Spray Painted Bananas

Chapter 30

Even in vertiginous heels, Aurelia is tiny. Her stature, or lack of, does nothing to undermine her sense of authority which is evident from the moment she greets me.

'Good morning,' she says, giving my hand a firm shake. 'I thought to begin with we should have coffee in the meeting room.'

At my side, Elliott seems agitated and I wonder if he, like me, is a little intimidated by Aurelia. Even if he was talking to me, which he doesn't appear to be, he wouldn't admit it. Apart from a grunt about the weather, he hasn't opened his mouth, and I'm starting to wonder if he's only here to sabotage my chances of success.

The meeting room is above the gallery space which I've only had a quick glance at on the way in. My first impression it that it's small, smaller than expected at least. This is good news since it means less bananas to magic out of the ether.

Elliott slides into the furthest chair away from me around the large oval desk.

'Since time is against us I think we should consider the possibility of live art,' he says, his attention solely on Aurelia.

'Yes, that could be interesting,' she says. 'What do you think Amber?

I'm reminded of the time Farrell and I were in an exhibition taking advantage of the free wine, and we noticed that one of the exhibits was text messaging. The girl was up a ladder, cloaked in a bed sheet, her face painted white. She was supposed to be representing the 'space between' but had obviously grown bored.

'No,' I say, and the strength of my voice surprises me. 'There will be no live art.'

'But it's a brilliant idea!' Elliott cries.

'No it's not. It's a terrible idea.'

Aurelia purses her lips in a tense smile. 'The exhibition is next week so if you have some thoughts Amber we'd love to hear them.'

'That's the other thing,' I say, shaking my head. 'I can't do it for next week.'

Elliott and Aurelia exchange baffled looks.

'What do you mean you can't Amber?' Elliott says. 'What on earth has come over you? I don't know what's happened but...'

'Nothing has happened! I'm just not prepared to put my name on a rubbish exhibition just because you want to do it as quickly as possible.'

'But...'

'No Elliott. I've not been very vocal about my ideas lately or my feelings,' I say, and I find myself blinking away an image of Farrell.

'I think you've been perfectly vocal about your feelings,' Elliott mutters grumpily.

'My feelings about this project obviously.'

Aurelia looks confused. She leans forward on her elbows and clasps her long, manicured fingers in front of her. 'Do go on...'

'I might have begun this project a little frivolously but that doesn't mean I don't care about it. I know I'm not a genius, or even a very good artist, but now that I'm here, whatever 'here' means, I want to do the best I can.'

'What are you saying then?' Aurelia says.

'I'm saying it can't be next week...'

'Then when?'

I know I can't push my luck. 'The week after that?'

Aurelia raises her eyebrows. 'Two weeks then?'

I nod and she almost bursts out laughing. 'I thought you were going to say six months.'

'Oh, can I do that instead?'