Adam held onto his painting for dear life. It wasn’t just a painting for him after all. It was his life. It was everything he had been working towards. It was every bad critic, every judgmental glare from his parents, all of it on the line.<br/><br/>It was evening, and the city air was a tad chilly. Despite the chill, sweat formed at his brow. His heart was racing and his feet were killing him. He finally reached the place, a fancy structure with all glass windows. Inside, it looked to be under construction with various artistic pieces strewn about. He entered into the gallery where a young and beautiful woman greeted him with a beaming smile.<br/><br/>“You must be Adam!” She beamed.<br/><br/>Adam was a bit caught off guard. “How’d you know?”<br/><br/>“Because we’ve been waiting for you for almost an hour,” she told him, her mood changing quickly.<br/><br/>“Right, sorry about that. My car wouldn’t start so I tried catching the bus, but I was out of tickets- I walked here.”<br/><br/>She smiled. “You should have called.”<br/><br/>“My phone-“<br/><br/>“Let me guess,” she interrupted, trying to keep her cool, and to keep a smile on her face. “It’s broken? Plans are too expensive?”<br/><br/>“No, I dropped it in the toilet.”<br/><br/>She scrunched her mouth in a peculiar way. “Alright, well let’s see what you have for us.”<br/><br/>Adam took off the sheet from the painting and he leaned it against the wall. It was a splash of colors, vaguely forming a beautiful woman. It was actually a painting of his ex-girlfriend. He contemplated burning it—but it was good and figured selling it was the next best thing.<br/><br/>“I love the use of tones, the strokes are subtle yet realistic. It’s a very unique style.”<br/><br/>“Thank you,” he told her.<br/><br/>“I’d like to showcase it, yes. Can you make more?”<br/><br/>Adam almost couldn’t believe what she told him. He was ready to say ‘thanks anyways’, grab the painting and walk out like he had done so many other times. So he actually didn’t know what to say. He thinks he said. “Thank you! I worked very hard on it.” But really he said, “Are you-what- hard on.”<br/><br/>She looked at him quizzically. “Excuse me?”<br/><br/>He cleared his throat. “I can make some more, sure.”<br/><br/>“I’ll commission two more paintings, for next week before the opening, how does that sound? I’ll have you see my assistant for the check.”<br/><br/>“You mean like actual money?”<br/><br/>Adam walked out of the gallery with a smile on his face, and a check in his hand. He was beaming, and excited. Little did he know, everything was about the change when he heard a small crash from in the alley. It was dark, so he didn’t really want to investigate. He figured it was some drunk bum anyways.<br/><br/>Then he heard a hiss. He turned his attention to the alleyway, and noticed a tail in the shadows, wavering. He wondered if it was a stray as he always had a soft spot for strays. His last cat, may she rest in peace, was one that he found on the streets one day. Maybe luck was on his side today, and on top of selling his painting, he would find a new cat to give a home.<br/><br/>He made careful to enter the alleyway quietly, to not scare away the cat. However, as he approached, he noticed the tail was much larger than it should be, and it wasn’t attached to a cat at all. He accidentally hit a can as he came to a stop, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.