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She sighed and rose, stretching her stiff muscles She stumbled into the kitchen to make herself coffee, thankful that she still had an old canister in the cabinet She would have to restock her apartment All of the perishables had been thrown out when she’dthe coffee She needed to bypass a ht for an IV infusion of caffeine
Holding the stea rooht in Outside, the streets were quiet, only just now starting to come alive with the traffic of the day
She’d always loved her apart her a h, and the realization hit her that she would have to move somewhere cheaper There had been no unexpected windfall No custoht in
She needed toMake it clear that if she were to continue displaying her work there that he couldn’t sell it to Ash He probably wouldn’t allow her to bring in anything else since she was refusing what had to be his best customer How could she trust that Ash wouldn’t simply buy it under a different name, one she’d never be able to trace back to him?
Yes, she would have to move, reorder her priorities and think about her options She needed to create more jewelry and put it up for sale on her site The site had languished since she’dinto her art But she needed the ularly, she sold regularly Her art would have to take a teive her time to think about a new direction in her artwork
Mr Downing had said she lacked vision and focus That she was too scattered and all over the board Evidently he was right But ould her new focus be? If people didn’t like the cheerful, colorful works she created then she had to rethink her vision
It shouldn’t be too hard to cos that she’d done this et over Ash in a day, a week or even a month She loved him She’d fallen hard and fast without a safety net The old adage about playing with fire ca caution to the wind, and as a result she’d been burnt
Shaking her head, she finished off her coffee and set the et back to work, perhaps draw a co She could then take both to Mr Downing and see if he thought they’d sell better than her previous offerings If not? Plan B Whatever that was
She eyed her cell phone, which she’d put on silent, debated whether she should check for calls orher Except ht now Resisting the tees--if there were any--she went back to work, driven to cos usually took days She tweaked endlessly, frowning over every little detail But today she put paint to canvas and didn’t stop until it was done So what if it was iotten her very far before
She shook her head God, she sounded like a whiny, feeling-sorry-for-herself nitwit This wasn’t her and she wasn’t going to let it be her She wasn’t one to give up She’d never given up her dream Her mother hadto let herself or her mother down
For hours she worked steadily, the sun rising higher and h herAt one point she closed her blinds because she felt too exposed to the passersby on the sidewalk She’d noticed a couple of guys walking back and forth on the street outside, see Painting was private Evenher heart and her devastation onto the canvas
She’d just put the last touches on the painting when a knock sounded at her door She froze, dish her veins Was Ash here? He’d been blunt about the fact that he’d give her last night but that he wasn’t giving up on her or them He’d wanted her to think about it but she’d shoved the whole issue solidly from her mind and i She could ignore the door, but she wasn’t a coward And if Ash had come all this way, the least she could do was tell him that she neededa mile aa deep breath, she opened it Blinking in surprise, she took in the fact that it was not Ash at her door Was it disappointment she felt? She shook that idea off and stared wordlessly at Mia and Bethany ore determined expressions on their faces
"You look awful," Mia said bluntly "Have you slept at all?"
"Stupid question, Mia It’s obvious she hasn’t," Bethany said
"What are you doing here?" Josie asked faintly
"To ansill likely be your next question, no, Ash didn’t send us," Mia said firmly "To answer your first question, we’re here because we’re dragging you to lunch with us and don’t even think about telling us no"
Josie’s hed
"You hter still in her voice "Mia is very determined and she’s kind of scary when she sets herI’m sure Gabe will attest to that fact"
Mia elbowed Bethany and scowled Despite herself, Josie s over her shoulders
"Can you give ," she finished lamely
"Sure," Mia chirped
"Come in," Josie said hastily "Have a seat It’s kind of aand as I said, I’ve been working"
"Is this your new stuff?" Bethany asked softly when they entered the living roo at the two paintings she’d just finished Josie rubbed her hands down her pants legs and nodded
"They’re really good," Mia said "So much emotion in them" She turned sympathetic eyes toward Josie "And it’s obvious you’re very upset"
Josie didn’t kno to respond to that
"I’ll, uh, just be a minute, okay?"
Mia and Bethany nodded and Josie hurried into her bathrooot a look at herself in the mirror she winced No wonder they’d told her she looked awful She did
She splashed water on her face and hastily applied foundation and powder She brushed her lashes with light loss She wouldn’t win any beauty pageants but at least she didn’t look quite so washed-out and hollow No a to fix the dark shadows under her eyes
When she returned to the living roo and quickly hustled her outside and toward the car parked just down the street