her at her worst? Her gaze turned hateful
Maybe just maybe Oceana Lyndon had jinxed her!
Oceana who was oblivious to Tika's thoughts got off the bus at her stop which was school
She didn't hurry to the classes instead she made to the library "good morning" she greeted the librarian Ms Freya. "Good morning Oceana it's been so long….. we've got a few good books for you" Ms Freya smiled as she pointed to some new collections of books which had just been sent to the library some weeks ago "thanks" oceana nodded as she walked over to the new collection shelves and picked out a few books
She wasn't a fan of books but maybe it was time to visit someone who was fascinated by books she thought as she randomly picked different genres
After picking out the books she sat to continue working on her laptop
Her character was coming into shape and she was loving the outcome of it
Ms Freya stared at Oceana as she worked on her laptop, a small sigh escaped her lips "poor child" she muttered as she went about arranging books and cleaning up for the day
Oceana worked for a long while only stopping when her alarm rang for a class "I'll be leaving now" Oceana stood up packed her things and walked out "she took a lot of books" Ms Freya begun to write the records while listening to the radio playing her favorite blues
What was a good morning without good music? She sighed in content
Oceana on the other hand attended her class ignoring the scornful gazes of the students and the looks of anger and frustration of the lecturers
She wasn't bothered with the looks of contempt from everyone for a fact she was used to it
Cairo was quite contented seeing them so angry, he glanced at Oceana who had her head lowered whilst going through her phone
He wondered what she was so focused on
Luckily the lecturer didn't bother with her
Hence she could do whatever she wanted
The class ended after several hours of tests and questions Nina groaned as she dragged her already aching body out
The class was brutal for an average student like her, the questions were alien to her and the test was torture "if you can't handle a common theorem you should quit school" Cairo mocked her "mind your business" Nina fired back, catching a glimpse of Oceana she hugged her almost sobbing "I can still make it as an actor.... Do I really have to do all this?" Nina sighed heavily, "you don't have a choice do you?" Saki asked pulling Nina from Oceana while Cairo held Oceana back "you should study else you'll keep repeating classes" Oceana pushed Cairo away from her side and begun to walk away "can I get another artwork something standard?" Cairo asked " why?" Oceana paused on her tracks and tilted her head to face him "it's for my dad, he loves artworks and he's been wanting something unique for a long time" he answered and Oceana clicked her tongue
Her monetary issues would be solved she thought "a standard painting would cost more" Oceana replied flatly "I'll pay anything... can I get two?" Cairo asked "$3k" Oceana replied casually and Cairo paused slightly "the last painting was about $1k" he felt a financial pinch and Oceana rolled her eyes at him . "That was a rough work" Oceana replied honestly, she hadn't intended to sell that artwork it was just one of her random paintings he took interest in and bought. "I'll transfer half the payment now, I'll make the other payments after I've gotten the artworks" Cairo replied. "Do you think Oceana will scam you! Are you looking down on her !" Nina stormed over clearly angered at Cairo's disrespect. "I don't have enough money at the moment" Cairo lowered his head and Nina sneered in mockery "were you planing on cheating her?" Nina asked suspiciously "I won't do that! I know paintings cost a lot alright!" Cairo glared at Nina fiercely, she was making things difficult for him
"I'll accept half the payment" Oceana finally spoke up and Cairo nodded, he took her details quickly and transferred the amount he had to her "I also want a painting, but I won't short change you! I'll transfer $5k to you now" Nina took her details and transfered the amount she said she would
Oceana danced in excitement internally
With so much money there was a lot she could do, Her mind raced with different things she could do with so much money "seen" Oceana waved her phone at them and both Nina and Cairo nodded in relief. "I intend gifting the painting to my sister" Nina added, she knew paintings differ and she hoped Oceana could create something Carol would like and oceana nodded in understanding. "Let's have lunch before you leave" Cairo voiced out "you're broke now, how can you pay?" Nina asked and Cairo glared at her "it doesn't mean I can't pay for a few meals!" Cairo frowned even more, he was getting so pissed with Nina's nosy attitude
"Well you don't have to bother I have to head to work and get materials for painting on my way" Oceana waved them off and walked away leaving them to argue as much as they liked
She couldn't stop them hence she went about her own things