by Jenna Payne
But, that explanation doesn’t sit well either. First of all, I know Gus. I’ve known him since the first day of freshman year at Grant High School when he sat in front of me in English class. He’s not the type of guy to have affairs or cheat or do anything at all unscrupulous.
Second, Benning Tech is one of the largest corporations of its kind in the country. Gus is worth over 2 billion dollars. He makes Forbes list of Richest men in the world every single year.
The beautiful model wouldn’t have to marry an old geezer for money and have an affair with Gus. It’s more likely that she would marry Gus for money. Though, along with the money she’d also get a young, handsome, virile man. It’s the best of both worlds.
This leads me to the horrifying ultimate conclusion. The beautiful model is wearing Gus’s ring.
My step brother, my best friend, got engaged while he was in Canada and didn’t tell me.
Gus catches my eye, smiles, and waves at me as he and his little girlfriend (I refuse to say the word fiancée, even in my head) move towards me.
I try to smile back but, I don’t think I’ve quite managed it. Gus doesn’t seem to notice. His smile is brighter than I’ve ever seen it and there’s a new spring in his step as he comes closer.
“Emma!” he says. “It’s so good to see you! I hope you’ve been taking good care of my company.”
“Didn’t need much taking care of,” I answer. “It’s a well-oiled machine.”
“Most of that’s due to you and you know it,” he says playfully elbowing me in the ribs the way he’s always done. As though we’re fourteen again and I’m the little sister substitute.
None the less, I smile at him and take a step back both hoping and dreading being introduced to the beautiful woman behind him. Apparently she’s got the same feeling about this meeting because she’s looking at Gus with an impatient frown while tapping her foot.
Gus catches the look out of the corner of his eye and quickly, almost nervously, moves to appease her.
“Oh, Emma,” he says ushering the woman forward, “I’ve got a...well a sort of surprise for you...this is Ramona. My fiancée.”
And there’s the word. The dreaded title that made what I already knew in my head to be true an indisputable fact.
I swallow, and paste an entirely fake smile on my face.
“Nice to meet you,” I say holding my hand out to Ramona. “I’m Emma.”
She smiles back at me. Her expression looks every bit as fake as mine feels.
“It’s great to meet you too,” she says in that sexy low voice that actresses in movies always seem to have. She takes my hand with a feminine limp wrist.
“Gus has told me all about his little stepsister. I know you two are close.”
I try to keep the smile on my face even as the words she’s just spoken ring in my head: ‘little stepsister’. I don’t know if she means to be condescending or not but, it certainly feels that way.
With another fake smile at me, Ramona turns back to Gus.
“Honey, I really should get going,” she says. “If we really want this wedding to happen next month, I’ve got a lot of planning to do.”
“Next month?” I ask before I can stop myself. Getting engaged in a matter of months is one thing. But, a wedding so soon…
“It’s a stupid thing with Ramona’s Green Card,” Gus tells me. “We’ve got to get married within two months of her moving here or they can send her back to Canada.”
“Not that that’s the reason we’re getting married,” Ramona assures me, correctly interpreting the hopeful expression on my face. (A Green Card marriage after all, wouldn’t be quite the same as a real marriage).
She continues, her voice suddenly pouty and cutesy. “I just wanted to be with Gus and this was the only way we could make it happen.” She leans into Gus and gives him a peck on the lips and I think I’m going to be sick. She makes as if to depart.
“Okay, you can go if you have to,” Gus tells her. “I’ve got to talk to Emma about some business stuff anyway. See you tonight?”
“Of course,” she says sweetly. And, with another kiss (and another urge to gag from me), Ramona saunters out of the hall.
As soon as she leaves, the smile fades from my face and I fix Gus with a glare.
“So,” I say rather firmly to him, “when were you planning on telling me you were engaged?”
“Emma, can we not do this here?” he asks looking at the other employees rushing about. A few have glanced over their cubicles to watch us.
“Fine,” I say, “should we go into your office and have it out there?”
