Dark Touch

Just Partners?

I was excited on the drive to Montana. We were only two hours from the museum, and the drive went by fast as we rambled about our favorite museums across the country. Henry was well traveled and had seen so much compared to myself, that he had so much more to tell. When we arrived at the natural science exhibit I tried to hold back my excitement as we skipped the line walking straight up to the desk. After checking in, Henry and I were given badges and were met by a beautiful older woman.

As she appeared in front of us, Henry seemed to step back in his tracks a bit. She was a beautiful woman. She seemed a bit older, a tight red dress on, and heels as high as I had ever seen. She had long straight blonde hair and she was truly gorgeous. "Henry," she spoke in a soft voice as I looked over with a raised eyebrow at Henry's silence.

"Cheyanne," he responded back in a tone that gave me the feeling that they knew each other. "I was curious as to why the director requested pick up only," He remarked as I stood there awkwardly snooping.

"Well, when your name came up as a buyer I thought it would be nice to see you again," She remarked. "You look good," she added, giving him a flashy smile.

"Uhh... you as well," He responded, before I cleared my throat, causing him to look my way. "This is my apprentice, Angel Lewis . She's an excellent researcher as well," He said, making me smile and hold out my hand as the woman shook it, giving me a dazzling smile back.

"Very nice to meet you, and I know Henry never hires anything but the best, so I wouldn't doubt it," She spoke charmingly. "Why don't we head down to the exhibit and take a look at the artifact before we box it up," She spoke as we nodded and allowed her to guide us through the museum. I was in awe of the size of the place, being twice as big as our own. We walked through the exhibit of Natural causes, then the Wildlife and African exhibits passed us. We went all the way down the hall until we reached Pompeii. It was truly a tragedy, and standing now in the midst of ancient roman history, I felt immersed. As we walked through we stopped right in front of a statue.

"The Cupa de aur!" I harped looking at the giant gold vase with a beautiful painting curling around it. I turned to Henry with a wide smile. "You didn't tell me this was the artifact we were coming to collect," I remarked leaning closely to look at the detail.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," He said as he leaned down to do the same.

"I thought you hated surprises. You used to say they were mostly filled with disappointment and unnecessary enthrallment," Cheyenne remarked, only furthering my suspicion that they knew each other.

"Well, I guess I've changed in the past four years," he said a bit more sternly, as she flashed her eyes towards me.

"Yeah, I've noticed," she replied simply as I tried to refocus on the Artifact.

"How long has it been on display? Are there any reports?"

"Yes, we have them stored in my office. I'll go grab them," she responded, turning and stepping away. As soon as she was out of view I turned my attention towards Henry.

"So, this may be a wild guess but do you know each other?" I asked him.

"Uhh... yeah. She was my old partner. We traveled together for a while and then took over the museum," he explained simply, not giving much detail to the real question I had.

"Were you guys just partners?" I asked knowing I was pushing a boundary. As soon as I said it, I turned away regretfully, trying to pretend to analyze the exhibit.

"No," he responded simply. I knew he didn't want to talk about it any further, so I chose not to say anything more about it, connecting dots on my own with the more I learned. After a few moments, Cheyanne returned with documents in her hand.