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“She’s going to love this,” Molly nodded, taking out her phone to snap a few pictures.
Austin hadn’t been aware that Jane had gone ahead and pulled all of this for Molly’s visit. He knew that Jane was impeccable at what she did, but he didn’t realize just how far she would go. He knew these clients were huge, but he had a feeling she would do something like this for just about any client.
“This looks great, Jane,” Austin said, smiling at her. “Great job!”
“Thank you,” Jane said, happy with their praise. “I only set two places, but I’ll get another place sent out for me for our tasting–”
“Oh, it’s no big deal!” Molly quickly answered, sitting down in one of the seats. “Here, Austin, come sit,” Molly said, pulling Austin over toward her. Jane felt a sudden sting, sensing that she was being pushed out of this little meeting. “We’ll play bride and groom while we’re here.”
“Why don’t we have Jane set up one more set so she can join us and walk through the sampling with us?” Austin asked, glancing over at Jane, feeling bad that Molly was eliminating her. “I’m sure the team can do it quickly and she's the lead on this wedding. After all, I just follow along and do what the boss says,” he responded, trying to make a joke, but hoping to make it clear to Molly that Jane should stay.
“Oh… let’s not hold this up,” Molly said with a smile as she looked over at Austin. “We don’t have all day. And besides, Jane… you have all the details about everything we will be sampling, right?”
“Yes,” Jane answered, handing them each a folder, knowing that Molly didn’t want her to sit with them, but she was thankful Austin was trying to turn things around.
“So, if it’s all in here, do you need to stay and explain everything as it comes out?” asked Molly.
“Oh,” Jane said, playing it cool, realizing not only did Molly not want her to sit down, but she also didn’t want her to stay. “Um, yeah, I guess so. I don’t need to stay if you don’t think you’ll need me. The point is to make sure you leave with solid choices for Kat and Mike, which I’m sure Austin can oversee,” she said. She was confident Austin could manage this, yet she didn't want Molly thinking that she was running the show.
“Perfect,” Molly smiled brightly, looking over at Austin. “See, we’re all set. We will text when we’re done!”
Austin gave Molly his million-dollar smile but quickly looked over at Jane who was standing there with a polite smile on her face. He couldn’t understand this sense of protection he felt for her right now, not wanting her to leave. She looked pretty today with her long hair combed up in a ponytail. She also wore red lipstick to match her dress, which was a nice touch. Austin was sure she wanted to give Molly a piece of her mind, but she kept her cool, knowing that her job was to make sure that everything for this wedding was locked into place. And his new job was to make sure all the high-profile clients were happy. Austin and Jane both knew that schmoozing with Molly was on the agenda.
“I’ll have them begin service,” Jane said, signaling to the staff that they could begin bringing over dishes and drinks. “You’ll find the price points, too,” Jane added.
“Price isn’t going to be a problem,” Molly chimed sweetly. “Kat and Mike basically have an unlimited budget. They just want it perfect, which is my job.”
Jane nodded, “Right, well, enjoy.” She looked over at Austin, wanting to make it clear to Molly that she ran the business here. “If there are any questions about anything, text me and I’ll get back to you immediately. I’ll be in my office catching up on a few things,” she added, not giving Molly the choice to be the one to get in touch with her.
“You sure you don’t want to stay?” Austin asked, trying to give Jane the chance to stake her claim. “You know they can have another setting out in no time,” he said, feeling that it was important to give her one more chance to stay. He liked Molly, and he didn’t want to mess up anything for this big wedding, but he also didn’t like how she was treating Jane.
“No, no…” Jane smiled, appreciative of his words. “You two enjoy this and we can regroup afterward to go over a few other things.”
“Sounds fabulous,” Molly smiled, excited about her alone time with Austin.
Jane walked off, leaving the two of them in the dining room as the staff began to deliver the first dish. Jane had made it as easy as possible for Molly to take back the final options for Kat and Mike. She knew there couldn’t be any more time wasted on finalizing the menu and layout for this wedding.
“Is she ever not in work mode?” Molly chuckled as Jane walked off. “I mean, chill out a little. I do this for a living, but she takes planning to a completely different level.”
Austin felt his stomach tighten as he looked over at Molly and mustered a smile. He wanted to make sure he defended Jane because he knew Molly meant it as a slight. “She takes her job very seriously here, which is why my father and mother hired her,” he said.
“Oh, I know,” Molly said quickly, not wanting to upset Austin, “she’s just over the top with the planning, very serious about it. I mean, she needs to learn to relax a little, right?”
“I’m sure she does when she’s not working,” Austin shrugged, not wanting to get into this with her. “She just wants to make sure everything is perfect for all our clients.”
“And it will be, I’ll make sure of it,” she smiled up at Austin with puppy dog eyes. “I hope she’s not upset that I didn’t want her here. I just thought we would have more fun without her. To be honest with you, I’m not sure she would know fun if it bit her on the butt!” Molly chuckled.
