Misty Read Free Page B

really comfortable chair. This was where she spent most of her time, doing the work she enjoyed. She had a great bed that she could not afford, but she had splurged after getting paid for a project in cash. She did not want to know why they preferred cash, she just used it to get the best price available on a king size bed with all the bedding and pillows. She had found that she could stretch out and sleep in this bed. She had put up black out curtains so she could sleep any time, depending on her crazy schedule. She had stools in the kitchen so she felt she did not need a table. The few friends she had, she always met at a bar where you could get a bite to eat. The simple life. Actually she got more calls on her cell from salesmen than she did from friends. So far this had not worried her. She had a TV by the computer and one by the bed. Good enough.
    Speaking of cell phone calls, her Blackberry rang. She didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyways. A professional woman’s voice identified as the local blood bank asking if she could set up an appointment to help donate again.
    “Look, I just came in with a friend. It was a onetime thing. Please take my name off your list.”
    Misty let out a long breath as the woman explained how all the blood banks where very short and how important it was for everyone to do their duty and help in these times, etc., etc. Finally, Misty broke in. “Look, I don’t like needles, I had to get drunk afterwards and it is not going to happen again. Take my name off your list and don’t call me again or I will report you to the state and the local medical association. Now goodbye.”
    Misty could not believe she had let a group of guys talk her into giving blood. They had all got together on their usual chat room and were talking about some guys who were in Iraq. The next thing she knew she had met a couple of them at an Internet café and they went to a local blood bank. It hadn’t been what she had expected. Actually it was just a big storefront with the glass windows painted with signs and pasted with paper posters. The desks inside were old and scratched. The chairs were behind curtains that did not go all the way to the floor, but everything was clean, thank goodness. She would have left if she hadn’t been with the group.
    The nurses were nice and they insisted that everyone stay to eat the cheap snack bars and drink the juice before they left. The entire bunch of online friends went to the nearest bar and got drunk. She had trouble with one of the guys who wanted to go home with her, but she was able to take a taxi. She left him at the curb in front of the bar. So never again — someone else would have to give blood.
    After the phone call, her cell was mostly quiet. For the next few days she got a lot of work done. She researched on the computer, went to the drafting table and added color to drawings that she printed out. She found that she could control the colors better using this system. She used the watercolors to blend in what she wanted and then scanned the painted works back into the computer. She sent a lot of the projects off to the clients and her agent. Thank goodness her agent was used to working on line and did not want to have long in-your-face conversations.
    It was getting late, after 11pm, but she was hungry so she looked in the empty kitchen cabinets and refrigerator. She had finally eaten her way through what little she kept in. She knew it was too late for delivery. After picking up her keys and stuffing her wallet in her pocket of her jeans, she took her hair down and ran a brush through it. She went out to walk to the corner gas slash food pick up store that was open all night.
    She picked up a few items, paid for them, and took the two plastic bags by the loop handles. She was just around the corner from her home when a large man came out of the shadows. He stepped in the middle of the sidewalk. Shit — no mace, no cell phone. She was going to be in