Work Wife

Bridesmaid

Eloise and I are knee-deep in sticky tags and seating charts in the conference room when I get a text from Ainslee. I wouldn't have checked it, but the buzzing draws Eloise's focus from the 10-top to my phone and she asks, "Oh, what does Ainslee want now?"

I shake my head, dropping the woman everyone apparently can't stand at table seven, right next to the director's elderly mother. We have an event this weekend for a charity in Boulder that Chase personally donates to, so he's making this client our number one priority.

"I'm trying to use tact and precision with this damn seating chart," I mutter, not looking up. "I don't have time for Ainslee right now."

Eloise glances down at the massive seating chart sprawling across the long rectangular table, tapping a finger against her waist as she reads. "This really should be Susan's task. The director knows her volunteers' personalities way better than we do."

I flick my eyes over to Eloise, who's gesturing to the DJ booth squeezed in beside a table. "Whoever Susan hates should really be sat at table fourteen. They'll get blasted with cheesy eighties music all night."

"Chase says I can pick where we sit," I reply. "But I doubt we'll even have time to eat. I think we should be at table three, closest to the entrance."

"Or table nine, right by the bar," she suggests with a mischievous grin.

Before I can reply, a knock on the door draws our attention. Chase is standing in the doorway without his sportcoat, a casual air about him. He looks from me to Eloise, then asks, "Did you hear from Ainslee yet?" I tilt my head, wondering why he's asking about his fiancée when he sees me buried in a project.

"I've been doing this charity setup all afternoon, haven't had time to look at my phone. What's up?" He takes a step into the room and glances briefly at our project before answering, "Oh, I think she just had something she wanted to run by you." I already thanked her for the airline ticket when Chase presented it to me earlier this week, but he has the same energy now as he did then. He's being vague and has a mischievous gleam in his eye. He gives me that damn dimple and it has me taking a step away from charts and snatching up my phone from the other end of the table. I see the text from Ainslee and quickly read, Hey, something just came up and I wanted to run an idea by you. Can we set a time to Facetime later?

I look at Chase who is now inches away from me, close enough to enjoy his cologne and Eloise is just as curious as to what's on my phone.

"She said she wants to Facetime later," I tell them to not keep them waiting in suspense.

"She's free now if you want to call her real quick?" Chase suggests and he looks eager. I dart a quick glance to Eloise who is just as eager and she nods her head in agreement.

"Oh, um. I mean, Eloise and I were just about done with the seating chart, and you said yourself that you wanted the Meaningful Journeys event buttoned up by four today." His anxiousness to tie up all loose ends for the demanding director forced me to skip my lunch break and move a meeting with a potential client to tomorrow. But I now have all the time in the world to chat with his fiancèe.

"It will be quick, come on, she'll be thrilled I am here too," he says with a disarming smile and I am a little curious as to what is going on. Defeated, I open my call log and see the eight calls I've already had with the bride-to-be this week. I hit the Facetime button and Chase comes closer so he can squeeze inside the frame. It only rings twice before I see the wide, perfectly white smile of Chase's future wife but her face is covered by a mud mask, making her light blue eyes shine.

"Stella! Ah! I wasn't expecting you to call right away," she says and then giggles, like she is oh-so embarrassed to be caught in a mud mask and a towel wrapped around her head.