Un-Tying the Knot {h.s.}

Chapter 5

I'm so bored. I've been playing Candy Crush for the last hour. It's Monday, and there's absolutely nothing happening in the office today. No meetings were on the books, there was nothing to take over to Harry's office, and Eleanor wasn't even in yet.

I'm blaming the slow pace on the wind down of the Holidays. With Christmas quickly approaching, it seems like the entire city has just shut down.

Despite the holidays, however, Eleanor's wedding schedule hasn't slowed down one bit. Calley was over almost every single day, presenting ideas, swatches, color palettes, flower arrangements, you name it. Meetings upon meetings, all related to the wedding. If I'm honest, I have no idea how Eleanor does anything besides wedding planning. But when she's meeting with Calley, I'm stuck with nothing to do.

I still had quite a bit of Christmas shopping to do, so part of me is hoping that she would let me go early today. Maybe I could get some good deals at The Grove, even! I looked back down at the clock, wondering when Eleanor would finish her meeting or call me with something to complain about. Maybe her meeting with Calley would mean I would have to shuttle something over to Harry's office.

I spent most of my days, when I wasn't dealing with her temper tantrums, shuffling between her office and his. I would be forced to ask his opinion on things she had already decided, only to completely discard his opinion anyway. I wasn't even really sure why she made the motions. She didn't care what Harry wanted, and I doubt that would change. Poor Harry.

On the positive side, I loved spending time at his office -- it only made me like him as a person more and more. He was like the annoying Uncle at the family reunion who would make knock knock jokes and use physical humor to make everyone laugh. It was corny, but somehow ridiculously charming. Maybe it was the dimples. It was those moments that helped me keep my sanity.

Regardless, no matter what she threw at him, he smiled, made a joke, and took it in stride. He loved her. I still wasn't sure why, but he did. And that was admirable.

As soon as I was about to finish my level of Candy Crush successfully before the timed level expired, the doors slam open, a whole twenty minutes before they were supposed to. She was supposed to be in a meeting with Calley.

"What an absolutely horrendous day!" Eleanor screams to anyone who will listen.

Uh oh.

My jaw clenched and I quickly close my browser, silently cursing Eleanor for making me lose a level I had been trying to beat for days. But judging by her anger, I was about to have bigger problems. Much bigger.

I stood up quickly, biting my lip in anticipation of today's crisis. Stacey was at lunch, so I was the only on here to handle her wrath.

"Can you believe this? Just look at these," she scowls. She drops a pristine white box on my desk.

I hold my breath before looking up at her, silently questioning what it was she wanted me to do. The last thing I wanted was to provoke her more.

She tapped her foot. "Well, open it."

My fingers slowly slid over the cover of the box, gently removing the lid. Beneath was obviously an entire box of printed wedding invitations.

Eleanor motioned to me, pushing me to look faster.

I slowly let my not perfectly manicured fingers roll over the papers and their edges before lightly plucking out one of the pieces. As I pulled it out, my head tilted to the side, and I couldn't help but smile.