First Class Menu Read Free

opportunity of continuing that tradition when he was
hired as curator over three years ago. He and Audrey had known each other since
their days at NYU. She had loved art but didn’t have the skill to become an
artist. She had sat and watched David draw for hours on weekends. They’d had a
small thing , but it was over as quickly as it had started. They were
better as friends and had remained so for the last seventeen years. When she
had married into the Atherton family four years ago, one of the first ideas
she’d had was to bring David in as curator for the gallery. It had taken her a
little while to convince her father-in-law, as David had no experience in that
capacity. But she had been persistent and had finally won the battle and her
father-in-law was quickly singing his praises after David had discovered two
artists that had made the gallery a lot of money in his first six months as
curator. His keen eye and intuition had continued to serve him well. Audrey was
only too willing to give him control of filling the additional ten thousand
square feet.
    David wandered around the new space; a blank canvas ready to
be created. “I think we should keep the ceilings high and drop the lights,
giving it a more contemporary feel.”
    “That’s very different than the existing gallery though,”
Audrey questioned.
    “Exactly!” grinned David. “We can keep the more traditional
art in the existing gallery and use this side for the modern, more eclectic
pieces.”
    “So two completely different galleries under one roof?”
    “Yes! And we can feature more artists; known and unknown,
and really fill this place with life. Even the furniture should be art!”
    Audrey couldn’t help but feel the excitement radiating from
David.
    “Let me sketch it out for you,” he offered.
    “That’d be great. Then we can meet with the interior
designer and get moving on this.”
    “And I will start scouring the streets looking for our next
big discovery.”
    *****
    That evening David sat in his apartment, Freckles on his
lap, eating his leftovers from Sunday dinner. His mom had packed up two full
meals for him and he was very grateful.
    After watching Jeopardy, a standard nightly ritual, David
walked to his desk in the corner of the room to retrieve his laptop. As he
lifted it from the desk, several papers fell to the floor. Bending down to pick
them up, he found the power bill he’d been looking for.
    “Better pay that now,” he muttered.
    As he collected the other papers, he picked up a business
card. Lindsey Dardin, Executive Chef.
    “Oh yeah,” he nodded. “I remember her.”
    He sat back on the sofa, power bill and wallet in hand, and
pushed Freckles away as she tried to sit on the keyboard of his laptop. He
quickly paid his bill and then opened Google and typed in Lindsey’s name.
    She was in fact an Executive Chef. David smiled to himself
wondering why he had googled her. It’s not like she would have lied. Then he searched for the community college she’d told him about and found the
list of continuing education classes. Sure enough there were several cooking
classes listed, ranging from ‘Introduction to Cooking’ to ‘Advanced’. The fees
were nominal and there were many schedules to choose from.
    David read through all the class descriptions and decided
that perhaps he could start with a course for beginners.
    “It couldn’t hurt,” he chuckled. “If I just learn how to make
toast I will be ahead of the game,” he told Freckles. She just meowed at him.
    *****
    Audrey Atherton was thrilled with the progress of the
gallery. The contractor had constructed moveable walls so that they could
reconfigure the layout with each new exhibit or show. It had a loft feel with
exposed brick, high ceilings, drop down lighting and a stained concrete floor.
It would have felt cold and uninviting, but David and the interior decorator
had chosen comfortable furniture and throw rugs throughout the space that
warmed it up, giving