Chapter 51

Nan’s POV

My career as a wedding planner is turning to dust before my eyes.

That is the only explanation for the burning in my eyes. It is not tears…it’s not. It’s just the dust of my dreams in my eyes, that’s all.

‘Am I cursed?’ I ponder.

“A big mistake…can you elaborate on that?” I ask politely. Hiding my agitation.

“Ms. Lupa, you have completely overestimated the budget. We are now in serious debt.” Mr. Darren says sternly.

The blood drains from my face. My heart skips an uncertain beat. ‘No…no…that can’t be!’

“Mr. Darren, I don’t-I don’t know-that doesn’t-how?!” I stutter out incomprehensively.

His sharp eyes narrow. “I don’t know what you thought you were doing but you have single-handedly thrown everything into chaos.”

He puts out a folder and places it on his desk. He is too professional to slam it on the desk. But I can see he dearly wishes too.

I wrench it open. In it sits a list of detailed complaints from various departments. All of them mention back orders, missing pieces, and uneven distributions of orders.

Important décor is missing for the ceremony. There is not enough dining ware for the reception. The venue for the cocktail party will be understaffed and lack the proper number of drinks for the number of guests.

It is a mess. The entire wedding is in danger. I see that the mishap all traces back to...me.

I do not believe the words on the page at first. It’s too distressing. How could I have messed up so horribly as to ruin the wedding?

But to my dismay, the paper trail is not wrong. I did place those misorders. I seriously messed up.

Stress sends a stinging sensation down the base of my neck. Hot flashes follow. I unconsciously begin to bounce one of my knees.

“Mr. Darren, I am so, so sorry. I don’t understand how this happened.” I say hoarsely.

His face remains impassive. “Explain yourself. Tell me the events that led to this.”

“After the bi-weekly meeting, I went over all of the plans with the other coordinators. Everything was running smoothly. The only coordinator left to speak with was…you.”

“I have not met with you before now.” He states in a matter-of-fact way.

I nod. “No, we haven’t. I went by your office, but you were not there.”

Mr. Darren raises a finger to his temple thoughtfully. But he does not interrupt again. So, I continue with my recounting.

“I met your assistant. He gave me the contract and said that he had your permission to give me a copy.” I say urgently.

‘Please believe me,’ I think. I cannot do anything to fix this mistake if I can’t get Mr. Darren’s help.

“Ms. Lupa, I do not see how this pertains to your mistake.” He informs me.

“That’s what I am trying to explain. I only ordered everything exactly as the budget stated on my copy of the contract. I don’t know how this happened.”

Mr. Darren’s unimpressed expression deepens. My anxiety does as well. “That doesn’t sound right.”

“How so?”

“First of all, my assistant does not have permission to release confidential documents. He must always confirm with me.” He says emphatically.

“That’s not what he told me.” I reply helplessly. Unsure of where this conversation is going.

Mr. Darren continues as though I have not spoken.

“Second of all, you should never have taken the contract without meeting me first. I would have needed to go over the budget with you personally before signing off on it to make sure you agreed and understood it.”

I flush at his reminder. In my eagerness to go home I had forgotten that curtesy rule. It was not a policy, but the head coordinators preferred to confirm in person.

‘I had been in such a rush that I forgot the basics…’ I bow my head. Now unable to meet his well-deserved scolding face.

“I apologize once more. I had no clue something like this would happen.” I utter.

He sighs. “Unfortunately, because you committed the mistake, the others feel it should be you who finds the solution.”

That takes me aback some. “What? But how could I think of something by myself?”

‘This is not an easy fix,’ I think. ‘There’s no way I can do this alone.’

But Mr. Darren does not seem to feel any sympathy for my plight.

“Don’t complain. Everyone else did their part correctly. This is your misstep.”

It raises my metaphorical hackles. “But I’m not the main one at fault!” I argue.

“Ms. Lupa-” He tries to say. But I am too indignant to listen.

“Your assistant also messed up! He clearly gave me the wrong contract. If he hadn’t, everything would have been fine.”

It gives me a great idea. I would show Mr. Darren the truth. That Jonsen could share some of the blame too.

“Show me the contract. I’ll prove it too you.” I say defiantly.

Mr. Darren meets my irate expression coolly. Evaluating me. Testing my resolve on the matter.

But I do not budge. ‘Why should only I take the blame?’ I scowl.

He growls under his breath. That small slip in composure gives me some consolation. Clearly, I am not the only one aggravated by this confrontation.

He leans back. Moves behind his computer. Tapes the keys on the keyboard aggressively as he looks back and forth between the desktop and me.

I cross my arms in response. Keeping my shot nerves well-hidden. I will not show weakness now.

‘If Lionel were here, he would stand his ground and demand compensation.’ The thought almost makes me smile. ‘Lionel would not let this stand…’

It’s funny how even in this situation Lionel still rests in my thoughts. I can just imagine the growl he would emit if Mr. Darren dared to accuse him. Mr. Darren would not be so unyielding then.

The sound of a printer pulls me from my musings. Mr. Darren walks toward a back room I had not noticed and enters. He emerges only moments later.

He puts the freshly printed page in front of me. “Here.” He says flatly.

I pick it up and read it. Everything looks about the same. But there is one huge difference…

‘These two sections are half the amount of the budget I was given…’ I notice. It would not be anything that stuck out at first glance.

But I had seen the budget of the contract I had been originally given. I remembered making those orders. The number did not add up.

I point to those sections. “This is different. The contract I read was double that in these two sections.”

Mr. Darren frowns. “I see…”

“That’s where everything went wrong. It threw everything off.” I realize.

By using double the amount in those two sections, funds from other sections had to compensate. This threw everything off as a result. All of the budget chaos finally made sense.

Understanding where the mistake originated did not bring me any relief.

‘But that does not solve the actual problem, nor does it explain how I received a bogus contract…’ I think.

Mr. Darren shares my thoughts.

“You said my assistant gave this to you?” He asks.

“Yes.”

He sits back down at his desk. He pushes the intercom on his desk. “Jay, come to my office this instant. I need to talk to you.”

“Yes sir.”

Mr. Darren looks back at me. “Ms. Lupa, my assistant should be here shortly. We’ll see if we can figure out what is going on.”

I feel myself calming down for the first time since I walked into his office. ‘It’s okay, you’ll be fine,’ I tell myself. ‘We’ll get this sorted and everything will be fine.’

We sit quietly for a few minutes. I have no desire to start a casual conversation with this man. From his cold expression, I know he feels the same way about it.

The door behind me opens. I hear the scuffle of shoes against the linoleum floor. Mr. Darren ushes the person forward.

The person reaches Mr. Darren.

It is only then that I get a good look at the person.

I sit up. This person…

I have never seen this person before in my life!