“Craig,” I say, trying to hide my surprise.
He jumps up from his seat and kisses me on the cheek. I’m sure Nicole filled him in on Tracy being here for an interview.
“How are you?” he says cheerfully before turning to Tracy. “And I hear you may be joining us here at Sheer Happiness.”
Us? I think to myself.
Tracy gets a huge grin on her face. “Yes, I’ve just accepted a position. I’m so happy to be a part of the team. This is practically my dream job.” Nicole jumps up and down with excitement.
Craig gives her a huge hug. “Welcome aboard,” he says dramatically.
Okay, this is terribly awkward. Although, it sure sounds like he’s willing to fully give in to my list of demands; however, we haven’t discussed anything yet.
Tracy sits down with Nicole to fill out some paperwork. I look at Craig who is staring at me. This is so weird; we’re standing next to each other but neither of us is saying a word. Is this how it’s always going to be? I don’t want anything to be awkward. I want my friend back and the same co-worker I had for all those years.
“You ready, Craig?” I ask.
He nods and heads to my office. We both sit down.
“So, you hired Tracy?” he asks a few seconds later. “I think that was a good move. She was really helpful at the wedding she worked with us.”
Now I have no doubt Craig is angling to stay, normally he’d have some kind of smartass comment about me hiring someone new, but not today.
“I think she will be a good fit,” I agree. “We certainly can use the help.”
He looks at his phone, obviously trying to avoid eye contact with me.
“Anyway, I’ve had a lot of time to think about everything,” he says, changing the subject. “When you started this company, you brought me with you. And we have killed it in a very short time. We need to keep this momentum going.”
I fold my arms. I can’t disagree with what he’s saying.
“Look, I know my behavior has been um . . . difficult lately.” He hesitates. “I admit I shouldn’t have such a bad reaction about you promoting Nicole. She has more than earned it; after all, she did endure the nightmare of Carrie right alongside us.”
He’s absolutely right. Carrie was horrible to her.
“You know she came here yesterday,” I interrupt.
He gives me a confused look. “Who came here yesterday?”
“Carrie.”
His mouth practically hits the floor. “Here? What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I just said. Carrie came here to talk to me about partnering up.”
Craig is silent, which never happens. He must be in shock.
“You didn’t say yes?”
I roll my eyes. “Seriously? Of course not.”
“Anyway, let’s get back to our situation,” I tell him. I take a deep breath and let it all out. “What do you expect me to do, Craig? You leave town without calling me, you don’t give me any explanation. You’ve been rude and disrespectful to Nicole and me. You leave us to do two events without you, and now you’re here like nothing ever happened. I’m trying to figure this out because you’re important to me. We’ve been friends for a very long time and you are an asset to this company. The problem is how can I set an example for anyone else by just letting you come back here with no consequences?”
Craig looks up from the floor. “I get it. I don’t deserve to stay here.” He bites his lip. “I thought about what you said, about my acting. I really miss it but I miss this, too. Other than acting, this is the only thing I’ve ever felt that I was good at.” He stops and scratches his head. “Anyway, we make a great team here, and with Nicole and now Tracy, I think we could take this to a whole new level. I’m even willing to move out of my office and let Nicole move in there.”
I let out a loud laugh. “Wow, you really do want to stay.”
He nods. “I want to say something else.”
I raise my eyebrows because you never know what will come out of his mouth.
“Sienna, you’ve really impressed me. I mean, you’ve always been focused and driven but at the same time unsure of yourself. You really have shown how strong you are. With everything that’s happened with Carrie, Luke, and most recently Lisa, you’ve handled everything extremely well and I admire that. You should give yourself more credit.”
Who is this and where did he hide Craig?
“Oh . . . thanks.”
All of a sudden, an idea pops into my head. I get up from my desk and call Nicole into my office. She comes in and sits down. Both Craig and Nicole are staring at me.
“Okay, guys, here’s the deal. Sheer Happiness is only a success because we all have put in our time and energy, so we need to make a company decision today . . . about Craig.” I smile at him and his eyes get wide.
“This is what I get for the glowing compliment I just gave you,” he says sarcastically.
I clap. “There’s the Craig we all know and love.”
Nicole puts her hand in front of her mouth to hide her smile.
“Anyway, let’s lay it all out on the table. Craig, here is a list of your questionable actions or rather . . . questionable behavior.”
I go down the list of his showing up late, missing events, his disrespect, running off to vacation with no notice, and the list goes on. Wow, I almost forgot how many issues there were. Maybe I am crazy for entertaining the idea keeping him on.
“Nicole, what are your thoughts about Craig staying with Sheer Happiness? After everything I just mentioned, do you think he deserves another chance?”
She has that familiar deer in headlights look on her face. I suppose I did catch her off guard by asking for her opinion. Craig looks just as shocked but he doesn’t say anything. It’s obvious that both of them think I’ve completely lost it, and maybe in some ways I have, but at the same time, I feel like I finally know what I’m doing.
“It’s okay for you to be honest. There’s no right or wrong answer,” I tell her.
