More Issues Than Vogue | ✔️

Chapter 7

For the next thirty minutes, Terry talked animatedly about the lengthy steps in preparation for the EPAA Gala. His arms flailed when he spoke about the performances, his lips quivered when he described the delectable entrees, and his eyes gleamed at the vision of the shiny awards. It was a show just watching him describe the night in detail. He had a wild imagination and I got goose bumps just thinking about how I'd actually be a part of the action.

"Though there isn't a set theme, this year we want everything to shine. Glitter, sparkle, sequins. Think Hollywood glamour," Terry's eyes flashed and his long fingers waved in the air as if there was a cloud of glitter raining above him. "It's going to be fabulous."

"Gosh, it sounds amazing" Bessa said with love struck eyes.

"It will be honey," Terry snapped his fingers at her. "I'll be meeting with the interns from each magazine under Chester Publications and assigning them tasks to do for the Gala. You all are in charge of the guest list and venue - this includes invitations, decorations, and seating arrangements. Also, we need the itinerary planned as well. The interns at Baked will be in charge of catering and dining and the ones from Mayhem will be putting together the musical and oral performances."

I jotted down these notes onto a notepad and noticed that Kevin was looking over my shoulder, pretending to copy down my notes. I softly shoved him, flashing him a playful smile, and he winked at me.

"Haley and Kevin-"

The both of our heads quickly shot up and my heart stopped beating for a second when I saw Terry's piercing eyes.

"-since you two seem to like fooling around, maybe you'd like to be in charge of the hardest part of the entire gala."

"The guest list?"

"Invitations?"

We both guessed.

Terry simply gave us a sinister grin. "Decorations."

I gulped in fear. Decorations couldn't be that hard, right? I mean what are a couple bags of confetti, sparkly balloons, and some glittery tassels?

"That's like the easiest part," Tony whined. "All they have to do is pop into Party City and they're good to go."

The way Terry's chuckle resonated in the air scared me. "You amateurs. Do you know how big the Wyman Building is? We spend $150,000 on decorations alone for last years EPAA Gala. You've got to cover the walls, figure out proper lighting, enrich the hallways, bathrooms, doorways, and not to mention, the centerpieces. And that's just the beginning."

Kevin and I exchanged terrified looks, his eyes filled with a mixture of anxiety and nervousness. I slid my clammy hands against the side of my skirt to dampen the perspiration, but it was no use. Kevin stole my pen and started writing furiously on his notepad, knowing that we had a lot of work cut out for us.

"You two up for this?" Terry asked.

Chelsea snickered, throwing me a satisfied grin. I wanted nothing more than to rip her to shreds, but I didn't have a choice. I stared at Terry with what I hoped was a determined face and said, "We've got it covered."

Kevin cleared his throat and whispered to me. "I hope so."

"Great," Terry said. "Bessa and Tony you can work on the guest list and seating arrangements, and Chelsea, you're in charge of invitations."

Bessa and Tony exchanged high fives.

"What?" Chelsea shrieked, "That's it? Just invitations? Why does everyone else get a bigger task than I do?"