Starry-Eyed Love (Spark House)

“What is all this?” Jackson crosses over to the soccer centerpiece.

While I was managing emails this morning, two of our part-time staff had been working on replicating my design. There are now twenty soccer-inspired centerpieces lining the table.

“Just the centerpieces for our upcoming event.”

“And they’re made in-house?”

“Oh yes. I source all the items from either recycle warehouses or estate sales. The estate sales are my favorite, if I’m going to be honest.”

“You design all of these?” Jackson picks up the centerpiece and turns it around, inspecting it closely.

“I do. I put together the first one and then we have a team who recreates the rest. Often it’s high school kids looking for volunteer opportunities, or sometimes interns.” I clasp my hands behind my back so I don’t fiddle with the ones sitting on the table.

“You’re quite talented, aren’t you?”

I shrug. “It’s the fun part of the job. Anyway, should we head back to the main house? I can show you the rooms and additional accommodation options, or would you prefer to go over the questions you have first?”

“Why don’t we review the questions and have a bite to eat? We’ll save the accommodations for the end.” He checks his watch, the one he was wearing the first time I met him in the bar. “If we have time.”

“Sure.”

We head back to the house, so Jackson can pick up the picnic basket.

We cross the yard to the picnic table set up under the apple tree. We’ll move the table later in the season, once the blossoms start to fall, but for now, it’s the perfect mix of shade and pretty scenery.

The scent of the blossoming flowers is heady and sweet, and the scene is classically romantic. I remind myself that while unconventional, this is still a business meeting.

I take a seat across from Jackson, and we unpack the basket, which contains all the makings for a charcuterie board filled with cheeses, meats, fruit, and sweet and savory treats. We spend the next hour nibbling away at the food, reviewing his questions and my proposal for the event.

“Do you think it’s best to have the auction items set up in a different room? Wouldn’t it be better if guests were able to browse the items the entire time?”

“The ballroom and the dining hall are connected. We can keep the doors open, so guests are able to move between the rooms. My fear is that if it’s all in the same room, we won’t be able to showcase the auction items properly and the dining hall will be too crowded.”

Jackson taps on the edge of the table. “Ideally we want guests to be in the same room as the auction items for most of the evening to inspire bidding.”

“Yes, of course. We can arrange for the cocktail hour to be held in the auction room, and the dining room can remain closed until it’s time for dinner. They’ll have a view of all of the items from where they’re dining, and if you think it makes sense, we can have a few of the more standout items inside the dining area.”

“That’s a good idea. Has Mitchell sent you a list of the donated items yet?”

“Just yesterday. It’s a very impressive list. And a great way to bring attention to such an important charity.” It’s a foundation that provides financial and respite support to families with terminally ill parents, so they don’t have to go through it all on their own. They provide meals, among other services and support for youth who are in the same position Jackson once was. “I’ve actually already set up a preliminary layout for the auction room. Would you like to see?”

“Already? You work fast.”

“I was inspired.” I pull up the room blueprint on my tablet, and Jackson goes through the layout. “We felt it would be a good idea to feature each item and the business that donated it on social media leading up to the auction. That way we can show our appreciation for each business that has made a contribution.”

“Harley will handle that?”

“Yes, but I can have Mitchell vet each post, and we can create a schedule for those.”

“I’ll actually have our team coordinate with Selene so everything rolls out smoothly.”

“Okay, whatever works best. I don’t want to step on any toes.”

Jackson nods and flips his pen between his fingers. “Also, any kind of video feeds that you plan on putting up need to be vetted by my team.”

“You mean for this event?”

“Specifically yes, but once we’ve matched you with sponsors, we’ll also need to have approval.”

“Where the sponsors are concerned or are you talking on a broader level?”

“We don’t want anything going up that could negatively affect our strategic roll out of Teamology, and you’ve had a couple of instances in the past where things that probably shouldn’t have made it online, have, so we’ll want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”