I walk up to them. "Everything is ready." I look at Bianca. "Beverly was here. She was very impressed."
Celine smirks. "Unfortunately she's not the one you need to impress." She walks over to the table. "It looks just like the photos you sent."
"Yes. You told me not to change anything."
Bianca rushes up to her. "But if you'd like to make a change, it's not too late."
Actually, it is. The guests will be here in a half hour.
Celine walks around the table, looking for something to criticize or change. I hold my breath, waiting for it. "It's acceptable."
That's it? Acceptable? After all the hours I spent planning and re-planning how to set up the table, the only word she can find to describe it is acceptable? I guess that's better than having her complain about it.
Bianca and Celine continue to talk while I go to the kitchen to check on the caterers. Everything's good, so I return to the dining room. Bianca isn't staying but I'm glad she showed up. She's keeping Celine occupied so she's not walking around looking for problems.
At seven, the guests start to arrive. They're all older couples. The women are dressed in long gowns and the men in dark suits. The last person to arrive is Aiden. My heart nearly stops when I see him. He's wearing a tailored black suit, white shirt, and gray-striped tie. His dark hair is styled without a single strand out of place and his face lacks even a trace of stubble, like he shaved right before he left. He sees me across the room and gives me just the slightest smile, which I find so incredibly sexy that I nearly drop the tray I'm holding.
"I'll take it," Katy says, grabbing the tray from me. She's one of the servers. She follows my gaze to Aiden. "Wow. Who's the guy?"
I almost say he's my boyfriend but stop myself before I do.
"Oh, he's with her," Katy says, noticing Aiden with Celine. "Figures. Rich girls always get the hot guys."
Celine raced up to Aiden the moment he walked in, wrapping her arm around him and giving him a kiss on the cheek, letting everyone know that he's hers.
My anger rises as I watch Celine walk Aiden over to an older couple, introducing him as her boyfriend. It makes my stomach turn.
I look away and walk over to the bar set up in the back of the room.
"Everything good over here?" I ask the bartender.
She gives me a funny look. "You just asked me that. Like five minutes ago."
"Oh, yes, well, I just wanted to make sure."
I've done such a good job with this party that there's nothing to check on and nothing to fix. I have nothing to distract me from watching Aiden with Celine. They spend the cocktail hour going around to each of the guests. Celine never lets go of Aiden's arm and she keeps looking at him like she's in love.
She keeps it up during dinner, leaning over to Aiden, whispering in his ear, rubbing his arm. I tell myself to look away but my gaze keeps going back to them.
The dinner itself is a huge success. The guests compliment the food, the decor, the location. Celine takes all the credit, of course, but I really don't care. All that matters is that I get the promotion, which I should because absolutely nothing has gone wrong.
At the end of the night, Celine and Aiden tell the guests goodbye as they leave. The caterers begin their cleanup as I stand by the bar in a fog, so tired I can barely stand up.
"Sophie." Celine appears and I force myself to wake up. I notice Aiden coming up behind her. "You remember my boyfriend Aiden, don't you?"
"Yes, I remember." I lock eyes with Aiden, suddenly feeling very awake. "Good to see you again," I say, shaking his hand. My heart's pounding, thinking I'll do or say something to give us away.
Celine has no idea I've seen Aiden since that night at the bar. She knows about our littering fiasco in Vermont but she thinks we parted ways after getting our citations. As far as she knows, the only other time we've seen each other is at the bar that night, but all my attention was on Tanner, not Aiden. She has no reason to suspect there's anything going on between us.
"Great job tonight," Aiden says, smiling at me. "Couldn't have gone better."
"Thank you. I hope it will bring in new business."
"It already has," he says. "We might have just sold a building downtown we've been trying to sell for over a year."
Celine takes his arm. "Sweetie, you shouldn't tell her that. It's confidential."
He smiles at her. "I doubt we need to worry about the event planner telling our secrets."
"Certainly not," I say. "I know nothing about property investment."
I'm trying to keep my eyes off Aiden but he's so incredibly handsome it's hard not to look. Aiden's doing a better job of pretending we're just acquaintances. Calling me the 'event planner' instead of using my name was a brilliant move. It's impersonal and shows he has zero interest in me. I'm just someone he met in Vermont who ended up being hired by his girlfriend for a job.
Celine turns back to me. "I must admit it went quite well. A few of the guests thought the coffee was a bit strong but other than that, I thought the caterers did a better-than-average job."
Aiden laughs a little and says to me, "She struggles with compliments."
Celine nudges his side. "Sweetie, if I shower her with compliments, she'll have nothing to work towards. Everyone has room for improvement." She checks her diamond-studded watch. "I didn't realize it's so late. Aiden, would you go get my coat? I'll meet you by the elevator."
Aiden leaves and I force myself not to
