it was just the validation she needed after the day from h-e-double-hockey-sticks. She pulled her eyes away from where a shaggy haired waiter almost knocked over a set of champagne flutes and looked back towards Deidre. Her boss's sable colored hair was pulled back in its standard chignon, never a single strand of hair daring to fall out of place. Cripes, her hairspray must be straight-up shellac. Best not light a match around her.
"Thanks, Deidre. That means a lot coming from you. I really appreciate you giving me the chance to be lead on this."
A small smile tugged on one side of Deidre's perfectly lipsticked lips. And after seven years working with her, Rachel knew that little tilted smile didn’t happen often. "You were past due for your chance. And Marie Steadman was very insistent that we should work primarily with you on this event."
Oh, bless her heart indeed. Marie Steadman, her best friend Casey's mom, had been in Rachel's life for more than fifteen years, and had always been a surrogate mother to her, miles and leagues and oceans and universes away from the emotional Mt. Vesuvius that was Rachel's own mother. And if Marie had put the bug in Deidre's ear, then Rachel would be sure to thank her.
Rachel was not exactly easily intimidated. In fact, she should probably be a bit more intimidate-able. But Deidre? That pastel wool clad, J'Adore-wearing, peach-lipstick-sportin' southern belle made every inch of Rachel's hourglass figure quake in absolute fear. Rachel was no taller than her, both of them only a few inches above five feet. But damn, chick was scary.
Deidre ran her pink-tipped nails along the back of one of the gold chairs, and swept her shrewd gaze over to Triple E, who was quite inconspicuously straightening every single fork and spoon and knife that the wait staff had already perfected.
"She's important to this fundraiser, Rachel."
Well no shit, Sherlock.
"I know," Rachel said, figuring a more diplomatic answer would suffice. "And by tomorrow morning, I'm sure that Emily will be quite happy to not have to deal with me again either. She'll probably want to plan a whole other party just to celebrate."
"You joke, Rachel, and I'm aware that that's your way to deal with stress, but a referral from someone like Emily Eaton would be very beneficial to Platinum Occasions. Keep in mind that she is our customer. And we aren't happy with customer satisfaction. Customer loyalty is ..."
"... is the unyielding foundation of Platinum Occasions," Rachel finished by rote. Deidre had all but tattooed it on all of their foreheads. And wowza, would she ever be surprised if Triple E was feeling at all loyal after this. And Deidre would not be happy with Rachel if they received anything but a gleaming gold star on their report card at the end of the night.
"That's right. Keep that in mind until the last plate is cleaned tonight, Ms. Hennessy."
Oh well then, it was Ms. Hennessy now. Awesome. Fricken great.
When Deidre did a precise turn and headed towards the exit, Rachel expelled a heavy breath. Thumbing through the last minute checklist she kept for all her events on her phone, she felt comfortable heading home to get ready.
"Rachel?"
Le sigh.
She turned from where she had been leaning against one of the serving stations to see Emily, one French-manicured hand perched on a curve-less hip. "You're not done, are you?"
"Is there something you needed me to wrap up, Emily? Because I think the staff here has everything else under control, and I need to go home to get ready."
Emily narrowed her beady little blue eyes (in reality, they were not at all beady, but annoyingly large and bright and ugh), clearly filtering through a myriad of reasons why she could harp on Rachel. The silence stretched for a moment past comfortable, and Rachel knew there was absolutely nothing she could bring up. This place was perfect. Pristine. Immaculate. Impeccable. Faultless. Beyond compare.
Yeah, yeah, she'd spent some time with a thesaurus.
"Hmmm," Emily hummed, running a finger across her lips, eyeing Rachel from head to toe. "I suppose you can go. It's probably a monumental task to make yourself look even remotely presentable."
Oh no, she di-in't. Rachel opened her mouth, probably to say something that had absolutely nothing to do with unyielding foundations of customer loyalty, but stopped when she felt a small, shockingly strong hand close around her shoulder.
"Emily, we're so looking forward to this evening. With your kind indulgence, could I interrupt to speak with