Something Unplanned

“Piper?” someone asked. I glanced up to see Farah, the secretary, hovering over my desk, looking down at me.
“’Sup?” I asked, shutting the book I was reading. I wasn’t sure why Jocelyn had asked me to come in today; it wasn’t like I was doing anything. I was literally just sitting in my tiny little closet of an office, waiting for something to do.
“Jocelyn wants to see you,” she told me.
“And she couldn’t come tell me herself?” I asked, standing from my desk and walking out the door. She walked next to me, and said,
“She’s with a client.”
“So should I just go in?” I asked, pausing outside her door.
“Yeah, I think so,” she said, shrugging. I nodded slowly, and opened the door to Jocelyn’s office.
“Ah, here she is,” Jocelyn said, smiling at me. The woman sitting across from her turned to face me.
“Hello,” the woman said, standing up. “My name is Erin McEvoy, I’m a representative for the Boston Bruins Foundation,” she told me, extending a hand.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Piper Lehman,” I replied. When Erin sat back down, I shot a questioning look to Jocelyn, who gestured me over to stand by her side.
“Piper, the reason I called you in here was so that you could help Ms. McEvoy with an event she’s planning for the Foundation,” Jocelyn told me. “As you know, I’m completely booked up with all these fall weddings,” she continued. I nodded, knowing full well what she was talking about. The last couple days had been the first in a month and a half that Jocelyn hadn’t had me completely swamped with booking caterers or visiting venues with her clients.
“The Bruins are hosting their first ever Charity Gala, and since Jocelyn can’t help plan this one, she strongly recommended you,” Erin informed me. My eyes widened, and I looked at Jocelyn, who smiled encouragingly.
“That sounds fantastic, Ms. McEvoy, I’d love to,” I finally answered, smiling at her.
“Perfect. I have a lot more that I’ve got to do today, but would you like to meet me for lunch tomorrow afternoon and we can begin discussing details?” she asked.
“Sounds great,” I told her. I reached down to the cardholder on Jocelyn’s desk, where she kept a pile of my cards as well (I didn’t understand why until now), and picked one up.
“This has all of my information on it,” I informed her, passing the card to her.
“And here’s mine. I’ll e-mail you by tonight,” she promised, excepting my card before smiling and exiting. Jocelyn and I stood there in silence for a couple seconds, before I turned to face her.
“Are you out of your mind?” I demanded. She laughed loudly, and shook her head.
“You’re the most capable person I know, Piper, you’re going to kick butt with this assignment,” she told me.
“I’ve barely managed weddings before, much less a freaking gala for a professional sports team!” I said.
“Don’t sound so panicked. You’ll do fine,” Jocelyn promised. “Now, you can head home. I didn’t really need you here for anything, I just wanted someone to keep me company,” she told me. I smiled, and said,
“Fine. I’ll see you later.”
“Have a nice night, Piper, and I want regular updates on your planning!” she called after me as I walked out. I waved a hand in acknowledgement, and smiled at Farah.
“Have a nice evening, Pipes,” Farah called after me.
“You too Farah!” I called back, waving to her. I wrinkled my nose when I saw that it had begun drizzling, and made a beeline straight for my car. The drive back to the apartment I shared with my best friend Fiona was easy enough, if not a bit troublesome, because of the horrendous driving that the rain induced. As soon as I got back inside the smell of cooking food hit me.
“Fifi, whatcha up to?” I called, dropping my bag on the floor and heading for the kitchen.
“I’m making pasta,” she replied.
“Are you making your sauce?” I demanded, heading straight for the pot on the stove.
“Don’t touch,” she scolded, smacking my hand away.
“You are!” I gasped, smiling at her. She grinned and nodded, continuing to chop the vegetables in front of her.
“I take it you passed, then?” I asked. She beamed at me, and said,
“I got a 93.”
“A 93? Holy crap, Fiona, that’s outstanding!” I gasped, leaping forward and grabbing her into a hug.
