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8
Jane checked her watch for the twentieth time in the last five minutes, wondering where the hell Austin Drew was for their 2 pm meeting. Kat and Mike’s wedding planner, Molly McKee, was one of the most sought-after wedding planners in L.A., and she was due to connect with her on Zoom any moment and Austin was nowhere to be found. Previously Jane had only spoken to Molly on the phone, but she requested a video chat knowing there would be a member of the Drew family in attendance.
Jane walked to her office door and peeked out, looking right and left, wondering if Austin had been stopped by someone in the hallway. Unfortunately, the hallway was empty and there was no sign of him. She had already texted him several times in the last 30 minutes but had not had a response, even though she knew they had been delivered and read. If this was what working with Austin would be like, she had her work cut out for her.
Jane took a deep breath and walked over to her laptop. She didn’t want to look like a fool to Molly McKee, but she had no choice but to hop on the call and explain that Austin was running late. She couldn’t believe that he had put her in this position. It was the one thing his father had asked of him. Not to mention, she didn’t want to get on this call without prepping Austin ahead of time. She had purposely asked him to arrive 20 minutes early so she could walk him through the agenda. She wanted to scream because this was the kind of crap that made The Oxford look bad.
Knowing that she couldn’t delay the call, she checked her watch one more time and saw that it was two minutes to two. She needed to log on now and deal with the consequences.
She clicked on the link for the video chat and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She had taken special care today on her hair and makeup to look perfect on the video chat with Molly, just in case Kat and Mike might be on the call, as well. She had chosen a kelly-green blouse, knowing the color always complemented her eyes and hair.
“Is that you, Jane?” A pretty blonde greeted her on the call with a gigantic smile. “Oh my goodness, you're gorgeous! Look at you!” Molly exclaimed. As the words were coming out of Molly’s mouth, Jane was thinking the same thing about Molly herself. She was wearing a basic white tank with layered gold necklaces, along with gold hoop earrings that sparkled as she moved. Her hair was an endless cascade of blonde locks, all perfectly wavy and bouncy. She wore subtle neutral makeup, and it was obvious she didn’t need any makeup at all. On top of it all, she was also rocking a beautiful sun-kissed glow from living in L.A.
“Hello, Molly! Oh, thank you so much,” Jane said with a wide smile on her face. “You’re absolutely stunning yourself. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you. I have to say, I’m so jealous of that palm tree I see behind you.” It was obvious that Molly was taking this call outside by a pool, most likely at her own house.
“Oh,” Molly laughed. “You’re a gem! L.A. living is the best. This time of year is just beautiful, so I’m soaking up the outdoor living right now. These palm trees are beautiful,” she said, gesturing toward them, “I know you don’t have them in Rhode Island,” she stated obviously. “I’m taking this call poolside at home, so please excuse the mess behind me.”
Her place looked immaculate, and Jane had no idea what she meant. It actually looked like she was at a hotel pool, so the fact that this was her house was incredible to Jane.
“Let me grab my notes and we can start going through the list for the wedding,” Jane said, pulling out her organized notes and folders.
“Sounds good,” Molly said casually. “Hey - where’s Austin? I thought you said he’d be on the video call with you.”
Jane plastered a smile on her face and looked up at the screen to face Molly and just as she was about to answer, she heard a booming voice behind her say, “I’m right here!” Jane turned around to see Austin waltzing into her office.
“Austin!” Molly said in a giddy voice. “SURPRISE! How are you, darling?”
“Wait a second,” Austin said, clearly surprised as he walked toward Jane’s laptop and squinted at the screen. “Is that you, Molly?”
“The one and only,” she squealed. “Oh my God, what are the chances? I almost died when Jane said you would be on the call. Of all the places for my client to book her wedding! Since when did you decide to settle down and actually get a job?” she laughed.
“Since this wedding,” Austin teased back, but Jane knew there was 100% truth in his words.
“Well,” Molly smiled, “just my luck! I’m so excited about this. How are you?”
“I’m doing great,” Austin smiled. “What about you? Working these high-profile weddings, huh? Geez, someone’s doing well!”
“Oh, this is so much fun,” Molly beamed. “My goodness, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? We’re going to have to catch up another time without having poor Jane listen to us go back and forth. Sorry, Jane!”
“Oh, wow…” Jane smiled, looking over at Austin and then back at Molly, “so, you two know each other?” She tried to sound casual, but was completely thrown off by the fact that they knew each other.
“Oh,” Molly interjected with a huge smile, not allowing Austin to answer. “We’ve known each other for years! We have mutual friends and have crossed paths many times. I just couldn’t believe it when I saw that Austin was on this call. I knew his family owned it, but I never thought I’d see Austin Drew working there. I love it! I had to see it with my own eyes,” she winked.
“Here in the flesh,” Austin remarked coolly.
“Well,” Jane responded, trying not to be bothered by the fact that Austin hadn’t mentioned this before, because she had mentioned Molly’s full name in the message to him about the call. “Why don’t we get moving on the list of stuff I sent you, Molly. I know that we’ve got a small window of time, and I want to make sure we get everything squared away and booked for the wedding.”
“And hey, Mol,” Austin jumped in.
“Yeah,” she said, perking up.
“When the hell is your girl going to announce that she’s getting married at The Oxford?” he asked in a teasing tone.
Jane couldn’t help but freeze in place. This wasn’t how you asked that question. Even if there was history there, and a certain comfort level, Austin needed to be professional.
“You know I can’t push her to do anything,” Molly answered, “but I will tell her that she needs to share it soon because now that we’re going to start booking things, I don’t want someone else to scoop her.”
“I was just going to say,” Austin remarked, “some people will violate their NDA to get a press push out there.”
