Behind the Scenes

by Elisa Preston

  The ups and downs of the day had left Levi exhausted. The dissension of joy on his heart that was strictly related to Virginia, and the elation he felt upon kissing her was certainly a welcomed new friend. The disappointment he felt when she pulled away was familiar, but the hope inside at the prospect of still winning her over someday made it less so. And the way Kelsey’s pride had lifted through the roof when he had offered her the Vice President role was a moment he will never forget.

  The grandiosity of passions the day had held was exactly why he sat rocking, nursing a can of flavored seltzer water and pondering his next few months. He knew they would be full; he hoped they would be fun.

  Turns out, he was right on both accounts.

  New York City leaned into winter, warranting thicker coats and careful consideration of footwear each morning. Backpacks got fuller as commuters carried snow-boots or covers for their shoes; walking paces picked up and patience took a downturn as anyone going anywhere wanted to be there yesterday. Everyone was in everyone’s way.

  Levi loved it. The smell of cold was Levi’s favorite scent. As a kid it would drive his parents crazy because he would leave his bedroom window open during the winter. You’re leaking out heat! his father would always gripe. It was still a habit Levi carried, though not nearly as often. To him, the city sounds would never be a lullaby. Yet, in the winter months, the cold, rain, and snow washed away the grime that floated up from the streets and sidewalks during the warm months. The air felt fresh, anew, and full of possibilities.

  Levi’s rejuvenation from the colder air served him well in his business. Tutto Mangiare faced its biggest deployment of teams between October and March, especially in the states. The holidays and the cold weather brought out the need, which was a fact Levi had come to terms with before he had even started the company. The logistics in sending out the number of people and resources in those six months could either be a nightmare or it could go exceedingly well; never in Levi’s twelve years of running this company had there been a middle ground. And since these six months used more than triple of what the other half of the year required, Levi preferred the years when everything was smooth sailing.

  This year, unfortunately, was shaping up to be one of those nightmare years. One thing after another either went wrong or just about went wrong.

  Through it all, the girl and the Gala sat in the background. After that last meeting, the kiss Levi shared with Virginia—and the conversation that followed through the rest of the tasting—was on his mind parallel to everything else.

  His new assistant didn’t know the difference between the company’s share drive and his personal Google Drive? This can’t be happening. If Kelsey was here, we would have moved on to her teasing me about Virginia.

  Half of the South Africa team was sick and couldn’t go? But that kiss.

  The materials being sent to Peru were delayed due to a new tariff he didn’t know about? But that kiss.

  The Team Lead for the Miami trip had to suddenly up and leave to relocate for his wife’s new job? But that kiss.

  City leaders in Los Angeles opposed Tutto Mangiare’s partnering with a local organization because they wanted everything done in-house? I just want to help; that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I also want to marry Virginia. Because that kiss and her answer to my question were more than perfect.

  The one thing that did go well? Kelsey’s transition into her Vice President role. Her quarterly trips were already written into the master calendar and her desk filled quickly with relevant tasks. He couldn’t say that she seemed happier, more like she had finally found her place. He and Kelsey worked well together, and she had never once complained about being “just a secretary”, because if she knew anything, she knew that her role was much more important than the title indicated. Still, he relished in the contentment that was written all over her face each and every time he saw her in her new capacity.

  Levi used the cold few weeks between his meeting with Virginia and the next time he would see her—because she said yes!—to dive into Tutto Mangiare planning for the next calendar and fiscal year. With the Gala menu set and regular meetings with the six teams that would produce three menu items each set, Levi kept Tutto Mangiare his main priority during his working days.

  On one particularly cold, rainy morning, two days before he was to leave for his sister’s wedding, Seth showed up at his office door, soaking wet.

  “Did you lose your umbrella?” Levi asked, laughing. He got up to retrieve a towel from his stash for when he runs to his office and needs a shower. He threw it to Seth, who took it, simultaneously begrudging Levi’s dry-ness and all together grateful for his friend’s preparedness.

  “As a matter of fact I did. And I can’t stand spending money on something I know is around somewhere. So, wet I get,” he said, drying off one limb at a time.

  Levi smiled. “Come in. I just brewed coffee; that should help you warm up.” He poured Seth a cup of the dark roast he kept on hand. “To what do I owe the pleasure? I thought you had a deadline coming up?”

  “It was yesterday actually, and I finished ahead of schedule.” He took a sip of coffee, noticeably relieved for its warmth.

  “Great job,” Levi said, smiling. He sat on the couch and motioned for Seth to make his way to the adjacent chair. Seth did, but he squirmed a bit once he sat down.

  “Your sister texted me yesterday,” Seth finally said.

  “Oh? Anything important?”

  “Scolding me for declining the wedding invite,” he said. His head was bent, and he was trying to pass it off as a need to look down at his coffee.

  “I told you she really wants you there, man. I know we can’t go together, but you could fly in the day of,” Levi said. “I want you there, too.”

  Again, Seth squirmed, which was wholly out of character.

  “Okay, Seth, what’s up?” Levi put his own coffee mug aside and clasped his hands together. He faced his best friend of more than twenty years.

