And Judith?
She was a showstopper in the perfect dress.
“You look beautiful,” she told her cousin.
“You are gorgeous,” Judith said.“Inside and out, especially for pulling this off for me.I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Be happy,” Naomi said.“That’s all I want from any of the people I plan things for, but especially you, Judith.You deserve every single bit of joy that’s coming your way.”
“I’d hug you, but I’d get you messy and I’d rather not do that.Except…”
And Naomi knew exactly what was going to happen, wondering if this would be the time she answered properly.“Yes?”
“How is it going?Have you made your decision on what you’re going to do?”
A general, easy, quick sort of question that avoided the specifics if Naomi wasn’t interested in discussing them.This was when Naomi wondered what was going on with her cousin…
Before it occurred to her she had a unique opportunity to ask both of her cousins and her sister a very specific question.Because she’d heard enough about what had happened with Leah, and she had been on the scene for Livvy.But she didn’t know much about what had happened with Judith.She asked by way of an answer.“I have a question for you,” Naomi said.
“Great,” Judith replied.“Tell me.”
Even as she asked, Leah and Liv sat on the edge of their seats.
Naomi said, “I want to know…how did you go up to Ash, and this goes to you two as well, so Artur and Samuel, and tell him?You know?That you’ve messed up.How did it…work with you?”
“I just laid my cards out on the table,” Judith said as the makeup artist told her to stop moving as she spoke.“And promised him I’d listen to him when he talked to me.Both the words he said, and the words he didn’t say.That I wouldn’t let my own wild, rampaging thoughts keep me from…him, really.”
Livvy nodded.“Same.Basically.You were there for that, so you should know about how mine went.”
“Yours had to do with professionalism,” Naomi said, both remembering and clarifying at the same time.“You had to listen to him when you were in a professional situation.”
“But in our case, with that in particular,” Livvy went on to explain, “the professional tied with the personal.If you’re intertwining, you have to make sure of both things.Not just that you’re on the up and up, but that the communication is there.There’s no way having two parts of your relationship, or your lives, are going to be so close and functional without good and consistent communication.”
“Otherwise,” Leah interjected, “you end up with what happened to me, which was that I realized that I couldn’t let my professional life be my entire life.That in order to get what I wanted out of a relationship I needed to set professional boundaries and remember that all these professional things I was doing meant nothing if I didn’t have someone to share them with.”
Naomi nodded.Which meant all she had to do is tell him, somehow, in a way that he’d listen, that he meant much more than her research, that his views and opinions were primary.No matter what she’d learned.
Chapter Twenty-Five
There was nothinglike an empty ballroom and an urgent table setup to help Jason gather his thoughts.It was his version of Zen.
In the wilds of a pre-catering moment, no matter how high up the proverbial food chain he was, he’d always find the time to help with table setup.Following the detailed diagrams shared by the planner in conjunction with the wedding client, he’d fold napkins, lift centerpieces and put plates where and how they belonged.Rolling up his sleeves in the midst of the waiters, doing their best.
As he folded napkins in the hours before his best friend’s wedding, he tried to figure out when the best occasion would be to talk to Naomi.Not just ask about the weather, but really,reallytalk to her.Tell her how he felt.What she meant to him.And what he’d lost without her by his side to share things with.
Because when he remembered the details of the days he’d spent with her, he found himself on a random website that described all the best things to do on a date.Which was when he’d realized that he’d done every single one of them with her.
And then the loud noise of the practically vacuum-sealed door opening scared the ever-loving crap out of everybody.
Including him.
Until he saw the gorgeous woman in a black suit and a blue low-cut top that matched the bridesmaids, the one with the slicked-back dark hair and earpiece.
Secret Agent Planner.
If he managed to remain upright until she arrived, he would call it a miracle.
There were millions of reasons she could be standing here, coming to this room.Inspecting the cutlery was one of them.
