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There were three messages from Garrett in my inbox by the time I’d gotten my coffee and settled in. One about a crazy documentary he’d watched calledDarwin’s Nightmare, another about how his girlfriend had made some intense vegetarian pot pie for dinner and he’d spent the night in the bathroom, and the last wondering if I wanted to get a holiday drink whenever I was freed from my phones.
Couldn’t you have compiled all this into one message?I typed.Making me open three emails is a huge workout for a lazy day such as today. Give me the dub of the doc, hope your stomach’s healed, and yes, drinks are necessary.
Beth popped her head into my cubicle. “How different do I look?” Her long, pin-straight hair was the same and her brown eyes were perfectly made up as usual. “New sweater?” I guessed.
She sat down on the chair in front of my desk, crossed her legs, and placed her hand on top of her knee. “Guess again.”
“Cute new necklace?”
“Let’s try this again.” Beth waved her hands in front of my face. “I can’t believe I’m going to have totellyou.”
I turned my attention back to my computer. “Tell me what?”
Her left hand knocked on my monitor, and that’s when I saw it. “Oh my god. It’s a ring. You’reengaged?” I whisper-shouted.
Beth grinned. “I am!”
“When did this happen and why didn’t you call me?”
“Yesterday at lunch. Raj pulled the ring out of his coat pocket and said, ‘How about it?’”
“That was the proposal? ‘How about it?’ Wait, I was in the office after lunch yesterday, and you didn’t say a word!”
Beth’s cheeks were aflame. “It was charming. Raj is so low-key. I had the ring on my finger right after he proposed but then I was so worried about losing it or it dropping off my finger that I put it in my purse until after work.”
“You said yes, of course.”
“I did,” Beth said. “I’m so excited! I couldn’t sleep at all, and we were on the phone until almost two in the morning making plans to tell our families.”
“It’s so strange you don’t live together.”
“Our parents would have disowned us both. Hard enough for my parents to accept that he’s not Chinese. Plus, it’s going to be a hard-enough sell that we’re getting married. I think his parents would collapse if we lived together. Buried and done with.”
“The plans, spill.”
“We’re thinking we’ll get married in the summer in Haliburton. And then we’ll have the Indian portion of the wedding the weekend after.”
“Can you handle that, two weddings?”
“Yup. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, the merging of our cultures, you know?”
“Also,” I added, “double the presents. Let me see that ring again. I’m so happy for you.”
Siobhan wandered into the cube while I still had Beth’s hand in mine. “Oh”—her bracelets clacked, up, down, up, down, like a nervous tick—“I’m so glad I found the two of you together.” She paused. Clack. Clack. “I’ve been looking at the list of RSVPs, and I was wondering if I could send you a list of people I want you both to personally follow up with.”
“Sure,” I said, jumping in before Beth. “I can do it today. I’ve got a quiet morning.”
It’s not like we could say no to her request. But I wasn’t surprised a number of her invites hadn’t confirmed. New Year’s Eve was a hot ticket in the city, but there were bound to be people in the industry—and out—who had other plans that would be actual fun.
“We can add them to the front of the line VIP access,” Beth added. “That should sweeten the deal. And comp their champagne?”
Siobhan’s face approximated a half smile. This was the closest she came to happy. “Perfect, I knew I could count on you two.”
And then she wandered out of my cube. I was about to complain when Beth shook her head. “I am going to do everything in my power to make sure this party is not a disaster. My reputation is on the line, you know?” Beth said.
With no hint of irony in her voice, she continued, “It’s going to be the best night ever. I have to believe it’s going to bethe.Best.Night.Ever.”
“Don’t you stop believing.”
