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Tweak says, "They come to get the dead."

I bite my thumb, sir. (lottiewood) wrote in reduxpitch,
@ 2016-05-08 14:03:00

Entry tags:

!thread, character: charlotte wood, character: gilderoy lockhart, location: diagon alley

WHO: Charlotte Wood & Gilderoy Lockhart
WHAT: Finalizing party plans and menus
WHEN: Sunday 8 May 2002, noon
WHERE: Fancy French bistro in Diagon Alley
RATING: Low
STATUS: Closed//Ongoing

Waking up Sunday morning, Lottie's eyesight was back. It was blurry, and her eyes hurt, but she could at least see, which was good because she had a meeting with Gilderoy Lockhart that afternoon. She checked herself out of the hospital and went home for a shower and a nap in her own bed before she had to meet her client.

She didn't nap for long. Her checklist had checklists, and she couldn't let the temporary loss of her eyesight affect her job. She hadn't even considered owling Pierre and Mr Lockhart to reschedule. That wasn't an option when the party was set for the end of the month, and he was a high profile client who could make or break her career. Before she should have been, Lottie was up and moving around her flat, gathering her samples and folders. She made herself a very strong cup of tea and worked through her notes.

At half past 11, she carefully dressed, selecting an outfit that looked professional and competent while not clashing. She didn't want to upset Mr Lockhart's sensibilities. She arrived at chef Pierre's bistro ten minutes early to confirm that everything was ready for the meeting. She had a table with place setting options. Pierre greeted her with kisses on each cheek. "Your eyes are red, ma petite. Are you all right?"

Lottie smiled. "Small accident at the Quidditch match yesterday. I'm fine, but is it bad?"

"Non. You can claim allergies, I believe."

She smiled again, relieved. "This all looks wonderful, Pierre. My client will, hopefully, be pleased. How is the food?" He tsked and shook his head, smiling like he had a secret. "I know, silly question. It is always amazing." She heard the door and looked over her shoulder. "Ah. Mr Lockhart," she approached him, right hand extended. "Welcome."

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charmoffence
2016-05-08 10:55 pm UTC (link)

Gilderoy was very excited indeed - both about the party in general and about his most excellent instinct to reach out to Charlotte Wood to help plan it. He hadn't bothered to check her references, or done more than glance at her portfolio. She had talked about flowers and obviously, any Gilderoy Lockhart occassion would have to feature copious bouquets and centrepieces and petals strewn delicately and that all went double for an event themed around love. Gilderoy had never been in love with anyone other than himself, but he liked the idea of it a lot. He had been slightly disappointed to find his idea of hordes of cupids fluttering around the grounds was impractical, but Charlotte's alternative of animated statues sounded like it would do nicely.

Dressed in a shade he mentally described as peony pink, Gilderoy approached the bistro with a light, almost skipping step. "Miss Wood," he responded, beaming expansively. "How lovely you look!" He twinkled at her very much in the manner - he imagined - of a charming and non-threatening Father Christmas. That her eyes were slightly red around the rims he noticed not at all, too busy making sure his hair was an especially gleaming gold by comparing it to the gilt edge of a mirror over her shoulder. "And this must be our chef," he added, after a distracted moment. If Charlotte had told her the name of the caterer, Gilderoy had already forgotten it. Food was, of course, important - Gilderoy was picturing delicate heart-shaped sandwiches and little pink cakes - but nowhere near as important as the décor! "Charmed to meet you, Gilderoy Lockhart."

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lottiewood
2016-05-08 11:37 pm UTC (link)

The way his outfit matched hers made Charlotte blink. She briefly wondered if she should worry that she was sharing a brainwave with Gilderoy Lockhart, but told herself to cut that out. If it happened twice more, she would worry properly. Once was a fluke, after all.

"Yes. This is Pierre. He owns this bistro and will be catering the event." She let the gentlemen shake hands before moving on. "As he prepares the hor d'oeuvres, I'd like to get your opinion and choice for place settings." Lottie directed Gilderoy to the table with three setting options. "I will base the rest of the colours on your choice of dishes. For the garden, I was thinking royal colours with hints of pastels to give it a whimsical feel, with white roses throughout. The perimeter and entrance will have the red and pink roses, to make people think of love."

