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“I can handle the food, no problem I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier, Evie, I didn’tall these by yourself…” he scolded himself

“It’s okay, honey, I didn’t have to replace all of them And besides, you were at work!” I waved a hand at him “How does it look? Do you think it will pop?”

Joel dropped his backpack and wandered slowly around the gallery, spinning in slow circles, trying to get a full view of the exhibit As s a le, so he didn’t spend any ti of him The collection had to look perfect for the Sheikh, and not just the paintings—the whole ambiance Joel was alwaysmy best

“It looks very powerful,” he said “I love how you’ve split up the darks and lights between the divider”

“It’s not too heavy-handed, is it?”

“Not at all, it’s very subtle He probably won’t notice it, but his subconscious will Did he ask for any specific works?” asked Joel

I shookHe just wanted a private exhibit of ht, he said, so I thought it would be si day exhibit with a few obvious substitutions I still get compliments about it now”

“Very sh…” Joel said, holding his chin thoughtfully

I frowned, worried The piece was a scene with e than my works typically had, and at the last second, I had left it in the back rooe Maybe my instincts had been off

“No, I didn’t want to offend him Should I have put it up?”

“Why would you offend him?” asked Joel

I shrugged and wandered over to stand next to Joel in front of Oceanic, a four-foot-square scene of violent blue-gray waters and the vague hint of monsters and mermaids in the shadowy sea

“I’ve never met a Sheikh before, so I didn’t want to take any chances I don’t knoould offend him, I just don’t want to blow this opportunity”

Rich clients made my life as a painter possible, but their visits weren’t frequent enough for me to have any kind of security Not that any serious artist would ever expect anything less than a life of struggle, of course I accepted that, and kne fort

unate I was to have the support of friends like Joel and to be successful enough to rent the gallery space in the first place One mistake could cost me months’ worth of incos not working out tonight could pose a very big problem