A veritable madhouse, the media was having a field day. Rows and rows of onlookers stood outside the courthouse, across the street, and lined the street coming into the building. Throngs of people littered the stairs, and as the aerocar finally made it to the front of the building, a thrust of bodies to the vehicle actually made it list to one side.
Two guards exited first, wrestling the crowd to allow the pair to exit, pushing forward so the other two guards took up the rear. Shoving their way into the courthouse, every possible question, cheer, or insult made it to her ears. Thinking the madness had stopped, she realized then that it had just gone into hibernation for a while, and hoped she would get her life back after today. Or at least after the media let it go.
It took them nearly twenty minutes to jostle their way up two dozen steps into the front doors of the courthouse. After being verbally and physically attacked just to get inside, Karlyn hoped she had the stamina to deal with the proceedings. Once they arrived on the correct floor, they exited the elevator, and walked towards the courtroom.
Stepping from the shadows, Ethan came into view. “Grandmother. Karlyn.” He nodded, eyeing them both cautiously.
“Good morning Ethan.” Evangeline turned to Karlyn, and she squeezed her arm. “I will see you inside.” She left, eyeing her grandson before she walked away.
Turning towards each other, she glanced at him a moment before staring down at the tiled floor, trying to gain her composure.
“You look well.” Karlyn wanted to kick herself for sounding so stupid, but not being able to stand the silence any longer, she had to say something.
“As do you.”
He was close enough for her to smell the faint crispness of his cologne. Never wearing too much, he used just enough that she could revel in it if she got close enough to catch a hint. Her nipples tightened simply from the scent, and the remembrance of having him this close, the too few memories of his hands on her body. She was reminded of her need, her desire for him, something she had tried to bury deep within her but was doing poorly. This scent, and the memories it brought back, was the sole reason she refused to wash his pillowcase.
He kicked at an invisible pebble on the floor. Looking back up to her, he sighed.
“I don’t blame you. Not anymore. I just thought you would want to know that.” He kissed her chastely on the forehead and walked through the heavy, wooden double doors into the courtroom.
****
“Karlyn Marie Bowman, as I stated at the beginning of this trial, defrauding the lottery is a serious offense. Laws were put into place to govern this system to prevent those incapable of financially or psychologically being able to handle the pressure of having to maintain this type of relationship from having access to the system. After hearing the testimony here in this court today, I believe you were just a victim of circumstance, having been given this ticket as a gift, from a friend who had your best interests at heart, considering her testimony.
“This is by no means a decision I make lightly, as the safety and security of the men in our community is one of the utmost goals we as keepers of the peace work towards, but I feel the media attention, loss of companionship, and the affect this whole circus has had on your life over the last couple of months is punishment enough. I have chosen to drop all charges against you and release you to your own recognizance. Court adjourned.”
The entire table jumped for joy, Sam moving forward to hug Karlyn in congratulations. Others moved around her, patting her on her back, and she quickly hugged her attorney, who had done an excellent job in defending her. Looking over her shoulder, she caught sight of Ethan watching her as he stood up, nodded his head in acknowledgment before leaving the courtroom.
She looked squarely at her attorney, “So, since I was freed of the charges, can I buy a lottery ticket?”
****
“You are insane!”
“No I am not!”
Sam was red-faced and looked like she might explode. “You just got the luckiest break, in like, ever, and you want to throw your freedom away on another lottery ticket?”
“I already asked my attorney. Since I was freed of all charges, she says I am free to purchase a ticket. With my recent sales, I have moved within the income bracket allowing me to make a purchase.”
“But, the chances of you winning a second time, and for the committee to allow you to take him, are a zillion to one.”
“If we are truly meant to be, he will come back to me. I know it. What better way to find out if I need to move on or not. If fate brings us together again, I will know we should be together forever.”
“Remember how I said you were a nut for believing in a Prince Charming? You have gotten yourself all wrapped up in this fairy tale again. You had a fun few months; you got a taste of love and sex and what a man and a woman can be together. And now, you need to face reality once more.”
“Sam, I know what I am doing.”
“Between court and lawyers fees, this ticket will break you.”
“He is worth it.”
“You are nuts. But regardless, I love you, you big softy. Call me tomorrow after you lose. I can be your shoulder.”
“I won’t lose.”
****
“Angelica Albright, you are our winner! You have won the United Federation Lottery! We are here to congratulate you as well as introduce you to your prize.” The sleazy announcer turned and motioned to someone behind the group clustered around the door. “You have won one calendar year with a hot, sexy man toy.”
A tall, handsome man approached Angelica and her knees wobbled, but she didn’t fall down. He summoned up a very fake smile, but it was still devastatingly handsome. The smile of course did not meet his emerald green eyes, but they were still stunning to look at.
Karlyn looked at the vidscreen, realizing the surreal nature of the moment. Angelica was having her moment, nearly swooning with delight, fawning all over Ethan. If Karlyn pulled much harder at the pillow in her lap, she would rip it to pieces.
