Punishment
I hear the click click click of her heels in the hallway before I can see her, and I swear the colour must have just drained from my face.
As instructed I’ve been dressing the mannequin for the stone age exhibit, only nobody has cared enough to tell about the delicate left arm, and I may or may not have tugged at it too hard when pulling the fur jacket over him.
His arm is in my hand as I stare between it and the now inaccurate display piece when she walks in, and I can already imagine the scolding that I’m about to be given.
“Eloise, what is this that I see? You’ve defaced museum property!” She acts as though I’ve it on purpose while spray painting my initials on the wall or something, and not a simple accident which this was.
I’ve worked here for almost 3 years now and never messed up in the slightest. I basically do but my own and her job, but you’d never think it from the way she talks down to me.
It’s a shame that I’ve still got bills to pay or I’d be out of here faster than she could grab the super glue to stick this arm back on... because that’s literally all that it needs.
“It was an accident, Patricia,” I say calmly, trying my best to keep my irritation boxed up.
There’s nothing this woman hates more than disrespect... I’d say to ask my colleague Penny about that, but she’s not here anymore after she told Patrica that it wasn’t her job to pick up her dry cleaning. Rookie mistake.
“Yes well, accident or not you’ve broken a valuable piece of merchandise... I want this resolved by the time I get back with your disciplinary paperwork.” She barks.
She turns on her heel before I can say any more to defend myself, and I use the spare arm that is still in my hand to hit against my forehead in frustration.
‘Valuable piece of merchandise’ is this bitch actually for real? I could get another one of these for £20 from Facebook Marketplace... the high street is dying and that’s where we get half of these babies now anyway.
I hold back the curses that are dying to come up and out to the surface, as I go to our office around back to collect one of the MANY tubes of superglue used for similar issues, and fix my furry friend ready for the exhibit next week.
Would it have killed her to say thank you for starting on this early for her? It wasn’t even on my list of things to look at until tomorrow but I’m ahead of schedule, and I know fine well that I’ll be making her look good to the director.
Sometimes I wonder if he even knows my name, despite me doing everything that she gets praised for.
Oh, the resentment is real!
Again I can hear the click click click and I try my best to wipe the scowl off my face by the time she’s due to enter back into the room. I’m pleasantly surprised to see no paper in her arms when she does so, and I wonder if she thought twice about the disciplinary?
“The printer is broken.” She snaps and my hopes are squished. “I don’t have the time to write you up for silly mistakes like this anyway, so I will give you a chance to redeem yourself before the end of the day...”
I seriously don’t like the evil glint that is shimmering in her eyes right now, and my mind instantly runs over all of the horrible tasks that she could give me, right down to scrubbing the toilets.
“Every piece currently left in the lock-up, I expect to see shimmering like the sun by the time that I get here tomorrow morning.... If it’s not, then you’re fired... Might as well save myself a bit of paperwork in the long run, eh?” She laughs as if I would find this joke funny when it’s my livelihood on the line.
“Patricia, this would take me all night!” I can’t help but exclaim, I’ve never heard something so unreasonable.
“Oh of that I’m well aware dear, Eloise. Why do you think I said tomorrow morning?” She gives me a smirk. “Oh but leave the bottle that’s just arrived, will you? The director needs to review it before you get your grubby fingerprints all over.”
I’m left staring into space in disbelief as she walks back off again, and even if I spend the whole night, I’m starting to wonder if I can get them all done in time. ‘Shimmering like the sun’ isn't very attainable now, is it?
"Fuck!" I whisper yell to myself, as you never know when she's lurking behind doors, and I drag my defeated body over to the lock-up.
I shouldn't even be allowed in here, it's for staff members with higher security clearance than my basic entry-level job, but I'm willing to bet that this is a task that she's been given and has been looking for an excuse to pass it on.
Oh, how I wish I could wipe the smile from her face.
The lock-up is a mess when I enter and it smells like stale polish, though it clearly hasn't been used in a while due to all of the dust clinging to the shelves. She mentioned this bottle that I'm not allowed to touch and I don't even know what she means.
Clearly, the labelling system that she's been drilling into me since day 1 hasn't been practised in here, and it's a wonder how anyone can find anything.
I find a box near the front door and examine it to try and see what historical gem might be hidden inside. As I unpack some of the shipping peanuts, I see a beautifully detailed bottle made of glass, and from the date still printed on the side this must be the one I'm not to touch.
Well, it's a bit late for that now isn't it?
It annoys me that she's right about the fingerprints, as they stuck out like a sore thumb from where I've touched it, so I use my sleeve to rub at it slightly to see if I can get away with her never knowing of my mistake.
How was I to possibly know what could happen next?
