Stephanie had slept at Denise's house. She couldn't drive herself home after all the wine, and she hadn't heard much more from Mark except to say that things had really hit the fan and it was going to be another all-nighter at the office.
That was the fourth time this month, and normally at home on those days, she would dig out her oldest, comfiest and rattiest old sweats (that Mark pretended he didn't hate), turn on a cheesy chick flick (that she never watched with him around), and hung out on the couch eating junk food (without feeling guilty).
Mark's definition of relaxing was in slim fit joggers and a hoodie, never worn in enough to look frayed or faded, watching a game and sometimes reading a book, eating kale chips and drinking sparkling water or green juice. He looked like he belonged in a magazine spread. Stephanie certainly appreciated seeing him like that, but didn't always understand why he tried so hard when it was just the two of them.
Mark was a good guy, but sometimes she felt judged about how she would unwind after a long day. He always made a point of taking her out for celebratory drinks and dinner whenever one of her events finally ended, which was sweet, but sometimes she just wanted to go home and crash on the couch. His argument was always the same, "You're already dressed up, you can crash tomorrow!" and they would go out. The next day was usually spent in bed together until noon, which Stephanie never complained about.
She pulled out her phone and called Mark, who picked up with a brusque, "I don't have time to talk, where are you?"
"I'm at Denise's, I slept here last night since you weren't home."
"Okay, well can you get home quickly? I have to go to Vancouver."
"Wait, what, now?" Her voice sounded whiny and she didn't care. "Why?"
"Just hurry up and get home, I need to be at the airport in two hours."
"Okay," she sighed. He had already hung up. Quickly changing into her interview clothes from the day before, she shouted to Denise who had just gotten out of the shower.
"Denise! I've got to go, apparently Mark is going to Vancouver today so I need to get home before he leaves."
"He's what? Whatever, doesn't matter. Call me later?"
"Yeah. Ciao!" she grabbed her purse and rummaged for her keys.
By the time she opened the door to their condo, his bags were already packed and stacked beside the door. She sighed. A one-night trip would just require his briefcase and small duffel. This trip looked like it would be at least a week, since it required his big garment bag, carry-on suitcase, and briefcase.
"Mark? Where are you?" she tossed her keys and purse on the kitchen counter.
"In here, I'm just getting dressed."
She followed his voice to the bedroom as he was shrugging into his suit jacket, and admired him for a moment.
"So, why Vancouver all of a sudden? When will you be home?"
"There's a firm we are hoping to buy and their management is a total gong-show right now so I have to go and fix things before it's finalized." He turned to face her fully, leaning down to give her a peck on the lips, "This is good, they trust me, which means they might make me a partner in the whole restructuring!"
"Oh. When will you be back?"
"Dunno, maybe a week. Depends how much of a mess they've made. Aren't you happy? This is fantastic for me! For us!" He looked genuinely pleased, and didn't seem to notice that Stephanie was not nearly as excited about this prospect.
"Great!" She tried to force a smile "Do you need me to drive you to the airport? I have a crazy story from yesterday to tell you."
"No, they're sending a town car for me, it will be here in about 10 minutes. Have you seen my good rain coat anywhere? I better take it for the Vancouver rains."
"No, I don't know where it would be other than the front closet."
"Can you look for it? I need to fix my hair."
She didn't bother pointing out his hair already looked perfect, and she headed to the closet. Sure enough, his coat was right there, as if he hadn't even bothered to look himself. Good thing he didn't trust her to pack his suits for him, she thought, or he probably would have asked her to do that for him too.
There was a buzz from the downstairs bell. "Car for Mr. Rodrigues here."
She buzzed back "He'll be down shortly. Thanks, Carl."
"Babe! Your car is early."
"Shit, I gotta go. Can you grab me a power bar and kombucha? I'm half starved. They ordered Alfredo's Pizza last night, and greasy breakfast sandwiches earlier this morning. I couldn't eat any of it, so all I've had is a juice." He shuddered at his recollection of the greasy food.
She went into the kitchen and grabbed him some snacks, muttering under her breath, "Well, you could've eaten all of it, you just didn't want to." He practically lived off larabars and juices and everything else that was trendy. It drove her crazy knowing that he restricted so many foods without a legitimate reason. To make sure he wouldn't forget about her, she also grabbed a pack of skittles and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. Mark was obsessed with skittles when they first met. She hoped he'd eat them when he was away to help him relax. It sounded like it would be a stressful trip.
They carried his bags down to the waiting car and handed them to Carl. Mark went to get right into the back seat, but Stephanie stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Hey, don't forget your coat and snacks," she passed them to him, "and don't forget about me." She looked up at him and smiled. He tossed the coat on the seat, grabbed her around the waist to pull her against him, and kissed her until she was breathless. He broke the embrace and stepped back to the car.
"I could never forget you." He winked and closed the door. She watched the car pull away and then pulled out her phone to send him a message saying she loved him. He responded automatically with a "You too xx" and once the car disappeared around the corner, she turned back inside and went upstairs. She trusted the elevators in the condo, but decided to take the stairs anyways. She considered it training for the job she hoped to get.
*
On Monday afternoon she got the call offering her the job. She could hardly contain her excitement and jumped around the apartment, turned on the stereo and danced. Once out of breath, she picked up her phone again and called Mark. He sent her call straight to voicemail. Hmm. She tried again in case that was an accident, and the same thing happened.
Oh well, she could call him later. He had said things in Vancouver were much worse than anyone expected and it was going to be a very busy week or two to fix it all. She sent him a message asking him to call her as soon as he had the chance, and then called Denise instead.
'Denny! I got the job! The events will be bigger and better than ever before!"
