Page 25 of Arranging Ayra
Damn. I was falling for him... falling hard.
SEVEN
To put everyone in a festive mood, someone had put on some Christmas music. I smiled as I made my way down the hall, the sound of jingle bells ringing in my ears.
I entered the ballroom and quickly caught Keely’s gaze. Standing with a tech guy as they looked over the sketch of the ballroom scene and the desired effect, she waved me over.
“Good morning,” I said to both of them.
Keely turned to the technician. “Just make sure this one is working so that a faint glow comes up here and we should be good to go.”
He nodded and walked away.
“Ayra,” Keely quickly said. “Big day ahead. The big Christmas ballroom scene.”
“Darcy’s first dance with Elizabeth,” I said.
“That’s right. And that means we don’t have a minute to spare. As you can see, we’ve transformed a good portion of the room. Two settees have been placed over there, but I’m not sure they should stay.”
“I don’t see why not. The space is generous enough for dancing and all the guests.”
“But what I need from you now...” Keely looked around the room. “Over there. Cindy and Jai are preparing to go do a major makeover of the sitting room. Apparently, it’s been used as a storage room these past days and... anyway, can you go and give them a hand and ensure the room is ready... hopefully later today.”
“Sure thing.”
“Keep them in line. Jai tends to go off into his own imaginings sometimes. I need him to keep it real.”
I chuckled despite Keely’s complete lack of amusement. The stress of it all was getting to her. Her lips were almost always set in a tight line, and the slight bags under her eyes had darkened these past few days.
“Don’t worry, Keely,” I said, setting a soothing hand on her shoulder. “Things are going great. You’re doing a great job.”
She inhaled deeply and her shoulder sagged under my touch. “Thank you, Ayra. I’m beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. Things aren’t going as smoothly as I would have liked.”
“They never do.”
She nodded.
