Heather and Chloe climbed into the van and set off. The drive into Manhattan was a long and tedious one from their Bay Ridge apartment.
"Now what are we not going to do while we're at the show?" Heather asked as they drove.
"Run around like a chicken with its head cut off," Chloe said. "Do chickens really do that?"
Heather dismissed the distraction quickly, saying, "We'll Google it when we get home. You stay in the back with me until the show starts. We'll watch together, but you're not allowed to just wander around before or after. Got it?"
"Got it," Chloe said. "Is there gonna be anyone famous there?"
"Probably," Heather said, letting Chloe sidetrack them.
"Like people from TV?" Chloe looked practically electrified by the possibility.
"Maybe," Heather said. "But we're not here to talk to famous people. We're here to work. So you stay in the back and don't bother anyone, even if you know them from TV."
"Can't I at least get autographs?" Chloe whined.
"Not if you want Mommy to keep her job," Heather warned. Chloe pouted, flopping back into her seat.
"You still get to see the show," Heather reminded her. "Isn't that enough?"
"Yeah," Chloe grumbled. "But I wanted to talk to famous people."
"There probably won't be many people you recognize," Heather said. "It’ll mostly be journalists and designers and business people. I did hear there was going to be a prince."
"A prince?" Chloe's excitement returned at once. "Like in the movies?"
Heather chuckled. "Kind of. I hear he's from very far away. The son of a Saudi sheikh or something."
"Whoa." Chloe's eyes widened. "Do you think he has a magic carpet? Can I ask him?"
"No," Heather said firmly. "What did I just say about bothering people?"
"But I might never get another chance to meet a real prince!" Chloe complained.
"You can admire him from a distance just like I will be," Heather said. "And that's final. You go anywhere near him and I'll send you straight home. Got it?"
Chloe whined a little more but gave in, settling into a sulk.
As the car fell quiet, Heather's thoughts returned to the little box of Craig's things on the table. It had been a month. It was past time for her to move on. She should have dropped him the first time he'd cheated. She'd let herself be pulled in by his promises that it was just a mistake, as though he'd fallen into another woman's bed accidentally. He had made it feel like a challenge, a test of her strengths as a woman and as a partner, to stay with him through that. Like it had been the first half of a movie and if she could have just stood by him, they would have come out stronger on the other side, ready to take on the world. But life wasn't a movie, and Craig’s cheating hadn’t been the universe testing their relationship. It had just been the start of a pattern Craig was already adept at.
For a while, she'd blamed the women, redirecting her anger anywhere she could. But no one else could be blamed for Craig's actions but Craig. And the same selfish, impulsive, inconsiderate behavior that had led him to cheat on her had soon made itself obvious in other parts of their relationship too. Eventually, Heather had had to admit that the “challenge” of being with him was not one she was capable of or interested in taking on.
The breakup had not been a pretty one. But then, when were they ever? She'd been with a handful of men since her ex-husband, Chloe's father, had run out on them back when Chloe was five. And what her mother had said was true—they had walked all over her. One had outright stolen from her. Never again, she decided. Craig was the end of it. She was done making excuses for men. If that meant she had to raise Chloe alone, well, she could handle that.
Traffic wasn't as bad as Heather had expected, and they arrived at the event hall on time, pulling up around back. Shania, the event coordinator, was waiting for them at the back door. She was a curvaceous African-American woman with beautiful natural hair, and she came to greet them, grabbing Heather in a quick hug.
"Thank goodness. It's so good to see you," she said. "You're right on time."
"You look fantastic," Heather said warmly. She'd known Shania since college. It was thanks to Shania booking her for high-end events like this that Heather's catering business was doing as well as it currently was. "Have any of my crew arrived yet?"
"Not yet," Shania reported. "But I've got the back of the hall squared away for you. I can lend you some of my boys to set up until yours arrive. Love that apron, by the way."
"Thank you." Heather patted Chloe's head as the girl got out of the car. "Chloe picked it out for me. Thank you so much for letting her come with me today."
"It's no problem!" Shania was already moving back toward the door, frowning at her checklist. "You've saved my butt more times than I can count. Letting Chloe tag along is the least I can do to repay you. See you inside!"
She hurried back to her work, and Heather got started unpacking the van. Shania, true to her word, sent a couple of her roustabouts to assist with getting everything inside and setting up Heather's tables and the small food cart she'd be doing her cooking off of. Everything that could be prepared ahead of time had been. Luckily, she wasn't doing a full dinner service here, just a buffet of finger foods. Still, she couldn't sear off the scallops for the seafood amuse bouche or assemble the olive tapenade bruschetta bites until right before they were served, and that meant she'd be at this table putting things together most of the night except during the actual show.
"Can I help?" Chloe asked as Heather set up. "I know how to cook some stuff! I can make pancakes!"
"No, sweetheart," Heather said without looking away from the production line of ingredients she was setting up in order to make assembly as quick and easy as possible. "The menu is already set. See? It's there on the board in front of the table. No pancakes."
"But I'm gonna get bored," Chloe complained. "It's hours before the show starts. I checked the program!"
Heather, her brain trying to run through the eight hundred things she needed to get done, took a deep breath and looked down at her daughter.
"Okay," she said. "I'm going to work on putting together these dishes. You watch my ingredients, and when I start to run out of something, you go and get me more. Okay? But once my crew gets here you have to go sit down and stay out of the way. All right?"
"All right," Chloe said reluctantly. Heather could already feel that this was going to be a stressful night.