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charmoffence
2016-05-09 12:52 pm UTC (link)

Gilderoy moved to the table at Charlotte's direction, oohing and aahing over each of the settings. He had thought about bringing someone from his PR team. They were helping him with the business arrangements of renting an office and the administrative side of signing up clients and handling fees. Gilderoy, not that he knew it, was very much a figurehead to add his name to the business, and to do the actual matchmaking (at least at first) because that's what people were paying for, his supposed 'expertise'. They were letting him organise the party because his style was somewhat inimitable, and people would notice if it wasn't as over-the-top as they had come to expect from Gilderoy Lockhart.

"I like these two," he said, gesturing at the first and third place settings. The middle one wasn't quite to his taste. Gilderoy frowned over the two finalists for some time, struggling to decide between the gold of one and the purple of the other. Finally, he flourished towards the first of the place settings,
the purple plates that were shaped like flowers. "This one," he declared. "It's more appropriate for a garden party in spring." He did like the gold as well, but it seemed more formal. "Ah, the flowers!" Gilderoy clapped his hands, happy to move on. "That sounds wonderful." Already, he was picturing his own outfit, with a pink rose bouttonnier. "And the statues we discused?"

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lottiewood
2016-05-09 08:31 pm UTC (link)

Lottie made a note of his preferences. She tried not to let on that she was relieved he'd selected the set with the softer colours. They were easier to work with, and she really liked the dishes. "I'll use the rose gold cutlery with that set rather than silver. The hint of pink and gold will compliment the purples nicely, I think."

She turned to a page in her notebook with a photograph of a moving cherub statue carrying a tray of drinks. She'd tested the charm to be sure she could manage it on several statues. "I'll have half a dozen or so of these passing out champagne and wine. I'll use human servers for the food and to refresh drinks. The statues are able to hold trays, but their precision with serving would leave quite a few laps full of food."

As if that was his cue, Pierre returned with the first round of samples. "Ah, wonderful timing, Chef." Lottie closed her book and waved Gilderoy towards an empty table already set with water, plates, and silverware. "These are your options for what the waiters will move through the crowd with before the proper sit down. There are twelve options, and we need you to select six."

ooc:

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charmoffence
2016-05-11 01:29 pm UTC (link)

"That sounds wonderful!" Gilderoy agreed enthusiastically. He quite often close his colours based on the names of them and 'rose gold' was exactly the kind of name he wanted for this event. He wasn't ignorant as to what the colour looked like, either, and did genuinely believe it would be perfect. So far, Charlotte had proved a joy to work with and Gilderoy was very glad he'd discovered her. So many people seemed to become irritable when he tried to include them in decisions - particularly aesthetic ones. Gilderoy's tastes were not, apparently, shared by all.

He leaned close to her notebook, squinting momentarily before he leaned back and smiled. "Are you sure -" He began, but then stopped. His originally idea to dress dwarves up as little cupids would probably have solved the dexterity issue, but it wouldn't be as impressive as animated statues. "How long will the spell last?" he asked instead, curious. Perhaps he could keep one of the statues as a souvenir of his new business venture.

Gilderoy bequeathed smiles all around as he moved to the table, examining the look of all the dishes before he even thought about actually tasting them. "How marvellous!" he exclaimed over the strawberry roses. "We must have these, of course. Such a very sweet idea." He was similarly charmed by the white-chocolate dipped cherries with their sparkly edible diamentes. "So that's two sweet things. I think there should be a balance, shouldn't there? Three sweet and three savoury? Or perhaps four savoury."

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lottiewood
2016-05-12 04:35 pm UTC (link)

Lottie's smile froze for the briefest moment when he began to question her statues. She didn't want to get into an argument with a client, but she would not cause a living creature an indignity. She was relieved, therefore, when he switched tactics. "I can only sustain the spell while I am there, but it's a simple enough animation charm. I will write it down for you, but you have to maintain firm control over the animated objects, or you may come before the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." It had only happened to her once when a small jockey statue had wandered around Elephant and Castle.

Making a note in her book, she nodded as if she'd known he would want the strawberry roses. She would find a way to incorporate them into the center pieces. "If monsieur wishes," Pierre chimed in, "the strawberry roses may count as a bonus, as they are more decorative." Lottie smiled up at the chef. "Thank you, Pierre."

She turned to Gilderoy. "Let's try each one before you make a final decision. Pierre will be able to cut the sandwiches into whatever shape you desire so taste may be more important for these than appearance at the moment."

