Sheltered(4)

“You’ll be running the shipping and receiving of the gallery. We feature a new artist each month unless we’re commissioned for longer. Those will be approved by me directly, and I’ll let you know ahead of time. You’ll be in charge of maintaining the gallery calendar, which installations will go in what order, et cetera.”

She’s talking a million miles a minute and I suddenly feel like I should be writing this down.

“Why are you not writing this down?” she says as if reading my mind. She stops dead in her tracks and I almost bump into her as she gives me a sharp look.

I take my phone out of my bag and open up the notes app and start typing what she said. Lilith sighs and then begins to walk again.

“Your everyday tasks are simple. You’re to inspect all received crates for damages and keep the warehouse organized. If I need to find something I better be able to.” She glances back over her shoulder to look at me, and I duck my head. “When each feature artist is finished for the month, you will be the one to supervise and inspect the art being packaged and then sign off on all shipping crates. You alone will be in charge of this.”

Lilith stops short, but this time I’m paying attention and stop with her. I’ve got my phone at the ready for more instructions and she nods, like she’s somehow happy I didn’t bowl her over.

“The only time I’ll be involved is if there’s a problem, so let us both hope that I don’t have to monitor you too closely.” She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

We make a few turns, and I’m wondering just how huge this building is if we’ve walked this far and she’s talking about a warehouse. My feet are already protesting the low heels, and I’m wondering if I should have worn running sneakers instead.

“This is where you’ll spend the majority of your time,” Lilith says, as we reach a large door. It’s completely white like every other inch of this building, but has a silver handle. “This wall here opens for larger crates to be maneuvered to the gallery floor.”

She indicates to a wall and I can just make out the lines where it could possibly be two large doors. She pushes on a small section of the wall beside the door and a keypad appears.

“You code is 0925,” she says, entering it, and the silver handle clicks.

She opens the door and walks through, and I rush in behind her, not wanting to miss anything. I’m typing as fast as I can when I walk into the warehouse and look around. If my jaw wasn’t attached it would probably hit the floor. This place must be the size of a city block. It’s like the scene from Indiana Jones where they hide the lost ark among hundreds of crates. I’ve never seen so many wooden boxes before.

“Good lord,” I say quietly, but it must have not been quiet enough. Lilith looks back at me and her eyes travel up and down my clothes. I guess I pass muster because she doesn’t look disgusted by what I have on.

“You’ll need to bring a change of clothes every day. When you have to be on the floor you’ll need to look presentable. But when you’re back here, I imagine you’d ruin what you’ve got on.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say, making more notes.

“This place has been neglected since we opened. I don’t have time to do it myself and I don’t trust it to Gemma,” she says.

“Who?” I ask, and I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing when Lilith rolls her eyes.

“The ray of sunshine on the front desk.” She turns around to face me fully this time as if coming to her final appraisal. “From what Fritz tells me, you’re perfect for the job. You’re a quick learner and take initiative.”

I preen a little as his appraisal.

“All I need is someone who is organized and will take orders. I don’t want someone looking to have my job in a year like Gemma, and I don’t want someone who’s trying to fuck her way to the top of the society pages.”

She gives me a pointed look as if asking me if I’m either of those, and I shake my head no. I do have a ton of ambition in life, but it’s certainly not taking over as curator of an art gallery. And though I love Fritz, his social standing in the community was never the reason I fell for him.

“Good. All I ask is you do your job and don’t screw it up.” We exit the warehouse and she takes me down another white hallway to a small office. “This is your office. You should have everything you need. If you have any questions about the art, ask me. If you have any questions about how to use that computer, ask Gemma. She’s not happy you’re here, but she’ll get over it.”

She motions for me to go in, and I do, moving behind the glass desk and looking around.

“The scheduling files will be emailed to you, but you’ll also receive a folder of paper orders each week. I’ve got several clients that prefer to handle things privately, so some information will be handled that way.”

“Got it,” I say, feeling somewhat confident that I can handle this.

“Blair, I need to ask one last thing of you,” she says, tucking her hands in her trousers and stepping closer to the desk.

For a moment I think she’s going to ask me for a kidney or something because she’s so serious.

“My clients are investing tens of millions of dollars with me. So you’ll understand this job is about absolute discretion.”