Free The Plume: The Second Anthology by Ella Ardent Page A

as much
again.
     
    * * *
     
    “Don’t sign,” Anna said.
    Louise sat at the small dinette in the
kitchen of the apartment she shared with Joanna and bit her lip.
“It was a lawyer.”
    “Because Rex is trying to intimidate you into
doing what he wants. Don’t sign.”
    “So, what? You think I should get a
lawyer?”
    Anna’s eyes shone. “I think you should
negotiate for what you want.”
    Louise frowned. It was one thing to try to
compel Rex to go along with her idea, but she didn’t trust
lawyers.
    On the other hand, she didn’t have a lot to
lose.
    And Anna liked people who went after what
they wanted.
    Anna leaned closer. “You said you had an idea
for your sculpture exhibit.”
    “I do and it’s cool. I know Josh would like
it – but he’d like it better if he could have those photographs
displayed at the same time.”
    Anna shrugged. “You at least pitch the idea
before Rex bullies you into signing.”
    She was right. Louise nodded, composing her
pitch in her head. She could do this. She could get this show and
create her own luck. She could change her artistic future – with
just one phone call.
    “Here goes nothing.” She smiled at Anna, who
gave her two thumbs up, then punched in the number of the gallery.
She closed her eyes then and prayed, hoping it would all work
out.
     
    * * *
     
    “I thought you always wanted to show your
work.” Julius, the lawyer who handled all of the contracts for the
Plume, took off his glasses, folded them and considered Rex across
the broad expanse of his desk. His office was filled with books in
antique bookcases, a desk of enviable size and several well worn
chairs upholstered in oxblood leather. Rex always felt more serene
in Julius’ office, partly because of the traditional decor and
partly because Julius himself was so calm.
    He’d spent much of the day there with Julius,
but was feeling less calm than usual. As predicted, Louise had
refused to sign the Plume contract, and tried to book a show at the
art gallery with Rex. He was furious with her persistence and her
presumption.
    And now Julius sounded like he’d take her
side!
    “But I can’t compromise the privacy of the
members,” Rex protested. “That would be a breach of the contract
the Plume signs with them.”
    “Well, yes and no,” Julius said. He riffled
through some paperwork, tapping a clause with his finger. “They do
all concede to be photographed.”
    “But that’s for administrative records, not
public exhibition.”
    “The clause is less than crystal clear,”
Julius noted. He smiled suddenly. “On purpose.” Then he frowned.
“Aren’t they all masked in your photographs?”
    “But still...”
    Julius leaned back in his chair. “But still,
the real issue is what? Are you afraid of having the show you’ve
always dreamed of having? Maybe that it will be a flop?”
    “No!”
    “Yearning for a dream is much easier than
making it come true.” Julius murmured, then picked up his glasses
again. “I know you value your integrity, Rex, but giving up your
goal to protect people who might not even want to be protected
sounds cowardly to me. That is uncharacteristic.”
    “How can you say that? They wear masks. They
use pseudonyms. They arrive in disguise. You can’t assume that the
members want their identities revealed.”
    “No, you can’t,” Julius agreed calmly. “But
you could ask them.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “We can put together an additional waiver,
specifically giving you permission to show images of them in an art
gallery. You pick the images you want to use, we ask the members in
question to sign. If they do, all good. If they don’t, you choose
different images.” Julius looked at Rex over his glasses. “You have
thousands, don’t you?”
    “Tens of thousands,” Rex admitted, thinking
of the shots of Joanna.
    Julius picked up the envelope that had
arrived just an hour before. “And just a cursory glance reveals
that this offer from the gallery is