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charmoffence
2016-05-14 12:17 pm UTC (link)

Gilderoy was rather less enthused by the idea of a statue he'd actually have to work to animate. He'd never put too much effort into Charms - there had always been people at school who were naturally better than him, and Gilderoy couldn't stand that. Still, it was only polite to thank her for the offer, even if he didn't ever intend to take her up on it. "How kind," he murmured. "Of course, I'll be the soul of discretion." It helped, of course, that he had a manor with fairly large grounds between him and the nearest muggle residence. By the time a charmed statue escaped,it would already have exited the field of his influence on it.

"Oh," Gilderoy said, surprised by the generous offer of the chef. Perhaps he was a fan? That would certainly explain it. Gilderoy would, perhaps, have a signed copy of Galivanting with Griffins sent over later. "Merci." With as much travelling as he did, even Gilderoy had picked up a little of some languages. His accent wasn't even half bad, though a bit rustic as the magical creatures he chased down weren't commonly found in the major cities.

He nodded along to Charlotte's words. Of course, it made sense that the sandwiches could be cut later, and Gilderoy was pleased to find that he and Charlotte were on the same page on this. Personally, he still thought appearance was more important, which meant the chicken salad was right out because it looked most unappetising. Gilderoy dutifully tried everything else, conveying his opinions and choices to Charlotte individually.

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lottiewood
2016-05-16 12:10 am UTC (link)

Lottie caught Pierre's eye and saw his wink. She nodded her thanks, grateful to him for making her look good, and hid her smile in her water glass so she wouldn't have to explain it.

After noting the hor d'oeuvres, they were presented with three choices for soups - two hot (chicken and vegetable) and one cold (watermelon gazpacho). As they tasted the soups, Pierre explained that guests would have a choice from chicken, beef, and fish for their entrees and that the accompanying vegetables and starches would match. This saved them from having to sit through an entire meal, and they were able to skip to dessert.

When Pierre wheeled the dessert cart out, Lottie watched Gilderoy for his initial reaction of the mini sweets.

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charmoffence
2016-05-17 02:09 pm UTC (link)

Gilderoy thought he could quite get used to this skipping the main portion of the meal business. He didn't usually indulge in too many desserts - he had to keep his figure, after all, he refused to be one of those authors who slowly transition from full-length cover images to mere portraits in order to hide the dreaded middle-age spread - but with no entree to worry about, he felt it was allowed. "These look very nice," he said, voice a little too loud as usual. "There's something so whimsical about delicate food like this."

After trying at least a bite of everything, and finishing off the samples of the things he particularly liked, Gilderoy turned to Charlotte. "Are we sure it won't be too much?" Obviously, to run out of food would be unthinkable, and Gilderoy wasn't worried about price, it just seemed more food than he, personally, would usually eat in one sitting.

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lottiewood
2016-05-22 07:49 pm UTC (link)

Lottie waved Pierre to the third chair at their table so he could join them for this part of the conversation. "Are you concerned about the number of hor d'oeuvres and desserts, or is your concern to do with the sit down meal?" She was, perhaps, treating this celebration like it was a wedding reception. Gilderoy wanted romance, and, for Lottie, there was very little that was more romantic than a wedding.

"Tell us what your concerns are, and Pierre and I will work to alleviate them. We'll create a menu that, as close as possible, fits what you're imagining." She would, of course, tell him no if anything he suggested was impossible.

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charmoffence
2016-05-23 07:27 pm UTC (link)

Gilderoy didn't actually know what his specific concerns were, but he was hardly going to admit that. This was his event, for his business so of course his word would be law. "No, no," he said, his tone making it sound like he were dismissing a silly idea when in fact Charlotte had merely asked a question. "We must keep all the desserts, and the hor d'ouevres. They are so charming." He beamed at Pierre as he bestowed this particular piece of praise. "Guests will want to mingle, to meet new and interesting people - and me!" Gilderoy did his best to look modest, and utterly failed (the characteristic not being one that came naturally). "And the gardens will look so lovely. The desserts could be served on trays as well. That way, people would only take what they wanted." It might be strange not to have a three course meal properly, but Gilderoy wasn't too concerned about that. As long as everyone had enough to eat, why should it matter if they had more sweet things than savoury?

"Or," Gilderoy looked between his two attentive listeners, warming to his subject as if he were in any way qualified, "we could forego the soup. It was very nice," he added, clearly as an afterthought and with a much less dazzling smile than usual, "but it does fill one up." He reached out, adjusting an errant fork. "Or we could have a smaller portion. I was served a delicious chilled strawberry soup in a little glass at a restaurant in Switzerland." He held his thumb and forefinger out to indicate the size of the glass in question. "That would be very dainty."

