Who: Caroline and Percy What: Realizing they already know each other When: Early May Where: One of Caroline's events Ratings/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete!
Normally Caroline had weeknights off. Most events tended to be Fridays-Sundays. However, there was the occasional event on weeknights. Today it was a charity auction, that consisted of both a silent auction and a live auction, with a dinner in between.
While guests made their bids on the silent auction items Caroline went into the kitchen to check in with the kitchen and wait staff. Some were already circulating with trays of champagne and a few appetizers, but the main event was coming up. At least for the kitchen staff.
“About thirty minutes till they sit down,” Caroline said as she walked into the kitchen. “Everyone doing okay? Need anything?”
Sometimes it was a little odd for Percy to work as a waiter, but he liked the job. He felt that it kept him grounded, and he did enjoy being at charity events. Percy had spent the first part of the evening taking around a tray of champagne. He’d just served all the drinks on his latest tray and headed back to the kitchen for a restock.
After all, people with money that were drinking alcohol tended to be a bit more free with their money. He set the empty tray down and waited for more drinks to be put on it. In the meantime, he stretched his arm a bit.
When Caroline came in, Percy took quick stock of the champagne they had. It looked like they were still well-stocked on that for the moment.
“We should be good on the drinks,” he responded, looking over at Caroline. This wasn’t the first time he’d worked at one of her events, but they’d never really spoken before. Yet he also seemed to recall seeing her at opening night of Cinderella. Well, this could certainly be interesting!
Caroline turned her attention to the man who spoke up. Recognizing him almost instantly. “Hey!” she said, smiling brightly. “Aren’t you in Cinderella?”
If he had worked for her before she couldn’t recall. Caroline worked with a lot of waiters and not always the same ones. Just whoever the catering company sent her. So it wasn’t like she hired him personally. People she interviewed and hired herself she usually remembered. She tried to remember everyone she had worked with, honestly, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded when there were so many events. And well she didn’t always interact with every single person, as much as she would like to.
Percy gave her a bright smile. “I am! I play Topher, but my actual name is Percy,” he introduced himself. Even though he’d worked with Caroline before, he didn’t expect her to remember him. For one, she undoubtedly worked with a lot of people, and he wasn’t exactly a constant employee of the catering company either. For another, he was that kind of person that didn’t exactly stick out in terms of looks. He was tall, blonde and that telltale British shade of pale that he tended to just blend into the masses quite easily.
“I have to say, you are quite the woman of taste in going to the theatre,” he complimented. After all, not everyone enjoyed going to the theatre. It wasn’t as exciting as, say, a club and wasn’t all that great for socializing except for before, during the intermission and after the show.
“Nice to officially meet you,” Caroline replied, smiling brightly at him. She already knew his name from the times Marguerite had mentioned him. “You and Marguerite were amazing.” Especially their chemistry, but Caroline left that unsaid. Hopefully this was her first time officially meeting him too. She had no idea if he had worked for her before, but even if he had, she didn’t always have time to go around introducing herself to every single person. Even if she would like to. She was a big believer in making everyone that worked for her feel important.
“Thanks,” she replied. “When I was in college, I used to travel into the city a lot to see Broadway shows.” And shop. Those were her main reasons for traveling into New York City from Cornell. Not like it was that far. “I try to go whenever I can now.” Even if Marguerite wasn’t in the show. “But I definitely never miss any of Marguerite’s shows.”
“And it is a pleasure to officially meet you, as well,” Percy responded with a bright smile of his own. “Thank you very much. I rather enjoy the role of Topher and I consider myself extremely lucky to have Marguerite as my Ella.” Which, well, that could be taken in more ways than one, but he didn’t actually mean it for anything other than the surface meaning. Sure, Marguerite left him confused, but he wasn’t about to dump that on Caroline.
“Ah! A very good reason to go into New York City.” Percy also thought the shopping in New York was amazing. He did enjoy shopping, which could be considered a surprise since men didn’t always like it. But Percy wasn’t like most men. “Excellent! Marguerite is a very talented actress. I’m sure she always livens up the show regardless of what role she is playing.”
Caroline definitely caught the comment he made about Marguerite. She had, of course, noticed the chemistry between them on stage. And Caroline was pretty sure it was a little more than just acting. “You guys did make a pretty convincing pair,” Caroline said with a small smile, though she left it at that.
“Oh she definitely does,” Caroline agreed. “She’s actually my neighbor.” Turned close friend. Hell she was probably one of Caroline’s best friends. Definitely her best friend in Las Vegas. She was still very close with her high school friends but they were kind of scattered.
“Why thank you, I’m glad we make it convincing.” Percy smiled. He was proud of that fact, but Caroline wasn’t wrong. There certainly seemed to be something more than simple stage chemistry going on between him and Marguerite, but he hadn’t really put voice to it yet. And there was that niggling feeling like he knew her, and that she filled a missing part of himself that he hadn’t even realized was missing.
But that was all crazy talk. Or was it?
“Is she? It’s a small world, as the saying goes,” he commented with a little laugh. “How long have you known her?” Perhaps he was gathering information, but he was also just making conversation. After all, if he ever got his act together in regards to Marguerite, it was best to be on good terms with her friends.
“About two years,” Caroline replied. “Was this your first show with her?” Caroline asked, though she already knew the answer from Marguerite. Plus she had been to all of their shows since they became friends. Though if he had been in any with her before Caroline moved to Las Vegas but that was besides the point.
“Yes it was. Sometimes people just click immediately. It tends to help with the onstage chemistry.” Of course, Percy felt the chemistry between him and Marguerite went deeper than just onstage, but he hadn’t said anything on that yet. He was trying to play it cool, but he wasn’t always as cool as he thought he was.
“Of course,” Caroline agreed. “Well you two were very believable as a couple.” Probably the most chemistry Caroline had seen and she had been to a lot of Marguerite’s shows. Not saying that her friend didn’t usually have chemistry with her co-leads but this was just another level. “I’m glad I got to actually meet you. I promise not to forget you next time.”
“Why thank you, I’m glad for that.” Percy enjoyed the compliment, it meant they were doing their jobs correctly. But perhaps it also meant that there was a shot to have something more with Marguerite beyond simply being co-leads. “It was good to actually meet you as well! And it’s okay if you initially forget me. I do tend to blend into the crowd a bit,” he responded with a wink. He was teasing, but he also knew once someone met him, it was hard to forget. He was rather vivacious, after all.
“Trust me. I won’t,” Caroline replied with her usual bright smile. “But now I have to get back to work. I’ll see you out there.” With that Caroline was off to check on the next thing.