Once In A Lifetime • Link Neal

seven.

She stood in the middle of her living room, her white T-shirt and ripped jeans covered in a variety of dried and wet paint. Her foot tapped along to the beat of the song that rolled from her small speaker, one of her favorite songs; Sometime Around Midnight, by the Toxic Airborne Event. Her eyes were scanning over the canvas before her, lips mouthing along the lyrics as she felt a small smile encompass her lips. 

It was a portrait of Link. She wasn't sure why she painted it, but the idea found itself on the canvas before she had a chance to change her mind. Using no photo reference, she was able to create a piece that looking strikingly similar to the man. 

He seemed to be on her mind more and more these days. It should bother her, the thoughts she has about him. In a way, it does. He's a married man, with children. He was spoken for, and she had no doubt that he was faithful to his wife. But that didn't mean she couldn't think about the way he smiled at her, or his quirky sense of humor. Or even the nickname she had grown fond of.

She inhaled deeply, the scent that rolled from her incense basking the room in a warm, cozy aura, before stepping forward and continuing her work. She took extra care in the curve of the jaw, and the endearing grey streaks in his hair, and she offhandedly wondered if she should make one for Rhett as well, when her phone chimed from her back pocket. 

Glancing once more at the painting, she wiped the stray hair from her face with the back of her hand, setting her materials down before taking the phone out and glancing at the message. A friend from back home, Allie. She was the one who told Lucy about the job market in California. 

Allie

Hey Lucy, how are things going for you out there? Heard you snagged a job at some online talk show or something.

Lucy 

I did, actually. it's called Good Mythical Morning, you should look it up. things are going great so far, living for the constant sunburns. 

She moved around the room, eventually finding a place on the small love seat pushed up against the wall. Another chime from her phone urged her into a more comfortable position, settling in for a long conversation. 

Allie

That's great! I'll look it up for sure. 

So, have you heard anything about Gavin? 

Lucy swallowed thickly, her eyes re-reading the second message a couple times. She hadn't heard that name in over a year, and she was more than content with that. She hesitantly replied, 

Lucy

I have not. What's going on?

Allie

He's being released next week. I figured your family would tell you about it.

Lucy frowned at the response, her chest tightening at the mention of her family. She hadn't spoken to them since she left, pretty much avoiding them like the plague after what had happened. Hearing the news that her ex-husband was being released from prison was quite the shocker as well, and she found herself biting her lip with anxiously, her head swirling with vivid flashbacks of what happened between the two of them;

Gavin Daniels was a monster in the flesh; alcoholic, deceiving, abusive, manipulative...The list goes on. She had endured 5 years with the man, but it felt like an eternity in her mind. She still had scars from her experience, as well as the painful memory of a lost, unborn child. She was six months pregnant, with new and old bruises layered on her body, but she was resilient. Unfortunately, she was also pushed down a flight of stairs, breaking her left ankle as well as the loss of her unborn child.