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lottiewood
2016-05-25 03:38 am UTC (link)

"We can add a cold soup to the list of hor d'ouevres," Lottie said, looking to Pierre for his nod. She was not a large person, and even that small bit of soup and the samples of the hor d'ouevres hadn't filled her up. She thought he was, perhaps, making things up to save face. "Doing this will shorten the sit down meal."

She wrote a few things down in her notebook. "I think keeping the sit down portion will allow your guests to enter into deeper conversations." She turned a bright smile on Gilderoy. "Just imagine the buzz your new endeavour will receive if a love match is made at your party." She made a mental note to check everything for love potions, not trusting her client for a minute not to slip such things into the food.

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charmoffence
2016-05-25 01:27 pm UTC (link)

Since he hadn't suggested - nor intended to - getting rid of the sit down meal entirely, he nodded, well pleased with the idea of adding a soup to the hor d'ouerves. That would do nicely, and give people the chance to avoid the soup if it wasn't to their tastes. "Lovely." He settled back in his chair and smiled, looking over the table settings once again.

"That brings me to another question," he said, in no particular rush to return to the limited schedule of work he actually had to fill his days lately. "How will we manage seating? While people are stood up -" he made an expansive gesture as if they were currently surrounded by the very gardens he was imagining, "they can talk to whomever they like, lingering if they find someone interesting or mysterious and moving on if they decide they are bored." Though he had little interest in finding a match for himself, Gilderoy had been to enough parties to know how these things worked. "Will we allow guests to choose their own seats, beside whomever has their attention when dinner is called?"

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lottiewood
2016-05-26 03:37 am UTC (link)

The smile Charlotte Wood turned on Gilderoy Lockhart was bigger and brighter than anything he had given her that day. "Each guest, upon entering the garden, will be given a place card. There will be no table number on it. Just their names." She took one of the cards out of her folder and handed it to Gilderoy. It was a blank one in a soft lavender shade.

"These will all be charmed. If the bearers have a mutual connection, the cards will put them at the same table. If there are feelings of boredom or uncertainty, they'll go to different tables. Everyone else, or those who don't make a certain connection while mingling, will be magically given random numbers and seated male female. If one person is more interested than the other, the magic will pick up on those feelings, too, and will separate the pair." She was pleased with this bit of mood magic. It kept things organized and made it possible for her to keep people who don't get along separated.

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charmoffence
2016-05-26 09:34 pm UTC (link)

Gilderoy took the card, turning it over in his hands and approving of the delicate shade. If nothing else - and there seemed to be plenty else, Gilderoy was quite pleased with himself for discovering an upcoming young talent - Charlotte had fine taste in colours and flowers. He listened as she described the effects of the magic, nodding in all the right places so it looked as if he understood how such a thing could be possible. "A charmingly elegant solution," he mused, already imagining other events and scenarios that could be enhanced by such a spell. His current team wouldn't like it, but perhaps he could arrange to have Charlotte be his first choice for future events. After all, what better way to engender a reputation as a matchmaker than to have people meet at his events - even in his own gardens!

"What happens to the cards after the event is over?" he asked, curious. "People do so like a little souvenir to take away." That would be very satisfactory, because Gilderoy hadn't previously given any thought to such a thing and a nice place card to remember the evening by seemed just the solution to a problem he hadn't realised he had. "We'll need some kind of top table, of course. For myself, and my mother." Gilderoy was happy to mingle, people would expect to see and to meet him, but he wasn't looking for a match himself. Nor would Ernestina Lockhart be interested, Gilderoy was certain, even if her husband had died a discreetly unspecified number of years ago now. "Would you like to sit with us," he asked, "or will you be looking for a charming young man of your own?"

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lottiewood
2016-05-29 02:52 am UTC (link)

"They do," Lottie agreed, "but placecards aren't exactly a parting gift. They'll lose them in their wallets or handbags." She turned to her own bag and removed an lavender, organza drawstring bag with LLH in the shape of a heart printed in gold. In the bag was a heart shaped padlock and key, engraved with "Unlocking Love". "It's a bit cheesy, perhaps, but love can be."

She made a note to set up a table for him and his mother. "Thank you, no. I will be working, making sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes." She didn't tell him that she was seeing anyone currently. "Are there any special guests you would like to sit with you, or would you like the top table to be only you and your mother?"

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