Page 85 of Cookbooks and Demons

The question felt like a slap in the face. Helena’s mouth was dry. Her gut screamed as it cramped and the needles in her throat pierced deep.

“No, ma’am,” she said, tears beading in her eyes. “I’m so sorry to have given you that impression. I will work harder.I swear.”

“Do you understand what is at stake here? What is being asked of you to do?”

“You’re asking me to step up and be the leader this company needs to ensure its survival. I am responsible for that, and I haven’t yet taken that responsibility as seriously as I should have. For that I cannot apologize enough. I can only learn from this and be better. Iwilltake responsibility. All of it.”

The words were like glass as she said them. Words she had said before in a different but just as dire context. Words that couldn’t bring back an innocent girl, but maybe could save the livelihoods of everyone here.

Because if she left, then there would be no one who could do what she could do right now, it would be too late to hire someone so close to the ball and not hurt the company’s reputation justthe same.

Scarlet continued to search Helena’s face, seeking out the answer that her words hadn’t been able to convey. For a long, long moment, Helena was sure she wouldn’t find it, and she scrambled to find something more to convey her sincerity. She knew she could do this. She knew she could be what Scarlet Promotions needed. This situation was nobody’s fault buther own.

At last, Scarlet sighed. “Very well. We’ve spent enough time on this already. Let us get back to work.” She leaned back and lifted up a written list on a pad of legal paper, sliding her glasses down so she could read it. “Where are we with the flower arrangements?”

Chapter 44

Had a Series of Problems All at Once

“Ijust need to confirm that the food has been delivered this morning,” Helena insisted to the kitchen contact over at the Wrightwood Ballroom. Talking through a hands-free headset, Helena’s hands kept busy as she flipped through the table setting cards, checking against an official list where every name had been spell checked and honorificked correctly. “Alright, that’s fine. I’ll hold. Just hurry.”

Half the day was already gone, and she was already wearing her gown for the night, not trusting that there would be time to change between final arrangements and the ball’s start. The dress she wore was an inspiration of what Scarlet wore in the picture she had shown her all those months ago, a bright rose red that layered around her like petals. Scarlet had insisted on the dress herself as a show of continuity and a public show of her company exchanging hands. Yosef had already dressed as well, his matching cummerbund wrapped around his waist over his tuxedo pants and shirt. His jacket hung off the back of his chair, but in its lapel was a holiday rose, bright and festive. For Scarlet’s part, she was going to wear a gown of pure white to match her whitened hair as the winter rose itself.

She could see it. They were so close to the finish line. Helena had never worked so hard in her life. Dedicating herself with a fervor she had never known previously, she had discovered an endurance she hadn’t knownshe had.

Finishing the stack of cards and checking off the last name on the list, she slid them into a manila envelope and sealed it with the metal clip in the middle. “The guest list is checked,” she called across the roomto Yosef.

“Good, we need to go over soon,” he said as he dialed his own phone and pressed it to his ear. “Yes, this is Yosef over at Scarlet Promotions returning your call…”

Helena shot a glance at Scarlet sitting at her own desk. There had been an unspoken tension between them now. Yosef kept assuring her that this was just Scarlet’s focused demeanor, that she was like this every year before the Winter Rose Ball, but Helena had done two Winter Rose Balls under Scarlet since she started working for her, and it hadn’t felt like this then. But she hadn’t been a part of the leadership staff either, so she swallowed her apprehensions back and focused on what was next in front of her.

She would not let Scarlet down.

Finally, the ballroom contact came back to the phone. “Yes, the food was delivered,” the womanreported.

“Alright good. The last thing I need is for the chef over at the Tower Top to call screaming at me again.” She meant it as a joke, but she got awkward silence instead of chuckles on theother end.

“Um, I don’t know about that, ma’am,” the voice saidpolitely.

Helena took a breath and held back her sigh. “I’ll give him a call next. Thank you for confirming delivery. Bye.”

Shehung up.

Shaking her head, Helena tried to stack all her materials together. “I think I need to get over there. Nobody seems to know what they’re doing.”

“That’s fine, child,” Scarlet said as she pressed her fingers into hertemples.

Helena paused as she noted it. “Scarlet, are you alright?” she asked.

Scarlet looked up at her blearily. She seemed for a moment like she didn’t know where she was or who she was talking to, then she said. “Yes, yes. I’m just more tired than I want to be…”

Yosef looked up from his phone call and exchanged a worried glance with Helena.

Then Scarlet collapsed back into her wheelchair.

“Scarlet!” Helena shouted as she rushed from her desk to her boss’s side. Yosef was there a second later.

“Pull the chair back!” he ordered while trying to dive for something underthe desk.

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