My arms are crossed and I’m still glaring at him. To my right I hear the tech guy, Ed, snicker behind his computer screen.
I ignore him. I’ve learned to do that over the years. But, when Gus looks at him and his face colors, Ed’s laughter stops immediately.
“Sounds good,” Gus says. “I’m sure you’ve got some things to go over with me anyway.”
Satisfied, I nod and let him lead the way past the row of cubicles and towards the large brown door to his office.
“The boss man’s in trouble,” I hear Ed whisper to Cindy, one of the data entry girls, as we pass them by. Though I send him a glare that shuts him up again, I can’t help but silently agree with Ed.
Gus is in very, very big trouble.
*****
“You want me to what?!” I all but yell in Gus’s direction. I didn’t think this day could get any worse. First, my stepbrother/best friend/man I’ve had a crush on since high school gets engaged and doesn’t tell me. And now he wants me to plan his wedding.
“Please, Emma,” he says in that pathetic voice he always uses when he’s trying to get me to do something. “We can’t get a planner on a month’s notice! There’s no one else to ask and besides, you’re really good at this stuff. You know you are.”
That is true. I planned my Mom’s wedding to Gus’s Dad when we were only sixteen, and loved every minute of it. The truth is, I love planning events. I love organizing. I love making things just so. But this...this is…
“I’ve got too much work to do!” I say, instead of what I really want to say (which is, ‘I can’t plan your wedding because I’ve been in love with you since we were fourteen years old so you should be marrying me.’)
I continue. “The creative team’s coming in tomorrow to pitch the marketing plan for the new software. I can’t miss that meeting if we’re going to get a campaign out by the end of the quarter.”
“I’ve already talked to Sam, he’s going to take the first meeting for you. He’s got all your notes, he knows what we’re looking for,” Gus says. “And I’ll get most of your other duties delegated out too.”
“It’s still a big job,” I say. “I mean, Mom and Frank’s wedding took six months to plan and it still didn’t go as perfectly as I’d like it to have gone.”
Gus rolls his eyes at me. The expression is so familiar, I’m tempted to smile at him before I remember that I’m still furious.
“Nothing ever goes as perfectly as you’d like it too,” he says. “Even when it comes off without a hitch. Because you’re a crazy perfectionist like that.”
“All the more reason you don’t want me doing this,” I answer, now desperate to get out of this, somehow. “You know me, Gus. I’ll stress out and make everyone miserable!”
“You’ll have help,” he assures me. “Ramona has an assistant, Jake. He’s flying in from Canada tomorrow. He’s coming in just to help you.”
“Then why doesn’t he plan the wedding?” I ask, frustrated at the idea of having to meet yet another person from Canada who would, no doubt, also ruin my life.
“The short answer is because he’s a straight male and knows nothing about weddings,” Gus says. “The longer answer is...I trust you. There’s no one else I would trust with the most important day of my life besides you.”
My heart skips a beat and I look into those blue eyes that are so incredibly familiar
to me. Gus is staring at me with his sad, pleading look and, despite myself, I’m almost ready to give in.
“Please, Emma. Just do this one thing. For me,” he says. That’s it. That’s all it takes to push me over the edge to acquiescence.
I heave a huge sigh before saying, “Okay. I’ll do it.”
Gus’s face breaks out into the biggest grin I’ve seen from him in years. The last time he grinned like that was when we made our first sale ten years ago.
“But, you’re going to owe me big time,” I tell him trying to sound stern but feeling a smile come to my own face. “And I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me about Ramona. We talked every day when you were in Canada.”
“Like I said,” Gus says, “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“You know I hate surprises,” I answer.
“And I’ve spent years trying to get you to love them,” Gus quips back. “I thought this one might help with that.”
I roll my eyes at him. As I do, I hear him chuckle. As I leave the office to return to my desk, I can’t help feeling a bit lighter. I’m still upset about the wedding. I’m still angry at Gus for keeping the whole thing so secret. But, the idea that he trusts me, and that I’m the only person he trusts enough to take care of his wedding, has given me an extra bounce in my step.
