A Work of Art by Micayla Lally

Author:Micayla Lally
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 2017-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

The next morning after some extra rest—by then it was almost afternoon—Julene retouched and varnished a few older paintings and then gave herself the rest of the afternoon off to get ready for the art exhibit on the river. She’d chosen a sleeveless dress even though it was mightily close to the heart of winter and no one would even see her arms under one of the super cool new jackets Ursula had short-listed. She was going all out tonight, since she had to assume it was her last hurrah—make-up, cool shoes, a fabulous dress and a bit of perfume here and there for an added bonus. She sniffed: a tease, yes, alluring, not overpowering. Perfect.

Samson walked in just then, loudly admiring her before bestowing kisses and more kisses.

“Also, I have this.” He showed off an economy-sized pack of rice pillows he’d picked up across town. “Let’s take a few tonight, just in case.”

He asked what she thought of that while he stripped off in the bathroom.

“I think I’ll need a bigger bag.”

“You’ll need a bigger bag anyway, because you want to take some of your business cards with you as well as your very important, super cool, new phone. You’ll have heaps of follow ups to put in there. You need to carry it with you all the time, otherwise you might as well not have it.”

“Oh, love, chastise me again.”

Julene had walked down the hall and was leaning against the doorjamb of the bathroom. He stepped out of the shower and she stepped forward, running her painted nails along his waist. She had only kissed him twice, however, before her belly stopped her in her tracks. But she would breathe through it tonight because it might well be her last, if these contractions were anything to go by.

Samson held the towel against his face, his expression concerned.

“Julene, maybe we shouldn’t go. We can stay home, watch TV on the couch, and suck on ice chips in anticipation of the big day, if you like. It’s all very busy in there of late.” He gestured vaguely to her belly.

Julene punched his arm and went to sit on the long leather couch. Samson called after her.

“These things keep coming more and more and then who knows, maybe it would be go-time when we’re in the middle of something. I don’t know if that’s the kind of publicity you want.”

“I want to go tonight, but after, we should go on that babymoon.”

“Great! Okay, let me make a call and then I can pack when we get home tonight.”

Samson came out dressed in charcoal and handed Julene a scarf of hers that was the same color. It was striking against her red and black dress.

“Whose place is it, by the way? And where?”

“A friend of mine I went to university with, Rick Toben. I bumped into him at your exhibit and I’ve spoken to him a few times on the phone since then. He mentioned that he’s going overseas for a few weeks.

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