“We should talk,” Emma suggested. “Come to my room while I hang things up in my closet.”
Emma, for all her work in fashion, did not own gobs of clothes. She made sure everything she owned was in good condition, fit well, and was easy to pair with other things. Which left her with plenty of closet space for storing client items. Sometimes it was a bigger hassle to return something than to keep it, and if the item was a good enough find, she’d save it for a future client.
Harriet sat on the floor with her back to Emma’s bed. “I broke things off with Martin today.”
“You did?” Emma froze, feeling both awful and elated at the same time. She grabbed a stack of skirts off the bed and hid in the closet with her mixed emotions. “I’m so sorry, Harriet. I feel responsible.”
“Oh, no. You can’t blame yourself. You’ve been nothing but nice to me.” Harriet blew her nose. “It’s just … I don’t know what to do without him.”
“But maybe that’s a sign it wasn’t a very balanced relationship, Harriet. Maybe you need someone independent, where you can each do your own thing while being together, something a little less intense.”
A glance back told her Harriet was considering this, her face in deep thought while her fingers plucked at the carpeting.
“There is absolutely no pressure, but there’s someone I want you to meet at this dinner party. I think you two would balance each other nicely. You have all the qualities he’s looking for, and I’ve known him a long time. He’s a good guy.”
Harriet shook her head. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s way too soon to be thinking about that.”
“But that’s the great part about this. You don’t have to jump into anything serious. You’ve done serious. Too serious. Maybe casually dating someone will help you figure out what you want.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” Harriet looked up, suddenly alarmed. “You haven’t told this guy about me, have you?”
Emma firmly shook her head, so glad she could answer with 100% honesty. “Of course not. He has no idea I’m even interested in setting him up.”
With everything hung up in the closet, Emma turned and put a hand out to help Harriet off the floor. “Everything will be okay, I promise.”
Harriet took the boost off the floor and the boost to her doldrums. “It is going to be okay, isn’t it? My mama always said, ‘The bright side has better lighting.’”
“She sounds wise. You should call her.”
Harriet looked wistful. “We haven’t talked in a while. It’s been so long I don’t think a simple, ‘I’m sorry’ would cut it.”
Emma was fond of giving advice, maybe too fond of it. George sure seemed to think so, but even he would tell her to speak up now. “My mom died when I was four. Call your mother.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Harriet gathered her coat and purse from the entryway. “Thank you, Emma.”
***
George glanced at the incoming call from Emma and sighed. He had just chosen a stool by the window of his favorite Mexican food place and his foil-wrapped burrito lay in all its glory on the red tray in front of him.
Emma knew his schedule too well. If she’d planned to call him, did this mean she wanted to talk about their relationship possibly changing? That was something he’d rather do in person when he wasn’t hungry, or irritable, and he didn’t have his mind in work mode.
Before it could go to voicemail, he answered the call. “Yes?”
“You don’t have to sound so put out, George. Is this a bad time?” Leave it to Emma to go straight into a lecture.
“No. I just want to eat my lunch while it’s warm, and I don’t want to talk with my mouth full. You’re making me choose.”
“Go ahead and talk with your mouth full. I’m not sitting across from you. Oh, is someone sitting across from you?”
“No.” Only a greedy-looking pigeon patrolling the window sill. George rapped on the window, and it clumsily flew away.
“Well, good. It’s about the dinner party.”
Of course, it was. Relief warred with pre-boredom. If he had to hear about feather boas and the salad course one more time…
“I need you to ask your receptionist Jane to come, and see if she can bring a date, like that friend of hers you met.”
“Emma, I just got through telling her she’d need to stay with her grandmother so Betty could go.”
