Chapter 8

"Carrie, do we have enough waiters for the Russell event next week?" Audrey asked squinting her eyes a little after looking at the long list of things required for the events.

"Yes I have confirmed all of them." She replied.

"They requested for coq au vin. Do we have enough stock on the red burgundy wine?" She inquired.

"I have cross-checked the stocks and it's not enough. I have also called our supplier and he said that he does not have our usual red brandy brand. He recommended a different red wine instead." She clarified worriedly.

"What? No, that cannot do. It'll taste different. I'll give him a call later this afternoon." She replied.

They were going through the food menu and wine list when the phone rang.

"Bouquet Catering, How can I help you? Oh, please hold on a minute.

Miss Jane from Russell corporation wanted to talk to you." She handed the phone towards Audrey who is looking agitated.

"Good afternoon Miss Jane, how can I help you? Yes sure, this afternoon? Yes, of course. Alright, I'll bring the list to you. I'll meet you there. Thanks." She ended the call and gathered the scattered list into her bag. She excused herself and left Carrie in charge of the listing. Drived and arrived at the Russell building in fifteen minutes, she headed straight to Jane's office.

She went inside the office and greeted Jane. They talked, discussed on the menus and rundown of the events for almost an hour before Jane left the room to grab a few documents. When the door opened, she was surprised to see Cale Russell walking inside the room instead of Jane.

"Pleasure seeing you here again, Miss Bouquet." He addressed.

"Yes, Mr Russell. How are you?" She inquired.

"I feel much better now after seeing you. How are the preparations going? I hope Jane isn't putting too much pressure on you, dear." He stated.

"No, of course not. Just standard procedures and it's going great!" She replied not realizing that he had walked closer to her.

"Will you come to the event with me, Audrey?" He asked as he stood closely to her.

"I will be there, of course, Mr Russell." She stuttered.

"As my date, Audrey. And please call me Cale." He held his hand out towards her and smiled.

"I... but... uh... " She trailed battling whether to held out and hold his hand or not before he hold her hands and cuts her in.

"I'll pick you up at 8. I'll get your address from Jane. See you soon, Audrey." He kissed her hand and left the room. She was left speechless and startled.

"Here are the paper- Are you alright Miss Bouquet?" Jane asked worriedly as she looked at Audrey with her right hand still held mid-air and her jaws dropped. She finally composed herself and finished the discussions.

Audrey called Ava after the meeting and demanded to meet her right away. Thus, they met at the coffee shop near the building.

"You know we live together, right? Can't this wait till after? I do work during office hours for your information. Unlike you." Ava exasperated.

"Nope. It cannot wait. Guess what happened just now? Like ten minutes ago." She asked while her friend was waiting impatiently and snapped on her fingers signalling her to continue.

"I was having a meeting with Jane, she asked me to come meet her here. And in the middle of our meeting, she went out to get some documents. Guess who waltz into the room?" She trailed making an obvious tension.

"Mr Cale Russell, and he asked me to go to his corporate anniversary... as his date." She waited for her friend to process the information.

"What! Oh my God. You are finally living our dream! You are going out with the bachelor of the year. One of the bachelor but who cares! So what did you say? You said yes right? Tell me this dumb girl said yes, please Lord." She clasped her hands together praying while muttering a few silent words.

"I was speechless, I wanted to say... no. First, I'll be working as the head chef that night! Secondly, there's something about him that I just don't feel comfortable with, it's like I don't know.. And third, I just can't." She continued as her friend cuts in.

"You what! Why do you do that..."

"But he'll pick me up either way! See, that's the problem. I don't want to go with him, but he kind of didn't wait for my answer and said 'pick you up at 8'.'' She tried to imitate him with a low voice.

"So let me get this straight. You are going to the ball with him, yes? So we just need to find you a fine dress! He's not asking you to marry him, Dree. He just ask you out on a date. You can enjoy your time, hopefully get to feel like Cinderella for once, not as the servants and if you're still uncomfortable with him then that's it. Anyway, he kind of gave you the job, so you actually have no say in that question, you have to go, Dree." She clarified and Audrey knew she has a point. Now, she just have to finalize the planning for the event, confirm to the supplier on the red burgundy wine and hand over the head chef task to Carrie.