{"id":670,"date":"2011-11-01T06:00:36","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T19:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=670"},"modified":"2013-10-01T11:55:59","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T18:55:59","slug":"a-conundrum-involving-caviar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=670","title":{"rendered":"Season 4: Episode 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ana leafed through the pile of papers in a last ditch attempt to locate the crisp white envelope she had received the other day, cursing under her breath when it wasn\u2019t there. Where the hell have I put it<\/em>, she thought angrily. Unless she found it, she couldn\u2019t actually finish organising her current client\u2019s Very Important Wedding.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t think the already bigger-than-Ben-Hur wedding could get anymore ridiculous, but she had been wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmas caviar,\u201d Sofia had announced when Ana last met with the future bride, current bridezilla. \u201cThat\u2019s what our Wedding meal is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

(No really, she actually said <\/em>wedding as though it had a capital \u2018W\u2019 all the time).<\/p>\n

Ana\u2019s mouth had, literally, dropped open. Almas caviar was one of the most – no, make that the <\/em>most – expensive caviar in the world. And that was saying a lot, because caviar ain\u2019t cheap to begin with. Originating from Iran, the only outlet you could buy it from was in London. It came in solid gold tins and retailed for just under the thirty-thousand dollar mark.<\/p>\n

Per tin.<\/p>\n

When Ana had mentioned this small fact, Sofia had looked at her as though she were from another planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d Ana had begun, wondering how to tactfully put it. \u201cAs I\u2019ve mentioned before, your deposit is supposed to cover most of the expenses, but I don\u2019t think it will\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Sofia put her hand up to stop her. \u201cHere,\u201d she said opening her Hermes crocodile skin Birken bag and pulling out a crisp white envelope. \u201cI had a duplicate made for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ana peered inside the envelope to see an American Express Centurion card.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve authorised you on the account,\u201d Sofia said, as if giving a stranger your Amex \u2018black card\u2019 was completely au fait<\/em>. \u201cSo we can stop all the silly chit chat about money, hm?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ana fumed inwardly. She thought she had been very restrained about the ridiculous costs associated with this wedding (small w). The only other time she had brought it up was when Sofia had requested that unicorns pull her carriage to the church. \u201cCan\u2019t we just buy some white horses and stick horns on them?\u201d she had said when Ana gently broke it to her that unicorns were, in fact, fictional animals. Ana didn\u2019t think the animal cruelty angle would really resonate, so she tried the expense argument instead. That obviously had just about as little impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it\u2019s for Wedding purposes only,\u201d Sofia had cooed, wagging her finger at Ana and then tapping the envelope with a perfectly manicured nail. \u201cNo personal expenses please.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ana fumed some more and clenched her fist around the envelope. She hadn\u2019t got to this point in her career without being a consummate professional (most of the time), and the mere suggestion that she would be otherwise made her blood boil.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course not,\u201d she managed to say, offering a simpering smile.<\/p>\n

But now – in a blatant display of un<\/em>professionalism – she had lost the stupid card, so she couldn\u2019t order the stupid caviar. Why it was even her problem to start with was a point of contention, but the chef that Sofia was having flown in from New York to cater the Wedding was almost as temperamental as his client and was refusing to have anything to do with the ordering of difficult ingredients. Ana wondered monetarily whether he would agree to the appetiser of truffle custard with lobster and caviar being made without the final ingredient.<\/p>\n

She suspected not.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou OK, hon?\u201d Tom asked as he rushed into the study, clutching a briefcase in one hand and a piece of toast in the other. His usual work uniform of jeans and t-shirt had been replaced today by a shirt and suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou haven\u2019t seen a white envelope lying around have you?\u201d Ana asked.<\/p>\n

Tom shook his head, only half listening. \u201cCan\u2019t say I have,\u201d he said, sifting through the same pile of papers Ana had only minutes earlier. \u201cYou don\u2019t know where the competition proposal document is, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom had been working for months on this proposal and was pitching it this morning to the potential client. If he pulled it off, it could be one of the biggest, most exciting projects that his firm had worked on. Not to mention quite a coup for a small Aussie architecture firm to win the honour of working on such a visible international project.<\/p>\n

Ana frowned and shook her head. It was pointless asking Tom if he\u2019d seen anything when he was in this state.<\/p>\n

\u201cMust have left it at the office,\u201d he said to himself before planting a quick kiss on Ana\u2019s cheek and running out the door. \u201cGood luck finding the contract,\u201d he shouted back.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnvelope,\u201d Ana shouted after him. \u201cIt\u2019s an envelope with\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The slam of the front door resonated loudly throughout the apartment.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

