Chapter 69 Poppy
“ N oah, I’m sorry,” I stammer out after he picks up. I’m breathing heavily from the faster-than-normal jog home and collapse onto my dining chair with a glass of water. Seeing Owen’s sweet note and flowers melt my heart a little. I wonder when he stopped by. I feel a pull to want to talk to him about my plan right away, but the art show crisis is more pressing right now and I should talk to Sally first.
“It’s okay. Where were you? Have you seen my messages?” He sounds flustered and slightly annoyed, but I know he’s just worried for the kids.
“I was out running on the boardwalk, and I didn’t have service to call back. What happened?”
“A pipe burst and we need to find a new place to host the show. The manager called and said some of the art has been damaged, so I’m thinking we head over there to figure out where things are at?”
“Oh my god, what are we going to do?” Hanging my head, I just can’t imagine all these seniors and having to tell them their art is ruined. They’ve worked so hard and we only have two days to figure this out.
“Let’s go see what’s happening first before you let yourself go into full on panic mode, okay? Can I pick you up?” Noah may be worried, but he’s always been the levelheaded one, which I appreciate. He’s helped out in more than one crisis and is always a voice of reason.
“Yes, I just got home so I’ll shower quickly while you drive over.”
“See you soon.”
After hanging up I try to lower my level of freaking out, but it’s of no use. Jumping into the shower, I remember that I wanted to call Sally and dial her number as the water drips onto my bathroom tile forming little pools of water that I barely notice.
***
Fifteen minutes later and I feel like a new woman. A shower and my talk with Sally gave me a new sense of peace and perspective. I notice that the floor has puddles all over it though, so I grab an extra towel from the cabinet and try to soak up some of the water so I don’t slip and fall. Not wanting to waste too much time, I end up throwing the towel onto the floor, pull my hair up into a bun, pin back my bangs and throw a little mascara on before grabbing an old sweatshirt and jeans to wear to the venue.
Originally, we had decided on this older building that is now available for rentals because of the historical feel and its large space. It has all the old world charm you could ask for, but apparently also all the old world pipes, which in our case was not good. I grab my bag, a snack and head towards the living room window to watch for Noah, feeling significantly more at ease with having talked with Sally. As soon as this is figured out I’ll call Owen. One problem to solve at a time.
Looking at my phone, I think of all the students and how brokenhearted they will be if we can’t figure this out. I should at least email soon so they have a heads-up. I’ll message when I know more; I don’t want to worry them unnecessarily. I hope we can figure this out quickly and that the damage isn’t too bad. I know Noah said some of the art had issues, but I’m hoping he’s exaggerating and things can be solved quickly. The art show is in less than forty-eight hours and I can’t imagine we’d be able to find somewhere new in that amount of time.
Soon, Noah pulls up and I run out to his car. He hands me a cup of coffee before launching into his story of what happened. I gasp as he tells me what the manager of the venue shared. This could actually be worse than I thought , my panic comes back in full swing.
After the short drive over, we head inside and are met with a musty smell we weren’t expecting. “Didn’t this just happen? I was here yesterday and it was fine.”
“We think it started earlier on Thursday or Friday with a small leak in the wall that was hidden before some of the other pipes fully burst last night.” The manager walks towards us from the front office. “Thanks for coming over and we’re so sorry.”
“Where is everything?” Noah asks.
“Right over here.” The manager points towards a pile of sculptures, canvases, and fabric in a heap. “I’m sorry for the mess of things, I know the kids worked hard. We were just trying to save things as quickly as we could and then didn’t want to touch things and possibly ruin them more.”
“Thank you,” Noah and I both say in unison as we stoop down to survey the damage.
“This is bad.” He runs his hand through his hair before looking over at me. “What do you want to do?”
Feeling my newfound positive attitude from earlier return, I respond, “Let’s get to work.” And we dive in.