Christmas in Heaven (eBook)

- Sapphic Romance
- Christmas
- Matchmaker
- Opposites Attract

Chapter 1 – Helen
“Helen, your one-thirty is here.” Bette, Helen’s assistant stuck her head around the door and smiled. “It’s Matilda Braga.”
“Matilda?” Helen looked up from her laptop and frowned. “That must be someone else’s client, I don’t have a—”
“Matilda Braga from Braga Events,” Bette interrupted her. “She’s here to talk through some stuff for the Christmas party.”
“Oh.” Helen rubbed her temple and sighed. Why had she volunteered to organise the Christmas party again? At the time, it had seemed like a great idea, but now it was just causing her stress on top of her already existing mountain of stress. Being a matchmaker, this was the busiest time of the year. Christmas was nearing and people were desperate for a date. Wealthy people who paid Heaven, the company Helen worked for, up to twelve thousand pounds to find them The One. That was great in terms of commission but not so great for her time management. She hadn’t had a day off in three weeks, and working around the clock, even at home on weekends, she was getting more tired by the day.
“Send her in,” she said but then held her hand up as Bette was about to leave. “Wait. Was I supposed to prepare something?”
Bette stared at her and shrugged. “I have no idea. I haven’t been involved in the Christmas party, and you didn’t brief me on anything.”
“Sure. Of course.” Helen cleared her throat, cursing herself for taking this on. More to the point, why had she put off doing anything about it until her colleagues started asking questions? Where is it? Will there be a theme? What about the food? On top of all that, her boss had decided that this year’s Christmas party would double as a matchmaking event, during which they’d match up hundred people from their database who hadn’t found love this year. In a panic, Helen had called tons of venues, but they were all fully booked. Her last resort was to spend part of the budget on a party planner—the only one who was willing to take on the job last minute—and that was where she was up to.
Straightening her navy blazer, Helen stood to greet the extravagantly dressed, petite, dark-haired women who walked in.
“Hi! You’re Matilda, right? Thank you so much for coming in. I’ve been really looking forward to meeting you.”
Helen made it sound like she’d been waiting for the woman all morning, but it was part of her skill set. She was highly trained in making people feel special; that was a big part of what made her so good at her job. If her clients felt welcome and understood, they signed on, and if they signed on, Helen usually found their match. Perhaps not a forever match, but her ninety-two percent success rate alongside rave reviews told her they were happy with her work.
“Hi. Yes, it’s so nice to meet you too.” Matilda accepted Helen’s offer to sit in the chair opposite her, placed her handbag on her lap and pulled out an iPad. “I know you’re very busy, and so am I, so we can keep this short and sweet if you prefer.”
“Thank you, that would be great,” Helen said, subtly regarding her. Matilda was her age, she guessed. Dressed in red, thigh-high suede boots, a short, frilly, red skirt and a green, oversized Christmas jumper, Matilda reminded her of an elf. Her dark hair was long and framed by a hairpiece with baubles and tinsel that put Helen’s mother’s Christmas tree to shame, and she almost passed comment on Matilda’s outfit, but something told her it wasn’t meant as a joke, so she wisely kept her thoughts to herself. “What do we need to discuss?”
Matilda scrolled through her iPad. “I have a list we need to work through. Let me find it.”
“Anything. Just ask away.”
Still scrolling, Matilda crossed her legs, flashing a hint of black lace from underneath the hem of her skirt.
Hold-ups. Helen’s smile widened, with genuine enthusiasm this time. She was amused that someone who dressed like an elf bothered with sexy lingerie. It wasn’t just the lace that put her in a better mood, though. She liked Matilda’s to-the-point, no-nonsense approach; there was a good chance this meeting would be over in no time and Helen could get back to her clients.
Matilda typed something and swiped a couple of times. “Special dietary requirements.” She looked up to meet Helen’s eyes. “Did you get my email last week? I think I sent a reminder too.”
“I saw it,” Helen lied, shifting uncomfortably on her chair. She’d forgotten all about it and made a mental note to ask Bette to compile a document. “It’s not quite there yet, but if you give me a couple of days, I’ll get that to you.”
“That’s fine, but please make it a priority,” Matilda said, scrolling again. “After Wednesday, we’re not able to change the menu much, as the venue has to plan their order in this busy time of year. We were lucky to get the venue in the first place after they had a cancellation, so I don’t want to mess them about.” She looked up briefly before she continued. “Which brings me to my second point. What’s your final number on guests? The venue needs to arrange heaters, as they’ll open up their roof terrace so people can have drinks outside if they wish. As you know, the building is high and central, so I imagine most will want to enjoy the romantic view after dinner.” She paused and narrowed her eyes at her screen. “The entertainment is a priority too. There are currently only two available bands left in my portfolio, I’m afraid. But if you have any ideas, I’m happy to look into them.”
Fuck. Helen held her breath, then blew out her cheeks. She had a rough idea of the numbers, but not everyone had responded to the invite yet, and she hadn’t listened to the samples of the bands Matilda had sent either. “When do you need to know all of this at the latest?”
“Today, ideally.” Matilda arched a brow, but her polite smile remained. “Helen, I want to organise a fantastic party for you and your colleagues and clients, but I can only do that if we’re able to sign things off together. So far, I’ve had no replies to the twenty-three emails I’ve sent you, and frankly, I’m a little stuck here. The party is just over a week away.”
Helen felt a tinge of panic bubbling in the back of her mind. Why hadn’t she acted sooner? She’d never been bad at a job, ever, but this Christmas nonsense was getting the better of her. Sure, she’d seen the emails, but there were always more pressing matters to take care of, and working seven days a week, she had no idea where to find the time. This Christmas party was important too, though; it wasn’t just any old work-do. It had to be nothing short of spectacular, and clearly money alone wasn’t enough to make that happen. It needed consideration and time. Her time. Many of their clients would be there, her boss would be there, and some of her colleagues who were jealous of her success and would love to see her fail were watching her like a hawk, secretly hoping the Christmas party would be a total and utter failure.
“Fuck.” She buried her face in her hands. “I apologise. I’ve just been so busy, and I have no idea when to do all this, or even how to get the information as quickly as you need it.” To her surprise, her eyes welled up, and she turned away for a moment, composing herself. She never cried, and she wasn’t going to start now. Swallowing hard, she tapped her desk, all too aware that she looked vulnerable, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. When she finally looked up, Matilda was staring at her. Helen didn’t know what that stare meant, and she didn’t want to.
“Okay.” Matilda sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Do you have all the phone numbers for the guests?”
“Yes.”
“Can you clear your schedule this afternoon?”
Helen hesitated. She was in over her head with open cases, but at least she didn’t have client meetings. “I suppose I could if, I take my work home tonight—”
“Good, then let’s get this sorted.” Matilda glanced over her shoulder through the glass doors. “And your assistant? Is she available?”
“I could ask her to help.” Helen felt a spark of hope at Matilda’s assertiveness. She hadn’t involved Bette, as everyone would’ve assumed she’d bummed the party planning off on her assistant. Which I’m about to do. But she had no choice because Matilda was right. With the party being next week, they had to get on with it. Everything else would have to wait today, and maybe, just maybe, the Heaven Christmas party wouldn’t be a total disaster.
“Call her in,” Matilda said. “I can see you’re about to have a breakdown, so please leave me in charge.”