She looks back and forth between Craig and me.
“My opinion is that we need Craig here,” she says firmly. “I’m sure we would get along okay without him, but . . . it’s just not the same.” She shrugs her shoulders. “Can’t we put him on some kind of probation or something?”
Craig throws his head back dramatically. “Seriously, are we in high school now?”
I nod my head slowly. “No, I think Nicole is on to something here. I can’t just give you your job back without any kind of consequence. Come on, you took off to Cabo without letting me know . . . or an invitation.” I wink.
He nods in agreement.
“Okay, so what’s the punishment, Mom?” he says sarcastically.
“What happened to dragon lady?” I ask smugly.
All three of us laugh. Hmmm . . . I guess my sense of humor is still here somewhere.
“Okay, Craig, you’re on probation starting with you moving out of your office and Nicole moving in.”
Nicole’s mouth drops open. “What?” she yells.
“Yep, and while you’re making the move, clean out your desk and throw away all that old food in the mini fridge. When you’re done with that, we have a huge dilemma we need to figure out, as in a Code C.”
Code C is something we made up that refers to a client who’s a cheater. In this case, I’m referring to Kami’s situation, even though they’re not official clients, but because of the personal connection, I need to figure something out.
“So, are you in?” I ask. Nicole and I both sit on the edge of our chairs waiting for his answer.
He lets out a deep breath. “Yes, I’m in.”
Nicole cheers and there’s a knock at the door. It’s Tracy.
“Sorry to interrupt, I just finished this up.” She holds up a folder of paperwork.
“Come on in, Tracy,” I say excitedly. “All right, everyone, take a good look at the new and improved Sheer Happiness Events Team. I have a feeling things are o
nly going to get even better from here.”
This time I’m actually starting to believe it.
*~*~*
“Good for you,” Madison says after I tell her about Craig. I’m sitting in her living room after my long day of work. I stopped by to pick up a special cookie order I had her make for Ace’s mom.
I’m exhausted, and it’s getting harder to avoid Kami. Today she sent me a text message about meeting to talk about her wedding.
“I actually would have liked to see Craig do the walk of shame out of his office and into the lobby. Was he totally dramatic about it?”
I giggle. “Of course, he was. I felt a tiny bit sorry for him, but he took it like a man so I think he’s really committed to proving himself.”
“On another note, I need some advice.”
Madison looks shocked. She’s not exactly the one you would go to for advice, but since this involves Abby I can’t ask her for advice. I explain to Madison about Kami and her man’s involvement with Lisa.
“This sucks so bad. I don’t want to be the one to ruin this girl’s life, but how can I tell her that I can’t do her wedding without an explanation,” I say as I dramatically put my hand over my face. “Not only that, but Abby was so excited to refer her to me. I’m just stuck in such a hard place.”
Madison looks perplexed. “What’s the problem? How can you not tell this girl? You owe her this, not only for her but for all women kind who have dealt with a cheater.”
What? I’m expecting Madison to jump on the couch yelling “girl power.” Although I understand what she’s saying, I still don’t think it’s my place.
“I know but it’s not like we’re good friends. Ugh. Maybe I should just tell Abby.”
She nods. “Yes. You have to do something. Call her now.”
Now?
“I’m not calling her now. She’s probably getting the kids into bed. I will text her later.”
Madison gives me a skeptical look. “Promise?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes. Stop lecturing me.”
She smiles. “Someone has to keep you straight.”
I throw one of her designer pillows at her. Speaking of pillows, these are really nice. I’m sure they were some of Susan’s purchases.
“The house looks gorgeous, by the way,” I say, looking around. “Susan outdid herself, not that I’m surprised.”
Madison forces a smile. “Yes, she did.” She bites her lip. “Don’t get me wrong, I love it. Really, I do.”
She may love the décor but she’s obviously frustrated with her mother-in-law. I fight the urge to say I told you so.
“So, in other news . . . I think Ace and I finally picked a venue,” I say excitedly.
Madison gasps. “Oh my gosh, where?”
“Calamigos Ranch.”
Her mouth drops open. “Very nice. Did you already book it?”
I shake my head. “Not yet. Honestly, it’s been so busy and today was kind of a waste getting Tracy settled and Craig coming back. I’m hoping things will finally get back on track. I will at least have more help and hopefully Craig is done with his midlife crisis or temper tantrum or whatever he’s been going through.”
Madison laughs. “You never know.”
I cringe. She’s absolutely right about that. Madison lets me leave after I promise her I will call Abby and talk to her about the Kami situation. I know she’s right. Looking back at my own situation with a cheating boyfriend, I wish someone had told me the truth. Thankfully it never got as far as an engagement.
*~*~*
When I get back to Ace’s condo, I find him and Maureen sitting at the counter looking through a photo album.
“Hi,” I say, interrupting them.
They both turn and Ace walks over and lifts me off the ground to give me a kiss. I love that he does that and I hope that continues long into our marriage.
