I smoothed the bottom of my cocktail dress and gave myself a onceover in the bathroom mirror of the museum. My Fossil watch read 7:29pm and we were due to open the doors at 8pm sharp. I leaned toward the mirror and smacked my mouth together to even the gloss that was clumping up on my lips.
The ambiance in the museum was flawless. The area was perfectly dim, the only lights being those that illuminated the sculptures and paintings. The Civil Rights exhibit was the star tonight, but I made sure to ask the custodians to give the other spaces a dusting and a shining, too. This was the first new exhibit that I designed entirely myself since being promoted to director, so the impressions tonight meant everything to me. I would be able to add tonight's positive reviews to my portfolio and increase the chances of getting accepted into my PhD program.
I walked through the new exhibit, doing last minute checks and making sure everything was exactly to my liking. My assistant, London, was supervising the catering table and I trusted her to make it look presentable.
"You ready?" my boss, Demetri, asked as he approached me.
"Whew, I think so. I'm nervous," I exhaled.
"Don't be. You aced it, trust me. Don't worry about the people coming to spectate, just relax and know you did what you needed to do." The heads of the PhD program I wanted to attend were going to be here tonight. They didn't know me, yet, but I knew exactly who they were and I needed this exhibit to put my work on the map.
"Thanks, Meech. I'll see you after, okay?" My heels clacked against the floor as I headed back to my office. It was customary for the designer to give a brief speech about their process of constructing the exhibit, so I made reference flash cards that I could study from when I spoke in front of the attendees.
I looked over the cards for about 15 minutes, making sure I had all my dates and facts straight. London knocked on my door and told me it was about time.
The doors to the museum were glass, so I could see the line of well-dressed people waiting to get in. A rush of excitement and nerves shot through my body as I realized it was now or never.
"Can I get all the staff to gather around me quickly?" I spoke just loudly enough over the soft music. All the members of my team started to crowd around me and gave me their undivided attention.
"Before we let them in, I just wanted to thank y'all for doing such a bomb ass job at bringing my vision to life. I literally could not have done it without y'all, so please know that no matter how much I yelled and bitched at y'all, from the bottom of my heart, I'm truly grateful for the work you put in. Give yourselves a little round of applause." I joined my team in their celebratory claps and cheers as they hugged one another and gave me big smiles.
"Oh! Another thing, we bought way too much champagne, so waiters and waitresses please be filling any empty glasses you see. Thank you!"
I dismissed them back to their stations and met London at the front door, preparing to let everyone in. I watched the second hand on my watch hit the 12 and told London to open the doors.
I stood to the side, so I could watch them file in.
"Hi! Thank you so much for coming. Please help yourselves to the food and champagne," I repeated over again as I shook hands and gave hugs. I fangirled on the inside when I shook the hand of the head of the AA History department at Arizona U. I hadn't seen Charlie, but when I sent her a text about an hour ago, she said she was almost done getting ready. We closed the doors after everyone was let in, and the night began.
*
I strolled around the room, answering questions about the exhibit while making sure everything was running smoothly. Meech told me it was a good idea to allow the guests to walk around and get their food and champagne before introducing myself. According to London, 157 guests out of the invited 175 were here, which was an excellent turnout.
