Page 74 of Handle with Care
I fight the very strong urge to either slump in my chair or rub my face with my hands. Instead, I summon my best posture from my dance training and hold her gaze. “We have a problem, I’m sorry to say.”
Her eyebrows raise, and then she adjusts her glasses, leaning in. “A problem?”
“I’ve—we’ve—been hoping to have better news for you, I’m afraid.”
She waits, staring me down. Ordinarily, Lily isn’t an intimidating woman, but right now, she is, and I’d rather eat my own shoes than try to explain what’s happened. Because hell if I know what’s happened. I focus on the facts as best I know them.
“An exhibit has been misplaced.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Misplaced?”
“Er, yes. A collection, actually.” I give her a wry look and force myself to not fidget. It takes every scrap of willpower I own.
She lets this sink in. “Which collection?”
Her frown doesn’t bode well. Then again, there’s no reason why this would bode well.
“The Vivienne Westwood collection,” I say quickly, then do my best to explain. “We picked up the loan as planned earlier in the summer and brought the collection on-site. Except somehow, with all the exhibits coming in, the location wasn’t recorded. The collection should be logged and secure in the prep room. And, well, we haven’t been able to find it yet. But we will.”
Her eyes widen. “How long have you known about this? Why didn’t you immediately come to me?”
“We haven’t known long,” I assure her. “We wanted to bring everything out of the storage locations. We’ll check again in case it was set in with the permanent storage locations. But unfortunately, so far, we haven’t been able to find it. It’s a mistake, and we’re both very sorry.”
Lily’s speechless as she gazes at me. I gulp. We contemplate each other in a heavy awkwardness like lead. Or quicksand. Something terrible, definitely. And my leg starts to jiggle till I force myself to stop.
“Which is why,” I try again, meek, “I was suggesting to start with Phase Two.”
“Dylan, this is a very serious situation. I’m going to have to tell the executive and our insurers immediately. This is a special, high-value collection. Security will need to do an audit.”
The worst part isn’t what she’s saying but the pure disappointment across her face. I slump at last.
“I was counting on you both.”
“I know. I’m so sorry. We both are.”
“Just… just go back to work in the gallery. I’ll find you later, and hopefully, you’ll have better news for me then.”
I gulp, nodding at the dismissal. “Yes, of course. Absolutely. I’ll get back to work right away. Anything you need, please ask.”
Lily nods, turning to gaze out the window at the gray Thames beyond. And I retreat to the gallery, feeling like a complete failure. I pause only long enough to text Will.
Lily knows.
It’s a terrible day. There’s no other way to put it. Sick to my stomach, I do my best to work through the careening thoughts. What’s worse is that Lily doesn’t come find me, even though I work late with the team, receiving exhibits. It’s a terrible silence from Will as well. Till he texts at last in the afternoon.
They’ll do an investigation.
And that’s it. I want to scream.
I work twice as hard as usual. Through the day, I catch glimpses of Lily with the members of the museum executive, the director and the VP, at the far end of the gallery. Everyone’sgrim-faced. Lily walks them through the Phase One area while I keep a wide berth over with the incoming exhibits. My clipboard heaves with the day’s chain-of-custody transfer receipts. Which I diligently scan and log into the tracker, as is the familiar routine.
Your job’s over. Everything’s over.
I doom spiral with great efficiency. As the day progresses, the head of Security also comes through with her second-in-command, making assessments with Lily, having more conversations I can’t hear. And, frankly, don’t want to hear.
When I leave the museum at 8:00 p.m., I’m wrecked. I would much rather Lily have yelled at me rather than this silence. Same goes for Will.
Lily sends a text in the evening: there’s a meeting tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., and both Will and I are expected to attend.
