Chapter Two
Aliannah rolled her eyes and groaned. She wanted to forget about “I” for Ivan and leave him behind in the glorious Adriatic Sea. She should have pushed him overboard when she had the chance. Regrettably, she did not. It concerned her how Ivan had gotten her address to arrange such a gesture, but Aliannah remembered she had given her details to Marcus when he hired her to be a stewardess. It would have been simple enough for Ivan to ask Marcus for the information. After all, Marcus was the head of staff on Serenity; it was his duty to keep a record of all the crew and how to contact home. Accidents happen at sea all the time. You never know when your time to meet your maker will come.
“Sooooo, who is I?” Michelle asked for the millionth time. Aliannah covered her face and plonked onto the couch. She really did not want to talk about Ivan. It was still too raw to mentally unpack those memories.
“He is no one. I left all that behind in Europe. It’s done, dusted, adios! I don’t want to talk about it. I have to get ready for work.” With that, Aliannah got up, went to her room, and shut the door, leaving Michelle stunned to silence in the sitting room on her own.
There was an event at the museum tonight that Aliannah had to help coordinate. A gala hosted by the historical society to raise money for the refurbishment of the upper level of the museum. She jumped in a quick shower, shimmied on a black dress with strappy heels, and slicked her hair back into a French roll. The makeup was kept simple but elegant, and the lipstick was a bold red. In order to attract hefty donations, one must look sophisticated. The men would willingly part with their money at the bat of her long eyelashes.
Aliannah arrived at the museum with an hour to spare. The prep crew had just finished setting everything up, from table locations to placement settings. It was very well done. The colour scheme was black and gold to tie in with the theme of the Golden Era. Mysterious glamour was the vibe. Aliannah did a quick look over everything and then triple-checked the guest list with the seating charts to make sure everyone had been accounted for.
At 8 pm, the guests began to arrive. A steady stream of limousines pulled up one by one. Every donor was dressed to the nines. Aliannah stood at the host desk and greeted every guest as they entered the event. There was a strict guest list in place, with no exceptions. The majority of the guests were high rollers; they worked in finance, CEOs or family wealth. Those who fell outside this bracket were the plus-ones of the unmarried guests. Each plus-one had been vetted prior to the event – no escorts were allowed. The museum had a no-flex policy on that. They wanted an elegant affair.
The event ran without a hitch. There were speeches from the board of museum directors and the curator of the pieces on display. This was followed by a five-course meal. Aliannah moved from table to table to ensure everything was as it should be and all the guests were happy. A harpist played softly in the background, loud enough to be heard and enjoyed but not so loud that conversations were drowned out. The atmosphere of the event was luscious.
Aliannah was relieved that there was no drama. There is nothing worse than having to deal with an overly intoxicated guest at these events. It becomes messy and scandalous for both the guest and the venue. Before Aliannah could leave, she had to stay to supervise the clean-up crew and make sure none of the antiques were broken or damaged as the crew carried out the detailed cleaning. She was not sure of the total cost of all the items on display, but it was definitely closer to a billion than a million. Most of the antiques were one-of-a-kind items or extremely limited edition. The antiques varied from paintings to vases to musical instruments. For tonight’s display, everything had to be gold to match the theme, so the security was tripled, as the museum did not usually display that many items of such outrageous value.
It was close to 3 am when she finally returned home. Harry was snoring gently at his desk in the lobby, so Aliannah made sure to tip-toe by so as not to wake him. She took the stairs to the first level before hopping in the lift so the ding would not disturb him either. Michelle, on the other hand, snored so loud that Aliannah could hear her from outside the apartment door, or at least she thought it was Michelle. It could have been the apartment across the hall instead.
She dropped her heels on the rack inside the door and fixed herself a quick sandwich in the kitchen. Aliannah never gets a moment for a sneaky plate at these work events. She is always too busy running around after the finer details. This was the best ham sandwich she had ever tasted. Maybe it just seemed that way because she was so hungry. Every bite was truly savoured. Once finished, she wearily plodded to her room, passing the peonies on the sitting room table. Tonight, Aliannah was determined to remove her makeup and brush out her hair before flopping into bed. She would not return to old beauty habits after a summer of a good self-care routine. All she could think was, “Thank god it is Friday!” she had never been more thankful for the arrival of the weekend.