Chocolate for Two (28 page)

Becca nodded again. “Okay, I guess we’ll see. But in the future, please keep me in the loop about these things, okay?” Her warm smile from earlier was nearly gone.

“Okay, I promise.” I felt my face and neck get hot at the reprimand. I wished I could crawl inside one of the nearby clothing rounders and hide like I used to do as a kid.

She put a hand on my arm. “I like your products, Waverly, I really do. I’d hate to see them get lost in the shuffle because of logistical mishaps. That happens quite often with young companies, and it’s such a shame to see them fail.”

I nodded. “Got it.” My voice was shaky. The word
fail
hung in the air.

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.” She gave my arm a little squeeze, then turned to Ava and Andie and offered a genuine smile. “Well, I’ve got to run, I’m afraid. It was lovely meeting you both.” She gave me a quick hug. “Waverly, congratulations on your engagement, and please give Paige my best. That’s wonderful news for both of you.”

I forced a smile. “Thank you, Becca.”

She turned on her heel and was gone. I felt myself begin to shake as I watched her walk toward the escalator.

As soon as she was out of sight, I started to cry.

Not floods of tears, but enough to qualify as…crying.

“Waverly, dear, are you all right?” Jake’s mom put her hand on my shoulder.

I coughed and wiped my cheeks. “I’m…trying to be.”

Andie looked at Ava. “She’s been under a lot of stress trying to find a replacement for her business partner. Good help is hard to find, you know.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know anything about this,” Ava said to Andie. “I thought
Love, Wendy
was her only job.”

Andie shook her head. “Nope. Rock star.” I was so grateful to have her there.

“It’s just…incredible,” Ava said, then turned to me. “You have all that to manage, and you still came down here for a bridal shower?”

I nodded through my tears. “I knew it meant a lot to you.”

“And don’t forget it’s her birthday weekend too,” Andie said.

Ava put a hand on her heart. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Waverly tries harder than anyone I know to please everyone around her,” Andie said. “Sometimes it gets her in trouble, but that’s why her friends love her so much.”

“Thank you, Waverly,” Ava said quietly. She still looked stunned.

I smiled. “You’re welcome, Ava.”

I looked at Andie and spoke with my eyes.
Thank
you.

“You really ran into the buyer at your biggest account while you were in the store?” Jake handed me a steaming mug of hot chocolate and sat down next to me on the couch.

I laughed weakly and cupped the mug with both hands. “Can you believe it? What are the chances? There are like a zillion Jordan Brooke stores out there. Given my lack of coordination, you’d think I’d have a better chance of literally running into a wall than into Becca Clark at one of them.”

I’d just arrived home from the airport and finished recounting the weekend to Jake, who’d arrived at my apartment just a few minutes after I’d called him. I loved that he lived close enough to come over so quickly. Next step was for him to move in, which
should
have been a wonderful and exciting event to look forward to, but somehow it had turned into yet another burden on a growing to-do list. How had I veered so off track from what was really important to me?

“But other than that, the weekend went okay?”

I smiled and tried to focus on the positive. “Surprisingly, yes. We got a
lot
of loot at the shower, by the way.” I looked around the living room. “I have no idea where we’re going to put it all when it arrives, but we scored big time.” At least we’d checked
register
off our to-do list.

He brushed a loose strand of hair out of my eyes. “Let’s worry about that when the time comes. I know you’ve got enough on your mind already. Did my mom behave?”

“I love your word choice. As if she were a dog or something.”

He laughed. “Well, did she?”

I nodded. “She had her moments, but overall she was really nice. Bee was too. That lady’s got a bit of spunk in her.”

“Bee? You got that right. There’s more than meets the eye with that one.”

I put my hand on the pearl necklace. “Oh, check out what your mom gave me for my birthday.”

He leaned forward to have a look. “My mom gave you that?”

“She and your dad. She said it was from both of them.”

“Pearls? Wow. She loves her pearls, so you must have really won her over. Nice work, wife-to-be.”

I took a seated bow. “Why thank you, husband-to-be. Actually, she did something above and beyond this necklace that makes me think I’ve finally won her over.”

He scratched his eyebrow. “Above and beyond a strand of pearls? Did she buy you a car or something?”

I laughed. “Maybe next year.”

“What did she do?”

I hesitated for a moment, then smiled. “She…she asked me to call her Ava.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, it’s about time.”

“Hey, she got there eventually.”

He laughed. “And good she did. Do you know how many times I’ve told her how absurd it is to let you call her
Mrs. McIntyre
when my dad is begging you to call him Walt?”

“You told her that?”

“Of course. She knew what she was doing. It was completely unnecessary.”

“Well, thanks for sticking up for me, I guess.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“I’m not happy about having to do it.”

“Well, thanks anyway.”

He gently touched my cheek. “I love my mom, and I know she means well, but I also know she can be a bit frosty.”

“So I’ve learned. But you know something else?”

“What?”

I held my palms out in front of me. “That episode with Becca was flat-out
mortifying
, and your mom witnessed the whole thing, which could have added insult to injury. But the way she reacted, Jake, she was…
kind
to me, really kind.”

