"I suppose we should set a date," said Della.
"Today," Perry suggested hopefully.
"No, not today, Perry-" she saw his face fall, "You are much too tired! You can barely keep your eyes open."
Perry looked so downhearted that Della felt like she had broken a schoolboy's heart.
"But I will marry you tomorrow," she promised.
Perry's smile came back, "I suppose we should tell Paul that we need a best man."
"I'll get him on the phone."
Della placed the call, then handed the telephone to Perry.
"Paul? Perry. No, I am here in my office. Listen, can you come down here for a minute? No, nothing's wrong. Good!" Perry hung up.
"I should call Linda," Della dialed her best friend's number.
"You have the rest of the day off," Perry whispered as Della waited, "Go buy a new dress," he pulled an enormous amount of money out of his wallet and tucked it into her purse, "You only get married once!"
Della smiled at him, knowing that arguing would be pointless.
"Hello, Linda! I am just fine," Della smiled and slid her hand into Perry's, "I am getting married, Linda! To Perry! Tomorrow!" she laughed at her friend's response, "Will you be my matron of honor? I cannot imagine getting married without my best friend! If you can get a babysitter, I need to go dress shopping. Great! I'll see you then!"
Paul had entered the office just then, looking a bit confused to see them both in Della's office.
"What do you need?" he asked.
"I am going to need a best man," said Perry.
"My best man is in Reno working a case, but I have another guy who is great-"
"No, no, I need you, Paul. I'm getting married!"
Paul stared at Perry.
"Who?!" was the first thing he demanded, a slight frown wrinkling his forehead.
"Meet my future wife!" Perry wrapped his arm around Della's waist.
"Congratulations!" Paul broke into a grin, pumped Perry's arm up and down, and kissed Della on the cheek, "Congratulations! It's about time!"
Della laughed and Perry made a face.
"When is the wedding?"
"Tomorrow," Perry and Della answered together.
"What time?"
"Afternoon, we have a lot to get done before then!"
"You had better believe we have!"
The rest of the day was a buzz with activity: Della and Linda went dress shopping, Perry was having his best suit cleaned and bought a wedding ring, and Gertie was kept busy with all of the phone arrangements that needed to happen. Della packed her clothes in a hurry. When she finally crawled into bed late that night, she thought to herself,
"Just this morning I was a secretary wondering if my boss was crazy or if I was, and now I am going to bed, the night before my wedding, engaged to the most wonderful man in the whole wide world!"
And her dreams that night were just as happy as her thoughts.
Perry could hardly believe it: the day before he had walked into his office, and now he was engaged to his secretary! He had had no intentions of asking her to marry him, really he had not. But when he walked in and saw her, he could not stop himself and proposed like a babbling foolish lover. He did not even remember what he had said, but he knew it had not been a great proposal. He did not regret asking her, indeed he knew he never would, but he wished he had planned it out better. He did not even have a ring for her!
He was engaged to the prettiest woman in the world, and he still could not believe it. In just four hours, she would be his Mrs. Mason!
Perry was pulled from his daydreams by his telephone ringing.
"Hello?"
"Perry, this is Della," the distraught voice came across the wire.
"What's wrong?" he could tell that she had been crying, and his heart filled with dread.
"Oh, Perry!" Della broke down and began crying again.
Perry was beyond concerned.
"Della, what's wrong?"
"You know that my brother and I were raised by my aunt and uncle, right?" she asked.
"Yes, your parents were killed in an automobile accident."
"That's right. Well, I called to tell them about us, and - oh, Perry! They do not approve! They do not want me to marry you!"
More to come! Thank you for all of the lovely reviews! I would appreciate more!