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“Glad you could join us today, Matthew,” she said.
“Me, too,” he responded.
Be like Fort Knox.
She drew a settling breath. “All right, allow me to start again.” She smiled at the twelve individuals before her. “Welcome, everyone. I just want to begin by thanking all of you for coming in this morning and getting here on time. I know it’s not easy some days.”
No one responded. That was fine by her. She could get through her plan quicker if they listened more than talked.
“So,” she continued, “as my email said, I’m Winnie Knox. I’ve been hired by Mr. Wintour to help with Foxwood, specifically the faire, over the next few weeks.”
The woman in charge of the faire’s entertainment—Sue Jones—pulled open her phone, her purple fingernails swiping up and down on her screen.
A promising start.
“First, I’ll share a little about myself,” Winnie continued, telling them all about where she grew up and where she now lived before moving on. “I’m a hard worker, quick on my feet, easy to adapt, and I love team playing. My philosophy in life is, if everyone works hard together, nothing is unachievable.”
Mrs. Birdwhistle smiled up at her, but no one else reacted.
“In my experience,” she pushed on, “as a consultant, my presence is usually met with a lot of reticence and fear. Hopefully I can ease both to a degree by letting you all know right now that I’m not here to fire anyone or to make your lives more difficult. I am purely here for the benefit of the faire.”
A sniff that sounded suspiciously close to a scoff echoed from the back row. She couldn’t be sure who’d done it, but Matthew looked far too innocent sitting there in the back row.
“That being the case,” she continued, ignoring his behavior, “I do expect you to work hard, to be open to the changes that are going to be made, and, most importantly, to be honest with me. If something’s not working for you, let me know, and we can adapt. This first event is going to be a lot of work, but I’m sure you’re all capable of rising to the occasion. I can promise you if we put our heads down and work together, we’ll be fighting fit, and you’ll be thrilled with the response we get.” She gave an encouraging smile and a nod to the group. “So…are you ready to get to work?”
A few heads bobbed here and there. Mrs. Jones, who had since put her phone down, folded her arms stubbornly with no reaction, and Mrs. Porter stared out of the window with a look of boredom that rivaled a child in church.
Everyone else appeared hesitant. Everyone but Matthew, that is. He whispered something to the knight beside him, and both of them smiled with ducked heads.
That was fine. She’d give Matthew his freedom for now, allowing his confidence to grow. But if he didn’t stop soon, she knew what to do.
“I’d love to ask you all a question as we start,” she said. “What is your favorite part of the event?” She waited in silence. “Anyone?”
Finally, Ben Watson, one of the teenagers, raised his hand. “Picking up the horse manure.”
His joke landed him a few snickers from the group, especially from his friend beside him.
Winnie smiled. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Anyone else?”
Mr. Birdwhistle spoke next, his thick, gray mustache covering his entire upper lip. “It may seem biased,” he said in a deep, thick accent, “but I enjoy the joustin’.”
“Not biased at all,” Winnie said with a shake of her head. “I expected this would be a favorite. How many of you would say the same?”
Everyone aside from Matthew and Mrs. Jones raised their hands, her purple nails now being chewed on absentmindedly.
“Wow, so almost all of you.” Winnie looked to Mrs. Jones. “And yours?”
She shrugged. “All of it.”
“I won’t fault you for that,” Winnie said with a friendly smile, even though she received nothing in return. “And what about our fearless leader, the man behind the plan. What do you think, Matthew?”
She was fully expecting a half-baked response like Mrs. Jones, but instead, he said, “The history.”
“Ah, yes. Hence where the authenticity comes into play.”
He gave a single nod.
“What is it about the history that’s appealing to you?” she asked.
