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5
LAYLA
“Hey, did you get it?” Lyndi asked in a nasally tone, looking up from her Kindle when I walked in the door.
“I did. They didn’t have the NyQuil capsules in stock though,” I told her, pulling out the box of liquid decongestant from the drugstore bag I carried. “You’re gonna have to drink it the old-fashioned way.”
“Lovely,” she groaned. “Hand it over.”
“Are you sure you want to take some now? It’s only four-thirty.”
“Yes. I’m exhausted but haven’t been able to sleep all day. I’m probably just going to take this and head to bed.”
Shrugging, I opened the box and poured her a dose. She’d caught a beast of a cold, and since she was supposed to photograph a wedding at Aria’s venue this weekend, I was doing my best to tend to her so she’d get better quickly.
Handing her the cup, I gave her my best big sister look. “Come on, down the hatch.”
She took her free hand out from under the blanket she was wrapped up in, closed her eyes, and tossed it back like a shot of whiskey. “Ugh, so gross.”
“Yep. But it’ll be worth it so you can get a good night’s sleep.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out, frowning when I saw that it was Shelby’s mom, Stella. Since she was an art teacher at my school, I figured maybe it was work related.
“One sec, Lyn,” I told my sister as I stepped into the kitchen and answered the call. “Hello?”
“Hey, Layla,” Stella said, a smile in her voice. “Do you have a minute? I wanted to talk about Aria and Will’s wedding.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. What’s up?”
“Have you ever heard of a live wedding portrait?”
“I don’t think so, no.”
“Well, it’s where an artist does most of the background ahead of time, and then brings the canvas to the wedding and paints a portrait of the couple live, in front of the guests.”
“Oh, wow.”
“Shelby told me she saw some videos of it on the TikTok,” she said with a laugh, “and she asked me to do it at Aria and Will’s wedding, but you know my specialty is landscapes. So, I thought of you.”
I pursed my lips. I loved painting portraits. I wasn’t an art teacher like Stella because my mom taught English at the university level and I’d followed in her footsteps, but painting was my biggest passion, and Stella knew it. However, the idea of painting with a live audience, right in the middle of my friend’s big day, had my skin prickling with nerves.
“Ooh, I don’t know. I’d be afraid of messing it up under all that pressure.”
“Sweetheart, I’ve seen your work. You’re an amazing artist. I have complete faith in your abilities to do this. Why don’t you have Shelby send you some of the videos she was talking about so you can get an idea of what it’s like? Then go from there.”
Her hopeful tone caused me to give in despite the fear hovering around the edges of my mind. “Okay, yeah. I can do that.”
“Wonderful. I’m sure it would be something they’d treasure forever. And I’m going to pay you for it as my wedding gift to them.”
I shook my head, though of course she couldn’t see me. “No, Stella, it’s okay. I’m not a professional artist, I’m a high school English teacher.”
“Layla, I’m not taking no for an answer. I’m essentially commissioning a piece of art from you, so you’re going to accept my payment whether you like it or not.”
Chuckling, I surrendered. I’d known Shelby’s mom long enough to know I didn’t have a choice in this. She may be my coworker, but our personal relationship ran a lot deeper than that. “Okay, if you insist.”
“Great. Thank you, Layla. Let me know what you think after you watch those videos.”
“Will do.”
