When Love's at Work (22 page)

Meg echoed Pure’s words, “We promise. And,”
she paused, “we need you to be there for us, too. We love you and
our lives just wouldn’t be the same without your spirit, your
creativity, your…”

“
Macabre sense of humor,”
Pure interjected with a smile.

Courtney couldn’t help but grin as her tears
of sorrow turned to thankfulness that she had two of the very best
friends anyone could ever have.

“
I love you,” Court said
as more tears spilled from her eyes.

“
Then get out of this
little hole and give us a hug,” Meg advised.

Courtney crawled out from her safe space and
wrapped her arms around her friends.

“
And, don’t ever scare us
like this again,” Meg said.

“
Seriously,” Pure
agreed.

Courtney smiled. Maybe things would change
with the addition of men in their lives, but she would always be
able to count on her girlfriends.

Purity was getting impatient. When was Judd
going to buzz Sheila on the intercom and tell her he wanted to see
her? She drummed her fingernails on her desk and chewed on the
pencil she was holding in her left hand.

Pure spoke with Judd Broadstreet earlier in
the week about job sharing the events coordinator position. He in
turn had queried the board members, who agreed that Sheila deserved
the opportunity. The only variable now was Sheila herself. Would
she want to take on more responsibility? She was already doing a
large amount of the work, but it would require spending more time
on projects. The monetary compensation would certainly be a plus,
though. and the recognition.

She jumped when she heard Sheila’s intercom
buzzer sound. She overheard Sheila say she was on her way to Judd’s
office.

Sheila paused at Purity’s door. “I’m
supposed to meet Judd in his office and he told me to tell you that
you should come, too,” Sheila informed Pure.

“
Did he say why?” Purity
asked.

“
No,” Sheila replied,
looking bewildered.

Once the two women were seated and Judd had
explained the proposal, Sheila’s eyes widened. “You did this,” she
said to Purity.

“
No,” Pure responded, “You
did this. All your hard work, creative ideas, and consistent
follow-through.”

“
I don’t know what to
say,” Sheila commented, her hand resting on the edge of the chair
as if she needed to touch something solid to believe what she was
hearing was real. “Can I have some time to think about
it?”

“
Certainly,” Judd
answered. “Take all the time you need.”

Purity and Sheila left Judd’s office and
without forging the plan, the two instinctively went into Purity’s
office and closed the door.

“
This is too much,” Sheila
commented as she flopped down on the small sofa against the far
wall. Purity sat next to her.

“
Pros and cons, okay?”
Purity asked.

“
Okay,” Sheila replied.
“Pro, the money.”

“
Con, more time away from
Danny,” Pure added.

“
Pro, recognition, more
benefits, and the job is fun.”

“
Con, you’ll still be
working with me,” Purity giggled.

“
Pro, I’ll still be
working with you,” Sheila commented with a smile.

“
Pro, you’ll be in charge
of the Starry, Starry Night event,” Pure enticed.

“
Omigosh! Are you
serious?” Sheila’s eyes blazed with excitement. “That is my
all-time favorite occasion and I never get to have any say in how
it’s done. I even have sketches and plans for how I would do it if
I were in charge.”

“
Well, now’s the time to
pull ‘em out, ‘cuz it’s your baby.”

“
What will you be doing
then?”

“
I’ll take the lead on the
Halloween party and I’ll be planning my wedding.”

“
You and Alex set a
date?”

“
Yep. First Saturday in
December.”

They were each lost in their own thoughts
for a moment. Sheila was picturing midnight blue tablecloths and
silver shiny stars and Purity was imagining pine trees laden with
white Christmas tree lights and maroon ribbons. They both
sighed.

“
I can’t believe this is
really happening,” Sheila commented, considering pinching herself
to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“
It’s about damn time, I
say.”

It had only taken Sheila 24 hours to make
her decision. The answer was yes. Purity was delighted. Not only
would Sheila be making more money, the job share would free up her
time so she could begin making wedding preparations. It was a
win-win.

Courtney, Meg and Purity were in their usual
places on Pure’s floor.

“
So, Bobby and I chose a
date for the wedding,” Meg began.

“
Oooh, when?” Court
asked.

“
In the spring. Meggie has
always wanted a spring wedding,” Purity interjected.

“
Actually,” Meg responded,
“we’ve decided to get married October 21st.”

“
What?” Court and Pure
said in unison.

“
Meg, that’s less than a
month and a half away!” Purity exclaimed.

Courtney raised her eyebrows. No way could
the wedding of Meg’s dreams be pulled together that quickly.

“
I think it can be done,”
Meg said stubbornly. “Especially when I know a fabulous events
coordinator and such a creative artist who can design my wedding
invitations.”

“
Are you serious?”
Courtney asked, not sure she heard Meg’s request correctly. “You
want me to design your wedding invitations?”

“
Of course. Who else would
I ask? I was thinking about something simple, maybe daisies. Or, if
that’s too cutesy, maybe a grapevine or some kind of leaf pattern.
I don’t want anything froo-froo or girlie.”

Pure looked at Meg with shock. She was the
epitome of girlie. Her brother must be having some effect on her
friend. “What in the world has Bobby done to you?”

“
What have you done with
Meg?” Courtney demanded.

“
Stop it, you two. I’m
serious. This isn’t just my wedding, it’s Bobby’s wedding, too, and
I want it to reflect both of us.”

“
How long is the guest
list?” Court inquired.

“
Mmmm… maybe 40-50. We
want to keep it small, cozy. Just close friends and family. We’re
going to have it in the back yard of Mrs. Crav… our new
home.”

So, Purity thought to herself, she’d be
planning two weddings in the next three months. She wondered if
Sheila Martin would consider an 80/20 split of job
responsibilities. She grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and began
making a list of things that needed to be arranged.

