"I wish they had sent Hartleigh home."
"Pray for a Christmas miracle," Nina said as she turned onWhite Christmas, one of my favorite movies.
* * *
The next daywas shopping again. I was tired and grouchy. Jack had haunted my sleep. Even though his last name was Frost, he left me hot and bothered.
Anastasia was waiting for us in the lobby.
"The next challenge is Medieval Christmas," she said. "But when we film in the studio tomorrow, remember to pretend like it’s a surprise."
Shopping was fun. Zane cracked jokes with me and Nina in between filming us selecting fruits and imported chocolate. The creepy Santa didn't show up, though I half expected to see him there.
"This is going to be a tough challenge," Nina remarked. "The medieval period was a lot of smoked meat, plum pudding, and mincemeat pie."
"They did have things like pepper, ginger, cloves, and saffron," I said. "They also had spiced wine and sugar creations in weird, random shapes."
"No chocolate though." Nina sighed.
"At least they had sugar," I told her.
I decided I was going to go very avant-garde with my dessert, and I filled my basket with honeycomb, pears, and some pungent cheeses. While I took pictures for Instagram, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I felt as if someone was watching me, but when I whirled around, no one was there.
"I’m seeing things," I muttered and took my basket up to the front to check out. Through the window, I could see a Santa Claus ringing a bell.
"He's not the stalker, he's just a Salvation Army volunteer," I said to myself. "No need to be spooked."
When we left, I put a few quarters in his pot just to prove to myself I wasn't afraid of Santa Claus.
"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" he said.
After I had stored my purchases from the shopping trip, Anastasia cornered me.
"Your social media game is on point," she said. "Come have drinks with me. We should talk. I want to hear about your plans for the future."
"I'd love to," I replied.
"Meet me downstairs in two hours," she told me.
* * *
"There isn't mucharound the tower," Anastasia said as we sat in the car on the way to a restaurant she had recommended. "Jack keeps asking me if I know people who could open a restaurant in that retail space." Anastasia made a slight face. "All these billionaires think that just because they made their money in one area, suddenly they're going to be great at everything. Real estate especially is a huge gamble. I can't believe that Svensson Investment went in with him on a skyscraper. And in this location!"
The drive to the restaurant had been long, and I was starving when we were finally seated. The servers looked a little shocked to see Anastasia. She glanced over the menu, her lips pursed.
"It's my treat," she said and turned to the waiter. "We'll have the honey pear cocktail, the scallops, the bone marrow, and the pasta."
My stomach growled.
"This place is owned by Nick Mazur," she said, "one of the judges."
"Is he here?"
"No. He owns about thirty restaurants in the city."
"Wow. How does he manage that?"
"He delegates," Anastasia said.
