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52.38% The Misadventures of a Perpetual Bridesmaid / Chapter 11: Some Relief

Chapter 11: Some Relief

"You have to watch your nephews every Wednesday evening?!?" My coworker, Jenny gaped in disbelief. "Why would you volunteer for that?"

It was Monday and if being at work wasn't depressing enough, Jenny was making me feel worse by asking about my life at home. Just now, I had explained how I convinced my sister and her husband to be gone for the weekend, by compromising and offering free babysitting every Wednesday now until the end of May.

"It's not voluntary. I have to get them out of the house somehow so my friend and her friends could stay over for a weekend. The bride needs to relax...not have three little boys screaming and running circles around her." I sighed.

"What about your dad and your brother?" She was taking a break from typing, eating some almonds.

I sighed again. "My dad will be working most of the weekend anyways. He's cool with it and promises to hide out in his room when he's home." I cracked my fingers to relieve some of my stress. "As for Dylan...he normally stays in his room, playing video games so hopefully I don't have to do anything."

She nodded. "So only you're sister is charging you, typical."

I shrugged. "What more can I do? At least she promised to take them all to her mother-in-laws for the weekend. That'll clear up some space."

Jenny and I talked about our personal lives often and we're really good work friends. We gave each other advice for work and for at home.

"It just would have been nice for your sister to help you out. Without asking for anything. It's like she thinks the world owes her all the time. So annoying."

I couldn't disagree. "Well, there are worse sisters in the world. Mine is just a little self-centered." I checked the time. "It's almost lunch, are you eating in here or going out?"

"Here." She pulled out a bagged lunch. "Trying to save up to throw Ryan a birthday party. You're still going to be able to come to that right?" She raised an eyebrow.

I checked my work calendar that didn't just include work deadlines, but also my amazing social life. I found the weekend that said 'Ryan's Birthday-Jenny's'. "Yes, it's on Sunday, May 3rd. And he's turning...5...?"

She nodded. "Wow. I'm impressed. Don't forget it's Star Wars themed. It'll be cool if you can dress up."

I squinted at her. "Excuse me?"

She laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! It'll be very normal! A cake, a bounce house, maybe a piñata. I've got a month to save up so we'll see what I can put together."

I started to grab my purse and keys. "Okay, you keep working hard. I'm going to grab something from the deli downstairs and probably eat outside today. I need to make some phone calls."

She waved. "Go, I'll hold down the fort. It's not like we have any big projects on our plate right now."

"Yea, thankfully." I said my goodbyes and hurried out. The office we shared was one of many on a quiet floor. I nodded and smiled at the familiar faces as I made my way to the elevator.

Everyone on this floor and the floor above us, was a part of the same company. It was a lot of logistics and a lot of divisions. I specifically did data entry, with a focus of inputting the data given and organizing it for the company's clients. The pay was slightly below average, but the job was pretty easy. It could be a bit much sometimes, but it's not something I'll ever cry over. Which is nice.

On the first floor was a coffee shop and a deli. I ordered a blt, toasted and a drink before going outside. Finding an empty bench, I sat down with all my stuff. I finished my sandwich before making a call to my casino host.

"Hello, this is Jason Wilkerson." A deep voice answered.

"Hey Jason, it's Valerie Eastwood." I greeted.

"Valerie! Good to hear from you! I haven't seen you yet this year. Are you planning to visit?" His friendly tone made it hard to be depressed.

Even if I was forced to use my comps, I loved staying at the casino. My friends should have a good time too. "Yes, I am. With some friends too, so I'm going to need some help."

"Let's see what I can do for you. What dates are you trying to visit?"

"Easter weekend. So that Friday to Monday, three nights." I answered.

"Those dates are available. Are you going to stick with the normal two queen beds?"

"Yea, that should be fine. If you can make it a room with a view, that'd be even better."

"No problem! Looks like we have what you're looking for. Two queen-sized beds, with a few, for three nights. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Actually, the reason I'm visiting is to help my friend to look at wedding venues. I don't know if you can help set some kind of appointment up with your casino so we can check it out?"

"We can certainly do that. Which day would you like to look? I can take you myself and even get a meeting with one of our qualified wedding planners."

"Saturday morning should be good." I told him. "Is there any way you can help us visit other venues, to compare? She doesn't really know what she's looking for and hasn't planned a budget yet." I said, embarrassed.

"I see." I could hear him typing away. "I have a wedding planner that I can put you in touch with. She's contracted with us, but has connections along the strip. She can show you around and explain the pricing at all the locations too. Would that be better?"

"That sounds perfect." I sighed with relief.

"Great! I'll give you her contact information when you're ready." He gave me a name and her cellphone number.

"Thanks so much, Jason. I appreciate this."

"It's no problem. I hope to see you in a few weeks."

"I'll definitely drop by your office to bug you for some food comps." I joked.

"That can be arranged." He laughed. "See you soon. Have a good day, Valerie."

