by Tina Michele
The crowd dispersed quietly with minimal discussion with the guilty parties making their way from the room quickly. They knew who they were, and they knew that Lee did as well. She was satisfied with that.
Chapter Twenty-seven
The next morning, Lee sat in her office and reviewed several press releases regarding the upcoming Venus exhibit. She could hardly believe that only six months earlier she had made two of the biggest decisions of her life and career—hiring Morgan and green-lighting the Venus exhibit. She hoped that her father was proud of her for taking the gallery in her own direction. She trusted that Morgan knew what she was doing, and as long as she believed in that, she would survive.
Alex buzzed her, interrupting her thoughts, and asked Lee if she had time to meet with Rita. It had been a while since Rita had come to her with anything, and she was curious as to why. She said yes.
Alex opened the door and showed Rita in. She smiled cordially and sat in a chair across from Lee. “Good Morning.”
“Hi, Rita. What brings you up here?” When Rita sighed, Lee felt that she was about to drop a bomb on her. “Don’t tell me you’re resigning. Morgan needs all the help she can get to pull this exhibit off.”
Rita chuckled. “No. I’m not quitting. But I wanted to talk to you about that. The exhibit.”
“Oh, really? Is something wrong?” Lee wondered why Rita would be there to tell her instead of Morgan.
“Not technically. But I have some…some concerns.”
“Concerns?”
“Yes. I’m not sure how to go about this but basically, I think it’s a bad idea.”
Lee was shocked by Rita’s admission. “What are you talking about? What is a bad idea?”
“The whole thing. I’m just wondering if showing an entire exhibit of nudes is really a direction that the Dencourt should be moving in. I mean, singularly they can be easily digested, but as a whole, it’s really questionable. And when you add a theme aimed at exploiting sensuality in such an intimate setting, it might not…it’s just a little, well, it’s perverse.”
Lee was flabbergasted. They were weeks away from a costly and monumental opening, and there Rita was spilling her complete and utter disgust for Morgan’s project. “Rita. I think perverse is a bit dramatic, don’t you?”
“Not at all. Your father kept these paintings hidden in the collection for years. I think it was because he knew the implications of displaying such controversial subject matter.” Rita sat back in her chair.
Lee covered her mouth and thought for a moment. No way. “They’ve been there for years, but certainly not because he was ashamed of them. And this certainly isn’t the nineteen fifties anymore. I think the public has a right to view and experience these masterpieces in the manner they were intended.”
“In a ‘quarter-per-dance’ strip club?”
“Are you kidding? We are not force-feeding pornography, Rita. We are enhancing the mood and intimate understanding of Venus and her power as the goddess of love and beauty.”
“Listen. I’m not saying it isn’t a great design. It’s not something I would come up with, but regardless, I just don’t think Mr. Dencourt would have approved this exhibit. I knew him a long time, way before you came into the position, and I would say with confidence that this isn’t something that he would be okay with.”
Lee’s emotions went from shock-and-awe to utter disbelief. How could Rita sit in front of her and tell her that she knew her father better than Lee did? It was inconceivable. “Look. I admit that I wasn’t entirely on board with the whole thing at first, but—”
Rita cut her off. “See. That’s your father’s instinct telling you to cancel the project.” Rita patted her heart. “He is telling you, right in here, that it’s not his vision. Inside, you know that this could singlehandedly alienate the benefactors and destroy everything that your father worked his entire life for.”
“Rita, I…” Lee didn’t know what to say or think. Rita had managed to say out loud everything that she had been thinking since the day she took the position.
“Lee, I’m only trying to help you. I loved your father, we all did. But I can’t sit back and let you make decisions that could ruin us all. I should go. I just needed to tell you that because I’m sure no one else has.” Rita strode confidently out the door leaving Lee in a complete blindsided state of confusion.
Lee couldn’t move. She was paralyzed in her chair—her father’s chair. Every decision he’d ever made at the gallery was made from that chair, behind that desk. She ran her hands outward across the top of the well-worn surface. Was Rita right? Was Lee about to destroy everything her father had created in one blow? She couldn’t say that it wasn’t something that she had shoved far into the recesses of her mind, but it was so minute. Surely the excitement and feeling of accomplishment wasn’t just a mask to hide what she knew to deep down to be true. Was it? While Rita’s claims were a bit exaggerated, she couldn’t help but think that they were based on a speck of truth.
Lee didn’t want to halt the project. But it was moving a lot faster than she had anticipated. An exhibit of its size should easily take years to develop, and they were doing it in less than half of that. They really hadn’t thought through to the possible repercussions or gained any confirmation from their most active benefactors. Now more than ever she wished that her father stood over her shoulder to guide her in the right direction. What would be the harm in postponing the opening for a few months? It would give them time to poll the public, smooth over any ruffled conservative feathers, and maybe scale back some of the sexuality. She needed to talk to Morgan, and at that moment, the only thing she knew for sure was that it wouldn’t go well.
