to be so lonely • hs

twenty nine

I placed my finger against my lip as my eyebrows furrowed, observing the arrangement of the plants i'd been placing around the room. Technically I had no plan on how to display them, and at this point wasn't sure they were the best of ideas. But maybe it was only the load of worries and stress I'd placed upon myself within the past few hours.

I arrived at the Little Yellow House the moment my booked timeslot began, hauling everything in to begin setup and make sure everything would be perfect for tonight. The frames, plants, business cards, prints, and extra fliers were all just a bit overwhelming to stare at as the clock kept ticking and I felt as though nothing had been completed.

Figuring I'd get back to the plants once everything else had been set up, I took the fliers and the staple gun and made my way out front. The venue was in the centre of a relatively busy street, with popular surrounding shops and restaurants that usually saw quite a bit of foot traffic, so I hoped putting up a few fliers on the message board outside would bring in a few wanderers.

The catering team wouldn't arrive until an hour before the gallery opens, and though they technically didn't require much space, I wanted to be set up before then. I guess I'd better get started on the frames.

I made my way back inside and grabbed one of the framed prints from the bench, and began the process of correct positioning and measuring exactly how far each piece needed to be from the other to keep everything centered properly. Luckily, I had already determined which pieces would go together on each wall. On the other hand, I had severely underestimated how difficult hanging up the large prints would be, and resorted to standing on a chair from the private room off in the hall in order to reach the nails.

It might have made more sense to call over someone to help set up, but this all still felt so personal and I wanted everyone who stepped foot inside tonight to be met with the final piece as it's intended.

After about an hour or so, all of the prints were hung and arranged exactly as I wanted, and I returned to the plant situation. I didn't want it to come down to it, but I rang gemma for arrangement help, and we finally reached a point where I was happy with the outcome.

"Have you got time to get ready?" Gemma asked.

"God, I hope so. If not, I guess these joggers and baggy tee will have to do." I laughed, tucking the loose strands of my hair behind my ear as I sighed in exhaustion.

"I'll be on my way in minutes if you need help, don't be afraid to ask." She reminded, to which I nodded.

"No, no, i'll be fine. I should be done here in a bit." I declined.

Eventually I moved on to cleaning up all the tapes, wrappers, plastic, empty pots and dirt that had collected over the past few hours, and made my way into Millie's office.

"Hi," I knocked on her door, waiting until she noticed.

"Hi, Liana, come on in." She waved, swiveling her chair to face me. "Need something, dear?"

"No, just wanted to let you know i'm on my way out. The caterers should arrive before i'm back, if that's alright." I informed, she nodded.

"Sounds good, thank you."

With that, I returned to the main hall and took another look around, making sure I hadn't missed a single detail. The frames were all straight, and perfectly aligned. They were in the correct order, and each one was grouped with the correct set. The labels were underneath each corresponding photo, with the correct titles, and short descriptions.

I wondered what Harry would think, seeing himself in all of these photos. Everything i'd created with him prior to now had only ever lived on digitally, so in many ways tonight was new for the two of us. I wondered if he was as nervous as I was about it.