"You too." I hung up, feeling good. It was weird to ask for free stuff, but afterwards it was awesome knowing that my expenses will be cut down a bit. I glanced down at the name and number I had written down. I guess I'll have to give this lady a call after work.


Chapter 12: A Project

After my call with Jason, I went back to the office feeling lighter. A wedding planner to take Raquel around Vegas will cut down a lot of work for me. I sent Chrissy a text, letting her know that the room was booked and that Jason recommended a wedding planner to show us around.

I got off the elevator on my floor and lost my relief in an instance. A few workers were dragging boxes into my office. I suddenly had an urge to cry, but all I could do was curse Jenny for jinxing us. I stepped into our shared space, glaring at the boxes.

"Bad news..." Jenny said in a small voice.

I turned my glare to her. "No big projects, huh?"

She shrugged, helpless. "What could I do? Tell the boss 'no'?"

I nodded. "Preferably. That would have been nice."

She laughed a little. "I'm sorry, but I would like to keep my job. On a more positive note, the deadline is one month."

I looked at her, suspicious. "Since when do we get so much time to work on one particular project..?"

She smiled. "I talked to the supervisor about your stress at home and how your financial worries make you get blurry-eyed. We got a big project so we deserve a more realistic deadline. This is big, but there's no rush. It's filing for the client's archives so it's more focused on accuracy and organization."

I sighed. "I'd prefer if you didn't tell Bryan my problems. Especially since I'll be taking a bunch of vacation this year." I sat down at my desk and rolled my chair to the pile of boxes. "Do we even have a starting point? What kind of information are we inputting?"

Jenny handed me a piece of paper that had the parameters of what needed to be recorded and how the client would like it to be organized. "The first step, unfortunately, is to organize all the paperwork by date."

"It's not even organized yet..?" I frowned at the stack of boxes.

"It has been separated by month and year." She told me. "But the dates are a little iffy. Not too bad."

I sighed. We definitely have had worse. "Well, lets try and get it organized by date by the end of today, then we can slowly chip away at the piles."

She nodded in agreement. We started to unload the boxes and used the floor space to stack the papers by month and year. And then used the rest of the afternoon just sorting by date. We finished sorting in good time so I left work in a good mood, despite the big project.

On my drive home, I first made a call to the wedding planner.

She picked up after a single ring. "This is Sue, how can I help you?"

I inadvertently smiled at the way her greeting sounded. "Hello Sue, my name is Valerie Eastwood. My casino host, Jason Wilkerson referred me to your services."

"Oh, hello, I got a message from him earlier, saying that you might be calling. I'm eager to help. Can you tell me a little more about what you have in mind?"

I laughed. "Well, it's really my friend that needs help. Her name is Raquel Hernandez. She wants to get married sometime soon, like this summer soon."

"And does she know that you're contacting me on her behalf?" She asked, sounding a little suspicious.

"Not yet. I thought it would be a nice surprise if we could do a day of checking out the venues in the area. We'll be in town during Easter weekend so I know it's a little inconvenient, but I'm willing to pay for your time. She's just really new to this and it would help her understand what to expect."

After I mentioned pay, the lady sounded much more generous. "Yes, I'm free that Saturday. Are there any particular spots or preferences you would like me to show?"

"Raquel is very spontaneous, indecisive, and just goes at her own pace. It's really hard to guess what she's thinking so if you could plan out a wide variety of places to take us to, that'd be best."

"What time frame are we working with for that Saturday? Is there a budget planned out yet?" She asked, sounding like she was taking notes on the other end of the line.

"We're visiting mostly to look at venues so you have the whole day to work with. As for the budget...no definite number yet. I'm not sure if the groom's family is pitching in at all so that's why I suggested a wide variety. Include cheap, expensive and midrange options."

"Alright, a few more questions if you don't mind..." Sue started to ask more about Raquel's personality and what kind of wedding I would imagine her at. She also asked about the groom, but I really didn't know much. I met him once and we got drunk too quick. Heck, I don't even know if he really loves her.

I was still on the phone with her as I made it home. I sat in my car and finished the conversation before going into the house.

"Auntie! You're home!" Jimmy ran to me as soon as I walked into the living room.

I caught him and then threw him in the air before catching him again. "How's my favorite nephew??"

"Good." He giggled. "I want candy!"

I smiled and carried him to the kitchen.

"You shouldn't have favorites." Veronica started to lecture me from her spot by the sink, doing the dishes. "You're going to give these kids issues."

I snorted, opening my cabinet of food. "Like they don't already have issues." I pulled out a lollipop and held it in front of Jimmy. "What do you say?"

He grinned. "I love you, Auntie!"

I laughed and put him down, handing over the lollipop. "Good boy. Now go throw away your trash."

He sprinted to the trash can in record time.

"You're going to give that boy diabetes." Veronica shook her head.

I rolled my eyes behind her back. "Yea, okay. Don't think that I don't know you feed them popcorn for dinner when you're feeling lazy." I escaped with a lollipop of my own before she started to lecture. I still had to call Chrissy with an update on the wedding planner.


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