Chapter 70

Chapter 70

With my weekly appointments set up, I integrated the coping mechanisms into my daily routine. Journaling helped the most, especially with the nightmares and flashbacks. They did not fully go away, but they did not bother me as badly.

I slept better, and I was not quite as paranoid. I was able to focus better on my work. Even Terri and my other coworkers complimented me on how well I was doing.

These changes came at just the right time. One of our highest–profile weddings- that of a cousin to one of Andrew’s advisors–was days away. How well this wedding went would show the world how well we could handle something like Lisa’s wedding.

The day before the wedding, I was handling the last–minute details and ensuring that everything was perfect when I received a call from the justice of the peace meant to officiate the ceremony. Tucking my phone between my shoulder and my ear as I cradled a box in my arms, I answered the call.

“Hello, Mr. Brown. How are you doing today?”

“Not so well, Ms. Blanchard,” Mr. Brown replied. “I’m going to have to back out of the wedding tomorrow.”

I nearly dropped the box that I was loading into the company van. I quickly set the box down and grabbed a hold of my phone.

“What do you mean, you’re backing out?”

“I mean, I’m not going to be able to officiate tomorrow’s wedding.”

“Yes, but why?”

“I’m so sorry to do this, but my brother just died. His funeral is in the United Kingdom, and if I’m going to make it, I have to fly out tomorrow.

Part of me wanted to scream, and part of me felt horrible for wanting to scream. Having lost my mother, I knew that Mr. Brown must be feeling terrible over the loss of his brother. At the same time, this cancellation put me in a tough situation.

“I understand,” I said. “I’m sorry for your loss. Have a good flight.”

Thank you. Good luck with the wedding.”

Thanks Bye

Chapter 70

“Bye.”

I hung up before cursing the situation under my breath. Then I took a deep breath, loaded the box into the company van, and walked back into the bridal shop.

Terri looked up from where she was packing more boxes with decorations.

“I saw you on the phone out there,” she said. “Did something happen?”

“Only the worst possible thing to happen the day before a wedding.”

“What’s that?”

“The justice of the peace backed out. He has a funeral to go to.”

“Well, that sounds like poor planning on his part-

“It’s his brother’s funeral.”

Terri’s mouth formed the shape of an “o“.

“That’s different, then.” She stood up and wiped her hands off on her pants suit. “What are we going to do?”

“You’re going to continue loading the van. I’m going to call every officiant that I can think of and see if they can squeeze us in tomorrow.”

“Okay, just remember that the couple only accepts Priestesses of the Moon or nonreligious officiants.”

I pulled out the black binder containing all our officiate contacts.

“That’s right. Thanks for reminding me.”

I skimmed through the contacts until I found the first acceptable contact, Sister Luna Moreau, Priestess of the Moon.

“Hello, Sister Moreau? It’s Crystal Blanchard, from Ever After Weddings.”

For three hours, I called different officiants in an attempt to find someone who could replace Mr. Brown at the last minute. All of them had prior commitments;

As I got off the phone with the last retired judge on our list. I folded my arms on top of the counter and rested my head on them. I sighed and closed my eyes,

Chapter 70

wallowing in the hopelessness of the situation.

“How’s it going?” Terri asked as she walked up to the counter.

“How does it look like it’s going?” I grumbled.

“Pretty lousy, if you want the truth. I’m guessing that you haven’t found a new officiant.”

“Nope. Everyone’s busy.”

“Priestess Moreau?”

“Sick.”

“Judge Chang?”

“Already officiating a different wedding at the same time.”

“Mrs. Jansen?”

“Out of town.”

“How about-”

“Trust me, I’ve called everyone on our list. No one is available.”

Terri scratched her chin for a moment, deep in thought.

“Well, what about someone not on our list?”

I straightened my back and rubbed my temples.

“What are you talking about?”

“You have an ‘in‘ with Andrew Dubois, right?”

I blushed slightly at her suggestive tone but nodded.

“You could say that…”

“Ask him if he knows anyone who could officiate the ceremony. He must have some contacts that we don’t already have. He’s the Alpha King, after all.”

“I don’t know….

I didn’t want to bother Andrew for a work problem. He had been doing so much for me, and this was my problem to solve, not his. I couldn’t go running to him

Chapter 70

every time that I had a situation at work that gave me a slight headache.

“Come on, Crystal, you have to give it a try.”

“It would feel like I’m abusing my relationship with him–my friendship with him,

I mean.”

I blushed even deeper as Terri grinned mischievously at me. Fortunately, she chose to brush my faux pas aside and focus on the matter at hand.

“Think of it this way,” she said, “you have a job that you need to get done, and you need to use all the tools available to you in order to get it done. If you don’t use your connection to Andrew, you wouldn’t be using every tool available to you, and thus, you wouldn’t be doing your job. Surely, Andrew would want you to do your job to the fullest.”

I knew it was a stretch, but I took Terri’s words as my excuse to call Andrew. I was desperate at this point. If Andrew didn’t know of anyone who could officiate the wedding, then I didn’t know what I would do.

“Fine,” I said, grabbing my phone. “I’ll call him.”

Terri patted me on the arm.

“That’s my girl.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go call the florist and make sure the arrangements will be ready for tomorrow. Last thing we need is for something else to go wrong.”

“Aye, aye, captain.”

Terri mock–saluted me before pulling out her own cell phone and walking into the employee lounge for some privacy.

I took a deep breath and dialed Andrew’s number. I wasn’t even sure if he would. answer, considering how busy his schedule was.

“Hello? Crystal?” Andrew answered on the first ring.

“Hi, Andrew.”

“Is something wrong?”

No. Well, yes, but not catastrophically.”

I’m confused. Go on.

12:27 Wed, 3 Jan

Chapter 70

“I’m fine, but something’s gone wrong at work.”

“Not another fire, I hope.”

“No, no. You know Polly Durand? She’s the cousin of one of your advisors-”

“Francois Durand, yes, I know her. I’m going to her wedding tomorrow.”

“Yes, well, that wedding is the problem. The justice of the peace who’s supposed to officiate it backed out today.”

“That’s bad. Any luck on replacements?”

“None at all. Polly and her fiancé only want either a Priestess of the Moon or a nonreligious officiant, and all the ones I called can’t make it tomorrow.”

Andrew let out a low whistle.

“That’s a tough position to be in. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Actually, that why I called. I was wondering if you knew anyone who could officiate the wedding tomorrow. We’ve exhausted our contacts.”

“Hmmm.”

Silence fell over the line as Andrew thought about the situation.

“Well, I might know of one officiant, if you’re willing to have him.”

“I’m desperate. I’ll take anyone at this point.”

Andrew laughed.

“You certainly have a way of making a man feel wanted.”

I rolled my eyes, even though Andrew couldn’t see me.

“Enough joking, Andrew. Who do you think can officiate the wedding?”

“Me.”

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