Page 93 of Second Chances
She heard Jane ask as she gathered the rest of her things from the hall, ready to walk out the door.
“What other choice do I have?” Beth laughed, giving her sister an ironic smile.
“Ok, well I’ll see you there later.”
“Ok, thanks for everything Jane. I can’t tell you how much I…we…appreciate it.”
She gave her sister a hug and made her way to the elevator as quickly as she could, her fingers already tapping to call Darcy before the doors dinged open.
Voicemail.
Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Checking the time, her lips pursed realizing she was going to be about five minutes late for when she had said she would meet Caroline.
Oh well.
She tried calling Darcy again while waiting for her Uber, and then again in the car, both calls still ringing through to voicemail. Resigning herself to not being able to talk to him before the exhibition, she waited for the beep.
“Hey, it’s me. I just left Jane’s and I’m almost to the gallery. I know why she’s doing all of this and I have an idea, but it looks like I’ll have to talk to you when you get here. I love you.”
God, she really wanted to talk to him before the evening got underway.
It looked like she was going to have to suck it up and find a way to talk to him in a private moment during the event, because the car pulled up to the gallery and she could see Caroline inside waiting for her.
Stepping out of the car, she picked up all of her bags, slapped a fake, but excited smile on her face, and walked confidently in the direction of the woman who was intent on destroying her happiness.
Time to get this party started…
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Holy shitthere are a lot of people here.
Beth couldn’t help thinking that this was way more than what Caro had included on the guest list. The gallery had filled up quickly, and suddenly Beth found herself basically trapped near the back by the cake table.
Her position gave her a view of, in her opinion, the two most critical things; one, the door, for when Darcy arrived and two, Caroline, who she’d specifically stationed near the front to greet her guests. She wasn’t too thrilled that Darcy would probably encounter Caroline before he made it back to her, but she also didn’t trust herself to remain so close to Caroline without giving something away.
Beth took a sip of her wine and scanned the scene before her again. The way the space was set up was almost like an S, with a display area on the right wall as you entered; following that took you to a half-partition of the room which veered you to the left, where again there was more open space to stand and admire the works on the left wall. That, then, curved around to the back of the gallery where the caterer had set up a table against the back wall with the cake and wine.
From her post, she was positioned between two of, what she felt, were Caroline’s better works - a portrait of an old man, smiling even though he was missing several of his teeth, and a breakout watercolor piece that she had done of the Trevi Fountain. These two were originally slated to be hung on the back of the partition wall but when Beth arrived, she managed to persuade Caro to switch up her original layout.
Blaming her lateness on the traffic, she had gushed her apology to Caroline in spite of the distinctly questioning glare she received when she had first entered the building.
Probably due to the essence of time, Caroline’s polite mask descended over her features as she quickly acknowledged Beth’s apology before she’d turned their focus to her art.
Caroline originally had her nude pieces prominently displayed on the front of the partition and on the left wall - giving them the most view time based on where guests were likely to congregate. Seeing an opportunity to shift the focus on to some of her other works, Beth pretended to think for a moment, scanning the artwork that had been propped up against the walls.
Heart hammering in her chest, Beth had bluntly suggested that the nude pieces be moved to the back of the partition and the far corner. She cited better lighting and the fact that the food and drinks were back there which would be where most people would tend to linger. Her reasoning sounded weak, even to her, but then, miraculously, Caroline agreed. It had rendered Beth speechless for a moment before she quickly covered up her shock by helping to move the artwork to its new home.
In the end, it probably didn’t matter that they had changed the location of the paintings; there were so many people here that every alcove was full, meaning, that even though the nudes were in the worst location, they were still getting just as much visibility as everything else due to the number of people.
However, she had taken that moment, that opportunity, as she re-examined the pieces, to throw in how much she loved the watercolor landscapes that were included in the exhibit, that they were by far her favorite. Beth felt proud for a moment, that she had won a victory, however slight, over Caroline, by arranging to have the nude sketches placed in a not-ideal location. Of course, that second was fleeting when she began to wonder why Caroline had taken her advice so easily. The lighting really wasn’t any better, but it’s true that the food was all in the back. Maybe Caro truly believed her, or maybe she was just too anxious about the show to really think about it, or maybe she didn’t care because she’d already moved forward with the next part of her plan.
I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
“Well, well, well, I can’t say I’m surprised to see you here, Miss Bennet.”