  “I have tagged along to so many Adams holidays. And I have loved every one of them. Remember the year the cork on the champagne flew off and we all had to duck under the table? And we got soaking wet?”

  Levi nodded as they both laughed at the memory, remembering how his cousin’s overalls had gotten soaked through and half the champagne was gone by the time it all finished fizzing out.

  “I have loved it. But I want to start making my own traditions, you know? I don’t have a family yet, but I have to start somewhere.” Seth swigged the last of his coffee before setting the black mug down on a foam coaster.

  Levi saw the ring on the glass table where he had once left an ice-cold Gatorade bottle without a coaster. Kelsey had always liked to remind him of that.

  “I can understand that,” Levi said, seriously. “I feel that way sometimes, too, for the holidays I feel obligated to go home.” He paused. “How about, just this one more? It’s her wedding, man. This is only happening once, and you’re like a brother to her.”

  Seth looked unconvinced. It was rare that his discomfort and sadness for not having a together family showed through Seth’s tough exterior, but when it did, it tugged at Levi’s heartstrings.

  “Just consider it, okay?”

  Seth’s eyes remained locked on the woven carpet under their feet. A light, “Deal,” escaped. He shook his head, and Levi knew he was shaking off the conversation. “Now, as your sous chef who has been stuck in a computer coding hole for the last three weeks, please catch me up on all things Gala.”

  Over two more cups of coffee for each of them, Levi and Seth went over every Gala detail Levi had gotten out of Virginia. She had been keeping everyone up to date through a few shared Google documents, which Levi easily pulled up on his laptop to show Seth.

  Of the many things Levi appreciated about Seth, his ability to jump all in was one of his favorite qualities. Seth wasn’t an all-or-nothing kind of person, but when Levi needed all, Seth delivered every time.

  �
�This is going to be an amazing gala,” Seth said.

  “Right? Virginia has done an incredible job.”

  “Sophie, too,” Seth said, eyeing his friend.

  “Yes, Sophie, too,” Levi said, closing his laptop. “They have dreamed up a wondrous event. As long as we all deliver day-of, it’s going to be spectacular.”

  “The best Jackson Gala one Ms. Marie Rhodes has ever seen.” Seth’s hair had slowly morphed into a ball of frizz over the last hour. He ran his hand through it, but Levi could feel his eyes asking questions.

  Levi nodded, his head bent as he swished the last bit of his coffee.

  “Anything you want to tell me?” Seth asked his question quietly but in nothing less than his signature straight-shooter manner.

  Levi was lucky, because Seth had always appreciated one of Levi’s best qualities: the ability to keep a promise. Which is why when Levi shook his head and told Seth he had nothing to share, Seth knew there was more but that Levi would share when he was ready.

  Really, Levi was ready to tell Seth. He wanted to tell the world. He wanted to take a picture and put it on the Instagram he was forced to keep. He wanted to shout it from the tallest building in the city to make sure everyone heard him.

  For now, though, he made his way with Seth down to the gym for a healthy round of racquetball.

   Chapter 19

  “Sophie! Why do these colors seem wrong for the dining room linens? Didn’t we order cream with red and green accents?” Her words were stern, yet steady, unhurried.

  Sophie’s heels clicked across the dance floor as she came running to where Virginia stood, which was in the center of the grand ballroom over a table of linens that were all the wrong colors and stitch patterns. Her short hair bounced along.

  “How in the world did this happen? We were so clear in what we wanted. Weren’t we so clear in what we wanted?” Virginia asked, tucking her hair behind her ears and looking at her friend. “How did we get yellow and purple and blue? They’re not even close to the pallet we chose.”

  Sophie nodded emphatically, tears moistening her eyes, which was the last thing Virginia needed. While Virginia might not be panicked, she wasn’t Zen, either. She needed her friend who usually found the humor in such a significant color gaffe.

  “Soph, I need you to be the strong and silly one. Now is not the time for your once-a-year meltdown.” Virginia swiped her thumb through the papers in her portfolio to find the agreement with the linens vendor.

  Sophie’s voice wavered as she responded. “There are only forty-two days left in the year. And you’re not going to be here this weekend, which is ridiculous because if there is a fire you know I do not enjoy putting them out by myself. I can’t believe you’re going home for Thanksgiving while I stay here.”

  “Your mom and grandma are coming into town,” Virginia responded.

  Sophie scoffed. “If anything goes wrong, I will be without my co-pilot here. It’s not cool. So if I don’t throw my fit now, then when?”

  Virginia’s resolve remained. She set down the linens and got a hold of Sophie by the shoulders. “December twentieth, the day after the Gala. Until then, I need your strength, your humor, and your input. Now,” she said, picking back up the linens, “how can we fix this?”

  Sophie shook her entire body, ridding herself of the excess nerves and placing her focus back on the Gala. Her determined eyes told Virginia she was ready.

  They had exactly five weeks left to pull it all together, and, as with any event—big or small—there were glitches up the wazoo. No professional whom she had ever come into contact with in the event planning industry had ever once said anything to the effect of, “Well, that was easy.” No. Quite the opposite. Even seasoned, well sought-after event planners earned honorary firefighter badges for the number of small disasters they fixed in the weeks leading up to an event.