“She was?”

I nodded. “And instead of making me feel worse, the way she reacted made it, I don’t know, comforting to have her there. Almost nurturing.”

“So I’m guessing you’re going to offer the job to the woman you mentioned the other day? What was her name?”

“Eunice. And yes, I’ve decided to offer it to her tomorrow. I guess we’ll see if she accepts. After what happened with Courtney, I’m not holding my breath.”

“Sounds like the right call, even if it’s not ideal.”

I sighed. “She’s good enough. Actually, she’s very good, even though she’s not what I’d envisioned, if that makes sense.”

“You mean to join your sorority?”

I smirked. “Very funny. But, yes, in a way I guess you’re right. Through this whole interview process I’ve realized that the
people
behind Waverly’s Honey Shop are what I really love about the company, you know?”

He nodded.

“I know it sounds silly to hear from a business owner, but I want to have fun at work, and Eunice just doesn’t seem to have that work-and-play spirit. I mean, at
Love, Wendy
, I may not adore
every
one in the office, but I get to spend my days chatting up all of New York City. And you know how much I love to chat.”

“That’s not silly, Waverly. Sounds pretty healthy, actually.”

“Plus I’ve learned that while I have lots of creative ideas, I don’t exactly shine on the business side of the coin, which is why having Paige was so great.”

He nodded again.

“But I can’t keep searching for that perfect someone to replace her forever. I mean, I already found
you
for my love life. I was bound to strike out eventually.”

“You’re comparing me to a job applicant?”

I stood up and smoothed my hands over my skirt. “You have to admit, the screening process for a romantic partner is similar.”

“How so exactly?”

I started counting on my fingers. “Time-consuming, exhausting, disappointing. Do you want me to go on?”

He held up his hands and shook his head. “Please don’t.”

I picked up our mugs and walked into the kitchen. “Don’t worry, though. You have job security,” I called over my shoulder.

“Is that right?”

“Yep.
That
position has definitely been filled. You get benefits too.”

As I was washing the mugs in the sink, he walked up behind me and slid his arms around my waist, then nuzzled his lips into my neck. “Benefits? I like the sound of that.”

The next morning I taped a
Honey on Your Mind
segment in which I asked harried commuters in Grand Central Station what was on their minds as they began the work week. I expected the many variations on
I’d rather be on a beach
and
I wish I were still in bed
I got, but not some of the more earnest responses that came my way. Maybe it was because it was a chilly Monday morning at the tail end of a lovely warm fall, but many people were brutally forthcoming with angst-ridden answers, many of which were followed by a gasp and a
Please don’t use that on TV!

“When I was little, I always swore I wouldn’t turn into my parents, but here I am, working too hard at a job I hate. How did that happen?”

“I’m so glad to be out of my house. I really need to leave him. I don’t even love him.”

“My boss is a cruel and heartless person, but I can’t bring myself to quit. What is wrong with me?”

After the following reply, I had to stop:

“I have to fire a good man today, and he has no idea it’s coming. I hate my job.”

I dropped the hand holding the microphone to my side and looked at the camera man.

“Will, this isn’t working.”

He laughed. “You think?”

“Everyone is so
depressed
.”

He laughed again. “You’re just realizing that now?”

I sighed. “I clearly need to come up with a better topic. I know Justin isn’t a fan of veering off course, but I have to call an audible here.”

“I agree. Justin will understand.”

“How about we get some coffee and brainstorm?”

He shrugged. “Sure, sounds good.”

We packed up and were walking toward the stairwell when I noticed a display in the window of one of the more expensive shops in Grand Central. It said:
HAT’S, GLOVE’S ON SALE
.

I stopped in my tracks.

Hat’s
and
glove’s
?

I looked at Will and pointed at the sign. “Do you see that?”

He shrugged. “No one cares about grammar anymore. I hear high school kids these days write their essays in all lowercase.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Hey, maybe I should do a segment on grammatical errors. I could point them out all over the city!”

He laughed. “Good luck making friends doing that.”

“Good point. Okay, let’s hit the food court.”

Downstairs we found an unoccupied table near Zaro’s Bread Basket. Will sat down with his equipment while I went to order, and as I waited in line I pulled out my phone to check my messages.

There was just one text, from Davey.

Lunch today? Interesting news to discuss with you.

I typed a quick reply.

Can we do tomorrow? I’m at a taping then have to go hire someone.

I bought two large coffees, and on my way back to the table my phone buzzed with a new message.

Don’t hire anyone before speaking with me. This is important. Meet me at noon at Junior’s? West 45
^th
and Broadway.

I stared at my phone and reread the message.

I typed a quick reply.

OK, see you there.

Twenty minutes later Will and I were back in the main terminal of Grand Central, ready to try again. With a new approach and a fresh jolt of caffeine coursing through my bloodstream, I was ready to go. The morning rush in New York City lasts for hours, so even though it was well after nine now, the station was still packed with people on their way to work.

I began approaching random men and women with a smile and the following question:
If you could have your dream job, what would it be?