Page 51 of On The Edge

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Cat got into a routine of swimming in the mornings, and splitting her shifts between the pub and the art gallery. It turned out her old friend Angie, who had helped show her the ropes at the bar, had changed jobs, and was now her local postwoman. Which made complete sense, as Jess had told her it was because of the postwoman that Jess found out Cat had left for Glasgow. Cat couldn’t be annoyed at Angie; there was something innocent and friendly about her that she found extremely likeable. Angie called in everyday with her post, and stayed for a cuppa even if she had none to deliver.

“Got anything for me today Ange?” Cat opened the door to the postwoman, who was wrapped up in a high-vis waterproof jacket and wellies, her dark hair messy and wild from the wind.

Angie nodded, her hands full with packages, and stepped into the warm cottage.

“I’ll get the tea on!” Cat trotted through to the kitchen and Angie followed, taking off her jacket and sitting at the kitchen table. She looked tired.

“Make mine a coffee, Cat,” she sighed.

The packages were left on the table while the two women gossiped.

“The old house at Errols place has been sold” Angie said as she took a sip of her strong hot coffee “Oh that’s good Cat, you’re good at the old coffee. I went into the tearoom the other day and asked for a coffee – they turned around and said “Well that’s fine but just so you know it’ll be instant!”

Cat laughed at her friends animated description of the ensuing scene.

Angie took another sip at her own coffee looking at Cat with approval. “So how is the famous artist? Still painting?”

Cat hadn’t been painting since she had run into Patrick at the ceilidh dance.

“Oh not right now, but I will. Just waiting for another bout of inspiration.” Cat flicked through her packages on the table and found a large envelope from London.

“Well if you need me to model, I’m sure I could be very inspiring. I’ve been told I have good bone structure.” Angie pouted her lips like an Instagram girl, which made them both laugh.

Cat opened the envelope and took a few moments to flick through an art magazine.

“What is it?” Angie looked at the empty envelope and then at Cat.

“Oh my god!” Cat shrieked, “I’m in a magazine! Look!”

Angie read the article aloud as they squealed at the end of each sentence.

“Look at those photos too! Go you Cat!”

Cat picked up the magazine looking at the image of herself in front of her paintings, and then glanced over her interview. She had given quite a few interviews recently that they had all began to blend into one another. She had resigned herself to believe that nothing would come from them.

“You come across very well!” Angie clinked cups with Cat and winked at her “This might get you more paintings sold!”

“Oh jeez!” Cat panicked at the thought of all those unfinished pieces she had to get through. “I better get cracking!”

Angie left Cat calling up Jess to give her the good news. Her friend congratulated her, and said she had her fingers crossed that the article would give them more customers at the gallery.

Cat took herself off to her shed, where she threw herself into her work. Spurred on by the article she felt very much like a professional artist. A full-time professional artist, and that felt pretty good.

In a blur, Jess barged into the shed just as Cat was mid-way throwing black paint onto a canvas, as loud classical music blared in the background.

“Oh Jesus!” cried Cat startled, and she turned around so quickly the paint flew across onto Jess’s face, hair and yellow corduroy dress.

“Oh no!” Jess held up her hands and looked down at her dress. “Look what you did!”

Cat was wearing her scruffy denim dungarees, which were covered in all the colours of the rainbow from previous splatters of paint. She looked at her friend open-mouthed and then couldn’t help herself, she started laughing.

“Hey!” Jess’s face turned red with fury and stomped her feet like a little girl.

“Well what do you expect!” Cat gasped, looking at her bespattered friend. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

Jess stood on the spot looking down. “This is my favourite winter dress!”

Cat sent her friend upstairs to get showered, and gave her a black shirt and jeans to wear. Once Jess came back out, a lot cleaner, Cat tried to save the yellow dress by washing it in the sink.

“What brings you here at this time of the day anyway?” Cat handed Jess a cup of tea and left the dress to soak in the soapy water.

Jess patted her wet hair with a towel and sat down on the sofa. “Yeah, I locked up for the day. I wanted to chat.”

Cat felt a knot of concern twist inside her “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Jess reassured her, “calm down, I just wanted to present an idea to you.”

Cat settled down on the sofa and listened as Jess ceremoniously asked her to be a business partner.

“But I don’t have any experience!” Cat stuttered. “The gallery is yours, I don’t want to take that away from you!”

“But you won't.” Jess put down her cup and looked Cat in the eye. “I think we can both get something good out of this. Look, if I was able to divide the gallery, that would mean we both could paint part-time, and organise the gallery part-time. It’s the best of both worlds! Also I’m acting kind of selfishly too - a gallery in London called this morning; they saw that article in the magazine, and are inviting you to exhibit with them next year! So I'm not asking to work with just anyone. I want to work with a successful artist, and be able to split everything 50/50. What do you say?”

“Oh my god, a gallery in London!” Cat clapped her hands and whooped. She didn’t need to have any time to think, she knew her answer. “Of course, owning and running a gallery was always something I wanted to do. Yes, I’d love to go into business!” The two girls hugged excitedly and chattered excitedly about all the avenues of possibility their new venture together might provide.