"YEAH, YOU DID!" Stephanie had to hold the phone away from her ear, and she could hear a chair falling over in the background.
Denise worked in an accounting firm, and always hated how stuffy the guys in the cubicles beside her were. She took any opportunity to be loud and obnoxious just to bother them.
"So, what will your official job title be? Coordinating queen? Supreme Leader of all Big-Events-you-Want-to-be-Successful? The Boss?" One of the best things about Denise was her unwavering support in anything Stephanie ever tried to do.
"No, I think it will be something like Senior planning and logistics coordinator."
"I think you mean, Senior Planning and Logistics Coordinator Extraordinaire! I'm so proud of you girl!" Stephanie felt a bubble of pride. Too bad Mark would never give her a reaction like that. He didn't like to make a scene in public, but he was always excited and encouraging in private. Unlike Denise, he really cared what people thought about him at all times. Denise only cared sometimes.
"So, celebratory drinks are obviously in order, where do you want to go? What kind of dress code do you want?"
"You choose. Surprise me, tell me when and where, or just come over with a plan and then you can help me dress accordingly. The night is in your hands."
"Hmm, I thought you were the planner of the two of us. But okay, I will come up with something awesome. I'll come over on Friday with everything figured out. You are providing food when I arrive."
"That seems fair."
"So, what did Mark say when you told him?"
Stephanie hesitated just a second before going on, "Well, he doesn't actually know yet. I tried calling him but he was busy and couldn't take it then, so he will call me as soon as he gets the chance."
"And your Mom?"
"I'll call her next if you ever stop asking me questions. Get back to work!"
"Okay geeze! Harold looks like he's about to suffer an apoplexy anyways, so I better get back to work."
"Really, Denise? An apoplexy? What century is this? I bet most people don't even know what that is."
"You're right, and based on the look on Harold's face right now, he doesn't either, but I'm trying to bring it back. Shake up our vocabulary with some 18th century lingo, you know?"
"You are one weird lady, Denise."
"Yes, and I believe that's why you love me. Deal with it."
"I will. Later, weirdo!"
"Later gator!"
Stephanie was still laughing at her friend when she hung up the phone. She really had no idea what she would do without her, because life sure would be boring.
She called her mom next, and had a much more subdued conversation. Then again, everything seems subdued once you've hung up on Denise.
Her mom expressed her worry about Mark being gone so long; she didn't like Stephanie being alone in the city. Stephanie explained she wasn't really alone, she still had friends, and the building had a doorman and good security so she would be fine. Then her mom started worrying about the elevator incident again.
"I'm fine, Mom. It's already just a funny story to me. I do not foresee any long-lasting detrimental effects. I am still a responsible and well-adjusted, independent young woman, like you raised me." She tried not to be overly sarcastic, but her Mom seemed to ignore all of it.
"Well, that's good to hear. Just know you can come home anytime you need to."
"I know, I promise I will do that if I feel I need you. I pinky promise. I love you."
"Love you too, honey."
*
Denise showed up at 7:00pm on Friday with a duffel bag and a bottle of wine. Her blonde hair was curled and down around her shoulders. She walked straight into the bedroom, threw her bag down and began unpacking everything by throwing it around the room. If Mark was around, she could never do this because it would drive him crazy, but Stephanie was sure she would stay the night, so cleaning the mess could be tomorrow's problem.
Stephanie pulled the pizza out of the oven. She could hear Denise rifling though her closet looking for Stephanie's outfit.
"Food's ready!"
Denise shouted back, "Yay! Give me one second to find what I'm looking for!"
Stephanie sat on the couch and dug into her first slice. "Ow. Hot, hot, hot!" she mumbled, with a mouthful of pizza burning the roof of her mouth. Denise came out of the bedroom laughing at her.
"Every time you make pizza, you burn your mouth. How do you never learn?"
"If I did, you'd be confused and wonder what the body snatchers did with the real me."
"You know, that's very true. I don't know how Mark puts up with you. "
"I think that's why he only eats pizza from Michelangelo's. He says it's the best in the city and if he's going to debase himself by eating pizza, it better be the best of the best."
Denise looked exasperated. "It's pizza! Pizza is almost always good. Unless it's burnt to a crisp, or from that place we found that night, 'Best Pizza Unlimited' or something? That was such an unfortunate oxymoron for their pizza." Denise laughed at her own joke, but the pizza had finally cooled enough to eat, so they wolfed it down.
"So, what exactly is the plan tonight?" Stephanie asked, while taking a sip of wine.
Denise disappeared and came back with a sash. She tossed it on Stephanie's lap. One side had 'Bride to be' crossed out, and the other side now said 'New Job' in silver Sharpie.
"And, your crowning glory!" Denise pulled a small pink plastic tiara from behind her back, brandishing it with more enthusiasm than Vanna White.
Stephanie cocked an eyebrow. "And, what may I ask, will you be wearing?
Denise came back a moment later with a tank top that said "Steph's Squad". Stephanie burst out laughing.
"Why are we wearing these things?"
"Well, you see, we are going to celebrate this big life changing event. If we acknowledge that, some people may buy us drinks because they don't notice that it isn't exactly a bachelorette party. But, like a bachelorette party, you are getting very drunk and not spending the night with Mark! So basically, it is the perfect plan. Carly is meeting us there and I've got one for her too. Also, I figured it would help us get into the bars if there's a line."
"Denise, you really are completely nuts. And possibly a genius."
"You're not the only one who can plan things you know. I just do it for fun, not for a paycheck."
"Well, we better go finish our hair and makeup and get dressed. We've got a long night ahead of us!"