Caught Between the Ashford Brothers

Chapter 18

Iris

Everything that could go wrong the day of the launch went wrong, starting from the event programme material temporarily getting lost—we found out that the event team had already sent the material to the venue about thirty minutes later after ransacking the whole office—to one of our scheduled posts going up at the wrong time. Add in typo errors in the caption, which I somehow got blamed for. Models arriving late, multiple wardrobe malfunctions happening during fittings, technical failures at the venue.

I didn't have the luxury of getting off my feet until about 4 pm, exactly two hours before the event was to start. At this point, things were going smoothly again, including our online campaign, whose analytics I decided to check on again since that was part of the task I had been assigned for today.

I went through the numbers, went through the comments and took out a note from my pocket to jot down some things when a loud yell suddenly went through the makeshift room we had turned into our backstage. I shot up from my seat, concerned that that was somehow for me.

I realized a second later that it wasn't. It was one of the lead designers, John, going off on a young lady who had her head bowed. “What the f**k do you mean you don’t know?”

"I… I thought the team already packed it with the dress because I didn't find it anywhere while going through the closet. I didn't know…” her voice hitched, obviously shaky.

John sighed. “Did you check the cabinet behind the pressing station? The finishing drawer?”

“No,” she said after a very tense moment of silence.

“b***h! That’s where it was put after ironing out the finishing touches!!! What happened to using your ears during meetings?! Are you so daft?!”

I fidgeted with my hands as she muttered again shakily. “I'm sorry, sir.”

“Sorry?! How is 'sorry' going to fix this?”

“What's going on?” Everyone in the room turned to look at Miss Hale when she walked in, a number of people behind her. “Jana told me something was wrong.”

“Yes. This dumb b***h forgot the gloves for the final couture piece, and we have only about what, an hour before guests start arriving.”

The horror was evident on her face as she registered that news. “What?!" What do we do? Can she go get it?”

“I don't know! There's the time factor coupled with the fact that we need every hand on deck here, no matter how dumb. And I can't even improvise. We have already sent out the look books to the press!” He turned back to the lady as if to emphasize just how serious the issue was, and I saw more than heard her sniffle.

This was very serious. In fact, I'm sure everyone is panicking inside right now. I mean, we would all be f****d if this escalates and affects the brand image. f**k.

I shot my hand up before I could think about my actions properly. “I can go get it.”

Everyone turned to me now, making my anxiety skyrocket through the roof.

“Iris?” I stepped forward, a very awkward smile on my face. “Yes, Ma."

“What are you doing currently?”

“Nothing. Just monitoring the online campaign… which is going well, by the way.” I somehow felt the need to add that.

“Is that okay?” She ignored the rest of my statement the minute I uttered nothing and turned to him.

“It's still the time factor.”

“But if she goes, we might be able to fix things up even with guests around. I mean, it's better than not trying, right?”

He fidgeted with one of the concerning number of rings on his finger, paced around for a bit, ran his hand through his hair and finally made a grunt of agreement. "Okay, let's do this. You know your way to the atelier, right?”

I nodded, already mapping out my way to the tall converted warehouse building stationed a few blocks away from the headquarters itself. I'd been there a number of times while running errands for the team during the days leading up to the launch and I knew my way around the place… a bit. I think.

“Good. Here.” He took out a key from a large keyholder attached to his belt and handed it to me. “The glove is in a bag in the large cabinet behind the pressing station… it's pretty easy to see. Or the finishing drawers beneath the long table right at the center of the room once you walk in.”

“Be careful with it and make sure you guard that piece with your life. Like high-grade security level guarding. If anything happens to it, you might as well forget about coming back because…” my stomach twisted into knots just at the thought of it.

Fuck. Now I was scared.

“Okay, everyone, back to work.” Miss Hale clapped as she twirled around the room. “We have less than an hour now.”

“Go!” She turned back to me when she noticed I still hadn't moved an inch from my spot.

“Oh okay. Uhm… bye.”

I hurried back to the locker setup by the corner to grab my purse and badge from my bag and I started searching for rides around me the moment I stepped out of the hotel.

Fuck.

There were no rides nearby.

I refreshed my screen again just in case as I walked around the tall hotel building to the front where cars were already beginning to line up, and I looked down at my phone when I heard a ping.

Oh my God. Yes. Finally. One ride was available. Driver, 2.3 miles away and the fare was pretty good.

I clicked on the request ride button to quickly initiate the transaction and was about to confirm the pickup when I heard a very loud horn blast at me.

“What the f**k?!” I muttered, looking up to see who the f**k had done that to notice that I was the one in the wrong. On the street, just a bit past the curb with a black car heading straight for me.

“Oh shit.” On instinct, I stepped back, feeling my heels catch the curb, which in turn sent me to the ground and I stared, horrified as the car screeched to a stop right in front of me, in the spot I'd just been standing in seconds ago.