Without a Hitch(29)

Peeling myself off the couch, I walk to the corner and grab her stepstool. The rest of us are average height, but Del is on the other side of five feet and fights for every quarter inch. I place it by her feet. She shrugs and hops on with a sunshiny grin so sweet it could make your teeth ache.

“Okay. We can do this. What type of relationship did the last two baddies have?”

“I don’t know. Frenemies,” I tell them, standing with my arms crossed as I watch the controlled chaos unfold around me.

Hadley takes the marker from Delaney and writes frenemies on the posterboard.

“You know, we have computers for this,” I tease.

“Nah, I’m with Del. I like the colors, and it’ll help us work out a plan of attack together,” Hadley states. She pushes her glasses up. Again. It’s a habit she’s had as long as I’ve known her. It allows her to break eye contact without feeling so insecure. “I’ve got one.” Underneath frenemies, she writes the one-upper.

“Ooh, good one, Hades. The rapacious one.” Eli smirks.

Delaney turns her head over her shoulder. “Greedy,” she whispers.

“Thanks.” I roll my eyes. “How about the insensitive one?”

“Oh, that’s totally one.”

I’m getting into it now as we list off every possible type of baddie. Most come from personal experience, unfortunately, but Eli’s right. With our combined experiences, we’ll know how to handle them all.

“The unreliable one.”

“Macy Jones.” Delaney laughs.

“Talebearer,” Eli says with an eyebrow raised to the sky.

“Ugh. Mary Ward. She could spread gossip faster than the internet.”

“The pessimist.”

“The superficial.”

“The bullheaded.” We all pause and stare at each other.

“Sissy Stewart,” we say in unison.

“Gah. She was the worst. You could never be right with her in the room.”

“Stingy.”

“The liability.” I wait for them to look at me.

“Jessica Flint. The second alcohol got involved, all bets were off.”

We spend another twenty minutes making a list, and when we finish, there are at least twenty different types of baddies.

“Okay, so we have a list of questionable personality traits. How does this turn into a business?”

“With careful consideration and meticulous planning,” Delaney croons. “First, we need a mission statement. Then a company description and market analysis.” She’s in full-on business mode right now, and her numbers-loving, graph-making heart is probably ready to explode.

“Market analysis, D? I can’t imagine there’s market analysis readily available for this type of thing.”

She furrows her brow and taps her chin. “You’re probably right, but we can use Jenna's wedding as a guide since you’re not looking for funding right now.”

“This is good,” Eli says from her perch on the arm of the sofa. Even with her dirty blond hair falling out of her ponytail, she still manages to appear chic. “Next, we’ll need a list of services you can offer and price points for each.”

“Oh my God. Are we really doing this?” I stare at my sister and best friends. They’re wearing identical expressions of determination.

“We’re doing it, Tilly. You’re doing it. We’re just giving you a little push.”

Eli rushes past me and opens my computer on the coffee table, urging Delaney over. “Delaney and I can set up an LLC online. So,” she asks as her fingers fly across the keyboard, “what are we going to name your company?”

My brain goes blank. “I have no idea.”

But I do. Ever since Delaney said “The I Do Crew” when I was in California, it’s been rattling around my head like a bad pop song.

The girls shout out suggestions until Eli comes back to it. “I still like ‘The I Do Crew.’”

“Holy meatballs! I do love that,” Delaney cries.

My gaze cuts to theirs, and they have my answer.

“The I Do Crew it is! Let’s see if it’s available.”

Delaney, Hadley, and I crowd in on either side of Eli to watch the screen. The circle spins around and around on the name. After an eternity, we get a giant green check mark next to it.

“Yes!” Eli shouts. “The I Do Crew LLC is available in North Carolina.” She presses a few buttons. “I need a credit card. Hurry before someone takes our name.”

As I’m running in circles like a chicken with my head cut off, Delaney starts spouting off numbers.

“What are you doing?” I ask when she stops talking.

“Your credit card is probably in your purse, and we could spend forty-five minutes searching for it, again, and possibly lose this name, or I can give you $79 and get the name now.”

“Done,” Eli squeals over Delaney’s shoulder. “It’s all done. They’ll send you an email, and then you’ll get all your paperwork. You’ll have to download it, but you'll officially be a business owner as soon as they file this on your behalf.”

“What?” I choke out. “In less than five minutes, I have a business?”

“You have an LLC in the works, and you have the start of a business plan that you can adapt for all event planning later on,” Delaney corrects.