Page 78 of One Day Like This (Excess All Areas 1)

If she noticed Joe’s concern and affectionate name for her, she dismissed it. Right now, she had bigger problems. “The Convention Complex, you know, the old G-Mex, said I can have their building for free for a benefit concert for the shelter.”

Joe’s eyes went wide. “Well, that’s amazing ... isn’t it?”

“Define amazing.”

“Well, once you have a venue, you can totally start to build the event. Caterers, security, parking, bands, sponsors, media and public relations and—”

“Not helping, Joe.”

“Ahh. Okay. Got it. Getting the venue—awesome. Having to plan the event—scary as fuck.”

Izabel nodded. “Nowyou understand.”

“When I said outside that I’d help if I could, I meant it. Dominic’s sister is a celebrity wedding planner. She does all the Man City andCoronation Streetstars’ weddings. Bet she’d help you in a heartbeat.”

The pressure around Izabel’s chest released a little. “Do you think she would?”

“Yeah. How long have you got?”

“Eight weeks.”

“Only eight weeks. Not long then.”

She raised an eyebrow at Joe.

Joe laughed. “Oh, yeah. Right. Eight weeks. Ages away. Tons of time.”

Izabel couldn’t help but grin. “Fine. Yes. Eight weeks. Dominic’s sister. How quickly can we ask if she can help?”

“Give me a sec. I’ll go ask Dom now. You okay now? You’ve got a bit more colour.”

She raised her hand to her forehead. “Yeah. And not quite as clammy.”

“Right. Well, don’t pass out while I’m gone.”

Izabel placed the bottle of water on her desk and shook her hands to get some blood flowing. Dear Lord, she had a venue.

Now she just needed to fill it.

Joe returned to the office a few minutes later. “Dom’s sister’s name is Rachel. He just called her. She’s happy to help you out. Here’s her number.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I know that sounds weak, but seriously, thank you.”

Izabel grabbed her phone and dialled the number. “Rachel, it’s Izabel, Dom’s friend. Lovely to meet you. Thanks for agreeing to chat with me.”

“My pleasure. Dom says you’re planning a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants fundraising event in eight weeks for eleven thousand people, right?”

Izabel’s stomach flipped. “When you say it like that, I start to feel faint again.”

Rachel laughed. “Ah, don’t faint. Eight weeks happens to be my favourite timeline. You don’t have time to second-guess yourself, you just have to crack on. If you waste a day freaking out, you lose two percent of your schedule.”

“When you say it likethat, it makes sense.”

“Why don’t you start with telling me the goals of the event, and what you’ve already thought about and lined up, and we’ll take it from there.”

Within an hour, the two of them had pulled together a far more detailed outline than Izabel would have been able to pull together on her own. Rachel had thankfully organised the weddings of members of four bands—one of them considered to be rock royalty—and had agreed to approach them to flush out the lineup.

“Ibrahim,” she said, looking across the small office. “I think I’m going to need to focus on this full-time.”

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