  “Okay. I will go down to the linens distributor myself—I know right where they are—and get this straightened out. You’re finalizing everything with the dee-jay today, right? He had a few questionable songs in his list last I checked. You’re going to the printer, too, right, because of the typos in the programs? And you have a meeting with audio-visual for those holograms? You think that’s really going to work? I was thinking it might freak people out because you know—”

  “Soph, you’re talking a mile a minute. Yes to the dee-jay and to the audio-visual people. It’s going to work, and it’s going to be amazing. Floating vintage images of New York City? It’ll blow them away,” Virginia said.

  “How are you so confident? Usually I’m toning you down this close to an event. What’s with the switch here?” Sophie was pulling on her gray down jacket as she conveyed her disbelief. “Ever since that last meeting with Levi for the menu tasting you’ve been Miss Zen. Nothing is rattling you. It’s unnerving, actually.”

  “Zen? No no no, friend. There’s been no switch. I’m just learning from those around me how to be more in the moment. And when I do that instead of worrying twelve steps down the road, I am a much more pleasant person to be around.” She smiled wide. “Don’t you think?”

  “You were pleasant before, but sure.” Not a minute later, Sophie was out the door and off to fix the linens.

  After letting out a long, slow, and steady breath, Virginia took a stroll around the empty ballroom to imagine what it would look like the night of the Gala. They had been planning for so long, and she had all of these visions in her head, what would it be like when it all came together, under one roof?

  Would the white and deep purple hyacinth she and Janelle had settled on match the cream and gold tones built into the ballroom?

  Would the clear glass dinnerware they selected look elegant enough against the cream, green, and deep red linens they had chosen to adorn the tables and chairs?

  Would the band and the dee-jay work well together?

  Would the dance floor, wider than any other she had ever seen in a hotel ballroom, be filled with men and women in their more-than-Sunday best, laughing and dancing off the previous year? Or would it remain desolate and an item of embarrassment for New Horizons for years to come? In order to remain sane, she had to bank on option number one.

  She couldn’t believe they were so close. A year ago, she and Sophie had been sitting in Virginia’s sunroom at the lake, wondering what it would be like if they won the bid for planning the Jackson Gala. They thought it would be exhilarating and the thrill-slash-opportunity of a lifetime, both of which had proven to be true.

  What they hadn’t counted on were the friendships that had developed. In their meetings with certain vendors, kindred spirits had been found and would not be easily left behind. Sophie with Amber and Louis; Virginia with Janelle. And Levi? Maybe. He was a complicated kindred spirit, but probably only because she was making him out to be complicated. In her quiet moments, of that she was most sure.

  Back to Sophie’s words, before she could think about that for too long, Virginia couldn’t believe she was leaving town for Thanksgiving, either. Not only did they have plenty to keep an eye on, but Thanksgiving in New York City? A dream come true. Months ago, when the friends had won the bid and knew they would be in the city for the holiday, they had made plans for four out of five of the days—Wednesday included.

  Wednesday would be filled with scoping out the best place to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, live-and-in-person. She and Sophie had dreamt of finding the perfect location where they could throw their heads all the way back in order to see right up Snoopy’s nose. They wanted to see and hear and taste the city on its second-biggest day of the year, behind New Year’s Eve of course, by which time they would be snug in their own beds in their owns homes, recovering from the past six months.

  Thursday would start incredibly early—ungodly early—but it would all be worth it because they would have scoped out their parade location and would be set with snacks and whatever outer wear they needed in order to stay cozy and comfortable for eig
ht hours. Virginia and Sophie were ready to hold their freshly brewed Starbucks close to their faces so they could warm up before the sun graced the floats, balloons, and patrons. The ladies were also prepared to space out their food and beverage consumption so as to control their restroom needs, a practice they had long since perfected having worked many day-long events where they didn’t like using the same restrooms as the guests.

  Friday—Black Friday, the best shopping day of the year—would again start with Virginia and Sophie seeing their breath in the cold, pre-twilight air. They would have spent the remainder of Thursday in their plush hotel room in order to regain the energy they would need for doing some serious shopping. And early, early in the morning they would start at Macy’s and work their way around to New York’s most iconic shops, picking up one commemorative piece at each locale.

  Saturday, Virginia and Sophie had planned to rest during the daylight and then make their way to Rockefeller Center once the sun set so they could see the lights and skate. They had spent quite some time debating whether or not they should skate that night, considering they could go another day when it would be far less crowded.

  The tradition and magic of it all had won out and it had been decided: the Saturday after Thanksgiving they would adorn their living quarters with a small, Charlie Brown-esque Christmas tree, order Chinese food to their room, and then go skate at Rockefeller Center. To wide-eyed, non-New Yorkers, it seemed a very New York evening.

  At the time when they dreamed it all up—in just one afternoon—Virginia and Sophie could see, hear, taste, feel, and smell everything. It all seemed and sounded so magical.

  Then, two weeks ago, a curve ball. In the form of the best kiss of her life.

  She had told him she couldn’t get into a relationship, that she needed it to stay strictly professional.