A Stupid Yellow Invitation

CHAPTER ONE

It's so yellow.

It's too bright and cheery and happy for her to open today, when she missed something important at work, and, besides, her boyfriend broke up with her a week ago, so she reserves the right to wallow, even if she wasn't particularly invested in the relationship and had kind of talked him into doing it. So the happy stupid invitation stays on her kitchen table. Especially because of that stupid couple drawing in the bottom corner.

The worst part is, it's yellow. It's not plain white or any other colour that isn't so eye-catching.

It's not some other colour that doesn't immediately evoke a wondering response.

If it was a simple white envelope with her name on the front, she would have opened it without a second thought.

She is beginning to hate the colour yellow.

And now every time she walks past it, it catches her eye and makes her think about it.

It ruins her weekend.

She got the letter on Friday, and did her best to ignore it.

On Wednesday, she rips off the bandaid and slices it open, only to see exactly what she had feared, and, worse, what she had expected.

we would like to invite

Lauren Lopez

to join us at the wedding of

Joseph Michael Richter

and

Brooke Grace Bell

on the date of

17.06.25

please rsvp as soon as possible

12252412422

or

joeyandbrooke@gmail.com

She's over it.

She is.

She had just hoped he would spare her the embarrassment of going to an ex's wedding as an undeniably single workaholic with no boyfriend, girlfriend, work friend, or dog.

Does she say yes? She's sure when it comes down to it she'll be able to watch without standing in the middle of the ceremony and objecting. If she said yes she would have to invite him to her wedding, whenever it came. And she would have to bring a date, because you can't show up to your ex's wedding alone.

Should she say no? A small part of her wanted to email Joey and respond pettily with a "Received the wedding invitation. Did she have the sense to see that you don't actually need her?" (maybe she doesn't have the self-control to not object). And she didn't have that long to decide, either - three weeks is not a long time.

Why had she only got her invitation three weeks in advance?

Okay. You're going to decline. Then you don't have to see him or invite him to your wedding or find a date or go dress shopping.

Okay. You're going to accept. Then you can prove that you're a mature woman who doesn't need anyone. Lauren calls Darren.

"Lauren?"

"I just got an invite to Joey's wedding."

"Oh yeah, he told me he'd sent yours. He wasn't sure whether to."

Lauren frowns. "What do you mean? Does he hate me? I shouldn't go."

"Lauren. Chill. He was, like, super nervous about sending it. Of course he doesn't hate you."

"What's his fiancée like?"

There's a pause."She's... really nice."

"Like, quotation marks really nice?"

"No... but the point is, Lauren, you gotta come. Everyone's getting back together, it's gonna be such a fun time."

"Bye, you Joey-promoting piece of shit."

"Bye, fucker. See you in hell."They both blow a kiss into the phone and hang up.

( • • • )

"Hey, Penny," Lauren says when she walks into the office. Agatha and Penelope look up from their conversation.

"Morning, Lauren! How was your weekend?" Agatha asks perkily. She's interning for an assistant position similar to the one Penny holds.