Marie-Ange and Hope: Proposals and plans

[xp_trance]

 Hope and Marie-Ange have a proposal to discuss. 

"Very nice," Hope commented, taking in the wine bar decked out all in glimmering wood and soft velvet as she scanned the room for Marie-Ange. Spotting the redhead, Hope nodded at the hostess and headed for her place.

"This place looks interesting," she commented as she approached the table.

"Shh, I am still keeping this one secret." Marie-Ange gave her most genuine smile, nose wrinkle and all. "I am sure Felicia knows of it, but it is only just on the trending lists so for another week or two I get to avoid crowds." She had a crudo plate she had barely touched—paper-thin slices of sea bass, nearly translucent, garnished with fingerling lime, blood orange and olive oil. "I am afraid I started a bit without you. I missed everything except a commuting bagel today."

"As long as you do not mind me ordering something as well before we talk," Hope replied as she settled across from Marie-Ange. "I spent way too long at the courthouse to get some documents, and that was after two hours arguing with a very stubborn private chef... in French." Picking up a menu, Hope quickly scanned the available dishes. "I will go for some salmon tartare, I think."

"Oh, with the saffron and the crema? That is excellent." Marie-Ange provided Hope enough bright chatter about the menu to cover both of them through the delivery of the other woman's lunch, and two perfect glasses of wine. "I actually may have a favour of you. We are rotating some of the staff through some training—etiquette, manners, how to choose a wine pairing. Would it be altogether too much if I sent one or two people out with you and had you report back? I do not expect any major gaffes, but the small details are always what wrecks a meeting." Or a cover story.

Hope tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Depending how thorough you want me to test them... I do have a situation or two in mind that might work. Do you want them to be able to simply handle knowledgeable company or take it a step or two further?"

"Both. I want to see how they handle social situations where they may not have intimate knowledge of the rules, and how they adapt. Something they do not know how to eat but should, an invite to an event they were not expecting, a fashion faux pas—loafers instead of boat shoes, that sort of thing. The wrong hat." Marie-Ange fussed with her napkin a little. "All my people can adapt down. I want to see how some of them adapt up."

"That is not too complicated to set up." Hope pulled out a little notebook from her purse and quickly made a few notes. "Send me their nom de guerre and any specifics of what you want evaluated. I will set something up. Is conversation skills and general development also important here? Because knowing the etiquette is one thing—holding yourself in conversation is just as important."

"It is, but really most of them have that well in hand. I really just want to make things difficult and see how they handle it. Plus some fine dining because that..." She picked at the last of her crudo. "You know, half the places do not care if you break some sort of rule, and the others have waitstaff that will sneer down their noses, and I need my people to handle both, to thrive in both, and to get kicked out of the second. Sometimes we get more by breaking rules, no?"

"Oh, I do have a few ideas in mind for both." Hope added another note before scooping up a little of the tartare. "Would you mind if they get a tad singed? There is a particular club... I believe you might know of it... breaking the rules there might be interesting."

"It depends on what sort of club and what you mean by singed. All my younger people are actually rather better at getting out of dire circumstances than mildly awkward ones, to be fair," Marie-Ange said. "If you mean Hellfire events, I think I would rather run that past Doug and Emma. We are trying to keep our assets' faces out of the club most of the time, rather than end up known."

"Not at all. Quite the opposite actually." Hope reached into her bag, pulling out a small folder and passed it to Marie-Ange. "While I am less involved in the direct event planning, this is one I could not refuse. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. Exclusive and very private, but I might be able to slip two or so people in."

"Ah, no, I don't know golf. I work very hard to avoid any knowledge of it, except miniature." Marie-Ange waved a hand. "But now I want to send Clea there and see how long it takes before she giggles at the name."

"But only one small test they might face there. With it being so exclusive and private, they would need to be able to handle themselves as a stranger in such an environment." Hope nodded at the folder. "Staff would be easiest of course, but as a guest should also be doable, if this is what you are looking for."

"Staff we are all used to. Anyone can be staff. The trick with staff is to be forgettable, and that is easy. Even if you make a mistake, no one cares, because you are just underpaid staff." Marie-Ange explained. "I had people placed as staff at that Hellfire event in Paris—it took Doug at least two minutes to spot them, and he knows their faces and knew who would be there as staff. It was delightfully frustrating for him." She wrinkled up her nose in a genuine smile. "No, the trick I want is to set people at three-star Michelin restaurants and country clubs where they have a secret invisible dress code, and be there as a guest and also be utterly unmemorable."

"If you can get me a name or two, I will make sure you receive the invite to the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club event as quickly as possible. This offers all of that plus the additional challenge of 'golf'." Hope quickly made a note, then underlined it twice. "And I will explore some other options as well and send them to you for review."

"Perfect. I could keep exploiting Warren or making legitimate use of Emma, or Felicia's connections, but this is more versatile." Marie-Ange finished her wine—and when the sommelier caught her eye, she gave a brief headshake—two glasses was her limit. "Plus eventually Warren will realize we keep using his name to get into nightclubs and... " She paused. "Actually, I would bet his wife knows, so maybe he would not shut that down quickly."

"Well, it has popped up once or twice. But this explains a fair bit." Hope shook her head, a small chuckle escaping. "Do not worry about it. He mostly does not care... much. He just waves it away and tells me to check it out and 'fix' it."

"He hands out cash at Christmas like he has no idea how much a banana costs. I am not sure even if you could not fix it, he would really care, no?"

"For most places, that is true. He would just go on to the next. But there are a few he is attached to... in some way." Hope shook her head, a small smile flashing over her face. "Though how or why... I have given up trying to understand that man."

"No one understands Warren. We just watch in horror or admiration. He is very pretty. I do love to draw him." Marie-Ange raised her glass - water this time, as a brief toast.