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It was Eleanor's opinion that being a waitress for that kind of event sucked. It was supposed to be just a temporary gig until another telemarketing job appeared, but that was five months ago and so far nothing.The event of the night in question was for an organized fundraiser for starving children in Africa or saving dolphins, Eleanor didn't pay much attention when the explanation was being given when the hostess had gone to give a mini speech to the staff working on the event, probably because in the first forty seconds after she saw the woman giving the speech, all she was able to think of was Wow. It was the kind of event full of crazy rich people or people who did very good things in their lives, usually people who made Eleanor feel small just because they exist. She had even seen in there that Kamillah that everyone seemed to love for some reason (yeah even the celebrity sights that were fun at the start by now had gotten old).But there was an advantage in that kind of event and it was the shrimp was being served. Shrimp she could casually slip into the apron pocket as she walked between tables. And after it was full enough she went to the cleaning closet far from the eyes of others to enjoy the rewards of her work.But there was another person in the cleaning closet, sitting on the floor and crying. And it was Tahani Al-Jamil, the hostess of the event.Tahani got up scared after the door opened, wiped the tears from her face and said."What are you doing here?""Uhm ... I came here to pick up cleaning suplies of course.""Your uniform is that of the waiters, not the cleaners."“Huh...”"Is that shrimp in your pocket?""Come on man, you're not going to get bitchy because of five shrimps, you're obviously rich," said Eleanor who had more than twenty shrimps in her pockets."I suppose a little eating of the hired help is expected ... I hope I can count on your discretion not talk about what you saw here.""Sure. But if you want I can call some specific person to come and talk to you? Maybe it would be good for you to talk to someone about why you're here.""I think my good friend Oprah would help.""Okay. Before I came here I saw her talking to Kamillah, she seemed very absorbed in the conversation, she's probably still there.""Forget it."Eleanor took a deep breath, she could not believe what she was about to do:"You can talk to me about what's wrong if you want to."Tahani doesn't even blink before staring to vent. "What is wrong is that Kamillah is here, and she should not be. It was for her to be in Monaco, I checked her schedule.""Isn't that a good thing? Celebrities showing up unexpectedly tend to bring a buzz to these charity events.""She's my sister.""Oh. I get it man, family is complicated. I would probably freak out too if my mother showed up out of nowhere somewhere where I thought she wouldn’t be.""Yes. But you're probably right about being good for the fundraiser. I imagine you must have gotten really excited when you noticed she was here.""Not really, I'm not much of a fan to be honest.""You're just saying that to please me.""No I'm not, I always thought she was overrated.""I wish more people would think so... I wish I was better than her at least one thing.""You are, you planned this event and it's incredible, I've been in a lot of these in the last few months and yours is the most beautiful I saw so far.""Kamillah doesn't plan events, but she is the event. She could give a party in a dumpster and people would find it better than my parties.""Well people are idiots...and you're hotter than her."Tahani laughed."What?""Your sister isn't ugly, but she's basically a seven, you're a full ten. Actually I think you are above a ten, you're an eleven.""Being considered more physically attractive is not something that has much merit.""But it pleased you, don't lie to me, I can see that you liked.”"Maybe." Tahani smiled."Also you are taller than her, many people like tall women ... I do."Eleanor noticed that Tahani's eyes seemed to be fixed on her lips. An idea popped into her head, it would probably cost her her job if she was wrong, but fuck it, it's not as if she loved that job anyway and opportunities like that didn't show up every day.She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Tahani.The kiss was sweet and long. And both Tahani and her found themselves smiling in the end of it."That was not very professional of you," Tahani said with a smile."Aww, you will fire me?""I think I'll let it slide"And soon they were kissing again.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was terribly rude for a hostess to walk away in the middle of an event she planned, so it was something Tahani had never done before. At least not until last night.
Tahani supposed that maybe there were acceptable exceptions to this rule of etiquette, something like an emergency.
But of course having sex with one of the event's waitresses couldn't be classified as an emergency. And did it count as sexual harassment if it had been Eleanor who kissed her first? Probably not, but she would probably call the family attorney in the morning to make sure.
She got out of bed, careful not to wake the woman lying beside her, and thought she was successful, until shortly after she finished putting her dress back on, she heard Eleanor say:
"So you're not even going to say goodbye?"
“Oh. Good morning Eleanor.”
"It's not day yet, it's..." Eleanor said pulling out her cell phone to check the time "Three in the morning, too fucking early to get up."
"I have to go see how the event went...this was probably a mistake."
"Uh, can I know why?" Eleanor said looking slightly insulted.
"Because I barely know you to begin with."
Suddenly Eleanor's irritation was replaced by amusement.
"Tahani Al-Jamil, am I your first one night stand?"
"Maybe. From your question I assume I wasn't your first."
"No. Really no. But I think you might have been the best.”
"You're just trying to flatter me."
"Does this look like something I would do?"
“I don't know you well enough to know this” Tahani said.
But inside she thought:
No, I don't think flattering is your style.
Tahani didn't plan on going back to bed, she didn't plan on kissing Eleanor again. She did it anyway.
"Does that mean you're staying a little longer?" Eleanor said, her hands playing with the strap of Tahani's dress.
"I really shouldn't."
"Come on, what's one more mistake?"
"Just so you know when I said that I didn't mean that I regret it, or that I'm not happy it happened."
“Good,” Eleanor said, her mouth moving towards Tahani's neck and her hands pulling down the straps of her dress.
And yes, maybe it was another mistake. But at that moment Tahani stopped caring about it.