*
Morgan stood in the center of the gallery and watched the last of the partition walls slide into place. She still needed to run all the measurements again before anything was secured or painted. There was still so much left to do, but she could see the room taking shape before her eyes. Movement from the corner of the room drew her attention. Lee lurked as always, silent and stealthy off to the side as to not get in the way. Morgan found it more adorable every day.
“Awesome job, everyone. Let’s take a break,” Morgan called out as she walked over to Lee. “Hi.” Morgan resisted the urge to wrap her arms around Lee and kiss her.
“Hey.”
When Lee didn’t return the smile, Morgan’s stomach knotted. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just…can we talk for a minute?”
She had no idea what Lee was about to say, but by the look on her face it wasn’t going to be good. “Of course.” Morgan touched Lee’s arm gently. “What is it?”
“I’ve been thinking. And I’m not exactly sure how to say this, but basically, I’ve been thinking that we should scale back a little bit.”
Morgan’s hand dropped to her side. “Oh. Okay. I didn’t think we were moving that fast, but if you feel…”
Lee reached out for Morgan’s hand. “No. Not us. I think we are…great.”
Her response didn’t do a thing to release the tightening of her stomach. “Then what are you talking about, Lee?”
“This.” Lee gestured to the room around them.
“The exhibit?”
“Yeah. I’ve been thinking that things are progressing so quickly that we haven’t really had time to cover all of our bases. You know, with the board, the members, and donors.”
“Are you serious? The board approved the exhibit and the acquisition. We’ve already received over a million dollars in new donor contributions. What other bases are you talking about?” Morgan felt ill.
“I know. I’m just wondering if we aren’t pushing the envelope with things.”
“Lee, what the hell are you talking about? How are we possibly pushing anything except ourselves to complete this project?” Morgan’s heart raced and she felt a burning heat rise in her chest.
“That’s a part of it. But I also don’t know if this is what the gallery needs as its
first major exhibition under new direction. I’m not a hundred percent sure that this is something that my father would approve of, at least not to this scale. It has great potential for controversy and it could alienate some of our more conservative audiences if we don’t ease them into it.”
Morgan felt like Lee had hit her with a hammer. “You can’t be serious. Are you shitting me?” Morgan threw her arms up and walked away. She couldn’t even look at Lee. “I am less than a month away from completing this project. We spend over eleven million dollars on the Veronese, and I have busted my ass to get us where we are. And now! Now you want to throw it all away? Because why? You’re scared of offending pretentious closed-minded assholes?”
Lee moved toward Morgan. “Morgan, I don’t want to ‘throw it away.’ I just think we need to reevaluate the theme and its presentation. You have to admit that it’s risky.”
“Risky! Risky? Are you kidding me? It’s art, Lee! Art is meant to evoke emotion. It is meant to stir the senses, to push people to the brink of their comfort zone. You can’t be an artist or love art if you don’t dare yourself to do or feel something that pushes the boundaries. Your father understood that, or he wouldn’t have even had these paintings in his collection.”
“But he never put them out. There was a reason.”
“What reason, Lee? Where is this coming from? Something happened.” For six months, Lee had been nothing but supportive about the project. Morgan could only guess that something or someone changed her mind. “Did your mother say something?”
“No. It wasn’t my mother. It was…it doesn’t matter.”
“Bullshit! It matters. Who got inside your head?”
Morgan watched as Lee’s face reddened. “Nobody got inside my head. Rita just made me see that—”
“Rita?” Morgan knew it. She had felt from the moment she’d met her that Rita was going to be trouble. “So what? Rita came to you with some concerns about my radical ideas and liberal agenda to convince you that I was going to destroy your father’s legacy?”
“It wasn’t like that, Morgan. And besides, there wasn’t anything she said that I hadn’t already thought.”
Lee didn’t have any faith in her. Morgan felt the blow to her core, and she wanted to vomit. “Let me get this straight. For six months, you’ve let me believe that you trusted me. That you supported me in this position, and now, suddenly, that isn’t the case anymore.”
Lee took a step toward Morgan but she backed away. “Morgan, please.”
“What do you want from me, Lee?”
“I want you to rethink the exhibit. Maybe remove a few of the more overtly erotic images, scale back the sensual undertones of the design. You could add a few less provocative pieces to counter all of the nudity.”
“So, change the entire exhibit. Is that right? Why don’t we just get some fabric fig leaves and staple them to the fucking canvases? That would work, yes?” Morgan didn’t try to hide her anger or keep her voice down.
“Morgan, you know that’s not what I meant.”
“How I am supposed to know that? You say one thing, but obviously mean something completely different. I thought you believed in me, in us. Tell me that you don’t really want me to make these changes, Lee.” Morgan’s heart was breaking in two.
“I…I can’t. I just think that at this point, I have to think about what is best for the Dencourt.”
“I see. Then I think that what is best for the Dencourt is if you find another curator to fill my position, someone you trust. Maybe Rita.”
“Morgan! You’re quitting? It’s an artistic difference, not a reason to quit! You can’t give up your career because you aren’t getting your way.”
