Fuck. I don't think that spaghetti sauce from a jar and garlic breadsticks is going to be good enough for an engagement party celebration.
"Do you think the Waverlys would mind if I invited my best friend to come and help me?" I'm thinking furiously now. Emma can cook. In fact, she could have been a Michelin-starred chef if she'd wanted to. She studied at a culinary institute in France for a year after college.
"I don't think they'd mind." She beams and leans forward. "Did I tell you that John was very naughty last night?" She giggles girlishly, and I just hold in a deep breath.
"Who?" I have no idea who John is. Maybe it's her husband or her boyfriend. Right now, I don't really care, but I don't want to be rude.
"John Steinbeck," she says. "He came to me in a dream and?—"
"Sorry, I think my phone is pinging." I hold my phone up quickly and run out of the kitchen. She can regale the others with her story. I do not have time right now. I hurry down the hallway and to the back of the house, calling Emma.
“Hey, Chica, how's it going? I need your help," I say desperately when she answers. "I really, really need your help."
"Okay, what's wrong?"
"So, Cook has a daughter called Trapezium, and Trapezium is apparently having a baby."
"What? You're not asking me to help deliver the baby, are you? You didn't tell them that you were some sort of gynecologist or?—"
"No, no, no. She's out of town."
"Okay, phew, because I was about to say?—"
"Emma, I wouldn't do that. Cook is out of town, but the Waverlys are having a dinner party tonight, and they expect me to cook.”
“But girl, you burn toast.”
“Exactly. So pretty, pretty please will you come over and help me?”
“What?”
“I need you to come over and help me cook dinner.”
“I guess. What are we making?”
“I’m going to need you to help me come up with a really good menu.” I walk over to one of the palm trees and lean back againstit. “Emma, I feel like I have been thrown into the deep end of a pool, and I don't know how to swim. I’m doing the doggy paddle, but I'm flailing around and very close to drowning."
"Calm down, Gina. It's going to be okay."
"I guess I do have some good news."
"Oh, what's that?"
"The party is a celebration for the grandson, and I'm thinking it might be an engagement celebration, and if his fiancée is there, well, that could be a story for Holly."
"Oh, that's exciting," Emma says, squealing. "Okay, so you want me to come up with a sample menu?"
"That would be amazing. Thank you so much."
"Do you know what food they have?"
"No, but I am sure that we can buy stuff, and I'll just get reimbursed. I'm not really worried about that. I mean, the Waverlys are worth a couple of billion."
"True," she says, laughing. "Okay, how about I come up with a menu, then I'll go shopping and bring the stuff?"
"Oh my God, I love you, Emma."
"That's why I'm your best friend, forever and always. Take a couple of deep breaths, Gina. It's going to be okay."
