A Project

After my call with Jason, I went back to the office feeling lighter. A wedding planner to take Raquel around Vegas will cut down a lot of work for me. I sent Chrissy a text, letting her know that the room was booked and that Jason recommended a wedding planner to show us around.

I got off the elevator on my floor and lost my relief in an instance. A few workers were dragging boxes into my office. I suddenly had an urge to cry, but all I could do was curse Jenny for jinxing us. I stepped into our shared space, glaring at the boxes.

"Bad news..." Jenny said in a small voice.

I turned my glare to her. "No big projects, huh?"

She shrugged, helpless. "What could I do? Tell the boss 'no'?"

I nodded. "Preferably. That would have been nice."

She laughed a little. "I'm sorry, but I would like to keep my job. On a more positive note, the deadline is one month."

I looked at her, suspicious. "Since when do we get so much time to work on one particular project..?"

She smiled. "I talked to the supervisor about your stress at home and how your financial worries make you get blurry-eyed. We got a big project so we deserve a more realistic deadline. This is big, but there's no rush. It's filing for the client's archives so it's more focused on accuracy and organization."

I sighed. "I'd prefer if you didn't tell Bryan my problems. Especially since I'll be taking a bunch of vacation this year." I sat down at my desk and rolled my chair to the pile of boxes. "Do we even have a starting point? What kind of information are we inputting?"

Jenny handed me a piece of paper that had the parameters of what needed to be recorded and how the client would like it to be organized. "The first step, unfortunately, is to organize all the paperwork by date."

"It's not even organized yet..?" I frowned at the stack of boxes.

"It has been separated by month and year." She told me. "But the dates are a little iffy. Not too bad."

I sighed. We definitely have had worse. "Well, lets try and get it organized by date by the end of today, then we can slowly chip away at the piles."

She nodded in agreement. We started to unload the boxes and used the floor space to stack the papers by month and year. And then used the rest of the afternoon just sorting by date. We finished sorting in good time so I left work in a good mood, despite the big project.

On my drive home, I first made a call to the wedding planner.

She picked up after a single ring. "This is Sue, how can I help you?"

I inadvertently smiled at the way her greeting sounded. "Hello Sue, my name is Valerie Eastwood. My casino host, Jason Wilkerson referred me to your services."

"Oh, hello, I got a message from him earlier, saying that you might be calling. I'm eager to help. Can you tell me a little more about what you have in mind?"

I laughed. "Well, it's really my friend that needs help. Her name is Raquel Hernandez. She wants to get married sometime soon, like this summer soon."

"And does she know that you're contacting me on her behalf?" She asked, sounding a little suspicious.

"Not yet. I thought it would be a nice surprise if we could do a day of checking out the venues in the area. We'll be in town during Easter weekend so I know it's a little inconvenient, but I'm willing to pay for your time. She's just really new to this and it would help her understand what to expect."

After I mentioned pay, the lady sounded much more generous. "Yes, I'm free that Saturday. Are there any particular spots or preferences you would like me to show?"

"Raquel is very spontaneous, indecisive, and just goes at her own pace. It's really hard to guess what she's thinking so if you could plan out a wide variety of places to take us to, that'd be best."

"What time frame are we working with for that Saturday? Is there a budget planned out yet?" She asked, sounding like she was taking notes on the other end of the line.

"We're visiting mostly to look at venues so you have the whole day to work with. As for the budget...no definite number yet. I'm not sure if the groom's family is pitching in at all so that's why I suggested a wide variety. Include cheap, expensive and midrange options."

"Alright, a few more questions if you don't mind..." Sue started to ask more about Raquel's personality and what kind of wedding I would imagine her at. She also asked about the groom, but I really didn't know much. I met him once and we got drunk too quick. Heck, I don't even know if he really loves her.

I was still on the phone with her as I made it home. I sat in my car and finished the conversation before going into the house.

"Auntie! You're home!" Jimmy ran to me as soon as I walked into the living room.

I caught him and then threw him in the air before catching him again. "How's my favorite nephew??"

"Good." He giggled. "I want candy!"

I smiled and carried him to the kitchen.

"You shouldn't have favorites." Veronica started to lecture me from her spot by the sink, doing the dishes. "You're going to give these kids issues."

I snorted, opening my cabinet of food. "Like they don't already have issues." I pulled out a lollipop and held it in front of Jimmy. "What do you say?"

He grinned. "I love you, Auntie!"

I laughed and put him down, handing over the lollipop. "Good boy. Now go throw away your trash."

He sprinted to the trash can in record time.

"You're going to give that boy diabetes." Veronica shook her head.

I rolled my eyes behind her back. "Yea, okay. Don't think that I don't know you feed them popcorn for dinner when you're feeling lazy." I escaped with a lollipop of my own before she started to lecture. I still had to call Chrissy with an update on the wedding planner.