[Ariyah – Chinatown > Henry Art Gallery – BoL – Fame 2 – A]
Jacob was right, Ariyah thought as she inched her Mazda down the I5, traffic is hell.
With the storm reducing visibility, everyone was driving at a crawl.
Ariyah had wanted to arrive early at the gallery so she could hand in her painting. Now, she could only hope that she was not too late.
Finally, a break in the traffic allowed Ariyah to turn onto the off-ramp and into University District. From there, it was smooth driving, and Ariyah was able to make up for a bit of the lost time.
As luck would have it, the gallery had an underground parking lot; just perfect in this inclement weather.
Ariyah waste no time in parking her car as close to the elevator bay as possible, and then making her way up to the gallery.
At the door, she handed her wax-canvas-wrapped painting over to the waiting staff, and refrained from instructing them to be careful; they were professionals, and she should trust that they know what they were doing.
So she was a little surprised when they stamped the back of her hand before letting her in.
Was she going clubbing and didn’t know it? She glanced at the red design on her skin, It didn’t completely clash with her outfit, but still…
Entering the foyer where the cloakroom was, Ariyah took off her coat and handed it to the staff standing behind the counter. The Toreador smoothed out imaginary wrinkles in her skirt and did a quick check of her outfit.
The floral-patterned dress had not creased in the drive over, and the heavy Swarovski necklace was an unfamiliar sensation compared to the usual pendant she had on. She looked at the back of her heels to make sure the bows were not crooked.
[Ariyah’s outfit – https://discord.com/channels/517427294915002371/534340842727669761/760153623832428567]
Satisfied that she was presentable, Ariyah put a congenial smile on her face and walked into the gallery proper.
The first thing she noticed, of course, was the other Kindreds. There wasn’t more than a couple of handfuls yet, but most were strangers, and that was enough to make Ariyah feel a little uncomfortable.
That discomfort only increased when she saw a staff member carry her painting over to a blank space on the wall and proceed to install it.
Ariyah decided to book it, at least to another room. She cannot be watching her painting go up. If she does, she would inevitably start criticising the way it was being installed, and she would not want to insult their host.
[Ariyah makes her way to the #bar-and-buffet]