“The concert’s coming up fast. Are we ready?” Victoria asked.
Penny wagged her hand from side to side.
“Almost ready, then?” Victoria continued.
“The logistics are in pretty good shape,” said Penny. “At least we don’t have to worry about catering; Florence has everything sorted for the reception. The food and drinks will be terrific and everything’ll be within the budget. Bevan assures me that the sound system will work perfectly and the transportation arrangements are all in place. How about the concert? Everything okay with the music?”
“It’s good. Our guest singer is scheduled for a run-through discussion with me and then the final rehearsal. Is Rhian’s grandfather still doing a bit better? Is she okay now to act as Karis’s assistant?”
“She is. I asked Rhian to contact Karis and let her know that she’ll be available to her if she wants or needs anything.” Penny glanced at her watch. “Eirlys is on that makeup course today, so I’m doing the manicures. My client will be here in a few minutes, so I’d best crack on.”
At that moment Rhian herself poked her head around the door.
“I’ve just heard from Karis,” she said. “She wants a hair appointment for this afternoon. She wants a colour treatment. She says she wants the color done today in case she doesn’t like it and if it has to be done over there’ll still be time to get it right.”
Victoria covered her eyes with her hands and let out an exasperated gasp. “Oh, no. Here we go. I’ve worked with divas before and believe me, this is just the beginning.”
“Of all the bloody cheek!” exclaimed Penny. “We didn’t even offer her a colour and it was awfully generous of us to offer hair, manicure, and makeup at all. It’s great that Eirlys is doing the makeup course and she’ll put it to good use for wedding clients, but she’s doing it now, really, just to accommodate Miss Karis Edwards. Really, expecting a colour treatment on top of everything else is just brass-necked cheek, if you ask me.”
“We need to check the rider,” said Victoria. “See what we’ve agreed to provide and we’ll do that and not one thing more.”
“And what about tonight?” said Penny. “We didn’t agree to pay her hotel for tonight. I hope she doesn’t expect us to. It was her choice to arrive early.”
“First, let’s get this hair colour sorted,” said Victoria. “Rhian, does Alberto have any free time this afternoon to take her? We are certainly not cancelling a regular client so we can accommodate madam.”
“He said he was willing to squeeze her in,” Rhian said.
“Right, well, you get back to her, Rhian, and tell her that although a hair colour treatment was not included in our offer, as a goodwill gesture we will do it for her. But only one. We won’t redo it if she doesn’t like it.” She looked from one to the other. “I think it’s important at this early stage that we let her have the colour treatment to get everything off on the right foot. Am I right?” Rhian and Penny indicated agreement, so Victoria continued. “But you should also find a way, Rhian, to let her know that going forward we can provide only what was agreed to in the rider. And if she gives you any attitude about anything, let me know and I’ll speak to her.”
Penny gave them both an encouraging smile. “Just a few more days. We can get through this.” And then she added, “Right, well, we’ve all got a mountain of work to climb this morning, so let’s get on with it.”