Page 6 of Clued in to Love
“No. Someone dropped it off for you.”
Hilary peered into the bag. It contained one of her favorite cranberry orange muffins, a set of hand warmers, and a note from Ben.
Don’t forget to eat. Good luck!
Love you. Ben
She warmed her hands on the latte and tucked the hand warmers into her vest for later. Typical Ben. He must have stopped by her favorite coffee shop on his way to the gym.
Her husband was notorious for sweet gestures like packing a lunch for her before she left for work or preparing his famous chicken pot pie on cold winter nights so that dinner and a glass of wine were waiting for her when she got home. He went out of his way to show Hilary his love and affection, which only made her feel worse. This was supposed to be a time in their lives when they rekindled their relationship. But Hilary was worried—terrified, actually—that her flame had gone out permanently.
FOUR
MARISSA
Marissa could feel hot tears threatening to release. She blinked hard. This day had been too much. What were the odds that, out of everyone setting up for the party, one of the Graff family members would bump into her, torpedo her charcuterie board, and drown her jeans in greasy pesto?
This is officially the worst day ever.
William continued to stare at her with a goofy smile. “You want me to check the kitchen for crackers?” He turned to a staff member wheeling a cart of gift baskets past them. “Can you clean this up once you’re done with that?”
His staffer nodded and scurried away. Marissa figured his employee wanted to limit their interaction with him, too. The guy oozed entitlement. “So, crackers?”
“No. No. You don’t get it.” Marissa shook her head and tried to maintain her cool. She had already made a terrible first impression. She needed to salvage what she could. “I’m a food arranger. That board took me an hour to put together. I can’t just throw a couple of boxes of crackers on a tray.”
“A food arranger?” His dark brows arched higher.
Could he be any more condescending?
“I need to bring the rest of the platters in,” Marissa said, ignoring his comment and pointing to his outfit. “By the way, did I miss a memo? Is this a costume party?” She could have sworn that Mrs. Graff had said black tie when they’d finalized the menu.
He chuckled. Then he ran his hands over his hideous suit, finally shutting off the blinking reindeer tie. “No, this party is definitely not a costume party.” He didn’t elaborate. Instead, he glanced around the ballroom with authority. “Let me get someone to help you unload the rest of your supplies.”
“No,” Marissa said with more force than she intended. “No, thank you. I’ve got it.” She moved away from him. She didn’t need him to direct one of his minions to help her. She needed to set up the grazing table and get out of there as fast as possible. William’s energy was off-putting. Marissa knew his type—born into money. Probably a ski bum who spent his days shredding the slopes of Mt. Bachelor and spending his parents’ money on expensive cars and adventurous toys.
What’s the deal with the cheesy holiday suit?she asked herself as she traipsed through the snow to get the Santa cookie platters.
She made sure to avoid William on her way back inside, although it was hard to do, given that he was laughing loudly in the center of the ballroom. He had an audience of staffers and the singing troupe cracking up at his jokes.
“They’re probably hoping for a bigger tip,” Marissa muttered under her breath. She stuffed her headphones in and cranked up her favorite Mariah Carey Christmas playlist while she put together her display.
She began the painstaking task of rolling hundreds of pieces of salami into a snaking river on the center of large acacia wood and marble cheese boards. Styling boards involved so much more than simply opening a box of crackers and dumping themon a plate with some cheese slices. When meeting with new clients, Marissa loved explaining how she approached arranging boards by sourcing local products, ensuring each food pairing worked together, and creating a stunning sensory delight.
“We eat with our eyes first” was one of her go-to sayings at pitch meetings with new clients. Marissa didn’t simply put cheese or meat on a board. She created art.
The Graff contract was for a full grazing table, Marissa’s highest price point. In addition to the charcuterie boards, she set up holiday dessert boards with chocolate fondue, marshmallows, berries, assorted cookies, and pound cake for dipping. They had also asked for Santa cookie platters for a touch of whimsy. Marissa had opted for a traditional red, white, and green palette for the sweet boards. She filled star-shaped ramekins with red and green gummy bears and peppermint bark. Then she fanned gingerbread and snowman cookies around the silver platter in spirals. The look was finished with candy canes, gumdrops, white chocolate-dipped pretzels, popcorn, red and white M&M’s, and marzipan Christmas trees.
Marissa stood back to survey her work.
Not bad.
Her savory boards were equally festive with pops of red and green in the form of pomegranate seeds, cranberry cream cheese dip, fresh raspberries and cherries, basil pesto, green olives, kiwi tulips, rose-shaped cucumber slices, and sprigs of rosemary.
Marissa’s mood improved as she finished the task. This might be her best yet. The red-and-green theme definitely gave the grazing table a cohesive look. Marissa had elevated sections with tiers of bread and tapered candles to give contrasting height. She had framed the entire table with foliage—wisps of eucalyptus darted along the edges. Sprigs of holly, rosemary, and bundles of flowers filled in any open space. It was truly asmorgasbord of sensory delight. Everything looked too good to eat.
Mission accomplished.
She bit her bottom lip and snapped pictures for her social media. Fortunately, she’d been able to rearrange a few of the savory platters to fill in for the one that William had ruined.
