“Did you take Foster’s offer to get away from Hayes?”
“Of course not. Like I said, he wasn’t in all the time, and we didn’t work together directly. I figured we’d just becourteous when our paths crossed, and if he needed to be in his museum office, those would be good times to work on non-admin tasks that would take me away from my desk. Awkward but workable.”
“Okay …” Jay says it slowly, like he’s starting to wonder why we’re talking about Hayes at all.
“A month after we broke up, the Sutton had its gala. All staff were required to attend. My roommate Francie works in the archives, and we went as each other’s dates. My boss, Henry Chu, liked me to circulate among our biggest donors because they responded well to me.”
“You mean you sweet-talked them out of gobs of cash?” he asks with a slight smile.
“Shamelessly,” I agree. “All for the cause. So I’m chatting with a couple who loaned an Edward Hopper painting for permanent display, when I spot Hayes with a date. I do my best to ignore him, and it’s going fine until we’re all seated for dinner. His father goes onstage to announce that the Sutton settled a lawsuit with Indonesia over a diamond headpiece, and the museum will retain it on permanent loan. Big applause for his son who resolved the dispute, yay, we’re keeping it.”
“But you’re annoyed because it makes the ex who dumped you the hero of the night?” Jay guesses.
“If only. Turns out, Papa Bradford also wants us to all toast his son to congratulate him on his recent engagement to his college sweetheart.”
“Wait, how long did you say this was after your breakup?”
“A month.”
“Oh, dang. He was cheating?”
“No, but it turned out our breakup coincided with his ex moving back from New York.”
“So, what did you do?”
“I look down at the lobster tail on my plate?—”
“No,” he says. “They were really serving lobster?”
“Yes, because the universe had my back on this one. I pick up the tail and march over to Hayes and his fiancée, whose table is up near the front.”
Jay’s hand has crept up to cover his mouth, but I plow ahead. “I introduce myself to her as the woman he was dating until a month ago, then I tell Hayes, ‘Just to show you there are no hard feelings, I brought you your favorite.’ And I tuck it into the front pocket of his tux with his stupid pocket square and walk out.”
After a beat of silence, Jay’s hand drops to reveal a grin. “I’m not worthy.”
“It was a boss move,” I acknowledge. “But you, me, and Francie might be the only three people who think so. Several of the museum’s biggest donors were sitting at the table, and they definitely didn’t think so. One of them called Henry to complain about it the next morning, and I got an official reprimand for unprofessional behavior with a report in my personnel file.”
When he only shrugs like the whole situation is entertaining, I tilt my head. “That doesn’t concern you as a trustee of the museum I’ve just been hired to run?”
His smile fades, his forehead wrinkling again. I know this expression now. It’s his thinking face. “If I’d heard this before I’d seen you in action, I might have concerns. Probably not. I’d most likely have heard the story and thought ‘That sounds like an interesting person to get to know.’ But I’ve seen you at work, and my grandfather did exactly what I expected he’d do and hired the right person for the job.”
“That’s not a unanimous opinion. Guess who made that call to my boss?”
He sighs. “Catherine Crawford.”
“She was at the table with Hayes. Apparently, his fiancéeis the granddaughter of one of her college friends. Catherine wasn’t happy about it.”
“She took it personally?”
“That’s what the evidence suggests.”
“What evidence? Did she try to get you fired or something?”
“Or something.” I need to tread carefully here. “Two months after the gala, one of our senior curators accepted a position with a London museum. It opened up a chance for promotion. In a museum as big as the Sutton, you move from assistant curator to associate to senior. Then, when you are very old and have fifty PhDs and everyone else has burned out, you might become the chief curator. I’d been working as an associate curator for three years by then, and I had the credentials and experience to be a senior curator. It should have been a lock. The chief curator and deputy director both agreed. They interviewed candidates for another month, but they ultimately offered me the promotion, contingent upon board approval.”
“The board didn’t approve.” It’s not a question. He sees where this is going.
“From my understanding, most of them did. Catherine Crawford argued against it. She didn’t feel like I had the necessary professionalism to handle high-level management. They could have overridden her, but she was adamant and forced them to table the vote until the next meeting. Then she went straight to Henry Chu and talked him into withdrawing the job offer. I thought Henry was in my corner, but directors have to be political, and ultimately he had other qualified candidates to choose from, so he didn’t fight it.”
