Tempting

Twelve

By the time Monday arrived so had Milo, and surprisingly, I was happy especially since Sunday had consisted of me staying in my suite and pretending to be in the shower when anyone knocked on my door. So I figured distracting my mind with as much work as possible would be beneficial.

However, Milo made sure to place her usual OCD touch on all the progress we'd made so far.

Everyone stood in the courtyard as she came over with her cherry red hair in a tight chignon, a simple black Prada floor length dress, and a diamond choker from Tiffany's.

She was nearly sixty years old and was a women of few words. I rarely ever had personal contact with the woman since I was only an assistant, but I'd felt the wrath of her perfection vicariously.

"My flight ran a tad late for the gala." She said though a "tad late" was not the correct description for a person who was a week late and had access to a private jet.

"But, on to business. The gift bags are wrong. There are two toned cuff links in the men's bags but I specifically said I only wanted the silver engraved cuff links." Milo glanced down at the clipboard that Beth held. The committee in charge of gift bags quickly dispersed. "I need the audio and lighting to be finalized and confirmed. Emphasize that we want soft pink for the start of the show. Don't let me see a hot pink." She stressed. "How tall is the stage?"

"Well you told us to get sixteen inches." Beth said. Milo shook her head.

"No, make it twenty four inches." I saw Beth's face nearly deflate. But no one could say a word.

"Scott, I need you to check the posters to make sure the images are ready for display. Also, I need seven photographers for the day of the gala. The former photographers backed out." I wrote a note for him in my steno pad and with our assignment, we retreated to the back of the palace toward the garden.

"Leave it to Milo to give us this news last minute." He sighed, placing his hands on his hips and looking out to where the gala stage had been set.
"You handle the hiring since I need to check out these posters." He was a perfectionist and there was no way that I could be left with that task.

"Alright, anything else?" I asked, flicking my straightened hair over my shoulder.

"No, just make sure I'm still alive by the end of the day." He waved his hand and walked away.

I turned back to the palace and was reminded of the man I aimed to avoid. However, all night I had contemplated the civil nature I wanted to uphold with him for the sake of this essential hell week. I knew what I had to do first. It had no affiliation with my job but maybe this task gave me a reason to go through with it.

I walked into the palace and knocked on the door of the first floor study. The woman who answered the door was head of the design department. There were a couple people from the department around a table while Francisco was in the front, standing in front of a projection screen while shedding some cultural light.

"Hey, uh Francisco can I talk to you?" I poked my head in. He looked up and moved around the table to leave the room. He shut the door close.

"Em que posso ajudá-la?" He said slowly so that I could decipher his question.

"Well, I need your help."

"Mmmm keep talking."

"I have to hire photographers for the gala."

"Oh, that's not fun." He was disappointed. "But yes, I can help you. Give me five minutes. I'll tell the limo to be in front." He turned to go back into the room but I stopped him.