Page 26 of Lorna's Savior
“Could you please contact Mr. Jones and tell him that Lorna Hepplewaite and her assistant are here for the fundraiser.”
“Do you have a card?”
Lorna handed it over, then grinned. “We’ll be taking the tour.” She pointed to the door they would have to go through. “Please tell Mr. Jones to find us. I know he’s a busy man, so we’ll take our time.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.” The man’s name badge said Gerry, and when he picked up the phone, Lorna stepped back and headed toward the door to enter into the exhibit, but not before stopping at Silver’s insistence.
“What?” Lorna asked Silver, when she didn’t see her walking beside her. She went back and waited for Silver to acknowledge her.
“I’m going to be honest here, Lorna. I have absolutely no clue what you do, but if the fundraiser is going to be here, I’d set up a small bar over there. I read the invitation. There’s a happy hour from six to seven, then the guided tour from seven to nine. After that, there’s refreshments, and the raffles. If I was doing it, I’d have a bar set up in that corner over there. There are all these posters full of information. We could even maybe bring in a few tall tables for people to place their drinks on.” The whole time Silver had been talking, she’d been drawing on the paper she’d brought. She looked up and grinned. “I’m a visual person. I can picture it better if I draw it out. When we get back to the office, I’ll be able to recall all of this.” She held out her arm to include the space they were in.
“Okay, but why that corner?” Lorna pointed to where Silver had indicated.
“My ex was a cop, he never put his back to the door. I don’t know what type of bartender there would be, but if they used that corner, then they would be able to see people approach the bar. If we used that corner, he’d be blind to the people over there.”
“Good point. Write that down, and I’ll mention it to the caterer.”
“Mention what?” came a voice from behind.
“Chef Vincent,” Lorna laughed as she went to him and tried to hug the man. However, he only held onto her upper arms and gave her an air kiss to the side of her cheeks.
“Lorna, beautiful as always. When are you going to allow me to fatten you up? You’re so skinny.”
Lorna snorted a laugh and ran a hand down her ample hips. “I’m perfect just the way I am. I have the right amount of curves, and don’t need to add to them.”
“That you do, honey, that you do.” He grinned and turned toward Silver. “And who is this beauty?”
“Silver Roundtree, my assistant.”
At the chef’s shocked expression, Silver grinned and laughed. “Yeah, nothing like my name. When you think Silver, you think something shiny, maybe even bright-blonde hair. No, it’s my Native American heritage that the name comes from. I’m perfectly fine with my olive complexion, and black hair.”
“Well, then so am I. I’m Chef Vincent. I’ve been working with Miss Lorna now for several years.” He turned to her with a grin. “Love working with you, hate working with your boss.”
“Well, since Janis is no longer with the foundation, then you’ll be dealing with me, or Silver in the future.”
“Yay me.” He grinned. As he turned in a complete circle, he nodded. “Yes, I would set up a bar in that corner. It’s out of the way, but people will still know it’s there. From here I’d serve champagne.” He paused and frowned at Lorna. “It is a champagne kind of fundraiser, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Okay, then, I’ll have the bar serve champagne, and have some bourbon and Scotch on hand, and, of course, I’ll have all the mixers. We won’t do anything fancy with mixed drinks.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Lorna and Silver both wrote what Chef Vincent described. “And I do like the idea of having those high tables. We won’t need the chairs in here. What do you say? About a dozen?”
“That would be good. We can ask Mr. Jones if he could remove the furniture for the one night.”
“I can do that,” came the voice from behind. They turned and saw a handsome man in his middle forties. “I’ve heard what you said so far, and I like that idea. What if I had a few strings of small sparkling lights woven through the beams up above?” They all looked up and Lorna nodded.
“I like that.”
“Good, but I have to tell you that’s about the limit of my decorating abilities. Is there anything you’ll definitely require?”
“A kitchen?” Chef Vincent asked hopefully.
“As a matter of fact, if you’ll follow me, let me show you what we have.” As they did, he opened the door for them. “I’ll be taking the tour this way. We’ll have to start before I can show you what you’ll be needing.” They slowly walked through the door, and everyone looked around, taking notes, and asking questions. Just before they entered the tunnel that they would walk through, showing fish on either side, as well as above them, Mr. Jones stopped, and said, “Through this door is a back hallway that will lead you to a decent-size kitchen. Chef, it’s probably not to the caliber you’re used to using, but I’m sure it would do.”
“Is there a stove? A sink? Prep tables?”
“Yes.”
