Rick sighed and held up his hands in surrender. "I did not cheat. We shook up the cards pretty well. But listen, if you want me to pick again..."
"No, Rick." It was Rebecca who spoke, looking archly at Diane. "We said we'd let fate decide, so that's our first stop. We have the whole summer, after all, don't we?"
The athletic redhead often got to play arbiter on the few occasions the friends got into disagreements, by silent majority. She was usually fairly vocal about her opinions, for one. Then too, that was coupled with the rumors of her leaving her ex-boyfriend, Bobby Moore-- star linebacker of the football team, no less-- rolling on the ground in agony after a vicious knee to the crotch when he'd tried to get to third base after she'd said no. And the whole time, she'd had that same wonderfully sweet smile on her face that now graced it, too. It was an unspoken sentiment that you just didn't get on Rebecca's bad side, end of story.
Harriet smiled at the two. "I can deal with the art museum. It's not Lake Dulcimer, but maybe we could use some culture." "Speak for yourself," Diane said with a sigh. But she was not about to tempt fate, either way. "All right. I'm in."
As soon as that was settled, the trip across town to the art museum was surprisingly enjoyable. Everyone quickly forgot about the near-spat and soaked in the feeling of freedom that summer brings those who are just finding school behind them. Rick and Diane shared good-natured jibes about college, and Harriet giggled when Rebecca made faces at a school bus of grade-schoolers whose school had not yet been lucky enough to let out for the year yet.
However, there was a little cause for concern when Rick motioned them off the main route early, and led them on a merry jaunt along 56th street.
Rebecca glanced up into the rear-view mirror, a confused expression showing as she looked into the back seat. "This isn't the way to the Art Museum, Rick. I know. I've actually been there."
Rick's eyes fairly glowed, and his smile was bright and quick. "Trust me, Bec'. The place I'm taking you makes the Met in New York look bad. It has an antiquities exhibit that is like nothing I've ever seen, and the Rennaissance works are awe-inspiring."
Rebecca shrugged, and soon, after a short while, when he gestured and told her to turn in, the other two girls let out a low whistle almost on cue. The place was huge. In fact, huge was an understatement. Large romanesque columns several feet around supported the roof, giving it a classical look, although the tinted glass windows lent the five-story building a more modern look. As they pulled into a parking place across the street, Harriet glanced to Rick, after brushing her blonde hair back.
"I would have never realized we had two art museums in the city, let alone one this big, Rick. How'd you find it?"
Rick smiled in appreciation of how they were taking it. Even Diane seemed impressed, especially considering she seemed all against the idea a short time ago. He held the door open for them. "Actually, that's one of the perks of studying art. A lot of the private galleries aren't as well-advertised. Let me tell you about the set-up, first. The place is sort of spread out, but everything is pretty well set up by floor. The basement is the Antiquities Wing. The Main floor here is the Medeival Wing, and then it goes up, by floor. Rennaissance, Impressionist/Expressionist Wing, and Modern, at the top. All of them have some amazing works, though. But since I decided on the place to go, I'll let you girls have first choice where to go first."
Tue Jul 18 22:04:18 2000