Meant to Be

Hocus Focus

The rest of the month went by, and now it was March 4th. Mirabel's and Enrique's families got together to start planning the wedding, and Mirabel was showing some invitation designs that she made.

"Pink is fine, but maybe it's a little too Valentine-ish," Mirabel said. "Green? That might be appropriate for a St. Patrick's Day wedding—and why did I even design an invitation with orange?"

"You sure went all out with these designs, Mira," Rosa remarked.

"What about this one?" Enrique asked, showing an invitation with a lavender design. "The pretty color surely reminds me of los arboles de jacarandas back in Santa Luisa."

"Oh, jacaranda purple is my favorite color," Mirabel smiled.

"Well, that should be the color scheme for the wedding," Felix smiled.

"Miraboo, I hope you're not planning on looking entirely perfect for the wedding," Esteban smiled, holding something in his hand.

"I'm not sure how to look imperfect for an event like this," Mirabel said. Then she noticed what her father was holding. "Is that Abuelo Pedro's old watch?"

"Sí, I thought you'd like to wear it for the wedding, so he can still be a part of it," Esteban smiled.

"Gosh, that'd be great—gracias, Papi," Mirabel smiled.

"De nada, nena," Esteban smiled back. Then he noticed that his daughter was a little jumpy. "Mira, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Papi," Mirabel replied. She took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "I'm just a little nervous about this wedding."

Enrique had a feeling he knew why Mirabel was nervous. "You're nervous because of what happened the last time you were engaged, right?" he guessed.

"Yes," Mirabel said meekly.

"Mirabel, you know I love you to death, and the last thing I'd want to do is to hurt you," Enrique said. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in my life. I'm certain you're just where you're meant to be, in a town that makes you happy with a man who loves you out of your mind."

Mirabel smiled at Enrique, and she knew he was right—she was living in a town full of people who greatly supported her, and she was marrying a faithful man who was willing to support her. "You're right, Enrique," she smiled. "I should just leave the past behind me and embrace the future."

"That's my girl," Enrique smiled.

Esteban, Rosa, Lupe, and Victor smiled—they knew there were days Mirabel was a little jumpy about the future thanks to her time in Vega City, but they knew Enrique would support her.

But not everyone was happy that Mirabel was happy with her life now. It was Monday, and Lorelei, Beth, Robin, Celeste, Gabe, and Noemi returned to Vega City after Valentine's Day—and ever since then, they'd been livid about how Mirabel had moved on, from leaving Vega City to marrying another man. They were pretty jealous of her happiness, and it was hard for them to focus on their own lives.

Beth, Celeste, Lorelei, and Robin had finished their college classes for the day, and they were very unhappy because they had very bad days.

"Hey, gals, how goes it?" Celeste asked.

"Terrible," Robin huffed, showing a test with a big red G-. "I got a G- on my math test. What about you guys?"

"My teacher called me out for not paying any attention," Lorelei spoke up.

"I have to write a ten-thousand-word report on why I shouldn't cram all my homework in the last minute—and it's due in two days," Beth fretted.

"Well, I got in trouble for plagiarizing my history report," Celeste complained. "I couldn't even concentrate on it for the past few weeks. I was too busy thinking about Mirabel."

"Me, too," Lorelei chimed in.

"Same here," Beth and Robin chorused.

"What went through her head?" Beth asked. "What gave her the idea she could just pack up and move out of here?"

"Well, that's her decision," Celeste said. "If she's happy with the choice she made, then so be it."

"Why does she get to be happy and not us?" Lorelei asked. "What makes her so special?"

"Nothing, Lorelei—absolutely nothing," Robin sniffed. "She's just pretending she's that special to make us look bad."

"Totally," Beth agreed.

Meanwhile, Noemi was having it harder at the Vega City Graphic Designers. Ever since Valentine's Day, she'd been jumping the shark with her designs because she was livid that Mirabel was more successful than she was before—and Noemi wanted to be better than Mirabel, and it didn't matter if they were working in different places. Mr. Turtle sure wasn't happy that Noemi hadn't been focusing enough on her work.

"Your designs are pathetic, Noemi," Mr. Turtle frowned. "You used to be one of my best workers, and now you're just doing plain, boring cards. A birthday card with nothing but 'Happy Birthday' in a sloppy font? An Easter card with an outline of a rabbit head and plain eggs? What's going on, Noemi? Why can't you design greeting cards the way you used to?"

"Because of Mirabel Ramirez," Noemi replied.

Mr. Turtle was thrown off. "What does Mirabel have to do with your sudden lack of creativity?" he asked. "She doesn't work here anymore."

"I saw her in Butterfly Bay last month on Valentine's Day, and it turns out she's working for another graphic design company," Noemi replied. "She's even more successful than me."

"Doesn't surprise me," Mr. Turtle sniffed. "While Mirabel has moved on with her life, you're not making any progress because you're focusing too much on her life instead of your own. Now I suggest you yourself move on from Mirabel and get your creativity flowing, or you're fired."

Noemi's heart sank like the Titanic—she enjoyed her job, mostly because she enjoyed being the best worker in the company. But now she's not making any progress because she'd been focusing too much on Mirabel's life. If Noemi didn't come up with any decent greeting card designs, she'd be fired.

Later, Noemi went home, and Gabe had been waiting for her.

"Ola, Nomes," Gabe said. "How was work?"

"Terrible," Noemi whined. "Because of Mirabel's success at Butterfly Graphic Arts, I haven't been able to design a single card—and if I don't design a good one at all, I'll be fired for sure."

"That Mirabel Ramirez," Gabe huffed. "Who does she think she is? What gives her the idea she can break up with me and date another man? I, Gabriel Hogg, am the perfect man for her, and that doofus has nothing on me."

"Well, we'll just have to prove it," Noemi said. "After all, the last time we saw her, she said she'd been with that man for eleven months. They should've been dating for a year now."

"Yes, and we have to prove that Enrique is terrible," Gabe said.