Writetober 2019

October 19-Sling

Tabitha scratched her arm under her bandage, then took her smartpen out of her mouth and returned it to her semi-immobilized right hand. She had to at least have a few concept sketches ready when Mr. Belmont arrived, and he would be here in under an hour.

She kept working at her tablet as she strolled across the small studio she'd rented at the edge of the city. It wasn't ideally placed by any stretch of the imagination, but the storefronts in Bricktown were far more than she could afford. Someday, She told herself.

There was a knock at her door, and she smiled. "Oh! That's the Chinese food!" She set her tablet and pen on a table and grabbed her wallet. She opened the door and asked, "How much will that be...ahaha! Mr. Belmont! You're early."

Mr. Belmont was just as surprised as her, though for different reasons. "Miss Kura, are you alright?"

Tabitha flinched. Right, the side of her face was still a healing mess of bruises. Her bandaged arm in a sling was a sight too. "I'll be okay. Um, come in?" She asked, stepping aside.

Mr. Belmont entered, casting cursory glances at the half-finished paintings and projects scattered about the space, but his eyes kept returning to her injuries. "If you won't think me too bold for asking, what happened?"

Tabitha gave a soft sigh and gave him her rehearsed story, looking at her shoes. "I got mugged. But I can still work!" She assured him. "My shoulder should be fine in a few more weeks, well before you need that mural done. Didn't realize how much a dislocation hurts," She added.

More feeling than seeing his horror, she decided to offer a little more information that was off-script. "Got to meet Slingshot though."

Now that had Mr. Belmont's attention. "Really?"

"Yep. That mugger didn't know what hit him." Also technically true, though it had been Guinness, not Slingshot, to beat her attackers off.

They chatted for a few more minutes until Tabitha's order of Chinese food arrived. She left it on a side table, and they got down to business. They went over her sketches so far, debating what would look the best on the side of a coffee shop on prime Main Street real estate.

She may not have had her own studio space in Bricktown yet, but she was excited to be already working there.