Truth be told, talking to Gus always manages to do that.
*****
There is an underwear model sitting at my desk. I walked into work today fully expecting things to go back to normal. Or as normal as they could be with Gus’s wedding less than a month away and me planning it.
I thought I would get my work for the company done in the morning and, maybe, have lunch with Ramona’s assistant so that we could talk about flower arrangements and so on.
Now, I find myself standing in the hallway, almost completely immobile, looking at the most gorgeous man I have ever seen.
His longish dark hair falls elegantly into his dark brown eyes. His skin is tanned, and his jaw has a light stubble.
He’s wearing a dark suit, jacket unbuttoned, with a bright red tie and white shirt. I can make out his torso through his shirt I can tell that his abs are well-defined and seem to end in that perfect ‘V’ shape.
I feel heat rush to my cheeks as a pool of desire floods embarrassingly to my nether regions. I walk towards my desk, half hoping that this is not Jake, Ramona’s assistant, and more than half hoping that it is.
“Hi,” I say when I reach him, “I’m Emma. You’re...um...sitting at my desk.”
“Oh, sorry!” the underwear model says, quickly scrambling up from my chair. “I’m Jake.”
Giving me a charming smile, he holds out his hand to mine and, trying not to blush, I take it.
“Nice to meet you,” I say, trying as hard as I can not to focus on how warm and softly masculine his hand feels in mine. He smiles at me again and I realize that we’ve been holding the handshake just a bit longer than was probably necessary.
With a nod, I pull away.
“Sorry,” Jake says again, “I just...Ramona didn’t tell me what you looked like so...I was just a little surprised that you’re so…”
“So, what?” I ask expecting to hear ‘short’, ‘frizzy haired’ or ‘young’. All things that people have said to me in the past.
“Beautiful,” Jake answers. Now I’m powerless to hide the blush that comes into my cheeks.
“You’re pretty good looking yourself,” I say, cursing myself for not coming up with something more intelligent or witty.
“I can’t take credit for that,” he says. “Good genes. It’s from my Mom’s side. She was a Spanish model.”
“That makes sense,” I answer, moving to the chair behind my desk. Jake pulls up a chair beside me.
“I’m sorry again about sitting at your desk,” he said, “Ramona should’ve texted you to tell you I was coming.”
“I didn’t get anything from her,” I say. “I mean, I knew you were coming today, but Gus said to expect you at lunch time.”
“Ramona changed her mind,” he tells me in a flat voice. Clearly he’s not exactly pleased with the change in plans. “She does that a lot. If you’re going to be planning this wedding, you’ll get used to it.”
“I can handle indecisive,” I tell him. “In fact, it’s where I live. Gus can’t make decisions to save his life. Unless it’s about what genius level software program the world needs next. That’s why I’m here to take care of all the little stuff.”
“Oh, Ramona’s not indecisive,” Jake says leaning over towards me conspiratorially. “She’s just a stone cold bitch. Just wait. She’ll tell you she wants something one way, then she’ll yell at you for doing it the way she told you too. She’ll pretend she always wanted it another way and make it your fault that it got screwed up.”
I balk at this news. True, the woman I met yesterday hadn’t struck me as particularly likable, (and not just because she was engaged to the love of my life), but the idea that Gus would marry a woman as horrible as the one Jake had just described was almost unthinkable.
“I’m sure she’s not as bad as that,” I say.
“Oh, just you wait,” he tells me. “She’s coming in this afternoon to see what we’ve got done so far. You’ll see if for yourself then.”
I nod, half hoping that he’s wrong, but dreading that he might be right. When he pulls out a huge binder with a list of potential florists a mile long, I have a horrible sinking feeling that it’s the latter.
*****
“No!” Ramona says, screaming at Jake for the fifth time this week. “I said I wanted daffodils and lilacs. Not roses and bluebonnets.”
