Page 8 of Save Me a Seat

5

When 1 pm rolled around that afternoon, Jane was where she was supposed to be, waiting for Mr. Drew and Austin to arrive for their meeting. She knew Mr. Drew was in because he always used the conference room next to his office for meetings like this, and she had seen him on his phone when she walked by a few minutes earlier. Hoping that Austin wouldn’t mention anything to his father about them going to high school together, she walked to the window and looked out, trying to calm her nerves. Her stomach was in knots, and she didn’t want to appear nervous. She kept taking deep breaths, which were helping, a technique Ali had taught her years ago.

Looking outside, she couldn’t get over how breathtaking the grounds appeared. The flowerbeds were filled with the best of the spring blooms, and the trees were just coming into leaf. The lawns looked like the greens at The Masters. There were several excellent spots for wedding photos, including the popular Japanese bridge that was positioned across from the Koi pond. The Oxford was getting ready for peak wedding season, and since this was her first year to experience it here, she was very excited.Every bride who graced their facility would be thrilled with the setting.

“Afternoon, Jane,” came a deep voice from behind her. “Sorry about the last-minute change this morning.”

Jane turned around to see Mr. Drew walking into the conference room. He was by himself, which surprised her. She thought Austin would be with him. “It’s no problem, Mr. Drew. It gave me extra time to pull more information for the big wedding to share with you.”

Mr. Drew was a good-looking older man, basically an older version of his sons. He was about 6 feet tall and in good physical shape for a guy in his mid-60s. He had dark hair with sprinkles of gray on the sides, olive skin, and brown eyes. He always looked immaculate at work, always wearing a three-piece suit. Jane had been told by her co-workers that he had a local tailor who made his suits by hand and that his dress shirts came from a tailor in London. He was so busy he didn’t have the time to go shopping. She found it fascinating that there were people out there who could afford such luxuries. Jane had always been impressed that Mr. Drew was friendly and open with everyone and, unless you knew otherwise, his wealth was the last thing anyone would suspect. He treated everyone at work the same, from the valet team in front to the kitchen staff to his executive team. She respected that about him, and it was clear from chatting with her own colleagues at work that everyone at The Oxford really liked Mr. Drew, and Mrs. Drew, as well.

Mr. Drew looked at his watch. “He should be here any second,” he said with annoyance in his voice. “I know he’s on the property. I apologize for wasting your time,” he concluded, with a nod to Jane.

“Please, don’t worry about it,” Jane lied, nodding with a smile. “I’ve left the next couple of hours open, so I have lots of time,” she added, trying to make him feel a little better.

“So, you brought all the notes with you, right?” Mr. Drew asked as he took a seat and noticed that Jane had an array of folders in front of her. “I’m getting a little concerned that our special bride hasn’t announced her wedding venue yet. To be honest, these celebrity events can require extra patience, among other things, and, for all I know, until she makes that announcement on social media, I don’t consider this wedding a done deal.”

“Yes, you and me both,” Jane agreed, taking a seat in front of her folders and notebooks. “She said she would do it soon. I’ve been politely, yet regularly, checking in with her manager about it. I don’t want to push too hard, but I’m dying to share the news on our own social feeds. Her manager keeps saying that since everything is signed and official, there is nothing to worry about.”

“Believe me,” Mr. Drew agreed with a smile, “I’m keen to get this thing moving. I checked yesterday and her deposit has been deposited, so she’s pretty much locked,” he nodded and then crossed his fingers in the air for extra dramatics. “I know this is a super-fast turnaround. How are we on locking down the various details?”

“Not very far,” Jane answered truthfully. “I’ve been connecting with her personal wedding planner and I’ve sent her my checklist of all the things that need to be booked. According to her wedding planner, it seems that the only thing on Kat Kay’s mind is worrying about finding the perfect wedding dress.”

“Oh, geez,” Mr. Drew sighed. “You’re going to need some good luck with this one. Please keep me posted on things as they proceed. I’m sure her team knows and understands that we’re in a time crunch,” Mr. Drew added with hope in his voice.

Jane looked at him curiously, wondering if he fully understood that with only four weeks until this wedding, things needed to be booked and figured out yesterday. “Yes…” she answered hesitantly, not sure why there seemed to be a sense of hope in his voice.

“Well, that’s good actually,” he said matter-of-factly. “Austin can be involved from the beginning, which will make it easier for you and it is exactly what I was hoping for.”

Jane took a breath and leaned back in her seat, trying to mask her irritation. She hated the idea that Austin needed to be part of this. She was hoping Mr. Drew would ask her to give him a task or two on his own. Now it sounded like he wanted Austin to work with her one-on-one. She hoped this wasn’t the case, but she wouldn’t know for sure until Austin decided to grace them with his presence.

“Geez,” Mr. Drew scoffed. “This is getting ridiculous,” he muttered, looking at his watch and then taking out his phone to text his son.

“It’s 10 past one. Does he think you and I don’t have anything else to do today?” He looked up at Jane, sensing her frustration, too. “Listen, I will make sure he doesn’t pull this crap with you. He knows how important this wedding is to The Oxford. He just signed his NDA yesterday, so I was finally able to disclose a few wedding details. He will be an asset, I promise, and I really want him to get in good with Kat’s wedding planner to try and secure more celebrity business. He’s a people person, and I know he’ll be good at schmoozing our high-profile guests and being a family contact for them at The Oxford. I want him to learn from you, so he can be useful in this area of the business going forward.”

Jane smiled politely, taking in everything he was saying. She hated every word that was coming out of his mouth, but she understood what he was trying to do for Austin. He wanted his son involved in the family business, and this was the perfect way to get him started.

“I understand, Mr. Drew,” Jane answered politely, wanting to scream about the challenging situation he was putting her in. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

“I know you will,” he smiled, “which is why I trust you implicitly with this one. You’re an incredible employee, Jane, with an incredible team here, and I’m lucky to have you. I don’t know how you’ve managed to stay on top of all of our events so seamlessly. I handed you a ton of work when I hired you. Normally there’s a learning curve or a settling in period, but you went from zero to a 100 in a blink of an eye. Hiring you was one of the best things I’ve done for The Oxford. Your work doesn’t go unnoticed. I hope you know that.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jane smiled, feeling grateful for the compliment. It hadn’t been easy being tossed into The Oxford, especially right before wedding season. She had done her best to educate herself on every event that had been booked, knowing that she needed to make sure everyone was comfortable with the transition to her. Booking events, whether it was a wedding, anniversary, birthday party, or baby shower was such a personal thing, and she wanted each guest to know she was there for them. She also knew he was right, and that she had an incredible team of 10 who assisted her, making her ideas come to life. She couldn’t have accomplished so much without them, Kimberly being one of her biggest assets.

“Texts don’t seem to be working,” Mr. Drew said as he looked down at his phone. “Let me try calling him really quick,” Mr. Drew said. “I don’t know where the hell Austin could be right now.”

“Did I just hear my name?” A deep voice echoed from the doorway.

Jane looked up and locked eyes with a tanned, dark-haired man, wearing a perfectly fitted navy three-piece suit, and a cocky smile. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, he was better looking now than he was more than 10 years ago in high school.

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