because I heard they had a fake wedding chapel there and was hoping it might inspire Mark to do something romantic.
Quel surpise, it didn’t quite turn out that way. What I hadn’t bargained for was the fact they also had an Elvis impersonator on. In fact it turned out to be, and I quote from his website “the UK's most popular award-winning Chinese Elvis impersonator”, Paul Hyu, AKA The Chinese Elvis.
He was blue suede shoes-TASTIC! Dancing and shimmying his way through the tables crooning Elvis’ finest songs and encouraging everyone to join in. Even Mark was impressed. The worrying thing was I seemed to know all the words somehow. How did that happen? I’m way too young for Elvis.
Anyway, it was huge fun and you certainly wouldn’t have thought there was a recession on as the place was packed, which at £125 per head plus wine in the Brasserie alone (more expensive still in the restaurant), was quite a coup for the Harvey Nichols group which owns the Restaurant and Brasserie. A rather nice side effect of the cost, the theme and the day was that it seemed that more or less everyone had made a big effort to dress up and look their best. I lost count of the number of posh-looking strapless, tight-fitting dresses and eye-wateringly high heels I saw around me. So clearly, if people are going to shell out for a big night out, they are definitely going to make the most of it
The only trouble was, it wasn’t particularly romantic. In fact we ended up chatting and laughing with some of the other couples at adjoining tables after Elvis, temporarily, left the building. So any hope I had that Mark might pop the question faded pretty fast.
However, after that the evening suddenly got more interesting because when I left the ladies loo, I managed to almost walk into Regina Schwarz (my boss from New York who’s STILL in London!) who was leaving the restaurant with Rob Timpson (from the PR department). What was that all about? She’s years older than him (isn’t she?). Anyway, before I could make a run for it and hide behind a conveniently located potted plant, she unfortunately caught site of me. Oh Lord!
“Oh…er hi Melissa, I didn’t expect to see you here. Are you an Elvis fan?” she said quizzically “I was here with Rob to see if we could use The Chinese Elvis as post event entertainment at the ‘Are Derivative Products the Way to Solve the Credit Crunch’ Conference”. Yeah, like I really believe that! She’s the one who keeps going on about how we need to be giving events a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) twist to make them more palatable in the current situation. Since when was Elvis CSR? But I wasn’t about to say that, not with Rob ginning cheekily at me and Mark, looking over from our table. I still hadn’t yet mentioned the highly entertaining lunch I’d had with Rob a few weeks ago to Mark, and I don’t know why I hadn’t. I realised I needed to get out of there and fast. “That’s a fantastic idea Regina, a touch of Elvis could be just what the delegates will need to revive them..I mean..energise them after the conference” I quipped. “Anyway, lovely to see you both and catch up on Monday”. I’m such a creep. Still I could hardly say “ I wish you’d never darkened our door you American @!?@@$!” and “I’d rather have stuck needles in my eye than bump into you here”, which let’s face it will never get me promoted in a month of Sundays.
But before I could get away, she said “yes, lovely to see you too and we must arrange go to Confex together”. God, it’s not enough that I now have to spend almost every hour in her presence at the office, I’ve now got trot round Confex with her too. I was hoping that Suze and I could go and have a Regina free day for once.
“What’s up with you, you’ve got a face like thunder” Mark said when I got back to the table “and wasn’t that Regina and Rob Timpson” I just saw you chatting with? I didn’t know they were an item?”. “They’re not” I said, a bit too loudly and went onto explain that they said they were checking out The Chinese Elvis for an event. “Seems a bit unlikely to me, particularly as it’s Valentine’s Day” Mark countered. Fortunately, Elvis returned at that moment, blasting out “Caught in a Trap”. Hmnn… I know just how he feels…
See you at Confex….. with Regina!
Melissa
About the Author
Melissa is our very own special corporate event planner who looks at the world with either a smile or a grimace but always with a glass of something.
Links
Harvey Nichols
Chinese Elvis 
