Read Playing in Shadow for Free Online

leave the apartment when it was done.” Scarlet was pleased by the reaction her painting had received. To have people fighting over it was very satisfying. But Elton had paid for it so, even though Monica was her landlady, Scarlet had handed the painting over to its rightful owner. Considering how much time Monica spent at Elton’s house, it would only be a matter of time before they both had ownership of it. The subject had been Monica in a floor-length black spider webbed gown. Her long, straight hair fell over her bare shoulders, and her eyes were dramatically made up. The portrait was striking. Even Scarlet had been proud of her own artistry. Usually her portraits were done with her camera, but she’d started branching out.
    She looked up at the framed photograph hanging above the fireplace in the living room. She’d managed to capture a private moment between Trent and Juliet at a party Elton had thrown. The scene caught through Scarlet’s lens showed Juliet leaning back in Trent’s arms while Trent’s hands were wrapped protectively around both Juliet and their growing child inside her. Their love was all too clear on their faces, and Scarlet had almost deleted the shot because it looked so intimate. She had decided instead to get the picture blown up and framed for them as a gift. Their reactions had been worth it. The photo had caught a moment in time for them and had captured the couple perfectly.
    “I’m hoping what I’ve designed here will be what you’d choose for such a special room.” Scarlet opened her case and slipped out the first design. She heard a soft chuckle from Juliet and a stifled groan from Trent. “Now, I went the traditional route first,” she explained as she pointed out the more familiar nursery patterns of teddy bears and building blocks. Then she pulled out another sheet. “Then I went to the other extreme.”
    This artwork showed a room painted to resemble the landscape of Hyrule, home to Link and his Princess Zelda.
    Trent pulled the paper closer to examine it. “Forget the baby’s room. That would be perfect in my gaming room.”
    Juliet leaned in to look. “Sweetheart, you don’t have any wall left in there this could go on because of all the games you have lining them.” She brushed a finger over the sketch of a heroic young man in his green uniform. “I think this would be more suited to an older child, but, Scarlet, just this sketch alone is amazing.”
    Scarlet pulled out a few more sheets, each with its own specific design for either a boy or a girl or a more neutral room for a baby of unknown gender.
    “The flower border in this one is lovely,” Trent said. “And appropriate because of Juliet’s job.” She ran her hand over Juliet’s arm. “It would be nice to have something that meant something to you on the walls.”
    Juliet leaned into Trent. “You just don’t want bunnies and bears lining the walls.”
    Trent bumped her good-naturedly. “You know I want something unusual for our kid. They’re going to be awesome. They don’t need something ordinary to look at every day like all the other kids out there do.”
    Scarlet had left what she considered her best piece until last. She slid the paper in front of Trent and Juliet and waited for their comments. Trent didn’t disappoint.
    “That’s the one!” she said emphatically, looking to Juliet for agreement.
    Juliet nodded. “Scarlet, that is so perfect for Trent’s child.”
    The nursery art was a simple plain wall in a pale mint green. In a border that ran around the room was a procession of highly colored Yoshis, the little dinosaurs that inhabited the Super Mario games. They were running, jumping, flying, sleeping, or eating brightly colored apples, each one a different color until the pattern repeated.
    “I know from the Yoshi’s Island game that there were all these colored Yoshis so you could have almost a rainbow flag symbolized here.” She scrutinized her own drawing. The little