“The art thing? Yeah, I’m into that. I am surprised you remembered.”
Smirking slightly, he pointed to his head. “See, I got it all up here.”
Willow offered a brittle half-smile.
“Anyway, so she has this thing, this internship thing. Very competitive from what I’ve heard, I don’t know. But I told her about you, how you like that kind of stuff, how you wanna go to school for it. She mentioned how this internship could be a big help to you, if she was to… give it to you.”
Willow pulled herself up a little straighter. “An internship? What is it she does, specifically? Do you know?”
“Gallery. She has her own gallery. High end, I guess. She tells me college graduates been applying for the position, trying to get a foot in the door, to get a chance to work with her and meet some of her contacts. She’d probably go with one, too, but see, your old man’s good for something once in a while,” he boasted, flashing her another little smile. “If you want it, it’s yours. She said she’d like to talk to you first, but just as a formality.”
The annoyance she’d been feeling evaporated, replaced by a sort of giddiness. Her father didn’t come through very often, but if he’d actually managed to secure her a coveted internship in the very difficult to infiltrate art world…
“So, what do you say? You want it?”
“Yes,” she said, eyes widening. “When does it start? What’s her name? How long is the internship? She knows I haven’t even started college yet, right?”
He laughed, nodding his head. “Yes, she knows that. She said you’ll be assisting her mainly at the gallery, but she wants to see how you do at some exhibition thing, too. She said there’s something in Hong Kong she’ll take you to before school starts.”
Willows eyes went wider. “Hong Kong?”
“I’ll get you set up with a passport, since you don’t have one.”
Willow could only nod, her head spinning as she imagined what that would even be like.
“It’s 3 months,” he said. “But she said if you do good, she’ll keep you on for the fall, too. Plus it’s a reference or recommendation or whatever—experience. It doesn’t pay, but I want to help you out. I’ll make sure you have enough money to live so you don’t have to kill yourself trying to work and keep up with your school and everything. I’ll set you up in a little apartment, I already talked to a guy I know out there, he’s gonna work something out with me so you won’t have to worry about it.”
“Dad, this is incredible,” she said, shaking her head. “I might be able to work out my own apartment though. I mean, I appreciate that, but… I actually kind of… I don’t know, I wanted to see how some other stuff pans out. I still have a little time before I have to commit to an apartment or dorm though.”
His expression wasn’t as jovial then, and for a chilling moment, she wondered if he suspected she was thinking about Ethan. He said he wouldn’t interfere, but that didn’t necessarily mean he didn’t know.
“The internship is in New York.”
Her face froze, then slowly fell. “Oh.”
Watchful eyes searched her face. “Doesn’t change anything though. In fact. Celine said you’d be better off out there than here if that’s what you wanna do with your life.”
“Yeah, except I live here, I’m going to college here.”
“That was never the plan before,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, well, things change.” Completely deflated, she pushed her bread plate away, no longer hungry. To have a bridge to her dreams opened up right before her and then promptly blown to pieces was a little disheartening.
The waitress showed up with a plate, but Willow didn’t even look up.
“Might be good for you to get out of Chicago for a while. You had a rough year. Maybe a change of scenery…” He trailed off, shrugging and reaching for the plate.
“It’s not what I planned.”
“Life seldom goes as planned. Do yourself a favor, think about it. Look up her place online, at least see what she’s offering before you turn it down. I don’t have to tell you, you’re lucky to even be considered for this. Without the right connection, you’re not qualified. My understanding is this whole art scene is like that,” he added, quirking an eyebrow. “Think about it. You’ve got two weeks before she gives your spot to someone else.”
Willow stared at the tomatoes on the plate, half wishing he wouldn’t have even told her about it.
For the better part of the afternoon, Willow looked up Celine Holland and her awesome contemporary gallery in Chelsea. She scoured the internet for write-ups that mentioned her while dreaming about what her life could be like if she took that amazing internship.
Come evening, however, she had plans to meet Ethan at his apartment and make him dinner. Since he would certainly ask about her day, she could mention the internship without making it too big a deal
, see what he thought.