Page 83 of An Unholy Affair
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘That’s why I’m grateful for the chance to help organise the Winter Ball. Even if there isn’t a huge amount to do.’
Henry placed a mug of coffee on the desk in front of Jack. He centred it in the middle of a coaster, then turned it so the handle was on the right side.
His sister reached over and nudged it out of position.
‘Estelle! For fuc—’
‘Should I go through what I’ve done so far?’ Jack interrupted.
Henry sighed. ‘Yes, please.’
‘That would be simply spiffing,’ Estelle added in a posh voice. ‘Most efficacious.’
Jack grinned, pulled his laptop out, and opened it up.
‘Okay. I’ve gone through the health and safety forms, risk assessments and insurance, so we know the event is operating well within tolerance. Your mom wants to handle the VIP guest list, so I’ve allocated her five tables of eight. To maximise profit, I wanted to run an idea past you before I go ahead.’
Estelle leaned forward.
‘How about we treat the Winter Ball like a wedding reception?’ Jack continued. ‘So, people pay top dollar for the whole event, which includes the formal dinner, then we can open up the rest of the night for those who will be paying less? If we use a few more of the downstairs rooms, we can easily fit in another couple of hundred people. And I spoke to Perry about catering. She said it wouldn’t cost too much to have a buffet laid on for later in the evening.’
‘What about booze?’ Estelle asked. ‘We can’t put on a free bar for an extra two hundred guests.’
‘The first group would have wrist bands so could continue to drink for free. The second would buy tickets that didn’t include booze. Depending on how much they buy, the profit on that could also pay for the free drinks that the main ticket holders have.’
‘That’s a fantastic idea,’ Henry murmured.
‘Thank you,’ Estelle replied smugly.
Her brother frowned. ‘Huh?’
‘Remind me who brought Jack on board? Could it be liddle ole moi?’
Jack laughed. ‘And with the extra revenue, I wondered if I could use a proportion to increase the budget for decorations? I’ve sketched out some ideas I can show you.’
‘Yes,’ said Estelle. ‘Do whatever you like.’
‘Shouldn’t we take a look first?’ Henry asked.
‘Why? It’s bound to be stunning, and a million times better than anything our parents would come up with.’ She turned to Jack. ‘Does it involve naked men in gimp masks suspended from the ceiling by silks?’
‘Er, no…’
‘Does it involve naked women painted to look like floral centrepieces, seated in the middle of each table?’
He snorted. ‘Definitely not.’
‘Well, then.’ Estelle gave her brother a glare. ‘See what I mean? If you’d bothered to come to the ones over the last few years, you would have seen just how many variations of naked people Dad could come up with. Last year, I told him there was no way he was paying anyone to take their clothes off. And you know what he did?’
Henry rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache coming on. ‘I dread to think.’
‘Him and Mom undressed to be Adam and Eve, Mammy was the snake, and their gardening club all showed up—naked, of course—and pretended to be animals.’
Jack covered his mouth as he laughed. His parents may have been awful, but at least they kept their clothes on.
‘Anyway,’ Estelle continued. ‘If I can persuade you to stay, or come back for a bit, I want you to organise next year’s Winter Ball. If this music and arts festival I’m working on takes off and becomes a regular thing, then there’s no way I’ll have the time.’
‘How’s that all going?’