“
Does this mean you’ll do
it?” Meg asked.

“
Of course we’ll do it,”
Purity replied. “What are friends for?”

“
There’s one more thing,”
Meg hesitated. “Will you be my bridesmaids?”

“
You’re gonna make me wear
a stinkin’ dress, aren’t you?” Courtney lamented.

“
It’s not going to kill
you, Court,” Pure admonished.

“
I was thinking about a
black dress for you, Court. One that clings in all the right places
and has a draped neckline,” Meg explained her vision. “And, Pure,
for you I imagined a deep indigo satin strapless dress.”

“
Sounds beautiful, Meg,”
Pure said.

“
What about your wedding
dress?” Court asked.

“
She already has her
wedding dress,” Pure answered. “She’s had it for years. It was her
mother’s.”

Meg got a faraway look in her eyes for a
moment. “I wish she could be here to see me in it.”

Purity reached over and took her friends
hand in hers. “She is with you, Meg.”

Meg put her hand on top of Purity’s. Her
mother was with her, in spirit.

“
Do you really think we
can pull it off with such a short time frame?” Meg asked, doubts
flooding her thoughts.

“
Are you kidding? Piece of
cake,” Pure commented, dismissing even the slightest idea that
Meg’s wedding would be anything less than perfect.

Fall was approaching quickly. With it came
wedding plans, coordinating schedules, and finding a delicate
balance between work, friends, fiancées, spiritual life, sleep and
alone time. There was a lot of juggling going on. Most of it was
successful for all parties involved.

Occasionally Purity stepped on her friends’
toes or caught a look in Alex’s eyes that told her she wasn’t
spending enough time with him. This was all new terrain and Pure
reminded herself often that transition time was important and to
try and be patient with herself, and everyone else.

“
We’ve been waiting for
half an hour,” Meg said, annoyed that Purity was late, once again.
It was beginning to be a habit with her.

“
I know,” Pure sighed as
she sat down in the plastic chair, heated from being in the direct
sunlight. She stood back up and placed the short-sleeved sweater
she was wearing over the seat to protect her legs and rear
end.

“
We ordered a Diet Coke
for you,” Courtney said.

“
Thanks,” Purity reached
for the glass and took a big swig.

“
You look tired,” Courtney
remarked.

“
I am tired,” Pure
replied.

“
If planning my wedding is
too much for you, you can just say so,” Meg said, a sharp edge
creeping around her words.

“
What do you have stuck in
your craw, Meggie? I never said I was too tired to plan your
wedding or that it was too much for me. I had a busy day, prefaced
by a busy yesterday and a busy week before. There are just times
when I’m drowning in frustration and this happens to be one of
them. I’m sorry.” Purity felt the tears burning to escape. “I’m
sorry.”

“
I didn’t mean anything,”
Meg offered. “It’s just that everything is changing and there
doesn’t seem to even be time to breathe any more. I’m swamped at
work and Bobby wants more of my time. I just don’t have any more to
give.”

“
Well,” Courtney joined
the conversation, “my life is going along great. Sucks to be you
two.”

“
Such compassion,” Purity
replied with half a smile. “Maybe we should ditch our fiancées and
go back to living carefree single lives, Meggie.”

“
Not a chance,” Meg
remarked. “As crazy and busy as the last several weeks have been, I
wouldn’t trade Bobby in for anything.”

“
Me, either,” Pure
responded.

“
So, how are we going to
find a way to get through the next month without having a nervous
breakdown?” Meg asked.

“
Alcohol,” Courtney
suggested, watching Meg roll her eyes. “How about we find some time
each week to get together and just be together? Forget about men
and work and weddings and all that jazz. Just be us.”

“
Yes! Let’s do that,”
Meg’s eyes lit up.

“
I’m on board,” Pure said,
then added, “Let’s schedule the dates and times right now, so we
won’t change our minds or put it off ‘til later.”

The three women synced up their calendars
and a plan was set to meet every Thursday evening. They took turns
choosing the location, but it was always at a restaurant so no one
felt the need to clean their home or prepare food.

“
To us,” Courtney said,
raising her glass high above the table. Meg and Pure followed
suit.

“
To us,” they all said,
clinking their glasses and spilling their drinks in the process.
They giggled as Meg tried to clean up the liquid with her
napkin.

“
Can’t take us anywhere,”
Courtney said through her laughter.

“
Never could, never will
be able to,” Purity agreed.

It was date night. Pure and Alex, Bobby and
Meg, Tapestry and Chance, and Courtney and Geoffrey were having
dinner together. Meg called Geoffrey Montgomery, her associate back
when she worked at the accounting firm, because Courtney’s shtick
about being a third wheel was growing old. Besides Geoff was a lot
of fun and he’d show Court a good time. They might even hit it
off.

The women were in the bathroom applying
make-up, talking, exchanging tips on how to apply eye shadow, and
giving Court the low-down on Geoffrey.

The men were in the living room biding their
time.

“
You know we’re going to
be late,” Bobby said.

“
Yep,” Alex responded,
putting his hands in his pockets and shifting his weight from his
left foot to his right.

“
You know this isn’t the
last time we’re going to stand here cooling our heels while these
women spend hours and hours getting ready,” Bobby stated with
frustration in his voice.

“
Yep,” Alex
commented.

Geoffrey and Chance looked at one another
and then sat back down on the sofa they occupied earlier.

“
You know they don’t need
all that crap on their faces. They look beautiful just the way they
are,” Bobby said.

“
Yep,” Alex
remarked.

Bobby sat in the recliner and pulled the
footstool out with the lever on the side of the chair. Then he
placed his arms high against the backrest and rested the back of
his head in his hands. “You know it’s going to be worth the wait,”
Bobby said.