Free The Lottery by Alexandra O'Hurley Page A

when we were there for the dinner
party. I was enthralled by the piece of
Times Square
.
The life, the energy, the fire, it is remarkable work,” said her smiling, new
client on the vid screen.
    Karlyn blushed a bit, not used to such high praise. She nodded at
the woman. “Thank you very much, Miss Paul.”
    “Oh, psshh, call me Michelle. We are designing a new community
center uptown, and I would like to add some of your cityscapes to the walls. We
open in about three months, so would there be enough time to get four to five
large paintings?”
    “Four?” FOUR OR FIVE? Remind
me to kiss Sam later. “The Times Square painting that you enjoyed has two
sisters, one of Broadway and another of
Greenwich Village
.”
Pulling them into view, she continued, “And just last week I began a fun
Central Park
piece.” She pulled the tarp off of the
canvas she had started the day of her birthday. It was nearly complete, and
hopefully exactly what was needed.
      “Breathtaking! I love it. Two
more like those works and we will be in business. I love the
New York
theme you have going on, so I want
that same feeling in the new pieces. Now tell me what your price is for the
complete works. The paintings will be my donation to the center. Your work will
really brighten up the space.”
    Karlyn thought over a price, and decided to be a little more
daring in setting it. This may be her chance to break into a new upscale
community and she couldn’t undervalue her work, but she had to be practical as
well. “Five million for the set.” She held her breath, scared the woman might
laugh at her.
    Without batting an eye the woman answered. “Done. Give me a
banking IP address, and I will transfer you half now. Upon completion, I’ll
give you the rest.”
    Karlyn let out the breath she had been holding. She couldn’t
believe it had been that easy. Heck,
maybe I should have asked for more as easily as the woman agreed. She gave
Michelle the banking information and pressed her thumb to the screen to
authorize the transfer. Two and a half million dollars immediately flowed into
her nearly bare account. It would be enough to pay six months mortgage and
hopefully cover the cost of food and supplies for herself and her new roomie.
When she was through, she should be in decent shape. She had a couple of
smaller jobs planned, but nothing of this magnitude. But between them all, she
was sure that she could probably survive the next year financially intact.
    Once she finished up the transaction, she slipped down the stairs
gleefully, excited about this new opportunity. Her stomach rumbled, reminding
her she had skipped breakfast, and it was well past dinner time. Once she
reached the bottom, she spied Ethan cooking in the kitchenette. She had
detected a delectable aroma as she came down, but as she approached the smell
became even stronger, making her mouth water.
    His back was to her, and as she walked into the kitchenette area,
she grasped the handle of the fridge unit and peered inside. She really didn’t
want to occupy the same space with him, but she was tired after a long day, and
she would grab something quick and snuggle into the couch for some much needed
rest.
    “Hungry?”
    Karlyn peered over the door at him. “Yes, that’s usually why
someone looks in the fridge unit. I haven’t eaten all day.”
    “I suspected as much, and I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but it
sounded like you were conducting business upstairs, and you were painting all afternoon.
I figured I’d start us something for dinner since you were busy.”
    “Us?”
    “Yes, for both of us.”
      “Why would you be nice all
of a sudden after showing me you have been inconceivably rude all day? The food
isn’t poisoned is it?”
    His brows furrowed as he looked down into the pan, and she
thought she saw anger in the way he began pushing the food around it, but then
he flashed her a ten kilowatt smile, discrediting her initial reaction. “Well,
since we both have to