Simple Happiness

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Your mother wants you to get married?" Tamara asked immediately after Liz's call with her mother ended.

Liz nodded. "Mm, but I'm afraid they might not accept Ethan because his family is wealthy."

"Don't worry," Tamara said. "Everything will be fine. Plus, you shouldn't stress yourself over something that hasn't happened yet."

"You're right. I shouldn't let it burden me now. Ethan and I will know how to deal with it when it happens."

"That's more like it," Tamara said then got to her feet. "Now cheer up. How about we go on a shopping spree. That will help us forget our problems, even if it will just be for a short time."

"Are you for real? I'm trying to save up money for my business. Are you trying to destroy my plans?"

Tamara's shoulders suddenly drooped. She went to Liz's side. "I'm not trying to sabotage your plan to start the business. How can I do that when you promised me partnership?"

"Did I promise you that?"

Tamara looked at her in confusion. "Liz, are you trying..."

Liz poked her in the stomach. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Joking," she said.

"Huh, you got me there," Tamara said. "I thought you had changed your mind about us being partners."

"You're silly." Liz said and put her arm around Tamara's neck. "I can't dare do that to you."

"I believe you."

"Then how are you going to repay me?" Liz asked.

"Repay you for what?"

"For being a good friend," Liz said.

Tamara pushed her away. "Who said you are a good friend?"

"What, then I am a bad friend, right?" Liz stood up and picked her handbag.

When she went for her cellphone, Tamara grabbed her hand. "You are the best friend in the whole world," she said. "How about I be the one to pay today?"

Liz pinched her nose. "Don't take it seriously. I was kidding."

"Then what were you doing picking your handbag and cellphone?"

"You said we're going shopping, right?" she said. "Ha-ha-ha! Are you serious? You thought I was leaving because I was angry with you?"

Tamara looked away. "You wish."

Liz smiled. Today I have learned something new about you. "You are so easy to blackmail emotionally." She leaned towards her. "Is it okay if I take advantage of it once in a while?"

Tamara smiled and threw a pillow at her. "You're lucky that I love you."

"Ha-ha. I love you too," Liz said and put the pillow on the sofa. "Let's get going."

"My handbag." Tamara rushed to the bedroom. She came bag with her brown bucket bag and picked her phone then they left.

---

A few days later, Liz received a call from Twiga Construction Company. She was being invited for an interview for the accountant job she had applied some weeks ago. That call sent her reeling with happiness.

Life was giving her another chance to convince an employer about her abilities. Although she had received numerous regret messages in the past after attending interviews, she was hopeful that she would nail it this time around.

"Babe, I got invited for an interview today," she told Ethan when he got home that day in the evening.

His lips curled into a smile. "That's good news." He hugged her then whisked her off the ground and twirled her around. "I'm happy for you babe, congrats!"

"Thanks, babe," she said when he put her down. "I hope I would be lucky this time around."

"You will," he said. "Let's go out and celebrate." He picked his jacket and car keys and started walking away, but Liz did not move.

He stopped. "What's wrong babe? We always celebrate every time you receive an invitation for an interview."

"Babe, let us not celebrate tonight," she said. "Instead, let's celebrate when I get the job offer."

"Okay," he said, dropping on the sofa. "Then I will help you prepare. When is the interview, anyway?"

She sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder. "Next week on Monday," she said.

"Okay. Then we shall start preparing on Friday."

"Thank you, babe."

"For what?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"For everything," she said. "You're so good to me."

"You deserve much more, babe," he said. "I'm happy to have you in my life. You mean everything to me. I don't think I would be able to go on living without you."

"You mean the whole world to me too." She snuggled against his chest, and he put his arms around her. "I want us to be like this forever."

"Me too," he said, toying with a strand of her hair in his fingers.

---

A week after Liz's job interview at Twiga Construction Company, she received another call from the Human Resource Department of the company informing her that she had passed the interview. She was very happy. Finally, she was saying goodbye to unemployment. She thanked God for that opportunity and celebrated with both Ethan and Tamara.

Liz decided to shelf her plan of starting a business because she was eager to experience her new life as a working class individual. That job was a blessing that God had granted her, and she was not going to throw it away just like that. However, that was not going to be the end of her desire to own a business. She would surely pursue it later.

***