So I did something embarrassing last month. Went into a small place on ul. Estery with a folder of pastel prints, no appointment, mostly to see if I could bear being in the room. The woman was kind, looked properly at three of them, then asked what I would want for the biggest one. And it had sold. Two weeks before. To a friend of my partner, for basically nothing, because I panicked and said a number I made up in the moment.

I stood there and said, "ah, that one is already gone, sorry" and she just nodded and moved on and I have been replaying it ever since. I still don't know what the correct thing was. Take the commission? Say I could do another? Wait, is that rude, to offer to remake something?

So, tell me yours. What did you say when someone asked the price of a piece that was already sold, or that you'd never actually sell? Do you keep a list of numbers in your head ready, or do you make it up like me? I want to know if I am the only one who goes blank.