The creepy announcer just smiled and turned from Angelica and faced the camera. “And there is our winner, Angelica Albright. She will now enjoy a year of service from Ethan. The next winner could be you, so get out there and buy your tickets now, ladies. And now back to the regularly scheduled programming.”
Tears formed but never dropped. She had known deep in her heart that if he was returned to her, that there was a happily ever after for her. For them. Stunned, she looked at the screen without seeing anything, as the news began.
“Yesterday, Ophelia Mack was in court to discuss her role in the second defrauding case connected to the United Federation Lottery in the last year. As many of you know, the first case was dropped recently, in which Karlyn Bowman was acquitted of all fraud charges. Ms. Mack was involved in the first case, giving inside information to the Lottery Committee about Ms. Bowman.
“According to court testimony, Ms. Mack interfered with lottery officials and attempted to bribe those officials into allowing her to win Mr. Spears. Ms Mack was the contracted owner of Mr. Spears nearly six years ago, and it is unknown her reasons for the bribe.
“A verdict is expected within the next few days.
“Now on to the weather. Kristina, fall seems to be right around the corner, but will this Indian summer ever end?”
Karlyn smiled to herself, the pain of her loss subsided a little with seeing justice slapped on the evil witch. She began to laugh out loud, until the laugh switched over to tears.
Chapter Twenty-One
The following year was good to Karlyn. With the help of her grandmother and her adoptive grandmother, Evangeline, she was able to refocus the media attention to shine on her career. Many had originally purchased her work because of her notoriety, but soon, many began to truly see her talent and gift. Her works began to show in prestigious art shows around the country, and she spent much of the time traveling along with it.
Big money was spent on some of her grander pieces, but sh
e still tried to work on smaller commissions as they really were the bread and butter of her existence. Weeks and months went by, a blur to her, as she numbed herself to everything outside the art world. Pain was a great source of inspiration it seemed, and she spent every waking moment painting or showing her work, finding solace in her productivity.
Evangeline still stopped by from time to time to check on her. Apparently adopting her as her new cause, she had refused to be repaid for bail or the court and attorney fees, so Karlyn had re-invested all the money back into her growing business. But she was able to grant Evangeline with a few prime pieces of art, repaying her the only way she knew how.
Eventually, Karlyn was granted access to the Klimpt Gallery. She had spent her entire life dreaming of the day she would show there. Downtown, in the city she loved, she would finally fulfill her dream. Albeit, alone, but she needed to be strong and stand on her own two feet.
Her thoughts always turned to Ethan during happy moments. The day she got the call from the Klimpt, she jumped for joy, her heart soaring. She would never again feel the happiness she felt in his arms, and each success reminded her of that fact. She worked hard to forget him, but subtle things reminded her of the love she had lost.
In the weeks preceding her Klimpt show, she threw herself into her work, wanting to have many pieces to choose from when she met with the Gallery Director. Her thoughts had recently strayed back to Ethan more and more, as she found continued success and wanted to share it with him. Ultimately, his form made its way into many of her paintings, in one degree or another.
Her cityscapes always had a small mass of a hunky man in one corner or another, lounging in the park, drinking wine in an outdoor bistro, or dancing in one of the jazz clubs. Her father had told her jokingly of an ancient set of books he had adored, where children would search for one odd little man within the chaos of an illustration. This was her small tribute to both the men she had loved.
Two days before the show, the moving crew came to ship her pieces to the Klimpt, and her anxiety nearly got the best of her when one of her favorite pieces went tumbling down the stairs. Fortunately for everyone involved, the piece suffered no damage, unless one counted Karlyn’s raw nerves. Besides the one incident, everything was delivered in one piece, and Karlyn met with the director to decide which pieces would grace the walls.
A whirlwind of activity surrounded her as the show was set into motion. Arriving early to ensure all pieces were up and lit properly, Karlyn was a jumble of apprehension when Sam and Evangeline arrived just before the show was to begin.
“You look beautiful, Karlyn” Evangeline gave her a gentle squeeze. “Tonight is your night. Are you ready?”
“I feel like I am about to throw up. But besides that, ready as I will ever be.”
Sam spoke up. “People have been talking about this show for weeks. There is enough buzz, that I am pretty sure you are going to have a huge hit on your hands. But I always knew you would eventually get here.”
“Too bad it took charges of fraud and potential incarceration to get me here, hmm?”
“Oh, stop it. Before all that happened, things were falling into place. The connections you were making, and had made at the community center were the start of something great. So, yeah, maybe the whole media circus propelled you further faster, but so be it. You have the talent to back it up, so that is all that really matters.”
“But you know that even now, some of the people that will be here tonight want to get a glimpse of me, to be part of the chaos.”
“Fuck those old whores.” A shocked sigh came out of Evangeline at Sam’s response. “Sorry, Eva, but seriously. If they want to come look let them. I hope they get a good damned eyeful.”
“Did you just call me Eva?” The manicured eyebrow rose.
“Yep. Sure did.”
“I have told you not to call me that.”
“You know you like it.”
