“Cancel it. Cancel everything! Yes,Janoch, I mean—” Argeth twirled back toward the front desk, lowering his head. “No, no, don’t cancel lunch. I want the usual, please.”
He spun back to the office, tossing his hands up so that his billowing sleeves followed like a wave of pink water. Which they were, coincidentally, patterned like ripples in water.
“All my hard work in shambles. Ten days! This is devastating news, and we shall never recover?—”
“Um, Argeth?” came a squeaky voice. A young male had his finger raised, though he kept himself hidden behind a potted plant. “What, um, happened?”
“Catering! Canceled last minute!” Argeth brushed his hands down his shirt quickly, only ruffling the fabric further. “Little demon babies, never can arrive on time, can they?”
“Isn’t the caterer your cousin’s wife?” came another voice.
Argeth waved them off. “Yes, yes, I’m a proud uncle or nephew or… whatever. They have one already. But myfundraiser.” He picked up a sheet of paper that a yellow demon was actively writing on and began to fan himself. “We’re ruined. I’m never going to find another caterer who can make the turnaround in just ten days. It’s a disaster of epic propor?—”
“I can get you a caterer.”
Rosalind hadn’t remembered stepping outside the room, but when the office fell silent and all depthless eyes fell on her, she was given two options.
Turn her tailless behind around and hide, or…
Rosalind looked down to the paper in her hand. Thereminder of what she had been working on just moments ago.
Another idea formed, possibly just as good as her first.
She swallowed and took another step forward, saying again with much more conviction, “I can get you a caterer.”
There was both hope and suspicion in Argeth’s gaze as his fan-waving hand fell still. “They can cater the fundraiser? In ten days? Enough for all the attendees?”
Rosalind nodded to each question. And then she opened her mouth before her nerves got the best of her.
“But I need a favor first.”
Argeth’s jaw worked, but she could see the moment he decided.
“My office.” He tossed his makeshift fan in the air, spinning around with a call to the chamber, “Well, what are you all standing around for? Keep prepping for the fundraiser.”
Rose chased after the long-legged councilor, turning her head as she hurriedly gave Mozke a panicked look and a mouthedhelp me.
Somehow it was both reassuring and terrifying that Mozke urged her on with a shoo of their hands. Sending her into the boss’s office with no aid.
“Close the door,” Argeth instructed as she stepped inside. He was already sitting at his desk, legs crossed and watching her with guarded curiosity.
Rosalind willed her hand not to shake as she pushed it closed and turned back to face her sponsor.
He gestured to the chair oppositehim. “The favor?”
She blew out a shaky breath and dropped into the chair. “Right, yes.” Despite always sitting in that seat, the cushion felt uncomfortable as she tried not to squirm. “I have a proposal for you.”
One perfectly manicured brow rose. “Yes, and that is?”
Rosalind blinked. “Oh, no, I mean… I have a proposal and I want to… propose it to you.”
That only added to his confusion. “Your favor is that you want to propose a proposal to me?”
She nodded. “About the art district.”
Surprise widened his eyes. “Not that I have to accept it? Or that you’ll propose it directly to the other councilors?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t think you’d go for that.”
