Chapter 3
Charlotte
London, England
I climb the stairs of the Tottenham Court tube station and squint my eyes as I emerge onto the sunny London street. Thankfully, it isn’t raining so I can wait for my morning tea at this cute little shop down the street from the museum. It’s become a bit of a morning ritual for me to start my morning at the tea shop to get my English Breakfast tea and a pain au chocolat.
As I am walking up to the tea stand, I notice a large bird flying to my right. My eyes squint as I look up and I swear I see a falcon perch on the roof of the building across the street, but it is hard to tell with the sun’s glare in my eyes. Weird, but there is no way a falcon followed me to London. Im going to chalk it up to just being hyper-aware of birds since we just did that falcon excursion.
I order my tea and pastry to-go and walk the last few meters to the staff entrance of the museum.
“Hello, Harry! Great morning isn’t it?”
“It is, Miss Charlotte! You seem extra upbeat this morning,” says the sweet older security guard as he swipes my access card.
“I finally get to take a look at my new discovery today! I’m just hoping I can make the right connections and deductions for my thesis. This could be my big break!”
“If anyone can do it, it’s you, Miss Charlotte,” Harry said with a smile. “I hope it goes well!”
“Thank you!” I reply as he buzzes me in the building.
My flats echo down the hallway of the pristine white floors of the backstage portion of the museum. This area is still immaculate and impressive as the main galleries for the public, but is reserved only for staff and private collectors.
I head to the office space I share with other interns in the museum. It is a large open room with desks that line the walls, and in the middle of the room are tables with specialized equipment to work with aged documents or relics. It’s meant to act as a community space to share ideas. This is where I made my initial discovery involving the hidden compartment in a jewelry box.
The curator of my sector, Dr. Seth Peribsen, sent an email the day after my discovery congratulating me. He also let me know that upon my return from holiday that he wanted to meet with me personally to go over a plan for my thesis and he would give me access to one of the private research rooms to further look into the compartment of the jewelry box.
For an intern, it is very rare that they let us use the private rooms. So, this is a huge treat and shows how important Dr. Peribsen finds my discovery.
I put in a little extra effort this morning when getting ready. I made sure that my pantsuit was ironed, put on some mascara and blush, and tamed my wavy hair into a cute half up, half down look. Since I am meeting with the curator this morning, who just happens to be very attractive and has all of the interns talking, I wanted to make sure that I looked my best.
I approach my desk and sit down to open my emails while sipping my tea and eating my pastry. After taking a holiday, my inbox is filled more than usual, but I am able to answer them quickly and gather the materials needed to meet with the curator.
Once I finish my tea, I take a moment to center myself. I close my eyes, breathe in while counting to six and exhale doing the same. I tend to get hyper focused along with being anxious and these exercises have always helped me focus my mind and calm my nerves.
I open my eyes and murmur to myself, “You know what you are doing, Charlotte. Just go in there and impress him with that stunning brain of yours.”
With my pep talk completed, I gather my laptop and walk down the white marble hall once more towards the section that houses the curators’ offices. I eventually come to a stop at an office with two large double doors with frosted windows and knock.
“Enter,” comes a deep authoritative voice from inside.
I take one deep breath and open one of the frosted doors to walk in. Having never been in Dr. Peribsen’s personal office before, I’m impressed to find it neatly decorated with wood and stonework accents. Bookshelves line the walls that house ancient tomes, scrolls, and trinkets. There are two shelves dedicated just to ancient weapons, and my eyes catch briefly on two battleworn axes on display.
A large oak desk sits on the far side of the room with Egyptian hieroglyphs decorating the front panels. Behind the desk sits the handsome curator himself. With his intense eyes the color of chocolate, dark hair in his typical man-bun style, and trimmed beard, he had an arresting kind of beauty to him. Many of the interns fantasize about what lay under his smartly dressed suit. It was clear due to his size and frame that he worked out, but many wondered if it was pure muscle under all of that finery.
“Good morning, Ms. Fletcher. Please take a seat,” he greets while smiling. “I hope you had a good holiday?”
“Yes, Dr. Peribsen! It was quite fun!” I reply with an answering smile. I settle into one of the nice leather chairs on the other side of his desk and fold my hands in my lap to keep from fidgeting.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me this morning. I wanted to check in on your progress with the jewelry box discovery and see what your plans were regarding its contents?”
Knowing that he was a curator and could demand to take over the project, this was a bit of a test for me to see how I would handle this discovery and if I could be trusted to continue working on the project even as an intern. “I have several steps and ideas that I believe will benefit both my research and the museum as well. I sent over a rough timeline of research and potential ideas for a short-term exhibit that could be displayed in the Roman section of the museum.”
He glances at his computer and as he pulls up his email he says, “Very good, Ms. Fletcher. I can alway count on you to be organized. Although, is it not hasty to already be planning for a featured exhibit? Am I correct in the fact that you have yet to open the compartment that you found? Its contents, or lack thereof, are still a mystery.”
“You are correct, sir. I did not have time to properly open the newly found compartment before my holiday. That is my plan today if I am still able to use one of the private rooms? I would love to get started as soon as possible.”
He glances at his computer again, reading the timeline that I had sent over. “Hmm, it seems you have thought of everything, including who your potential collaborators would be if you need to cross-reference out of your field. Impressive, but may I make a change?”
“Of course, sir,” I say hesitantly.
“Please change your ancient Egyptian collaborator to me instead of your contact at the Egyptian museum. As you know, Egyptian artifacts are my specialty and I would be happy to help if you find anything of note that might lend to my expertise.”
“Well, I don’t want to inconvenience you, sir. Dr. Marium Newton is one of the leading experts on Egyptian hieroglyphs. She would be more than happy to help if I need a translation of some sort.”
“No need. I am more than able to help,” he said with no room for argument. “It seems that you have everything in order, so I will let you continue looking into this discovery. I would like a daily report, and you are welcome to use research room #4 to examine the box and its contents for the week.”
“Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down, and I will keep you updated on its progress.”
“Of course, and Ms. Fletcher?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Remember, if you find anything of Egyptian importance, I want to know,” he said with a serious tone.
“Of course, sir.”
“Good, you are dismissed. Enjoy your day,” he says with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.
I quickly walk back to the frosted double doors and feel the curator watching my steps as I retreat. Before I step back into the hall, I take a glance behind me and swear I see Dr. Peribsen’s eyes flash red.