“And your ass looks amazing in yours,” I quip back. “You have the curves I want.”
We pull into the radio station parking lot, and I grab my bag out of the backseat which has our portfolio with pictures from all of the parties we’ve planned over the years. The Nightmare Ball for 95.1 The EDGE is one of the hottest and largest Halloween events in the Queen City. When Jordan and I got the call the other day from one of the radio hosts, we couldn’t say no. I’ve been looking forward to this meeting all week.
Jordan takes in a deep breath and blows it out slowly as we get closer to the door. “Relax,” I say, giggling under my breath. “We got the job already.”
“I know,” she replies nervously. “I’m still shocked they booked us without meeting us first.”
It surprised me as well, but what I figure is we came highly recommended by someone we’ve worked with before. When we get to the door, it opens, and a young man with dark hair and a wide, bright smile greets us. He holds out his hand to me first. “You must be Ensley Anderson.” I recognize his voice from the radio; it’s Damien Forrester, the man I spoke to on the phone who was told to hire us.
I smile and shake his hand. “I am.”
Then he turns to Jordan. “And, Jordan McMahan.”
She shakes his hand, and he opens the door wider. “Come on in,” he says. “My name’s Damien Forrester. We spoke on the phone the other day.”
I walk in and turn to him. “It’s nice to meet you.” Jordan agrees with a nod.
He flourishes a hand toward the hallway. “The meeting room is right down the hall. I’m looking forward to working with you both.”
“Same with you. Halloween’s my favorite time of the year,” I say as we follow him.
“Glad to hear it.” He walks into the giant meeting room with a large oval table that can seat twelve people. Jordan and I take our seats, and he sits across from us.
“I don’t know if you wanted to look at our portfolio, but I brought it just in case you were curious to see what we can do.” I look over at Jordan and then back to him. “Guess you can say we were a little shocked the station hired us without a meeting first.”
Damien waves me off. “You came highly recommended. One of Tri-City Media Group’s owners attended one of your parties and was thoroughly impressed. He convinced the others you were a sure fit to make our event a success.”
The compliment makes me smile. “We’re flattered. Thank you so much for the opportunity.”
Damien sits back in his chair, his gaze roaming back and forth from me and Jordan. “The station wants this year’s party to be different from the others. We want it bigger and better, which means we need a different venue. I was hoping you’d have some suggestions. We also want to make this year’s event for singles only. There have been lots of requests for it.”
Interesting. It’s actually not a bad idea. It just so happens I have a ton of ideas. I slide my small notebook out of my bag and write down some notes. “Don’t worry about the venue. Jordan and I have put together many events in downtown. I know the perfect place.” We just had a party at a nice hotel in downtown that’d be perfect. It’s also convenient having it at a hotel since it’s a singles only ball. I’m sure a lot of the hotel rooms will be booked up that night once it’s said and done.
I scribble a few more notes into my notebook. “How about food?” I ask, meeting Damien’s gaze. “Open bar? Dessert only? Costumes mandatory?”
His grin widens. “All of the above. I’m leaving it all in your capable hands. There’s no money limit on this. I was told to give you free rein on whatever your creative mind comes up with.”
Never in my life have we been given such freedom with planning a party. I honestly don’t know how much to do. Jordan seems to be in just as much shock judging by her gaping mouth. She looks at me and laughs. “Wow. This is a first.”
Damien slides an envelope my way. “My boss wanted me to give you this upfront. It should cover the entire party, and also, your fee for planning.”
The envelope isn’t sealed and I really want to peek inside, but something tells me it’s going to be way more than enough. “Thank you,” I say as I slide the envelope into my notebook. “We won’t let you down.”
Damien stands and holds out his hand. “I know you won’t. We’re all looking forward to the party. The tickets usually sell out within the first hour they’re posted. We’ll wait to put them up for sale until we hear from you on the venue. This way, we can figure out how many tickets we need.”