Karlyn rolled her eyes at the pair, laughing inwardly at the fact that they were so much alike. It was uncanny; even though they sometimes acted as if they couldn’t stand each other, Karlyn knew they enjoyed the scathing repartee each time they were in the same room. Extricating herself from the situation, she quietly slipped away as the pair still argued, seeing the Klimpt’s Director, Etienne Fournier, readying the staff to open the doors.
Moving towards the entrance, the glass front of the gallery was within view. She sucked in a shocked expression at the crowds and photographers who had already set up shop outside. Tired of being put on display since the whole incident with Ethan, she knew it was a necessary evil at this point, as it was assisting in her success. Tonight she was grateful that the glass was slightly mirrored, so she could spend the evening networking and not worrying that every single moment would be caught on vid.
Etienne checked her staff, as well as the caterers and their trays laden with beautiful hors d’oeuvres and champagne flutes before giving the nod to open the gallery doors. Karlyn watched the first of the crowd enter, beautiful women in exquisite gowns, some surrounded by hot studs in tuxes, all backlit by the rapid fire click, click, click of vid cams taking shot after shot. The light from the paparazzi was almost blinding. Karlyn would never get used to it.
The crowd swelled as she watched from the corner, watched as the groups lined the walls, looking at her work, her life’s blood. Hints of conversation echoed their way to her ears, bits and pieces flooded her bouncing around the high ceilinged space. What she heard was positive, excitement thrumming through her.
Thoughts shifted to Ethan, as she so wanted to share this success with him. To have him on her arm as she navigated the space, nothing could have made her day more. As usual, she needed to tamp down her fantasies, knowing that she needed to focus on the here and now, not what could have been.
A hand clamped down on her shoulder, and she felt a scream lodge in her throat. Twisting around, she was ready to battle, but calmed when she saw Sam standing behind her.
“What are you doing, hiding back here? Scared much?”
“Sorry Sam, I was just in another world. I was listening in on the crowd’s response before I made my ‘grand’ entrance. I didn’t want to walk out and work the crowd if I was going down in a flaming disaster.”
“You knew full well walking into this building that it would not be a disaster. Get out there in the crowd and work that room. You have been waiting for this moment your entire life.”
Sam gently pushed her out into the main space of the gallery, and she was immediately noticed. Dozens of smiles turned her way, as she heard the first echo of a clap. Turning to see who was clapping, she strained until the person walked out of the crowd.
Lydia. Tears welled up into her eyes as she saw her mother standing in the middle of the crowd, sincerely applauding her daughter for the first time in her entire life. Looking around her mother, she saw her siblings and cousins. They all began pitching in, and soon the entire crowd was applauding, even expelling the occasional hoot of victory.
Tears streamed down her face, ruining her makeup, but she didn’t care. She was in her moment. Even if that moment was bittersweet without Ethan.
****
The party was over. Etienne had told her that almost every single painting had been sold that night, all for the staggering figures she had thought were astronomical. Now Karlyn was glad she had deferred to Etienne’s wisdom. She was a rich woman after tonight.
Her entire life, all she had wanted was to make it as an artist. To be successful in her career and to have her mother’s respect. She had those things now, yet she felt emptier than she had ever felt.
She sat on a padded bench, looking at the works on the walls. Her lifeblood, splattered across the canvas, sold to the highest bidder. Sipping the expensive champagne, she had told her friends and family to go home, lying about needing to finish up a few things with Etienne.
What she needed was to have a moment alone with the pieces that had helped her survive the worst
of her heartbreak. This had been her therapy. And now, she needed to say goodbye to them, and hopefully, goodbye to Ethan as well.
As the caterers finished cleaning up, Etienne came out to check on her and to let her know that they would be closing up within the hour. Most of the lights were extinguished, and Karlyn sat in the dimmed space, allowing the final tears to fall, sipping the champagne, hoping to dim the pain.
A familiar male voice echoed in her ears. “Why so sad? I hear tonight was a big success.”
Twisting across the bench, she looked at the face that had been splashed across almost every canvas she had made for the past year. Shocked into silence, she watched him, not breathing, not knowing what to say, scared that he was but a figment of her imagination and would disappear if she released one breath, one word.
“You look like you have seen a ghost, Karlyn.” Stepping forward into a shaft of light, she saw the twinkle of his eye, the chiseled cheekbone, the soft fall of his hair.
“Maybe I have.”
“I’m no ghost. Flesh and blood male. Here, I will let you check.” With that he walked the last few steps between then, pulling her into his embrace.
His warmth seeped into her chilled skin, and when he took her lips in his, she opened wide to his heat, allowing it to burn her from the inside out. His hands were everywhere, pulling her to him. Leaning back, he looked down at her face.
Wiping his hand along her cheek, he felt the dampness there. “No tears allowed tonight. This is a happy occasion. It’s your big night.”
“Not that I mind, but what are you doing here?”
“Don’t you remember? One year ago today, I was delivered to a new lottery winner.”
“Of course I remember. It broke my heart when I didn’t win.”
“You bought another ticket?” Shock streaked across his face, as a small smile began to form.
“I thought if we were meant to be together that you would come back to me.”
“It was a waste of your money.”
The Lottery Page 19