Laughing, Tali attempted to shove her off. "Okay, girl, I get it! I'm happy to see you, too. Now inside." Penny pushed off to get back down, nearly knocking Tali over in the process. The dog circled Tali's feet a few times before scampering back inside, whining and panting. She had been in the apartment alone for the last five hours, after all, while Tali was doing temp work at the printing company. So as much as Tali wanted to take another look at the prestigious-looking envelope sitting on her kitchen table, she got Penny's leash, clipped it onto her collar, and led her down the apartment stairs.

The crips, October air met them as they stepped outside into the courtyard, where Tali stood blowing on her still-frozen fingers while Penny did her business. Tali waited as patiently as she could, but she still twisted a strand of auburn hair around her finger in impatience. Her feet crunched through the fallen leaves as she followed her dog around the small splash of nature in the man-made jungle that was downtown Seattle. Tali wrinkled her nose. Despite living here for over four years, she still didn't like the smell of tobacco and fish permeating the entire city.

Finally, Penny looked up and wagged her tail, signaling that she was done. Back up the stairs they went, into the little second-floor studio apartment that Tali had worked so hard to pay the rent for. Penny stood partially in the doorway, panting happily; Tali scooted her inside with her foot so she could shut the door.

With the cold shut out at last, Tali sighed and pulled off her fingerless gloves, boots, ear warmer headband, scarf, and wool coat. She shrugged on her sweater and eyed the envelope once more. The need to warm herself up prevailed, so out came the box of lemon balm tea. The few minutes it took to warm the kettle seemed to take forever; she kept glancing back at the envelope several times.

It wasn't until she was sitting at the kitchen table sipping her tea with Penny sitting on her feet warming her toes before she finally got a chance to look at the envelope again. She pulled out the letter again, reading the letter for a fifth time:

"Dear Ms. Natalie Barbetti,

"After seeing your excellent work at the recent exhibition at the SOIL Art Gallery, I have become interested in commissioning you for a painting for my personal collection. It would be my honor to welcome you to my home to discuss the project. Please come meet with me at the address listed below on October 22, 2022, at 7:30 p.m. This first visit will be a mostly personal visit to get to know each other, so the presence of your agent will not be necessary until a later date. I look forward to seeing you then.

"Best Regards,

Benjamin Sorrelman"

Tali couldn't help grinning every time she read the letter. She had a commission from Benjamin Sorrelman! To be honest, she had never heard of him before getting the letter; she had to Google him to find out who he was. But he was apparently a multi-millionaire with a waterfront property on Mercer Island, and that fact alone was enough to make her giddy. Her first official commission was from a bona fide multi-millionaire!

Not to mention the fact that he assumed she had an agent; and she did, if you could call her old roommate, Phoebe, an agent. The only reason she had been spotlighted at the exhibit was because Phoebe's uncle was best friends with the Gallery director. Tali had been excited enough to be featured in the exhibit, and now it was the foot in the door she needed to jumpstart her career!

Tali shook herself out of her celebration and looked at the clock:  twelve minutes past six. She had just enough time to have dinner before she had to catch the bus to Mercer Island. She quickly whipped up a spinach salad with almonds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, and sliced strawberries, topping it off with a raspberry vinaigrette. She took the time to savor the sweetly tangy flavor, rereading the letter twice more as she ate.

Another glance at the clock told her it was twenty minutes before seven; the bus would be leaving soon. Jumping up to rinse off her plate, she quickly grabbed her sketchbook, HB2 and HB6 pencils, pencil blender, and gummy eraser, sliding the sketchbook into her blue and green embroidered peacock purse and the supplies into her hand-sewn floral pencil case. She refilled Penny's dog food bowl and water, slipped off her sweater, and bundled herself back up. 

Finally, she gave Penny a hug, burying her face in the dog's silky, recently-groomed fur. And then she was off, heading down the stairs to the bus stop and her new life as a legitimate, paid artist.