CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

Bette came home after another long day at work. She had been doing this job for a few weeks now and the stress was beginning to take its toll. She had also seriously underestimated the combination of being Dereks personal assistant and a curator trainee at the same time. Things might have been better if she got along with Fanny, the current curator, better. Somehow the woman held a grudge against her and Bette didn’t know what had caused it.

Her appartment was small, but large enough for her alone. The walls were empty, painted in an indeterminable colour, somewhere between yellow and brown. The previous tenant had left it like this and Bette didn’t feel like doing something about the impersonality of the place. She was so busy at work and worked such long days that all she ever really did here was eat and sleep. It was barely a home, but she was too tired to even think about her unhappiness.

At first, it had been different. The appartment had seemed great as it was situated so close the gallery. Derek had been there for her to guide her all the time and they got along great. Alex was there a lot of the time as well, but most of the time she was out in the world hunting good artists and trying to persuade them to expose at the gallery. Fanny had been cold towards her from the beginning, but she put it down to two people just not being very compatible. And of course, not everything could run spectacularly well. The first weekend, she went to New Haven to stay with Tina over the weekend and she had been so enthusiastic that she felt Tina was really happy for her too.

Soon enough, things had started to change, though. Derek got busier and had less time for her. She didn’t mind very much, she could cope perfectly on her own. It was just the way he could be so short and snappy at her when she made a minor error with an important client. Fanny had got worse; she kept belittling Bette and letting the girl feel that she was only just a beginner and she had lots of experience herself. Alex was still there, a rock in these hard time, but she hardly visited the gallery anymore. They always had to plan everything meticulously on beforehand, even if it was going out for a coffee.