“I know!” she giggled as we jumped up and down. Fiona and I were both sophomores in college at BC. She was majoring in law, her parents having groomed her from the time she was 10 to be some hotshot lawyer in Boston. I was a major in business, and also did a couple of communication classes, because my dream job was to become a party planner. I was already on the right track, because I was the only assistant to the most successful party planner in Boston, Jocelyn Eiland. For the past two weeks Fiona had been stressing over some big test she had in one of her classes, and I was relieved that she’d done well.
“I also paid Jay to get us some beers, so those are in the fridge,” she informed me.
“Mm, you’re a saint,” I groaned as I pulled out my buzzing phone. I was confused to see Jocelyn calling me.
“Everything alright?” I asked as soon as I picked it up.
“For the most part, yes, but you know how I have that charity event tonight?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said slowly.
“I completely forgot to pick up my new dress from the tailor, which is literally 30 minutes away from my apartment. I’d give you a 200 hundred dollar bonus if you dropped what you were doing right now and got it to my place before 6:30,” she pleaded. I glanced at the clock above the oven, and saw that it was 5:30.
“Ms. Eiland, you don’t have to pay me. I’m leaving my place right now, I think I can get it there,” I told her.
“Of course I’m going to pay you. It’s a red gown under my name. I’ve already paid for everything. Pipes, you’re a lifesaver, I owe you one,” she said.
“Not a problem. See ya’,” I said, hanging up the phone.
“What’d Eiland need?” Fiona asked.
“I have to go pick something up for her. How much longer ‘til dinner is ready?” I asked.
“45 minutes, give or take,” she replied.
“Okay, I promise I won’t be too long,” I told her, grabbing my bag and stepping out the door.
“It’s raining!” Fiona shouted after me. I stepped back into the apartment, grabbed my raincoat, and called to her,
“Thank you!”
“Stupid,” I heard her mutter, and I smiled slightly before heading back out to the car. For a night in Boston the traffic wasn’t terrible, and it only took me twenty minutes to get from my house to the tailors. They had the dress ready to be picked up, so I was in and out of the building in three minutes. Like Jocelyn had said, it took me thirty minutes to get from the tailors to her place. I’d managed to uncover an umbrella out of the pit that was the trunk of my car, so thankfully I was able to step out into the drizzle without getting the dress wet. I was hurriedly making my way towards the beautiful condo complex where Jocelyn lived, when I was knocked flat on my ass by a frame much taller than mine. In a move that was very graceful for me, I maneuvered Jocelyn’s dress away from the ground so the entire back of my legs were what got wet.
“Holy crap, I’m so sorry,” the person I’d bumped into said. I stared in disbelief at my wet legs, then at the preserved dress, and finally ended up laughing loudly.
“Oh, it’s okay,” I said, glancing up at the person who’d knocked me over. I accepted the hand he’d extended, and allowed him to pull me to my feet. He had a black beanie on over his hair, but from what wasn’t hidden under the hat and thick black coat he was wearing, I concluded that he was pretty cute.
“I hope I didn’t ruin your dress,” he said, gesturing to what I held in my hand.
“Oh, no, this isn’t mine,” I said. “It’s my boss’s. And thank god, it’s perfectly fine.”
“That would’ve sucked to deal with,” he said.
“Well, thanks to my unusual surge of reflexes, it’s totally dry,” I told him, bending over and grabbing my umbrella from the ground.
“Thanks for helping me up,” I said. “But I’ve got to go drop this off.”
“Well, it was my fault for knocking you down in the first place. Sorry ‘bout that,” he said.
“It’s fine. I don’t like these pants anyways,” I murmured. “Bye!”
“Bye,” he returned, before I turned and practically ran over to Jocelyn’s condo. I tried the door, and when I found that it was open, I slipped inside just long enough to hang up the gown before stepping back outside and heading out.

Notes

I just love dougie <3 review, and vote por favor :) ~Candi