“Nice to meet you,” I say, dumbstruck.
“And this,” she says, gesturing to the short man to her left with a handlebar mustache, “is Antoine Archambault. He works at Tate Modern.”
“Oh.” I jut out a hand to shake his. “That’s in Britain, right?”
“London. Lovely to make your acquaintance,” Antoine says in a buttery French accent.
I almost squeal. If we have people coming in from Los Angeles and London, wereallygot the word out. “It’s an honor to have you both here.” I do a quick scan of the crowd for Max because he’s surely the one they’re here to see, but he’s nowhere.
Eleanor leans forward, resting her bony hand on my shoulder. “This space is lovely. Rustic but in such an authentic, earnest way. The place isn’t a bunch of faux-spiritual California clichés, and it’s so much better than all those boring homeshares. Christ, they’re all the same.”
I chuckle. “I know exactly what you mean. Actually, I’m working on a proposal for council members. The policy would limit folks from snatching up property and damaging the surrounding area.”
“Which they always do,” Eleanor says. “Those practices are cheaper, so of course they do.”
This Eleanor woman has quickly become one of my new favorite people.
“When Max told me about this barn, I almost didn’t believe him.”
“Oh, you know Max?” I ask, putting more of the puzzle pieces of Eleanor and Antoine together.
“Yes, I mentored him in Dublin.” She stares around the space, nodding in approval. “He explained how much work needed togo into this building, and in such a short amount of time. You two did well.”
“Thank you,” I say, pleased with the compliment, like a teacher just gave me a gold star.
“When you mentioned the renovations,” Antoine says to her, “I will admit, I had many doubts.”
“Oh, I didn’t,” Eleanor says, lifting her hand off of me to swat the very thought of doubting Max away. “I am not the least bit surprised he’d put something extraordinary together. He is a force. Daisy, tell me, how on earth did Max get connected with you and such an amazing locale?”
“Me?”
Of course she means me, but I have to swallow some surprise. Max has evidently informed Eleanor about this project every step of the way, but it sounds like he never found our history important enough to mention to her. That makes sense, I guess. He probably kept their conversations focused on work and the pop-up, not on our personal history.
“We grew up here,” I reply. “I’m his girlfriend.”
The word slips out of me, but I like the taste.I’m Max Weber’s girlfriend.The realization sends an effervescence through me, like I’m a shaken-up soda can.
Eleanor and Antoine smile, and they share a knowingoh.
“Well,” Antoine says, “I can already tell you have created something that is truly special together.” He turns to Eleanor and adds, “If he really wanted to impress me, he has more than done it. If I could, I would secure his visa and fly him out tomorrow.”
“I told you, he’s got an eye.”
The two of them are talking like I’m not here, and I have a billion and one other people to meet and greet—but my ears snag on what Antoine said.
“Sorry, wh-where’s he going?”
“Oh, I only am kidding,” he says. “We won’t fly him outtomorrow. You will have him a bit longer. But just a bit!” At this, he and Eleanor laugh in unison while I’m left out of the joke.
All the voices in the room turn into white noise. Antoine must catch a hint of my confusion, and his tone gets serious.
“I’ll discuss the options for you to join him, of course,” he says. “You have six months for visiting, or if you have plans to…” He waits for me to fill in a blank I don’t know the answer to. “There are spouse visas as well. It’s not my department, but my team, they will talk with him.”
“Right,” I say, forcing my mouth to form words. “The visa. For the…”
“The job.” Eleanor says this like she and I have talked about this job countless times before. “I told Max he’d have to pull off something spectacular. Of the many people I’ve had the privilege to mentor, I knew he could do it.”
“The role is unique,” Antoine adds, talking to me. “And it pulls on his skills but gives him room to grow within one of the most prestigious museums in the world. I am, of course, biased, but it is a dream job for any art curator.”