“I brought a treat,” I say excitedly. “I meant for them to be a welcome treat, but with my work schedule, I wasn’t able to pick them up. Anyway, welcome to California.”
Maureen opens the box to find the cutest cookies in the shape of Australia. She gives me a big hug and they tell me about their day together. After tonight, Maureen is going to be traveling with friends for a week before coming back here.
“So, Ace tells me that you two have found a spot for the big day,” she says.
I nod eagerly. “Yes, I think so.” Ace winks at me.
She gives a sly smile. “Wonderful.”
Hmmm . . . she’s sneaky. I wonder if that was her plan all along to get us moving on our plans. Oh well, I guess I should thank her. I needed someone to push me along, that’s for sure.
I hear my phone buzzing from my bag.
Hi, Sienna. Kami again. I would love to meet with you to start making plans. Let me know when you are available.
Crap, it’s another text from Kami. I need to call Abby, and soon.
Chapter 19
I had every intention of calling Abby but I ended up spending the rest of the evening with Ace and his mom. I have always loved listening to childhood stories and Maureen has some great ones. Ace isn’t really the type to get embarrassed but he sure did when his mom shared some funny information.
Of course, our conversation led them to ask me to share some of my own funny stories. I told them about how I made my dad bury my goldfish, Goldie, in the backyard and how I put an artificial rose on the makeshift grave. My brothers’ fish, Silvie, had a proper burial at sea (down the toilet). I also told them the story about when I was in 5th grade and I told my friends I had a pet dog, and when they would call, I would make my brother bark to go along with my story.
*~*~*
When I get to the office, everyone is there on time, including Craig. We have a wedding coming up next weekend, so everyone is hard at work handling all the details. I’m so caught up in answering emails that I answer my phone without looking.
“There you are,” Abby says when I answer. “I was starting to think you’ve been avoiding me.”
I laugh nervously. “Of course not, I was actually planning on calling you.”
Abby starts to tell me about the kids and about her new aerial yoga classes. This is interesting, Abby would never have tried something like that, but I’m proud of her for putting herself out there and trying something new. She sounds much more relaxed than the last few times I spoke to her.
“Abby, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I say cautiously. “It’s about Kami’s wedding . . .”
I’m interrupted by a knock on the door. It’s Craig.
“Sorry to interrupt but we have a major catering issue with Saturday’s event. I’m talking Code F,” he says dramatically.
I’m totally confused because we don’t have a Code F. It takes me a few seconds to figure out what the F stands for. Oh no. I tell Abby that I have to call her back. I guess I will have to deal with the Kami situation later.
*~*~*
The last few days have been insane dealing with a major catering mix up for our event this weekend. Nicole, Craig, and I have been so busy I haven’t had time to do anything else. Thankfully, Tracy has been handling everything in the office. When Saturday rolls around, I realize that I never called Abby back. I’m quickly becoming the worst friend in the world in addition to the worst fiancée in the world.
I suppose I should expect that running my own company would have some effect on my personal life.
Thankfully, we manage to pull it together for the wedding, and Craig especially came through by talking the bride off the ledge. I know how hard it can be to accept that sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. For a long time, I was obsessed with controlling every aspect of my life, and as things happened, I learned that was just not possible. I’m still trying to get used to this. Anyway, I don’t know what has caused this change in Craig but it really helped us this weekend. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still the same person, but for the first time in a while I see the same fire he had when we started
in this business years ago.
*~*~*
A few days later, I’m working late when I get a call from Abby.
“I know, I know. I’m the worst friend ever for not calling you back,” I say.
She laughs. “You’re not the worst friend. You’re just some busy big shot event planner.” She laughs. “Listen, you’re on speaker so don’t say anything crazy.”
Speaker? Why? I hate being on speaker. I don’t have the voice for it at all.
“Um, okay?” I say slowly.
“Kami is here and wants to say hi.”
No. I knew this would catch up with me at some time. No matter how hard you try to avoid things, they always catch up with you.
“Hey, Kami,” I say in the most cheerful voice I can muster. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you. Things have been a little crazy here.”
“Oh, please don’t worry about it,” she says kindly. “I know you’re really busy, but I would like to chat with you if I could. I have so many ideas, but I don’t know where to begin on planning this wedding. Mike says we can do anything I want.”
Hmmm . . . I bet he did, I think to myself. That would be the guilt talking.
“Everyone says you’re the best,” she adds. “So when can we meet?”
I laugh nervously.
“Let me check my calendar,” I reply. “Can I get back to you tomorrow?”
“Perfect,” she says happily.
When they hang up, I put my head down on the desk. I have no choice but to be honest, even if it means destroying her life. There is no way I can plan this wedding.
“Sienna, are you okay?” I look up to see Tracy at my door. Tracy and Nicole have been busy reorganizing all our client files and I didn’t realize she was still here.
“Oh, yes,” I say quickly. “Just dealing with a frustrating situation. Are you heading out?”
She nods. “Yep.”
She lingers in the door and I get the feeling she wants to talk to me.
Not Quite Sheer Happiness Page 15