Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
“I’ll just need to get in touch with your assistant for names and such to add to the guest list.”
“No problem, I’ll have it taken care of tomorrow.”
I actually got caught up in planning once I got in touch with the assistant, who was very helpful with what I needed. I went into party mode which is something I am very good at doing. I thought when I chose the only restaurant on the block where I had seen that embrace that it would jar Mark somehow but he didn’t even seem bothered in the least.
I’d thought of having the party at home but changed my mind because I didn’t want that bitch in my home where my family lives, so I called up the restaurant and reserved their party room. “I didn’t know you knew that place.”
“Oh? Do you know it?”
“Yeah, actually, oddly enough, I’ve had a few meetings there a couple of months ago. How did you hear about that place?”
“I saw it in passing a few months ago when I was coming back from Greenvale.”
“Oh? What were you doing there?”
“That luncheon for the animal hospital fundraiser, don’t you remember?”
“Vaguely. How is that going, by the way?”
“It went beautifully; we wrote them a check for twenty grand.”
“Was that enough?”
“More than enough; we raised twice as much as we expected to.”
“Sounds great, babe. Do you need anything from me?”
“No, your assistant gave me everything I needed.”
The party was set for the following Saturday and the texts that week were all about why I was the one making plans for the party. Jessica seemed a bit put out that I was still in the picture and bemoaned the fact that things weren’t going quite the way she’d expected.
There was a lot of reassurance of things to come and how things were bound to change for the better. I tested this on my end by dropping hints about a summer trip to Europe, which Mark seemed very receptive to. If I didn’t know better, I would swear that he was enjoying all the new changes in our relationship and all the time we’d been spending together.
So, was he just leading her on? He hadn’t been to her apartment in all this time and there was no time in between where he had spent time with her. If not for the texts, I would be inclined to believe that I had misread that embrace, but what the hell else could be going on?
I answered a call from Mark’s assistant asking for approval to contact me on the day of since they wouldn’t be at the office after four the day before and wanted to make sure we had covered everything so they could be available if I needed any last-minute help.
I appreciated the attention to detail and even mentioned to Mark how professional his assistant was, which he agreed with. This assistant had been with him for a couple of years now since the old one had retired and had worked out perfectly.
There never seemed to be anything unachievable, and there were never any complaints. But that could be because they were overpaid for their position, which is something my husband takes pride in doing with his employees.
CHAPTER 6
In the end, there wasn’t much that needed taking care of, and there were no loose ends to tie up except for the floral arrangements, which I took care of, but I did Venmo some cash to the assistant for working on their day off.
That day was busy with hair and makeup, as well as my stylist who came by to show me a few dresses to choose from. I went with something a little bit risqué, which I had asked to be added to the lineup.
For years, Cynthia, my stylist, had been trying to talk me into trying new styles, anything except the Jackie-O-inspired style I was prone to. The embroidered crepe couture Valentino evening dress was completely backless with floral double spaghetti straps and a deep vee in the cleavage.
I chose a shawl to cover myself in the chauffeur-driven car on the way to the venue because I wanted Mark to be just as surprised as everyone else was sure to be. His colleagues and associates have become more accustomed to my matronly style over the years and though I could care less what they thought, I was very interested in my husband’s reaction to this drastic change.
He stood next to me as I passed my shawl to the coat check person or, in this case, cover-up checker because the evenings were still cool enough for a spring shawl but not cold enough for a mink.
“Wow!” I looked over my shoulder at his exclamation and saw the appreciative look in his eyes. “I’m not letting you out of my sight this evening. Stay close.” His hand was warm on my back as he led me into the room where the party was being held.