Lucy stood at the desk in her bedroom going over her finances. If she scrimped and saved here and there and cashed in some investments, she could make up part of the money her father had stolen from the company, but it still wasn't nearly enough. She buried her head in her hands and sighed in frustration before she started to pace around the room. There had to be something more that she could do without drawing attention to herself.
She was worried that if she started selling things or cut back too much in her charity work that someone would find out what was going on. If anyone knew, her late father's and her family's reputation would be ruined.
She was determined to set things right, but the timing could hardly be worse.
Lucy looked up, startled when the door to her bedroom opened and Craig entered.
"Hey. What's wrong, baby?" Craig asked, noticing how sad Lucy looked.
"Oh, Craig. Nothing's going right." She sighed as he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. "Maybe we should just forget about the wedding and elope."
"What?" Craig asked, surprised. "I mean, that's fine with me, babe, but is that what you really want?"
"I don't know. Not really," Lucy answered. "I'm just not as excited about this as I should be. My parents won't be there and neither will my best friend," she said, leaving out her financial concerns. "It's just not what I always pictured."
"Listen," Craig said softly. "I don't care about having a ceremony or about who's there and who isn't, as long as I get to marry you and as long as you're happy. But I don't think you will be happy if you skip the big wedding. I mean, this is it. This is going to be the only wedding we're going to have."
Lucy nodded. She knew Craig was right. She always wanted to have the dream wedding and if she skipped it, she knew she would regret it later.
"I know nothing can make up for your parents not being around to see you get married, but you've got other friends besides Eileen. If she's going to be stubborn about this. It will be for her to regret later."
"You're right," Lucy agreed. That still didn't help her financial problems, but she was feeling better about her other concerns. As for the money, she could have a smaller wedding than she had imagined. "I'll give Chloe a call. I'm sure she'd love to be the maid of honor."
Later that afternoon, Lucy dropped by Chloe's house for a visit. When she asked Chloe if she would be the maid of honor in her wedding, Chloe was delighted.
"Of course I will, but you have to promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"Just don't have your wedding on the same day as Eileen's," Chloe said seriously. "I already told Eileen I would be in her wedding and I don't want to be forced to choose between you."
Lucy frowned and rolled her eyes. She was annoyed to be sharing her bridesmaid with her former best friend, but she wasn't going to be the one to change her choice.
"What's going on with you two anyway?"
Lucy sighed and took a seat on the sofa as she told Chloe about the argument she had with Eileen at the restaurant.
"If you want to be a part of that wedding, it's up to you," Lucy said. "but I won't support her if she decides to go through with it. I can't be a part of it."
"Why are you so against it anyway?" Chloe asked.
"I don't like Hector and I don't think she really likes him that much either. I know she doesn't love him. Up until now, she wasn't even serious about him, she said so herself."
"I know it's sudden," Chloe agreed. "But how are we to know how she really feels about him? Eileen wouldn't have agreed to marry him if she didn't want to." Lucy looked skeptical, but Chloe continued, "Look it's her choice. So you don't approve? Isn't friendship more important?"
"Yes," Lucy reluctantly agreed. "But what kind of friend would I be if I let her make the biggest mistake of her life."
"I don't know if I would go that far," Chloe remarked.
"I would," Lucy mumbled. When Chloe didn't respond, Lucy decided it was time for a change of subject. "What are you doing this afternoon? If you're not doing anything, maybe we could start looking at bridal stuff."
Chloe hesitated. "I'd love to, but I already told Eileen I'd help her plan her engagement party. We've only got a few days to get it all together."
"Oh," Lucy said. She certainly wouldn't have gone if she had been invited, but she couldn't help feeling hurt that she hadn't been included.
At work, Hector was spreading the news about the pending engagement party and was freely passing out invitations around the office.
"Sounds like fun. I'll be there," Blaine said as he walked past.
"Count me in too. I'm always up for a celebration," R.J. agreed.
"Great," Hector replied with a smile. "Glad to hear it." When he noticed that Lawrence, standing behind him, had remained silent, he turned and asked, "I can count on you to make it too, right, buddy?"
Lawrence suppressed his annoyance and calmly said, "No, I won't be able to make it."
"Why not?" Hector asked, sounding genuinely disappointed. Lawrence's refusal had thrown him off guard for a moment and caught R.J.'s attention. "Other plans, huh? Come on, you could change things around, right? I know it's short notice, but it would really mean a lot to Eileen and me if you could be there."
"No, it's not possible," Lawrence said sternly before heading back to his desk.
Meanwhile, Chloe and Eileen were making plans for the party. When Chloe looked at her watch, she couldn't believe how late it had gotten. They had spent most of the afternoon working and still hadn't finished as much as they had hoped.
"I'm sorry, Eileen. I wish I could help more, but I really have to go."
"Ok," Eileen said with a sigh as she looked over her long to-do list. "I don't know how I'm going to get this together in time.
Chloe nodded sympathetically, and hesitated before saying what she said next, "Not to be nosy, but why do you have to have this party so soon? It seems like you're just rushing into all of this."
Eileen became immediately defensive. "You aren't trying to talk me out of getting married to Hector too, are you? Because my mind is made up. The sooner we get married, the better. And if you don't like it, say so now, because I don't want someone in my wedding who isn't going to support me."
"Ok, calm down," Chloe said, taken aback by Eileen's outburst. "I just meant that you're not leaving yourself a lot of time to plan."
"I'm sorry," Eileen apologized. "I'm just touchy after Lucy's reaction to the news. Thanks for all your help, Chloe. I don't know what I'd do without you."
As Eileen and Chloe were saying goodbye, Hector dropped by to see Eileen.
"So how's the planning going?" he asked.
"Slowly," Eileen answered. "Did you invite everyone?"
"Yep, and they're all coming, except for Lawrence." When Eileen seemed surprised about that, Hector added, "I tried to talk him into coming, but I guess he had other plans."
"Oh," Eileen said with disappointment.
"Yeah, I hated to hear it too, since he's kind of my friend and yours, but hey, let's not worry about him or anybody else," he suggested as he gave Eileen a comforting hug. "It's just you and me."
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