Suspicious Business

Did you ever get the urge some mornings to go back to sleep because you answered your ringing phone to some strange voice, with rather suspicious ideas that slithered through the line directly into your exposed brain? THIS heralded such a day.

I got a call from a gentleman shortly after getting up. I'm a portrait artist and he said he wanted a portrait. All alert and excited, I got some detailed info about the photos that he emailed.I spent an hour putting together a proposal, including options like sizing, media, pricing, etc. I even centered one of the photos on a virtual format so he could see what it might look like as finished art. I laid it all out in a professional way in an email and sent it off to him. A couple of hours later he called back to haggle with me about the pricing. I fumed and refused to haggle. He hung up and moved on. A little while later, another gentleman (someone I'd chatted

with a year ago about a project) rang. I immediately remembered him when he gave his name. Back then, he had requested a portrait from life and wanted me to come to his home to do the work. Since the project had seemed suspicious to me, I demurred. Now, this same gentleman was back and asking me to come to his home again—this time to discuss my creating a drawing from a dream he'd had. Hairs on the back of my neck stood up. This was edging into the realm of The Twilight Zone, complete with the creepy music theme. I pleaded coronavirus caution and suggested a Zoom call. Apparently, that option didn't suit, and he hung up.

I guess when any Tom, Dick and Harry can wander on to your website, from time to time you've got to expect the suspicious, even creepy...