Two days later, Tiner knocked on Mac's door promptly at 1730. "How can I help you, ma'am?" he asked, when Mac asked him to enter.
"Thanks for coming, Jason. Please sit down. As you've probably guessed, it's about the Christmas party. Your ideas were… fun, but a little… impractical. I've been thinking about it, and I've come up with something that I think could work."
"That's great, ma'am," Tiner said, looking a bit crestfallen. "I'm sorry my ideas were so crappy."
"No, Tiner, they were very creative… they just weren't right for us. They would involve a level of preparation that would be difficult to achieve within the time frame. They would also cost a lot – we're working with a tight budget, remember? So I thought a Latin theme would be fun – and much simpler to execute. It's something different, the music and dancing would be fun and lively, and I think Spanish food and drinks would be great too."
Tiner leaned forward in excitement. "That sounds wonderful."
"Hopefully it'll go down well with everyone," Mac shrugged. "It won't too formal; we'll be working towards a mellow, relaxed atmosphere – but still festive and Christmassy. And hopefully it won't be too difficult to organize. I was looking on the internet and found a salsa club about 20 minutes from here. They have a large private room that looks promising. I made an appointment with the manager earlier today, so I thought we could go and check it out together before we head home."
"Sounds great. I'm sorry you've had to come up with all the ideas."
"Don't worry about it," Mac said, rising to her feet and picking up her purse, "I'll be relying on you to handle a lot of the arrangements from here on out."
"You can count on me, ma'am," Tiner nodded.
It was not long before Mac and Tiner were standing in the back office at Loca Salsa Club, talking to the manager, Santiago Ramirez. Santiago was very good-looking – tall and well-built, with dark, piercing eyes and thick, black hair. Mac furtively admired his honeyed skin and his warm, lightly-accented voice, but she maintained a strictly professional demeanor. Of course, it didn't help that he was trying to flirt with her.
"Colonel," he said, his dark eyes glued to hers, "I am so glad you came – I think Loca would be the perfect place for your party. Let me show you our private event room."
He led them up to a large room with warm, modern furnishing, pointing out where the bar would be located, and where the buffet tables would be set up.
"As you can see, there's lots of standing room, but we'll also have chairs lined up on these sides of the room," he said, pointing out the seating areas. "This room easily takes up to 100 people – and we can take up to 20 more if we get a bit creative."
"We'll be a lot fewer than that," Mac interjected.
"Good, that'll give us more room for dancing. Of course, we can handle the Christmas decorations. May I ask what sort of entertainment you have in mind?"
"Well, the music and dancing will be the main draw, of course," Mac replied. "I was wondering if we could have a couple of instructors available – just to give some… inspiration to anyone who's a bit shy about dancing to Latin music."
"Lovely idea, Colonel. As it happens, I will be free that night. I can make a team of three available – me and two assistants, Carmen and Josie."
"Sounds perfect," Mac smiled. "I also thought we could have a few simple party games." She turned to Tiner. "What do you think, Jason?"
"That sounds great, ma'am. What sort of food and drinks are available?" Tiner asked Santiago.
"Unfortunately our catering manager is busy downstairs right now, but I will ask him to call you tomorrow to discuss menu options. There's a special Christmas menu that mixes our usual Spanish specialties with some more traditional fare. And of course, there'll be a fully-stocked bar for your guests."
Mac took one last look around and then turned to Santiago. "Well, I think this should suit us well. We're working with a really tight budget here, but as long as your prices are right when everything is factored in, I think we could have a deal. Thank you very much for your time, Mr Ramirez. We'll let you get back to your guests."
She stretched out her hand, but instead of shaking it, Santiago raised it to his lips. "Please, call me Santi."
Mac smiled, thinking to herself that 'Santi' was incredibly smooth. Charmed in spite of herself, she tried to cover it up with a stern speech. "I should mention that we are a pretty low-profile bunch. We'll be expecting discretion and a private, organized environment."
"Of course," Santiago responded. "We've worked with military clients before, and we understand that. I like to think we provide a fun, but comfortable and secure environment to all our clients. Our goal is always to make everyone that comes in here feel free and at ease. Especially when clients are as… beautiful and elegant as you, Colonel."
"Thank you, Mr… Santi. I'll call you tomorrow to talk about the numbers."
At the office the next day, Mac was doing just that, ironing out the numbers with Santi over the phone, when Harm showed up at her office door, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms. She quirked an eyebrow at him, then pointed at the phone. When he didn't budge, she asked Santiago to give her a moment, and then looked up at Harm.
"I'm on the phone at the moment – is this important?"
"You tell me."
Mac was puzzled. "Tell you what? I need to finish this call, Harm. Mind if I talk to you later?"
But Harm just shook his head and stood there, so Mac shrugged and continued her telephone conversation. When the negotiations were over and the phone replaced, she looked up at Harm.
"Are you okay, Harm? Why are you just standing there?"
Harm shrugged. "So who's this Santi guy? A party planner?"
"No," Mac replied with a laugh, "the party planner would be me… and Tiner. The Admiral saddled us with the task of planning a Christmas party for the office."
"Why are we having a Christmas party? What's wrong with our usual drinks at McMurphy's?"
"The Admiral wants us to try something new. So we're going to a salsa club – managed by Santi - for a Latin-themed night."
"Sounds… interesting. Anyway, I'm out of here – I have a meeting with a witness for the Foxhill case. I was just walking past your office and overheard you talking about a party, so I had to come and find out what it was about."
"Why?" Mac asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Because you're always the life and soul of the party? While everyone else is burning up the dance floor, you're just going to stand in a corner looking pensive, so I don't know why you care."
"Excuse me," Harm said indignantly. "I'll have you know my partying skills are legendary."
"Yeah… right," Mac scoffed. "Legendary for being so pathetic that they're practically non-existent."
"Just wait till the Christmas party. I'll prove you wrong."
Mac laughed. "Well, all I can say is, I will not be holding my breath for that. Catch you later, Harm."