“To you it may just be an artistic difference, but this is so much more than that.” Tears began to burn her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Morgan turned away from Lee and threw back the plastic that covered the doorway and came face-to-face with Rita. Morgan didn’t know how long she was there, or what she’d heard. The smirk on her face said it all, but it didn’t matter anymore. “You win,” was all she said as she passed Rita on the way to collect her things. Morgan had no idea what she had just done, but she knew that there was no turning back.
*
Morgan got home and paced around her apartment. She knew that she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life, in more ways than one. The only thing she had left was her pride, and she couldn’t let anyone take that away from her, especially not the woman she loved. She stood next to her bed for a moment before she slid the suitcase out from beneath it. Morgan packed her case, locked up her house, and got into her car. She had to leave and there was no reason for her to stay.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Lee sat and stared blindly at her computer screen. It had been three days since Lee had seen or heard from Morgan. She checked her e-mail and voice messages constantly in hopes that Morgan would change her mind and reach out to her, but she didn’t. Lee had thought about picking up the phone a hundred times to call her, yet she wouldn’t have known what to say even if Morgan would’ve answered. A quiet knock on her door caused her heart to leap. “Come in.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised that it was only Alex. “Hey, you. Are you all right in here?” Alex asked as she entered and closed the door slowly behind her.
“Yeah. I’m fine. What’s up?” Lee wasn’t fine and she knew Alex didn’t believe her anyway.
Alex sat down softly in one of the chairs in front of Lee’s desk. Lee wasn’t in the mood to talk, but she also wasn’t in the mood to be alone. “I just wanted to check on you. You’ve been pretty quiet. I guess you haven’t heard from Morgan?”
Just the sound of her name made Lee’s heart ache. “Nope.”
“And I know you, you haven’t called her either.”
“Nope.”
“So what are you going to do about her position and the exhibit?”
Lee tapped and fiddled with the pen in her hand. “The exhibit is cancelled. And I will be putting Rita in the position.”
“Rita? Are you kidding? After what she did?”
Startled by Alex’s outburst, Lee looked up at her. “She didn’t do anything. I did it.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, Lee. You do realize that she is the reason for the rumor about you two, don’t you? Well, Lilly was the reason, but Rita kept it going.”
“Lilly?”
“Yes. Apparently, the day you fired her she told Rita that you two were sleeping together and Rita took it upon herself to keep the fire lit.”
Lee wouldn’t have been able to say she was surprised, but the fact infuriated her. “Are you sure? How do you know that?”
“Well, yesterday I heard Rita talking in the hallway about how she eavesdropped on the argument between you and Morgan. She laughed and said something about her getting what she deserved. I don’t know if it’s what she deserves or if she meant Morgan, but either way, ya know?”
Lee’s ears burned with anger. Rita knew exactly what she was doing when she came into her office that morning. Rita had manipulated her, and used her father to do it. “Son of a bit—We’re going downstairs, now.”
“We?” Alex stood as Lee rounded her desk in a hurry.
“Yes, we. Because I’ll need you there to keep me from killing her.”
“Oh God.” Alex followed quickly behind Lee.
*
Morgan was still in bed at nearly ten a.m. She had been awake for hours, but lacked the motivation to get up. There was a quick knock on her door before it opened and her mother shuffled in. “Hey, kiddo.”
“Hi, Momma,” Morgan said halfheartedly as her mother sat on the bed.
Her mother stroked her hair. “Do you want to get up? I made biscuits and gravy, your favorite.”
Morgan hadn’t been hungry until she heard the words biscuits and gravy. Her stomach growled in response, and she sat up. “Okay.” Her mom had been so confident in her lure that a fixed plate was already waiting a
t the table when Morgan entered the kitchen.
Her mother sat across from her. “Do you want to talk about it yet, sweetheart?”
As Morgan devoured her breakfast, she simply shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore than she already had, which wasn’t much. “There’s nothing to talk about, Momma. I quit.”
“I know. But why? You were so happy just a few days ago. I just can’t seem to understand. And none of the little scenarios that I’m making up in my head are making any sense.”
Morgan could only imagine the kinds of reasons that her mom had floating around in her wild and imaginative brain. “She didn’t trust me. She placated me with encouragement when the whole time she never truly believed that I could do it.” And I actually thought she might have loved me.
“That seems unlikely. Why did she give you the job and the approval for the project then? Someone who doesn’t believe in you would never give you that much credit, my child.”
“Who knows?” Morgan surely didn’t know, and it was a question that had plagued her since the moment she walked out the door. “Maybe she just wanted to sleep with me.” Morgan didn’t truly believe that, but she said it anyway.
“Oh, my. Okay.” Her mother put her hands calmly on the table. “Well, I’m sure some people go through great lengths for…piece of tail—”
Morgan burst out laughing. “A piece of tail, Momma? Seriously?”
“Yes. Like I was saying…Some people pull out all the stops for it. Goodness knows your Daddy still—”
“Oh my God. Stop.”
“All I’m saying is even Daddy wouldn’t go through that kind of trouble just to get a little lovin’.”
“Wow.” Morgan could see her mother’s point, even through the veil of disturbing imagery. “But it doesn’t matter now. I quit. I need to move on. Even if I could take it back, I just don’t think it’s the place for me.”