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Jolene shook her head, looked at Freya and thought –what a bloody mess. Jolene rose from her seat. ‘Leave this with me, Freya.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I’m off to have a word with the team before they leave tonight. We’ll get done exactly what he’s asked of us. Then what can he do? There will be no reason for the exhibition opening not to go ahead.’ Jolene picked up her drink and studied her friend. ‘Promise me one thing,’ she said.
Freya had been staring at her hot chocolate. She looked up.
‘You must put things right with Theo – you have to explain what’s happened. If you really have such strong feelings for Tarek then you must be honest with Theo. He deserves the truth. I think you should break off the engagement.’
‘I wished I’d never met Tarek.’
Jolene smiled. ‘I’ll bet.’ Who had once said the course of true love never did run smooth? Was that Shakespeare? Jolene couldn’t remember. But what she did know was that her best friend was all at sea over these unexpected – and right now, unwanted – feelings for another man. And some time soon, she would have to make a choice between the man she was engaged to and the man she had obviously fallen in love with.
The team assembled in the cordoned-off area of the new exhibition room, waiting for Tarek to arrive. Jolene stood with a comforting arm around Freya – she could feel her trembling at the thought of seeing him again. Jolene squeezed her hand and whispered, ‘Everything will be all right – just you wait and see. I had a word with the team last night and emphasised the importance of working together on this. Nobody but you and I know where his sudden sullen, rude attitude has come from.’
Footsteps could be heard marching down the outer corridor, and then Tarek appeared carrying various poster tubes. After saying a cursory good morning and getting a lukewarm response in return, he placed the tubes on a spare exhibit bench and opened his briefcase. Turning to the team, he looked around.
Freya wished the ground would open and swallow her up as he spotted her and gave her a surly nod.
‘Asshole,’ said Jolene under her breath.
‘Did you have something to say, Jolene?’ Tarek asked. ‘If so, please could you speak up as I am sure the whole team would value your input. If not, then let’s get down to business.’
Jolene remained quiet.
‘As you can see, I have had various posters made which highlight the artefacts on display. Please can you start by looking through these and deciding amongst yourselves which area of the exhibition you would like to work on, then you can take the relevant posters. I find working together is really beneficial in these matters and brings out the best results.’
‘Oh really!’ Jolene remarked.
Tarek glared at Jolene, who was obviously upsetting his equilibrium. ‘Jolene, perhaps you can hand out this list of requirements to each team member. It’s a plan for where I would like to see the exhibits displayed.’
Freya could hear some of the team members tittering as Jolene made her way to the front. Even Freya tried to suppress a smile as Tarek handed out the sheets of paper to Jolene. It was like being at school. Freya felt sorry for Tarek. He was acting like a pompous git. She knew what was really going on here; he was trying to hide his discomfort behind a mask of authority. She was just hiding, doing her best to melt into the background and avoiding his gaze.
‘I will be out of the museum for a while and leave it in your very capable hands, Jolene, to oversee my requests.’
Jolene looked across at Freya apologetically, aware that she was the one who was meant to be working with Tarek to co-ordinate and complete the exhibition. It was Freya who should be overseeing matters.
‘I’ll be back around lunchtime and expect all the work to be completed by then. If it meets with my approval then you can all have a free afternoon.’ Tarek turned on his heel, glanced at Freya, and walked out of the room, leaving the team in shocked silence.
‘Right,’ said Jolene once she had been left in charge. ‘I think we need to regroup over a coffee, look at the new plan for the exhibits and choose amongst ourselves who wants to deal with a particular aspect of the exhibition. Once that’s decided, we can all set to work. We have just four hours to re-arrange the location of the exhibits, put up these new posters and sort out the hands-on exhibits for the children. Everyone in agreement?’
The small group standing in front of her all nodded their heads and then filed out to the coffee machine. Freya watched them go, thinking Tarek would have a fit if he returned just then and found them all on a coffee break.
‘Hold up, everyone!’ Jolene’s voice boomed out, stopping everyone in their tracks.
‘Before we get the drinks, can we agree that Freya takes charge once I have handed these lists around? After all, she’s the expert here, and it will be in all our interests to get this right. What do you think?’
A round of applause went up, and Freya was ushered to the front – all happily volunteering her for the role – and presumably for the blame if things didn’t work out.
Despite – or perhaps because of – being aware that the buck stopped with her if Tarek wasn’t happy with the final results, Freya was determined to make it work and turn out the best exhibition the museum had ever put on.
Freya stood in front of the team as they sipped their drinks. They each had the plan in front of them. Reading it had depleted their enthusiasm. As one team member had pointed out, it seemed overwhelming to be asked to achieve all this in just four hours.
Freya looked at the list and then folded it and placed it on the table. ‘Yes, there is a lot to do – but we can simplify the process if we fall back on the range of experience you’ve all already acquired over many years. I’m sure we will get this done. It’s just a matter of coordinating moving the exhibits between display cases. But first things first. Do you remember when the dean gave her talk to us about why people love coming to a museum and what draws them in?’
‘To get out of the rain,’ Jolene quipped.
‘Step in somewhere warm for a few moments, when it’s blooming chilly out,’ another quipped, following Jolene’s lead.
