Falling in Love & Other Diasters

Photography

           

Four cappuccinos in, probably about three more to go.

I sigh, pushing my reading glasses higher on my nose with my index finger as I study the spreadsheet which lays out the gallery's finances. It's not as though we're not doing well, but we could do with a few more clients. Especially now that Mrs. Harrington is set to retire. I'll need to prove that I am capable of running the gallery as impeccably as she did while also showing that I have the ability to bring in new business.

This is my dream job and I'm lucky that I've been given the opportunity to be here so early in my career. I don't intend to waste it.

"Miss Fenwick?"

I startle slightly at the sound of Mrs. Harrington's, and now my, I suppose, assistant calling my name. Amused at the fact that he's stuck just his head through the door and it currently looks as though he's floating, I smile softly and say, "Clay, how many times have I told you to call me Raina? There's no need to be so formal."

"Right," he nods, his floppy blonde hair falling into his eyes. "Raina. There's a Larissa Collins calling for you."

I lift an eyebrow in surprise because I don't recognize the name. "Who?"

Mrs. Harrington left me a comprehensive list of all of her contacts within the art community, in case I ever wanted to reach out to someone I hadn't already met, and I don't recall seeing a Larissa Collins on that list. But if she's asking for me specifically, that must mean it's important. 

"I'm not sure," Clay replies, and if I could see his shoulders, I imagine he would be shrugging. "I put her through on line one."

"Thanks," I flash him a smile and watching his head disappear. Picking up the receiver and inhaling deeply because for some reason, my heart is racing, I press the button to switch to line one, putting on my most pleasant voice as I speak. "This is Raina Fenwick, The Harrington Gallery."

"Good afternoon, Miss Fenwick," a warm voice on the other end responds, "My name is Larissa Collins. I'm the head curator at the CMMA."

My eyebrows shoot upwards. "The Cartwright Museum of Modern Art?"

The Cartwright has the most extensive collection of modern art in the city. I buy a membership every year and I visit about twice a month because no matter how many times I see some of those paintings and sculptures, it always takes my breath away. Needless to say, the somewhat pricey membership pays for itself.

"That's right," she says.

"It's an honor to speak to you," I gush, feeling as though I'm talking to a celebrity. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

She pauses to collect her thoughts before she continues. "I don't know if you've heard, but we've recently started a new art expansion program."

"I hadn't heard." I don't know how I'm managing to speak and hold my breath at the same time, but I am. Surely she wouldn't call me just to tell me about such a program if she had no intention of asking the Harrington Gallery to participate.

"Well, the gist is that we don't want the cultural experience of modern art to be restricted to just the museum," she explains. "We want it be infused throughout the entire city. So, in an effort to help his expansion, we've decided to reach out to local art galleries to see if they would be interested in partnering with us."

"Partnering how?" I ask, doing my best to hide my absolute delight.

The gallery doesn't usually work with art museums directly. Either we peruse local art shows and ask artists whose works we admire if they would be interested in showcasing their work at our gallery, or we have artists who contact us directly, asking if they can put on exhibitions. Partnering with a major museum would most definitely put us on the map and make us more desirable to artists hoping to sell and display their work.