Page 12 of How to Get Even

Shifting the tray of coffees to one hand, she pressed the button with the little bell sign on the intercom.

‘Hello?’

‘Bella Carmichael,’ she said, confidently. ‘Your new communications director.’

* * *

Bella stepped out of the grey frosty cold into the warm embrace of soothing neutral tones and temperature-controlled warmth and gave in to the temptation to sigh.

The frosted windows either side of the entrance had concealed a large space that was surprisingly comforting despite its bare white walls. There were tracks along the ceiling which she presumed were for moveable walls to create smaller separate areas for a more intimate viewing and towards the back of the gallery the space opened out in an area that could be used either for group pieces or individual artwork that commanded greater focus and attention.

‘Oh my God, it’s really you,’ a female voice exclaimed at a level of such surprise, Bella wondered whether the ‘you’ was actually someone else.

She turned to find a young brunette with wide brown eyes looking at her with something like awe.

Frowning, Bella resisted the urge to look behind her.

‘You’re so pretty!’ the girl exclaimed and at this Bella’s eyebrows shot upwards.

‘I—’

‘And I’m so sorry about your wedding!’

The rapid fire of statements caught Bella in a stunned vortex.

‘Alison Burberry, you leave that poor woman alone,’ a strong masculine voice ordered from the bottom of a staircase at the back of the gallery.

She watched as a tall man regally descended from the floor above. He had cheekbones half of Manhattan would die for and glowing ebony skin. The look he sent her was sceptical – but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t overcome before.

‘Mr Bamboux,’ she said, placing the name to the face from her research on the gallery. She closed the distance between them, hand outstretched. ‘It’s really lovely to meet you.’

‘Mmm,’ he replied, as if the jury was out and would remain firmly out until she proved herself worthy. Bella maintained her smile, respecting that territorial lines were being drawn.

‘It’s so nice to meet you,’ Alison exclaimed and for a second Bella thought she might actually jump up and down. ‘Me and my sister were also Alpha Phis and saw you speak at the NHL charity in Boston three years ago.’

For a moment, Bella’s mind blanked. That was the night she’d met Olly and it took more effort than she’d care to admit to yank herself back from it.

Glaring at the girl, Bamboux inhaled his impatience before continuing, ‘Please call me Maurice. The offices are this way,’ he said, leading her towards the back of the gallery. ‘There’ll be time for a full tour a little later, but we have a 9.30 meeting scheduled.’

Bella checked her watch with a frown. Nine twenty-five. ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware of the meeting,’ she said, unsure how she’d missed that. She’d spent the whole of yesterday synching her phone to her Nayak email account and reading through all the messages she’d been copied in on following her hire. Worried that she’d not activated her alerts correctly, she pulled out her phone to double-check.

‘That’s okay. The email only came through ten minutes ago.’

Nope. Nothing.

Maurice peered over her shoulder. ‘An oversight, I’m sure.’

Unconvinced, Bella followed Maurice upstairs into a surprisingly light space. More glass walls sectioned the floor into two rooms and an open kitchenette with a break-out area. The same frosted strip from outside the gallery continued in here, affording staff some privacy while also maintaining that sense of light and space.

One room contained four desks, which she presumed would be for her, Maurice, Alison and the art intern they employed when he wasn’t studying at college, Ye-Joon. The opposite room, containing one large desk and a sofa sectional for guests would be Chase’s office.

Maurice opened the door to their office and gestured to the only table bare of the various layers of chaos that could be seen on the other desks.

‘Mine?’ she asked with a smile.

He nodded and Alison rushed to her side.

‘I’ve set you up with everything you’ll need. There are binders with the current gallery schedule, prospective artists, client lists, as well as all the list of current vendors and some prospective ones.’

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