"Miss? What of this?"
Ava replied absentmindedly, looking blankly at the worker who had addressed her. Her mind was blank, as she had been abruptly pulled from her thoughts.
"Ah, that?" Ava whispered, still willing her mind to function as it should. It had been a couple of days since she had come in and started working on the premises of the T-Vino Winery offices, but Ava was still not used to it. As she struggled to find the right mind to give the instruction to the worker, another thought couldn’t help but creep up into her mind.
’Is this a luxury hotel or an office?’
It was widely known that Ava came from a very humble background, but she had had her fair share of contact with luxuries from the friends she associated with.
From the first day that Ava set foot on the Thornston estate, she had to will herself not to drop her mouth to the floor. The circumstances then did not allow her to show her surprise, but that did not mean that she had not been.
The estate was wide, and Ava could have sworn that the car had driven for more than thirty minutes to the home itself after they had passed the main gates. Of course, most of the lands surrounding this was vastly filled with neat rows of vines. The Thornstons were known for their numerous vineyards as well as their wines so that did not really come as a surprise to her.
That aside, when she had arrived at the Winery HQ a couple of days back, Ava had no control of her actions. In fact, she still blushed in embarrassment at what she had asked,
’I thought we were going to the office. Why are we at this hotel?’ A few people around who had heard her question could not help but snicker and laugh because they were used to their surroundings so much that they had also forgotten their first reactions upon employment.
Ava had been tasked with catering the wine-tasting event that Avril had proposed. As the request had come from the very top, Ava could not help but be flattered to have been considered for that.
Her co-organizer was not too thrilled about this fact, though. Avril’s thoughts may be right depending on how one looked at this because Avril wanted a professional with experience to plan the event.
However, Avril was finding out, the hard way, that Geneva and Alex’s faith in Ava was limitless. They trusted that this girl could do anything up and beyond, and that irked Avril, but she was powerless to prevent it as the decision had already been taken.
"Miss?" the worker politely prompted. These workers were already part of the Winery’s staff and were used to events such as what was being planned.
"Ah, yes, my apologies for zoning out. Please place the flute glass as well as the others on each of the designated tables...."
"Erm, you know what, let’s change it up a bit. Since we want people to mingle up, place the glasses at vantage points throughout the room. Also, serve the snacks over there...."
Ava pointed to one side of the room.
"You already know where the spit bowl will go, right?"
The staff nodded, and Ava turned, bringing her attention to the room.
"Wait! Those flowers should be there...."
Ava frowned and beckoned to the person with the flowers,
"No, these are too fragrant. They cannot appreciate the wine that way! That’s why I requested a mix of Calla Lilies in the mix to balance it all out! Oh no! Do we have enough time to get some here?"
"Don’t worry, Ava; we can! I think there was a mix-up with the delivery because I did place that order. I’ll check on it right away!"
Ava could sense their enthusiasm, and her heart bloomed. Of course, this was not their attitude the day before. However, after working with Ava for a day, all their resistance had been melted away.
This was the scene that Avril had come to meet that morning: Ava, standing in the middle and giving instructions all over. Ava looked efficient.
Avril frowned as her eyes landed on that annoying girl. However, she was impressed with the room, not that she would ever admit it.
The bare event room with high ceilings had been transformed beyond recognition. Long, bright champagne-coloured drapes hung stylishly on the walls, giving the room a sense of largeness that did not exist before.
The room was a 50-seater place but looked somehow larger because of this. Tall vases of flowers graced each corner of the room, adding more liveliness to it.
Avril had expected tables and chairs all around and in silos, but that was not so, and it surprised her. Tall circular tables almost to the height of a person but just enough for people to rest their elbows on were scattered randomly inside the room. Upon closer look, that also drew some sort of a flowery pattern.
’How in the world did she do that?’ Avril asked herself as she looked up.
The shimmery chandelier reflected the room’s subtle colours and gave off a different and beautiful look.
It all fit so perfectly that Avril was at a loss for words. However, Avril swallowed her surprised look and marched up to where Ava was still giving instructions.
"You know we are almost behind time, right? Why is it taking so long?" Avril asked, tapping her legs and looking all around. This question made almost everyone in the room temporarily pause from their tasks and look at Avril strangely.
’Behind time? What ridiculousness was that? This was the only time they had almost completed their work hours before the allotted time, and what was she saying?’
They wisely did not speak out; they didn’t even have to, as their thoughts were in synchrony, as were their sharp gazes on Avril.
Avril cleared her throat as Ava replied,
"Don’t worry, sister Avril, we will make it on time."
"Who is your sister?" Avril snapped before realizing that some eyes were still on them.
"Well, since Shelby is your younger sister and she is my sister, that also makes you my elder sister!" Ava pointed out with a smile that did not reach her eyes.
Avril opened her mouth to refute this but knew that it would go against her. She had openly said that Shelby was her little sister. If she denied Ava, then did that mean that she had not meant the words she had spoken to Shelby?
Avril rubbed her temples, silently cursing Ava in her mind.
"I-" Avril also started and then, ’ring! ring! ring!’
The piercing sound of her ringtone pierced the room,
"Excuse me, I need to take this," Avril raised her index finger, shushing Ava in mid-sentence. Ava shook her head and turned back to giving instructions. She shook her head,
"I am just a gastronomist. Why is she asking me to do this? The last event I hosted was the tasting event for my final year project...."
She rubbed her forehead as the rising tension started to form a small headache.
Even though the request had come from the top, the request had been for Ava to cater and provide the snacks for the event. However, Avril had put Ava on the spot by tasking her with more. One did not need to be a genius to understand that Avril was picking on Ava, but she had never expected Ava to actually exceed her expectations.
"I guess I can think of it as a slightly bigger project work for my professor to inspect, hahaha....."
Ava muttered to herself as she walked around the reserved conference and event room in the HQ of the winery offices. The place had been transformed beyond recognition under her hands. Actually, Ava was excited about doing this. In another life, Ava most probably could have been an event planner, and Ava would have excelled at that.
Ava had only changed her major because funding was attached to the gastronomy course. As for Event planning, Ava might have had to spend more money during the program for the little mini-events she would have had to host for her mini-projects throughout the program—money she did not have then.
It was not like Ava could have relied on Marvin to help her in any way. It had always been Ava vs. the world!
Ava did not even look at Avril’s retreating back and continued with what she had been doing before this new person arrived.
"Why are you calling? This is not what we agreed! You were supposed to meet me as soon as I touched down! What is with this hide-and-seek?" Avril shouted into the phone as soon as she exited the room, forgetting her surroundings.
The sudden hush around her made her turn. Almost everyone had stopped what they were doing in a wide lobby and stared at her with disapproval.
She bowed her head in embarrassment and lowered her voice to a sharp whisper.
"What is going on? Why did you even pester me so much to return only to be left like a dummy!?"
"Just deal with the girl as you see fit! Don’t tell me you cannot handle such a little girl?"
A mocking voice could be heard from the other side of the phone, making Avril clench her fists in annoyance.
She did not like it when people played with her feelings, especially from another little girl! The person had not even bothered to conceal her voice. Avril did not know whether this brat was stupid or overly self-confident.
Who does that? Avril could not wrap her head around it.
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