Chainmail
Chapter Four
“Good afternoon Mr. Webb,” I said turning to look at my boss.
Mr. Webb was the curator for the Egyptian exhibit of which I worked under. He had short dark, thinning, brown hair which was always jelled back and he wore those little circular Harry Potter glasses. He had somewhat of a cold manner towards people, but everyone knew he was a big softie at heart.
“You’re here,” he nodded at me, “Good thing too, because the shipment of the artifacts was moved to earlier this afternoon.” He shook his head as if showing his disgust for unprofessionalism, “This is a huge shipment, but I’m going to be very busy with an even bigger one to the Robert Lehman Collection, so I’ll need your help with the paper work.”
“Oh yeah, of course,” I smiled and I could feel myself excite over the idea of catching a glimpse of the new artifacts that were to be put on display in the exhibit. I loved ancient Egyptian history and it never fails to baffle my mind as to how a civilization could have accomplished so much, so long ago. Yeah… I’m a nerd at heart.
“Good,” he folded his hands together for a second before adjusting his suit and bow tie.
“Right, well I should get started then?” I pointed in the direction of the curatorial department offices of the exhibit which was directly on the right of the lobby, being one of the biggest exhibits the museum held.
“Yes you should,” he nodded at me as if he were talking to a five year old. “Here are the keys to the back room,” he pulled out a keychain with about five keys on it and handed it to me. “Displays are set and ready to be moved. You can get Pete to help you with that and do remember to wear the gloves.”
I smiled so wide I thought my face was going to crack in half: he was letting me set up this whole display myself!
“You know to be careful with it Shaylin, millions and millions of dollars in your hands,” he said sternly, but I knew him well enough to know he was happy and trusted me to do it.
“Thanks Mr. Webb and don’t worry I’ll be extra careful with it,” I grinned.
Mr. Webb nodded at me and quickly walked right past Sam.
“Congratulations Kathy,” Sam said behind me.
***
As I got to the big wooden door of the tiny office I heard, “Hey miss?”
Turning around I saw a big man dressed in an olive green jumpsuit and work boots, holding a metal clipboard along with a pen.
“Hi, can I help you?” I put on my professional tone which I had come to realize was essential in dealing with people at the museum over the last four years, because nobody takes me seriously otherwise.
“Yeah, you work here right? I need you to sign this,” he held up the clipboard and pen in his hands.
“Oh is that the Egyptian shipment?” I looked at him with a puzzled expression: it’s not my job to sign off on such a big thing.
“Yeah, you a Miss. Shaylin Keleft? Your name is here,” he pointed at the clipboard with his pen.
“Um, yeah I am,” I stepped towards him and took a look at the clipboard and sure enough, there was my name. I couldn’t help but smile at all the trust and responsibility that I had obtained to be able to get my name on that one clipboard.
He then thrust the pen into my free hand and I signed off on the dotted line. “Great, have a nice day,” he said hurriedly walking away, “All the stuff’s in the backroom already.”
After going into the cramped office, dumping my things on my packed desk and picking up the case full of the equipment that I would need to safely handle the objects I made my way to the backroom, which was actually at the ground floor. Feeling extremely energetic I ran down the stairs and made my way to the main part of the ground floor. Heading towards the ‘Employees Only’ section of it, I heard someone call my name.
“Hi Ms. Wilkins,” I recognized her voice right away and turned to look at the middle aged woman with dull orange hair worn very short and spiky.
“How are you this afternoon sweetheart?” She gave me a big smile, “I heard you got a huge part in the new shipment. Did you really get whole display?”
“I’m doing great and yeah I can’t believe it either, Mr. Webb must be out of his mind,” I smiled at her.
“No of course not, you earned it kiddo,” she pointed at me good naturedly. “Well, I won’t keep you; you have a nice day now you hear?”
“You too Ms. Wilkins,” I turned and bounded down the hallway.
After reaching the door I fiddled around with the keys to find the right one. The third key that I tried fit just right and I flung open the creaky, heavy metal door walking into the huge room. Closing and locking the door behind me, I made sure I had the keys safely in my pocket and made my way through the aisles. The ‘backroom’ or rather the basement of the museum housed thousands of boxes and was rather more or less, like a warehouse. It was cold down here, which was a huge difference compared to the wonderfully warm July weather we were getting.
