Love is for Show

2 - Professionalism at its finest.

A/N: I try to avoid POV changes in my stories, it's not usually my style. But as I'm not doing a 3rd person POV for this story where it might've been a bit easier to switch perspectives, I still want the other characters' interactions to be seen, so this chapter will be in Aiden's POV.

If not explicitly stated, the story will usually always be in NATHAN'S POV!

Aiden's POV

"This is insane." My friend, Connor, looks up at me from my bed.

"What's wrong?"

I turn my laptop from my desk and he steps over to me, his dark brows furrowing slightly in concentration. "A commission for Kalen Axford's office?!" He places a hand on the back of my chair, spinning me to fully face him. "This is it, Aiden! A job like this will guarantee you a stable spot in the art world,"

I stare at him wide-eyed and very confused. "What's that look for?" He asks.

"This... I don't even know what to say," I run a hand through my dark red and curly hair. "How did a guy like him even hear about my art, let alone commission for them?!"

A grin grows on my mischievous friend. His large frame which definitely grew over the years I've known him, towers over me as he stands to his full height. "Please, your art has been an internet success since you posted that one art piece, like, a year ago,"

"Still, going viral on the internet is kind of different..." The weight of this job is hitting me like a truck with every passing second. "This is basically like working for a freaking millionaire, dude,"

He shakes his head, "do you even hear yourself right now? You can ask the 'how and when' questions later, for now you have a job to do!" He spins me right back around and has me facing the laptop, immediately spewing out random phrases for me to email back with to sound 'as professional as possible'.

Why do I feel like this'll be disastrous?

"Yes, I would just need to see Mr. Axford's office space," my phone is between my ear and shoulder as I jot down the information his personal assistant is giving me. "Email is fine; seeing the exact spot of where he would like to put the piece up from different angles would be helpful as well,"

After a few more hums of agreement and nods, which I'm aware he couldn't even see, we finally hang up. I don't even have the time to remember the guy's name. Which is so not like me by the way. This is stressing me out more than I'd like to admit.

It really shouldn't though. I just need to handle this the way I would for anyone else. No matter how much someone's paying me or what their name is, I always give my art the same attention and care as I would for anyone else. Of course, the actual size of the canvas and such differ depending on the price, but the respect and effort that goes into it is all the same for the art itself. Art is my passion and it only makes sense that I show said passion in every single piece I work on.

But this is my first ever piece for a CEO. A nationwide known millionaire and is proudly standing, among a few others of course, at the top of the business mountain. Richest of the rich. He's one of those people who puts the power in powerful. And he's paying me for my art. A piece he wants to, hopefully, permanently place in his own personal office space.

I just can't wrap my head around it.

Instead of mulling over it any longer, I finally stop wasting anymore time and get to work in my own 'office'. Which looks more like an art room of a kindergarten class with paint splatters all over the walls, covered canvases all around the room, brushes lying along the window sills and water cups literally all over the place. I, for one, like to focus on how the windows along the left side of the wall upon entry allow the most perfect lighting throughout the day and show me the most inspiring scenery of the night sky in the evenings.