682: “Go ahead,” . . .
What a Piece of Work I Am, Chapter 15 continues
“GO AHEAD, Renée,” said Ariane. “I’ll finish up.”
“Huh?” said Renée.
“I know what has to be done,” Ariane assured her. “I’ve watched you. You make sure that we get this cleaned and that cleaned and this set up and that set up and then you wait for everybody to change and get out, and then you go to Mr. Murray’s office—but not into Mr. Murray’s office, so that he can’t decide to lock the door and get funny on the couch—you just lean around the door like this, holding on to the frame, and say with a lilting lightness, ‘Good night, Mr. Murray,’ and then you close this and lock that and you check this and check that, and that is that, and all is said and done.”
Renée was smiling. “Very good,” she said. “Very observant.”
“So I’ll do it, just the way you would, and you can take off.”
Renée hesitated for only a moment. “Thanks,” she said, with a look of camaraderie that suited a conspiracy of underlings. “I’ll return the favor sometime,” she said, in a tone that suited a conspiracy of women.
Ariane went about Renée’s business. She looked crisp and efficient. She had learned how to look crisp and efficient by watching Renée. Mr. Murray, passing the entrance to the dining room, glanced in when he heard Ariane using Renée’s voice.
“I know it’s late,” she was saying, “but let’s just try moving these plants over here. It will give people a little more space to stand when they come in, instead of having them bunch up over by the coatroom the way they do now, so the people who are leaving can’t get to their coats. Tony! You want to help us with this? I know you want to go, but it will only take a minute, and it’ll make me love you forever. What do you say?”
Mr. Murray was impressed. He liked the way she got them to work for her. He actually grinned.
[to be continued]
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