Mr. Webb was the curator for the Egyptian exhibit of which I worked under. He had short dark, thinning, brown hair which was always jelled back and he wore those little circular Harry Potter glasses. He had somewhat of a cold manner towards people, but everyone knew he was a big softie at heart.
“You’re here,” he nodded at me, “Good thing too, because the shipment of the artifacts was moved to earlier this afternoon.” He shook his head as if showing his disgust for unprofessionalism, “This is a huge shipment, but I’m going to be very busy with an even bigger one to the Robert Lehman Collection, so I’ll need your help with the paper work.”
“Oh yeah, of course,” I smiled and I could feel myself excite over the idea of catching a glimpse of the new artifacts that were to be put on display in the exhibit. I loved ancient Egyptian history and it never fails to baffle my mind as to how a civilization could have accomplished so much, so long ago. Yeah… I’m a nerd at heart.
“Good,” he folded his hands together for a second before adjusting his suit and bow tie.
“Right, well I should get started then?” I pointed in the direction of the curatorial department offices of the exhibit which was directly on the right of the lobby, being one of the biggest exhibits the museum held.
“Yes you should,” he nodded at me as if he were talking to a five year old. “Here are the keys to the back room,” he pulled out a keychain with about five keys on it and handed it to me. “Displays are set and ready to be moved. You can get Pete to help you with that and do remember to wear the gloves.”
I smiled so wide I thought my face was going to crack in half: he was letting me set up this whole display myself!
“You know to be careful with it Shaylin, millions and millions of dollars in your hands,” he said sternly, but I knew him well enough to know he was happy and trusted me to do it.
“Thanks Mr. Webb and don’t worry I’ll be extra careful with it,” I grinned.
Mr. Webb nodded at me and quickly walked right past Sam.
“Congratulations Kathy,” Sam said behind me.
***
As I got to the big wooden door of the tiny office I heard, “Hey miss?”
Turning around I saw a big man dressed in an olive green jumpsuit and work boots, holding a metal clipboard along with a pen.
“Hi, can I help you?” I put on my professional tone which I had come to realize was essential in dealing with people at the museum over the last four years, because nobody takes me seriously otherwise.
“Yeah, you work here right? I need you to sign this,” he held up the clipboard and pen in his hands.
“Oh is that the Egyptian shipment?” I looked at him with a puzzled expression: it’s not my job to sign off on such a big thing.
“Yeah, you a Miss. Shaylin Keleft? Your name is here,” he pointed at the clipboard with his pen.
“Um, yeah I am,” I stepped towards him and took a look at the clipboard and sure enough, there was my name. I couldn’t help but smile at all the trust and responsibility that I had obtained to be able to get my name on that one clipboard.
He then thrust the pen into my free hand and I signed off on the dotted line. “Great, have a nice day,” he said hurriedly walking away, “All the stuff’s in the backroom already.”
After going into the cramped office, dumping my things on my packed desk and picking up the case full of the equipment that I would need to safely handle the objects I made my way to the backroom, which was actually at the ground floor. Feeling extremely energetic I ran down the stairs and made my way to the main part of the ground floor. Heading towards the ‘Employees Only’ section of it, I heard someone call my name.
“Hi Ms. Wilkins,” I recognized her voice right away and turned to look at the middle aged woman with dull orange hair worn very short and spiky.
“How are you this afternoon sweetheart?” She gave me a big smile, “I heard you got a huge part in the new shipment. Did you really get whole display?”
“I’m doing great and yeah I can’t believe it either, Mr. Webb must be out of his mind,” I smiled at her.
“No of course not, you earned it kiddo,” she pointed at me good naturedly. “Well, I won’t keep you; you have a nice day now you hear?”
“You too Ms. Wilkins,” I turned and bounded down the hallway.
After reaching the door I fiddled around with the keys to find the right one. The third key that I tried fit just right and I flung open the creaky, heavy metal door walking into the huge room. Closing and locking the door behind me, I made sure I had the keys safely in my pocket and made my way through the aisles. The ‘backroom’ or rather the basement of the museum housed thousands of boxes and was rather more or less, like a warehouse. It was cold down here, which was a huge difference compared to the wonderfully warm July weather we were getting.