text: The Painter Cat &#x200B; Casey didn’t want to take the job but she had to. She needed the money to pay the rent and selling her paintings wasn’t covering it. She’d never worked as a maid before. She seldom cleaned her own house but when a woman at the grocery store remarked how badly she needed a housekeeper and was willing to pay, Casey sucked it up and introduced herself, offering her “services”. &#x200B; The woman’s name was Meredith. She was 77 years old. She had a modest home in a very nice neighborhood and had asked Casey to come twice a week. Casey would be paid 300 a week - which was pretty good. The first few times were uneventful. Meredith’s house was well maintained and the work minimal. All seemed to be going well and then one day Meredith asked Casey to come into the study. She had a gift for her. &#x200B; The gift was a canvas, brushes and paint. Meredith wanted Casey to paint her. She would be paid 1000 dollars for the painting when it was finished. Casey accepted the offer immediately. Meredith only asked that Casey paint her as if she were 30 years old but wanted to sit as the model. Casey was confused at first. How to take an old woman and paint her as 30 without ever having known what she’d look like at that age. Meredith didn’t seem too hung up on details, just told her to paint what she thought. Meredith took a seat on a chair near the window. The direct light defined every wrinkle and crevice in her sagging skin. Casey laid out the supplies and set about painting Meredith as she might have been at 30. It wasn’t an easy task. &#x200B; Casey painted the entire day. Meredith prepared them dinner and they resumed again shortly after. It got dark and Casey kept painting. The lamp light softened Meredith’s features and Casey found herself enjoying the task and took liberty, creating Meredith as lush and fabulous as the soft golden light made her almost beautiful. By midnight the painting was done. Meredith found it remarkable and was overwhelmed with joy. Casey was about to sign it when Meredith stopped her and asked if she would simply sign it “Reynaldo”. &#x200B; Casey was confused. She didn’t want to sign someone else’s name to her work. Meredith insisted and offered no explanation. Casey, tired and confused, grew agitated with the old woman and insisted on signing her name - which she did. Meredith was so distraught she picked up the brush, set it into the black paint and set about destroying the painting. Casey tried to stop her but Meredith was determined. At last Meredith stepped back, dropped the brush and retreated into her bedroom. &#x200B; Casey knocked on the door and could hear Meredith crying. She finally decided to let herself in. She said she was sorry and asked to be paid. Meredith slowly got up off the bed and went to a drawer where she took out a small box and counted out ten one hundred dollar bills. Casey took the money and left. &#x200B; Casey now had the money she needed for rent and did not return to clean Meredith’s house. At the grocery store later that week the manager appeared annoyed with her. When Casey commented, the manager told her that Meredith had paid for a painting and that Casey had argued the directions to sign Reynaldo at the bottom. Casey was furious at the suggestion of allowing anyone else to take advantage of her hard work and talent - to which the clerk snapped - Reynaldo had been Meredith’s beloved cat and was a far better painter than Casey would ever be. He had seen the painting with his own eyes and thought it was a hideous disaster. &#x200B; Casey left, angry. Weeks later she found herself without rent again and no prospects for work so she took up panhandling outside a coffee bar. When she had five dollars she went inside to purchase a bagel for lunch and was amazed to see several portraits of Meredith displayed on the walls, all of them signed “Reynaldo”. &#x200B; Casey ordered the bagel and remarked on the paintings. She was told they were painted by a cat which belonged to a woman named Meredith who was heir to a whiskey brand fortune. &#x200B; Casey took her bagel and left. She was bummed that she could have peen paid lots of money to paint and that her prideful refusal had left her worse off than she had been in the beginning.