Sweet Sinner

Chapter 2

Hannah’s POV:

I couldn't say I was surprised, really. I mean he was Anthony Dark, multi-billionaire, private, good looking - it would've been surprising if he wasn't a giant egotistical asshole.

I guess society gave him that right - the right to act like he was above everyone else - because he had a few advantages in life.

Though I had read up on his story, what little of it was actually available anyway, and I found out he'd worked incredibly hard to build his company up to what it was now. I had to respect that. If nothing else, you couldn't argue with his business skills.

His social skills, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired, and I'm sure if he wasn't as attractive as he was, he'd just be some bastard rich guy.

But people like beautiful things, and Anthony Dark, with his coppery hair, smouldering Dark eyes, and sharp and sinful features, definitely fell into that category.

"How'd it go?"

I wanted to throw my bag at Tricia's face, but refrained.

She was sick, and I knew from experience that the stomach flu was one of the worsts things, ever.

"He's as stuck up as I said he'd be."

"Oh shut up." said Tricia, rolling her eyes, "He's gorgeous, and you probably mistook his natural cool demeanor as 'stuck up'."

"Or...he's just stuck up." I said joining her on the couch, and we both laughed.

"Thank you so much for doing this for me."

"Just remember you owe me one."

"I am forever in your debt." she said dramatically - or as dramatically as she could with a stuffy nose, sore throat, and mostly gone voice.

"Where's Patrick?"

Tricia shrugged, "No idea. He was saying something about setting up a gallery."

"A gallery for what?"

Tricia rolled her eyes and said, "What do you think, dummy? For you!"

"For me." I repeated, staring at her blankly. I hadn't actually had a gallery for my work for at least a year.

Tricia just nodded, "He should be home soon though."

I nodded, standing up and said, "I'll put this in your room." I held up the notepad and the recorder, "And I'm going to take a nap. You made me run halfway across campus to catch the bus on time."

She smiled sheepishly and said, "Forever in your debt."

I just rolled my eyes, chuckling, and disappeared into my room.

Having a house with my two best friends was probably the best thing for multiple reasons. There was almost always someone here to talk to, you had to opinion of someone who was certainly going to tell you the harsh truth - and so many more.

And since we were renting the house from Tricia's dad, he was pretty lenient about decorations. I'd basically turned my room into a second studio. There was an easel over by the window, lots of paint bottles spread around the room, drawings taped to the walls, paintbrushes scattered across my dresser, and a mural I'd started on the wall across from my bed.

Inspiration seemed to strike at the weirdest hours, and one night I'd just started a mural of Seattle. It was nowhere near done, but it would get there eventually. It's not like I was in a hurry, nobody was going to see it - aside from Tricia and Patrick when they came in my room.

Now I had to deal with the fact that Patrick was setting up a gallery for me.

It's not that I didn't have plenty of artwork, and it's not even that I wasn't grateful - but I was nervous.

It had been over a year since my last gallery, and it wasn't that anything bad had happened - at least in regards to the actual artwork. Plenty of things had been bought, which was great for us because it was helping pay the rent and buy groceries.

But something bad had happened. Something I wasn't sure I was ready to revisit again. The whole reason I had announced my complete dislike, distrust, and unwillingness to enter into any sort of relationship with any member of the opposite s*x.

Although it wasn't like that was all that horrible. Tricia made it seem like the worst decision in the world, because I'd 'wasn't having wild rabbit s*x'.

That wasn't a problem for me though. My virgin status was still completely intact - not because I was waiting for marriage, but because I was waiting for someone who made me feel something. It didn't even have to be love - I wasn't that naive - but a spark...just...something. Something different.

I was willing to wait - especially after last years stupid ex boyfriend incident.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and picked up my sketchpad before dropping down onto my bed on my stomach. I put my headphones in, turned my music up, and lost myself in the music and in my sketch.

After about thirty minutes I was pulled out of my art-induced haze by a knock on my door, and then two seconds later in bounced an incredibly happy Patrick.

I sat up and pulled my headphones out, "Hey,"

"Annie, you're not going to believe this when I tell you." he said, sitting down on my bed.

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"I got you a location for a gallery showing."

"Okay..."

"Pace."

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

"Pace."

He nodded.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

"Oh my god!" I launched myself at Patrick, hugging him.

He laughed and hugged me back, "Now tell me how fabulous I am."

"You are the most amazing, talented, best-best friend I could ever ask for."

Pace was a place where all the best up and coming artists displayed their artwork, the only thing was -

"Patrick, isn't that place crazy expensive?" I asked, leaning back to look at him.

He shrugged, "Benny owed me a favor."

I was going to ask who Benny was, but Tricia walked in and flopped down on my bed too.

"So when is this amazing gallery opening going to be?"

I looked to Patrick - it was funny how Tricia and I always looked to him for most decisions we made. He was like...the Mother Hen.

"Well we need at least a month to get invitations made and sent out, you need to finalize what artwork you're going to be using and where it's going." he said, looking at both of us.

Tricia whipped out her phone and said, "So...that means...it'll be Saturday...May twentieth."

I nodded and we both looked over at Patrick, who took Tricia's phone, scanning the calendar before saying, "Isn't that when you guys graduate?"

Oh s**t.

Tricia just shrugged, "Sure, but that's in the morning. The gallery won't be till like seven or eight."

"Alright, we'll definitely need to get on this first thing tomorrow." he said, handing Tricia her phone.

I was already going through what pieces I wanted to have in the gallery and how I wanted things set up. "Alright. We'll go down to Pace in the morning."

"You guys are going down to Pace, I have to get this interview typed up for the magazine article." said Tricia rolling onto her stomach and groaning.

Patrick's eyes widened and he looked at me, "Do tell! How did it go? Is he as sexy as he is in pictures?"

I rolled my eyes, "He's an arrogant ass who thinks he knows everything."

"With money and looks like that he can act however he wants." swooned Patrick, putting a hand over his heart.

"He's rude under the guise of being sophisticated and distant." I argued.

Patrick scoffed, "He is sophisticated, and it's no surprise that he's a private person. With money like that I'm sure he's had his run in with gold diggers."

I groaned, "He's not interested in relationships or settling down. He could care less about gold diggers, they wouldn't get close enough for it to be an issue."

"It's not a crime to be reserved." said Tricia, pushing herself off my bed. "But while you two continue this riveting discussion I'm going to go to bed so that I hopefully won't be dying tomorrow."

Patrick and I laughed, telling her goodnight, before laying down on my bed.

"Is he really that awful?" asked Patrick, looking over at me.

I sighed, "He's...arrogant and judgmental."

"Judgmental?"

"He asked what I did."

"I take it he doesn't like artists?"

I snorted, "You'd think he'd be more appreciative of art considering how much of it he was surrounding himself with in his office. He basically said people call themselves artists when they don't know what to do and are struggling for money."

Patrick sighed and said, "He lives in a different world than we do, Annie."

"Tell me about it."

Patrick chuckled and kissed my forehead before standing up, "Get some sleep, and take joy in the fact that you'll never have see Mr. Stuck Up Billionaire again."

I laughed and nodded, "Goodnight."