By 8:30am, Tom\u2019s office looked as though a whirlwind had swept through it. Papers had been thrown on the floor in a desperate attempt to find the missing document. If only his stupid laptop hadn\u2019t decided to have a heart attack last night, he could just print another one. The \u2018heart attack\u2019 had been caused by the accidental spilling of tea all over it just before he went to bed. He managed to save the proposal document from getting splashed, but couldn\u2019t save the computer and, of course, had forgotten to back up said document. He was an architect damn it, not a backing-things-up tech person. He stuck his head out of the office to see if anyone else was around yet and had seen it. Sarah had just arrived and was shrugging her coat off, a tray with two coffees held precariously in one hand. She smiled as soon as she saw Tom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought you might need this,\u201d she said, handing one of the take-away cups to him. \u201cDouble shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a mind reader,\u201d he said, taking a welcome sip of hot coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything organised for the meeting?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom half-nodded. \u201cI just need to find the proposal document.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve lost it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEr\u2026maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t you just print another one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would,\u201d Tom groaned, \u201cBut my computer carked it last night\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sarah raised an eyebrow. \u201cCarked it?\u201d<\/p>\n

He could sense another lecture about why everything should be backed up in multiple locations.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever mind,\u201d he said with a wave of his hand. \u201cIt has to be around here somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

After another thirty minutes of them both searching his office, it was still nowhere to be seen. He threw his hands in the air, promptly knocking over a glass of water all over his desk.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat,\u201d he muttered, furious with himself. First a cup of tea over his laptop and now\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the sink!\u201d he shouted. \u201cIt must be under the sink!\u201d<\/p>\n

When he spilled the tea last night, he had swooped in and picked up the document, then dashed to the cupboard under the sink for paper towels to mop up the tea.<\/p>\n

He picked up his phone and called Ana. He was hoping that she could stop past home and then drop it at the office. When there was no answer he left a message, asking her to call him back urgently. He checked his watch. The clients were due in 30 minutes. He could get home and back in 45 if he rushed. Someone else could keep them busy for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got my car here,\u201d said Sarah lightly. \u201cWant me to go and get it?\u201d<\/p>\n

He almost hugged her in relief.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Sarah unlocked the door to Tom\u2019s house and called out, in case Ana had come home. She\u2019d been there before a couple of times, so she knew her way around. Sure enough, the proposal document was under the sink, looking as crisp and new as it had done yesterday. She was about the walk back out the front door, but stopped. She\u2019d managed to get here in record time. Tom wouldn\u2019t be expecting her back for another twenty minutes at least.<\/p>\n

Very slowly she pushed open the door to Tom and Ana\u2019s bedroom. She quietly opened a chest of drawers and sifted through Ana\u2019s clothes, pulling out a black lace underwear set and held it up. It looked expensive. That must be what Tom like<\/em>s, she thought to herself, imagining him peeling the delicate lace of her own body, not Ana\u2019s. She took a photo of the label with her phone.<\/p>\n

She picked up one of Ana\u2019s perfume bottles, spraying the scent liberally on herself, before noticing the plain white envelope poking out from underneath Ana\u2019s jewelry box. Carefully, she prised it open and looked inside.<\/p>\n

An American Express black card.<\/p>\n

Sarah whistled under her breath. How on earth did Ana have one of these? Not recognising the name on it, she took out her phone and photographed each side of the card before placing it back in the envelope and leaving the room as she found it.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry I missed your call earlier this morning,\u201d Ana said, as she took out her earrings and put them on her chest of drawers. It had been another long and frantic day and she hadn’t got home until after 9pm. \u201cWhat was so important?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nothing,\u201d Tom said, stretching out on the bed, exhausted after his own long but \u2013 he thought \u2013 successful day. He had already decided that he didn\u2019t need to tell Ana about Sarah going to the house. That was a fight that could easily be avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God,\u201d Ana said suddenly, seeing the white envelope. \u201cThat\u2019s where I put it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Tom mumbled sleepily.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the card that the lady who\u2026.\u201d She looked over at Tom. His eyes were closed and his breathing rhythmic. She smiled to herself. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d she said.\u00a0 And it really didn\u2019t anymore.<\/p>\n

Card found.<\/p>\n

Disaster averted.<\/p>\n

She felt lighter and more relaxed than she had done in days. She peeled back the covers and climbed in next to Tom. All was right with the world once again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ana leafed through the pile of papers in a last ditch attempt to locate the crisp white envelope she had received the other day, cursing under her breath when it wasn\u2019t there. Where the hell have I put it, she thought angrily. Unless she found it, she couldn\u2019t actually finish organising her current client\u2019s Very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[200],"tags":[34,108,195],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1264,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions\/1264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}