Chapter 23

A glass been shifted to her made her look up to see that Sean had poured her a glass, she glanced at him and he winked at her before picking up his cutlery to continue eating like he hadn t done something. Athena smiled, happy that he wasn t angry at her and picked up the glass to sip her juice. She was about to down the entire drink when she remembered how elegantly Esperanza had taken her sip so she decided to copy her, how hard can it be anyway?
She slightly raised her pinky finger and took a very light sip, she glanced at Esperanza as she was returning the glass to the table to know if she saw what she did and to tell her that she can do it too, but she didn t know that the glass wasn t balanced on the table yet and she let go of the stem. The glass fell on the floor, shattering to pieces and scaring her with the noise. She stood up immediately with a little scream just as Esperanza and Sean stood up as well.
She looked up at Sean to see the shock and worry on his face then she turned to Esperanza to see her looking at her as well. She gulped, looking back at Sean, as the embarrassment and shame of what she did downed on her, causing her eyes to fill up with tears and her vision to blur. She cleared her throat, determined not to let the tears spill down her cheeks in Esperanza s presence so that she wouldn t embarrass Sean more. With a slightly trembling voice, she said, "please excuse me, I think I m not feeling well this evening," then she turned and left the dining room.
Sean heaved a sigh and turned to Esperanza, "sorry about that, you can continue eating."
"Oh that s okay, I m full already," she smiled.
Sean nodded once; he glanced at his own food to realize that he has lost his appetite. "Esther," he called.
An adjoining door in the room opened and Esther emerged, "yes, Mr. Brand?"
"Please clear this place up," he said and walked around the dining table to Esperanza, "let s go over to the living room," he offered his hand and she took it with a nod of her head.
They settled in the living room and talked about their business and the project but Sean wasn t entirely concentrating so she decided to leave and Sean escorted her to her car and waited until she had drove out of the gate before going back inside.
***
Athena had ran into her room then to cry in her embarrassment, she had lay on the bed when she was done crying, wondering what Sean would be thinking of her and how much of an embarrassment the renowned model would be seeing her as. The more she thought of it, the more heavy it made her heart feel and she wished she could turn back the hands of time to relive the night, but she also knew that would never be possible.
A knock on the door made her sigh and she stood up to answer the door, she was shocked when she saw the man standing there, she gulped and took a step back, then she lowered her head because she couldn t look him in the eyes, hence she sees the disappointment there. The thought alone made her heart ache and she tried so hard not cry.
Sean stared at her for a few seconds then he sighed and let himself in, he shut the door after him and walked to place the tray of food he was carrying on the bed. He turned to Athena who was still standing near the door where he left her, "I noticed you didn t have much to eat tonight so I brought you something."
Athena didn t say anything neither did she look up, Sean heaved another sigh and approached her, he grabbed her chin with his thumb and index fingers and raised her head, he looked into her eyes and when she tried to avoid his look, he held on to her chin tightly. "I noticed everything that happened tonight, Athena, and allow me to explain something to you. You don t have to push yourself to the extreme to be like someone." Athena looked up at him willingly then and he let go of her chin, "listen, you are trying hard, believe me, I know and as I told you tonight, soon you would be like her and you will do everything effortlessly, you wouldn t even bother to try because it would be in you by then. Esperanza has been a model for six years and in it the best international model for three years. Being elegant is in her blood, I mean, she lives in it. It is something she practices everyday and exhibits every time.
Whatever she did tonight wasn t a hard work on her part, she has learnt it and have become one with it. You on the other hand are still a beginner, you didn t need to copy her so hard, and soon you would be just like her. If it would make you better, Esperanza was just like you when I first saw her. She wanted to be a model and always peep at any magazine that has models in it, she watched every show, and tried to be perfect but when I saw her in one lame show on my hunt for talent, I discovered that even with her years and years of practice she was a novice, so I trained her and made her better in what she wants to be."
He grabbed her chin once more, "I trained Esperanza, I made her what she is today, believe me when I say that I can do the same for you, so you don t have to try so hard to be her, with time, you will be able to do everything she did without a single energy lost. Also, take this advice from me, when you try so hard to be like someone, you will make mistakes, but when you try to be you, you will be at your best. Tonight wasn t the first time you dished your food, yet tonight is the first time you made a mess. Tonight wasn t the first time you held a glass, yet tonight was the first time you broke one. Why is that? Because you were trying so hard to be like her and you forgot that being at your best is when you are you."
Athena felt bad when she heard his words and also the truth in it, she wanted so bad to do what Esperanza did and she forget that she had had years and years of practice. She licked her lips and looked up at him, "I m sorry."
Sean smiled, "that s okay," he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, "always remember, never try hard to be someone else but always try hard to be your best, hmm?"
Athena nodded, "okay."
"Good, now come have something, I wouldn t want you rummaging the kitchen in the middle of the night in search of something to eat." Athena chuckled at that while he grinned and led her to the bed. He made her sit down and he placed the tray in front of her, "eat up."
Athena smiled and when he turned to leave, she called to him, "Sean?" He turned and she sighed, "thank you."
"Anytime," Sean winked and left the room.