A Day At The Museum

Lovers Erin and Jack learn more about each other in a rather unconventional setting

- Jacqui Cooper

ERIN stopped by the door of the museum. “Culture?” Jack grumbled. “Can’t we just go for lunch?”

“We will,” she soothed. “But first I want to see this exhibition.”

He checked his watch. “We’ll have to be quick if we want to eat before football.”

Privately Erin considered a quick visit to a museum to be a reasonable trade-off for an afternoon watching grown men chase a ball. But she said nothing. “It’ll only take an hour or so. Come on.”

She and Jack had been together for six months and recently he’d begun dropping hints about moving in together. Erin liked him a lot but had been avoiding the issue.

Jack read the poster. “The Museum of Broken Relationships? That sounds like a barrel of laughs. Are you trying to tell me something?” he joked. “What’s it about anyway? A pile of cast-of wedding rings?”

“There’s more than one kind of relationship,” Erin told him as they pushed through the heavy doors into the exhibition hall. “It needn’t be a romantic breakup.”

“Oh, look,” said Jack dramatically eyeing the fire extinguisher. “What exquisite form.” He framed the extinguisher with his hands. “See how the black of the lever beautifully balances the vibrant red? A piece like this would grace any room.”

“Stop it,” she hissed, looking around to see if anyone was listening.

Jack homed in on the fire-exit sign next. “Whereas this displays the artist’s fine understanding of purpose . . .”