“Of course. Is there any more champagne?” Helen asks. “These guys are thirsty.” Alessandra bustles over to the fridge and removes a green glass bottle. She peels back the golden foil and eases the cork out with a loud pop.
“Good,” Alessandra says, smiling as she passes the bottle over and Helen wraps it neatly with a clean white serving cloth. “Drunk donors will promise more money.”
“Noted,” she says, holding the bottle with a practiced hand. Alessandra starts to load the glasses into a small dishwasher and Izzy disappears through the door into the café while I hesitate. I must look like a deer in headlights, because Helen smiles at me. “Follow me. It’s not a bad gig, really. Just walk around smiling until all the food is gone. Simple, and it pays well, especially while you’re at school.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say as I follow her out through thecafé.
“You don’t go here?” she asks.
“No. Not yet. Hopefully soon, though. Do you?”
“Yeah. I kind of wish I’d gone home for the summer, but it’s my final year in September and I only scraped through last term, so I figured a couple of weeks alone to get ahead on my readingwas a good idea. It’s so much quieter outside term time, though.” Helen smiles sadly and I recognize the look in her eyes. She’s lonely. Maybe I should ask her to go for coffee with Izzy and me this week, as a thank-you for being so nice, but before I can say anything she’s walking away. “Good luck!” she adds, and heads to the area where The Four are, disappearing around the corner.
Izzy is wandering through the crowd here, so I head toward a small cluster of people in the corner where the self-portrait is. I circle the guests, emptying one tray much faster than I thought I would. I go back to the kitchen and am returning with a second tray when I’m accosted right outside the café.
“Food!” Noah says triumphantly, snagging two pies the moment he appears. I wrinkle my nose. “What? I’m a starving student!” he says with his mouth full.
I ignore him, mainly because he’s cute even when he’s being obnoxious, and scan the crowd. Ford and Scarlett are nowhere to be seen, but the number of guests has doubled in the last twenty minutes. Izzy walks past with an empty tray, and I nod in Noah’s direction.
“Can you sort him out?” I ask her.
“He’s not with me,” she says, gliding past.
“Well, he’s definitely not with me,” I grumble, watching hergo.
Noah ignores our exchange and manages to swipe a napkin from me, but I walk away before he can snag any more food. I dole out canapés for a few minutes, but most people wave me away, preferring the champagne. Izzy approaches me holding another full tray, but I shake my head at her.
“No more takers. We should hang out near the cafe for a few minutes and try again after.”
We retreat and Noah reappears. He takes a prawn from Izzy’s tray and frowns at it before pointing it in the direction of the self-portrait.
“So, I had a proper look at that painting.” He mock-shudders. “You’re telling me that thing was in your house and you still don’t believe in curses? If anything in the world was the root of some evil curse, it would be that.”
“Hard agree,” Izzy says.
“Whatever,” I say, mildly irritated that he’s repeating my earlier thoughts back at me. I follow Izzy’s gaze over to the painting, and as if guided by some force, the crowd parts for a second.
The self-portrait hangs alone, a gallery wall to itself for the evening. There are two lights, one above each top corner, and they have been angled inward. The beams meet in the middle, directly over the figure’s face. This extra play of light and shadow makes it look even more haunting, if that’s possible.
“Fine,” I admit begrudgingly as I pretend not to see Noah sneaking another canapé from my tray. “If I did believe objects could be cursed, then this would be a good contender. But I don’t, so that’s the end of that.” It does have a menacing vibe, but I don’t tell them that, not while it’s staring right at me. I bet Kim would say it has a bad aura. “Come on, we have work to do. Noah, see you later…” I look up at him. He’s at least three inches taller than me, and I’m pretty tall myself. I swallow as something flutters in my stomach. “Bye,” I manage, leaving before my cheeks go red.
“Nice to see you again, Fliss,” I hear Noah say behind me.
“Back at you.” I toss the words over my shoulder, making Izzy smirk; then I circulate through the crowd once more.
“So, how did it go?” I join Alessandra at the front door as she finally closes it, having hung back so she could say goodbye to the final guests. I left Izzy gawping at the hair installation in gallery one again. I don’t get modern art.
“I think it was a success?” She looks at me with glassy eyes. “No, never mind that, I am certain it was. The last two hours have been a blur, though. I did not even get any champagne!”
“You should have some now,” I say. “Everyone seemed really excited. My dad is going to be so happy when he finds out. In fact, I’ll text him so he knows as soon as he turns his phone backon.”
Alessandra smiles. “Good idea. I saved some canapés for us. We can eat them in the café.” The gallery doors open and Izzy emerges, but Alessandra ushers her back. “Back inside, Izzy. I have food.”
“Sold,” she says, and I laugh. “Fliss?”
“I’m going to grab my stuff first,” I say, pointing toward the locker room. “Do you want me to get your bag?”
“No, it’s fine, I’ll come with you.”