As usual, she did originally tell us that she wanted roses and bluebonnets for the bouquet. I was there when she said it. But, I know it’s no use arguing with her. I just send a sympathetic wince to Jake and make a note to change the order.
“And the cake is supposed to be designer-made from La Frite bakery,” she continues, her face red. She’s not nearly as beautiful when she’s angry as she is when she’s pretending to be happy.
“We called them,” I answer her deciding to take a bullet for Jake. “They said it would take two months to make a cake like the one you want. They’re backed up with wedding orders right now.”
“Did you talk to Hank?” Ramona says turning on me. The ire in her voice is apparent and I have no idea who Hank is.
“Well, I talked to Bill at the front desk,” I say slowly knowing that an explosion is coming.
“Oh, my god!” she screams on cue. “How incompetent can you two be? Here!”
She grabs one of my post-it notes as well as my favorite pen from the front of my desk. Hastily, she jots down a number.
“There,” she says. “That is Hank’s private phone number. Call him and get the cake taken care of.”
She shoves the post-it note into my hand with a huff.
“Now,” she says tossing her long hair over her shoulder. “If you two don’t mind, I need to have a little chat with my fiancé. Believe it or not, I’ve got better things to do than babysit you.”
She gives us a superior eye roll and stalks into Gus’s office without waiting to be announced.
“I told you,” Jake says as soon as she’s gone. “The worst bridezilla hasn’t got anything on her.”
I nod in silent agreement and turn back to my phone.
“I’d better get on the cake before she freaks out at me again,” I say, grabbing for the phone at the front of my desk. Jake puts out a hand to stop me. His hand lands on top of mine and I look back at him blushing furiously.
“It’s almost five o’clock,” he says. “Trust me, the cake can wait until tomorrow.”
“You sure about that?” I ask. “I mean like you said, we’re not dealing with an ordinary bridezilla in there.”
“True,” Jake says, “but, remember, I know Ramona. I know what buttons I can push, and which to leave alone. Trust me. The state she’s in, she won’t ask about the
cake again until tomorrow.”
I hesitate, my hand still on the phone, Jake’s hand still on mine. I look up into those dark eyes and suddenly, I can’t help but smile.
“Well,” I say, “if you’re sure…”
“I’m positive,” he says leaning in towards me. I can smell his cologne and it’s beyond amazing.
“Then I guess I’ll leave it,” I say.
He smiles and leans in closer to me. He’s going to kiss me. I am actually going to be kissed. It’s been two years.
I close my eyes, and—
“I can’t believe you would say that to me!” says Ramona, her voice carrying out into the hallway, causing Jake and me to jump apart.
I stare at Gus’s closed office door. I no longer have to imagine what’s going on inside. As Gus’s voice raises, I know I’m going to be able to hear everything from here on out.
“Ramona!” he yells back. But, there’s a pleading tone in Gus’s voice that contrasts hers.
“Please! Just listen! You promised you would stay on this budget for the wedding and—”
“I don’t have to listen to this anymore,” she answers. “Just take the night to get your head on straight and decide whether or not you actually want to get married.
Jake and I jump away from each other as Gus’s office door bursts open and Ramona stalks out.
She doesn’t spare either of us a second glance as she stomps angrily down the hall.
“Trouble in paradise,” Jake mutters to me with a small smirk, but I’m hardly paying attention to him.
Instead, I look toward the still-open office door and see Gus slouched in the chair at his desk, his head buried in his hands. I know I have to go talk to him even though it’ll be tough to hear him spill his heart out to me about another woman. If he really is going to marry Ramona, it’s something I’m going to have to get used to.
“Hey, give me just a minute, okay?” I say to Jake.
“Sure,” he says looking at me, a tad confused, as I make my way into Gus’s office.
“Hi,” I say closing the door behind me.
Gus looks up at me his usually immaculate hair a mess, his eyes bloodshot. His face has lost more and more of its color in the past two weeks since Ramona arrived.
