“Just plan for fifty,” he said. “You put down who you want and whatever’s left over, I’ll fill.”
“So if I take forty spots, you’ll just invite ten people?”
“Yes.” He chewed a piece of bacon and then started texting or emailing on his phone.
“Red, don’t be silly. We can’t keep avoiding this stuff. We need to talk about your family. Are you going to invite your brother, your mom and dad?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry but we’re going to have to do this another time. I need to put out some fires at the office. We’ve got a huge pitch coming up and we’re nowhere close to being ready.”
Nicole groaned with frustration and sat back in her chair.
Red was already getting out of his seat and heading for the door. “I’ll call you later,” he said.
“How about a kiss, at least?” she called back.
“Yeah, of course.” He ran over and kissed the top of her head. “Love you, babe.”
“Love you, too,” she sighed.
And then he was gone.
After Red left, Nicole got on her laptop and found The Rag, where of course the leak had originated.
On The Rag’s homepage, there was an old picture of Red looking surprised and confused all at once. Beneath the picture was the story:
It’s On! Red Jameson Vows to Keep Wedding Date!
Media Mogul Red Jameson and his intern (aka concubine) Nicole Masters have been on again off again so much that we’ve started to wonder if they’re trying to beat out Kristin Stewart and Robert Pattinson for most annoying couple that won’t leave each other alone.
Recently, The Rag has learned that the sexy ad exec and his vanilla vixen have officially begun to make wedding plans again, so we can only hope that perhaps they’ll stop breaking up every other day, if and when they finally seal the deal.
Then again, maybe they’ll be one of those annoying celebrity couples that divorces and remarries multiple times as well.
Either way, The Rag will always keep you up to date on the spicy but confused love life of our favorite billionaire businessman, the Maddest Mad Man we know, Red Jameson. Stay tuned for more details!
Nicole bit her lip and tried to think where the story might have originated. After all, very few people knew about their wedding plans. So the list of suspects was relatively small; her mother, Marcie Tilly, Danielle, and possibly one of the new employees that Red had hired at his company.
But the most suspicious part was that these new stories had really started up again at The Rag since Kane Wright took over. And now that Kane was involved with Danielle, she was probably telling him things about Red and Nicole, and he could easily pass that information off to his people at tabloids. It was good for his tabloid business and also he seemed to enjoy finding ways to needle Red whenever possible.
Nicole knew she was going to have to either broach the subject with Danielle, or she’d have to simply stop telling her best friend anything about her relationship with Red Jameson. And Nicole didn’t want to stop talking to Danielle about Red and their life together—after all, friends told each other things. Without that, their friendship would surely just decay and blow away in the breeze.
She wasn’t sure what to do, so for now, Nicole decided to put it off and focus on continuing the wedding preparations.
Nicole decided that it was time to call Marcie Tilly and let her know she had the job.
***
Marcie was thrilled to be hired as Nicole’s wedding planner, that much was clear. Nicole had had to hold the phone away from her ear when the large woman bellowed her excited thanks and appreciation into the phone.
And now, just a day later, Marcie was over the house, helping Nicole pick out invitations. Unfortunately, Nicole had made the mistake of talking to her mother in advance of the meeting, and her mother had somehow weaseled her way into coming over along with Marcie.
So now the three of them were in the living room, drinking tea and having biscotti, while Marcie expounded on wedding do’s and don’ts and Nicole’s mother adding her own two cents.
Nicole could barely get a word in edgewise.
“I love the color scheme on this one,” Marcie practically shouted, holding up her sample book and pointing to a pink nightmare of an invitation design.
“Oh,” Nicole’s mother gasped, putting a hand over her heart. “That’s like a pink dahlia motif, yes?”
Marcie nodded. “Yes, and it’s so elegant, yet also contemporary.”
Nicole half-nodded. “It’s pretty, but I think maybe something a little more understated…”
The two older women exchanged looks.
Her mother took a sip of tea and Marcie resettled her body on the couch, turning her wide smile to Nicole. “Now, honey, picking out invitations is so much fun and we are having a blast. But we’re starting to run into a major roadblock here with this guest list.”
Nicole bit her lower lip. She felt like a chastised fifth grader. “I know. I’ve been trying to get Red to sit down with me to figure out who he wants to invite.”
“Don’t try, honey. Do.”