The Paid Bridesmaid(89)

Maybe I should wait to call him until after his deal went through. He already had so much on his plate.

I paid for my order and the clerk handed me my boxes and then I walked the two blocks to my office. When I got to my floor I didn’t go through the front doors, preferring to sneak in through the back entrance that was directly next to my office. I’d emailed the receptionist, Brinley, early this morning to have her call everyone and tell them to come in for a staff meeting. The doughnuts were my feeble attempt to make sugary amends for everything that had gone down.

After making my way to the conference room, I found to my surprise that everyone had already arrived. They seemed like they’d been talking for a while.

I stood in the doorway for a second and heard my most recent hire, Heather, say, “He was the cutest guy ever and wanted to take me out. I said no because of Rachel’s rule but I really wanted to go.”

Her words struck me. That rule, based on something that had happened to me years ago, was stupid. I was so shut off from relationships and the possibility of meeting someone new that I’d clung to it in order to deny my growing feelings for Camden.

Dan had given Camden a dumb rule, and Camden had totally ignored it. I was Dan, trying to stop my employees and friends from living their lives and flirting with people they met at weddings. As if I could control any of that. I hadn’t even been able to control it for myself.

I’d been at fault for more than one thing.

Someone noticed me and shushed the other women. I had anticipated getting here before all of them, but Krista’s knowing grin made me think she was responsible for everyone gathering early.

I put the doughnuts on the table and it seemed like such a small gesture in light of what was going on. There was no way for me to make this better for them.

“Thanks, everybody, for coming,” I said as I walked to the head of the table. I didn’t sit down; I had too much nervous energy to do anything but pace back and forth.

“You don’t need to say anything,” Krista told me. “We are all a hundred percent on your side and will do whatever you need us to do.”

“I don’t know that it will be that easy. I promise that I’m going to be transparent in every decision I make and get your input. This is your company, too. We are all in this together.”

Desiree raised her hand, like we were in a classroom, and then spoke. “What’s going to happen?”

“Gerald doesn’t have any answers yet. Unfortunately I think we’re going to have to wait and see. We’ll reach out to the brides who have already hired us and see how they’re feeling about going forward. If we’re able to stay in business, things are going to change.”

It was time to let things go. I couldn’t be in control of everything. I continued, “Our rule about secrecy will most likely change. That and the no-dating-guests rule.”

There were a couple of gasps and some little cheers.

“I know how you guys feel about it. I was just afraid that if you got involved with someone from a wedding we’d get caught if we slipped up. Which happened anyways. I just wanted to, I don’t know, protect you guys.”

Desiree said with a patient smile, “We don’t need your protection. We are grown women who can take care of ourselves.”

“I know that. I wasn’t trying to imply otherwise.” I took a deep breath, willing myself not to get emotional. Did they know how important they were to me?

“And we appreciate it,” Krista interjected. “We know how much you care.” There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the group.

“Thanks,” I said. “And we are where we are. We made our bed, and I guess now we have to lie in it.”

Krista said, “At least we did a really good job of it. There’s a fancy comforter and a bed skirt and pillows no one’s allowed to sleep on.”

“Thanks, guys,” I said with a smile. “Get in touch with the brides you’re currently working with and I’ll meet with you individually later to see where things stand.” People got up, some left the room, others grabbed doughnuts. Krista came over and hugged me, correctly sensing that I needed it.

She walked back to my office with me. “Can I get you anything? A coffee? Crumbs from the doughnuts that haven’t been devoured yet?”

“I’m good. Thank you.” I had some damage control to do. Gerald had advised against me contacting Bridezilla Amber or Angry Vinnie. He wanted me to do all my communication with them through him and I didn’t pay the man hundreds of dollars an hour to ignore his advice. But there were other clients, both current and former, that I could reach out to.

Brinley burst into my office, carrying a stack of pink notes. “Rachel! You’re here! I didn’t know you were here!”

“I came in the back,” I said, pointing over my shoulder. “What’s up?”

“What is up?” she repeated, pushing her glasses back up her nose. “Do you see this? There is a pile of voice mails and messages that I’ve taken this morning.”

My stomach sank. “From clients who are upset?”

“What? No. This is from people who want to hire us.” She shoved the pink messages into my hands. “People are clamoring for our services. And we’ve had at least thirty different phone calls from media outlets—newspapers, magazines, online sites—who want to talk to us about what we do. They’re calling you a genius for ‘filling an obvious need in the market.’ This has blown up in the best way possible!”