Page 109 of The Secret

“Thank you, Todd. I’m Murray, this is Kit. We appreciate you accommodating us before the rest of the guests arrive. It’s very kind.”

“Not at all, we’re always delighted to have fans of our work here.”

Murray’s hand pressed into the small of my back. “Kit’s the fan; she comes to all the exhibits.”

My head was moving back and forth between them. We were here to see the launch of the new exhibit, so I didn’t quite understand what was going on.

“Let’s go in, shall we?” Todd swept his arm out in front of us, guiding us to the open doorway.

We followed him through, walking up a sloped floor and into the massive atrium, where museum event staff were busying themselves, putting the finishing touches to the evening’s festivities. Hundreds of champagne bottles were lined up along a table, alongside hundreds of fine stemmed flutes.

“How many people are coming tonight?” I whispered to Murray.

“Not sure. There’s usually a few hundred at these things.”

“Oh.” I looked up at the enormous flags hanging from the ceiling, all adorned with images from the Picasso exhibit, and Penn’s family name.

I’d been so busy watching what everyone else was doing that I hadn’t noticed we’d continued walking or where we were as Todd stopped before the entrance to another huge room. Collecting two thick, glossy bound books, he handed one to each of us. It was a guide to the exhibit.

“These are for you. They detail every painting you’ll see tonight, along with the history of Picasso and each period of his life, his influences, his loves, and his many varied achievements. This is the first time we’ve had a showing of this magnitude in the United States, so it’s very exciting for us.” His face became more animated with each sentence.

“Thank you.” Murray took the guides.

“Murray, what’s going on?”

He turned to me. “We’re seeing it first, before everyone else. I wanted you to be the first to see it, and Todd is going to show us round.”

“Murray…” I blinked through the moisture rapidly filling my eyes, before they spilled over and smudged all my carefully applied eyeliner, and lashings of mascara. He was the sweetest, most thoughtful man I’d ever met.

I’d meant what I’d said to Payton earlier, I did want to be his girlfriend, more than anything.

He smiled his perfect smile, “Oh, tears. That means I did a good job, hopefully.”

I laughed them away, “You did. I can’t believe how much you’re spoiling me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He took my hand again and we followed Todd into the gallery.

The walls of the first room we entered were filled with enormous canvases depicting abstract shapes of women painted in bright, primary colors and blocks of shade. Todd walked ahead, talking about Picasso’s expressiveness; his years experimenting with sculpture and pencils; his creation of Cubism, which we were viewing now; his mistresses. I listened intently as we moved from room to room, taking in as much as I could, while Murray held my hand tightly.

We were standing in front of what looked like a cartoon octopus when I remembered why we were here.

“Which ones are Penn’s?” I leaned closer to Murray.

“I don’t know actually.” He retrieved his phone from his breast pocket and typed out a message. Before he had time to put it back, it chimed with a response.

“What did he say?”

“He doesn’t know.” His wry smile told me Penn had typed more than a simple ‘no’.

I looked at him, my nose scrunched in confusion; Murray tilted the screen to me so I could see it.

Penn:Some naked chick with massive tits, a blob, and something else I can’t remember

My hand flew up too late to stifle the laugh, interrupting Todd mid lecture and receiving a strange look in the process.

Moving into the final room, one single gargantuan canvas completed the tour. The blue, black, and white shapes depicted the Spanish Civil War, and we stood in silence staring at it while Todd told us about the cultural importance of Guernica.

I’d never been in a museum alone. I’d never experienced a museum without the bustle of tourists fighting over who could get closest to the exhibits. It was incredible and affecting and made so much more special because it had been arranged for me, by Murray.

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