Slightly triggering content in this chapter.

A Week Later

Emily was scribbling down the name of a caterer when Alison knocked on the door.

"Mr. Hendricks is here," she said. Emily looked up, a bit surprised. She had wondered when he was going to bring her those invitations. How had it taken him a week to finish? She kept her thoughts to herself as she waved her hand in response, and Alison backed out to let Lee in.

"How are you?" Emily asked him as he stopped in front of her desk. His response was to hand her a piece of paper.

"I've gone over a thousand different formats, and I officially give up," he said.

"And hello to you too," she commented, taking the paper from him.

"Sorry. Hi," he added. He sat down across from her. "Tell me what you think, and be honest." Emily raised a brow at him, but he looked serious. In a way, it was nicer to work with a man. They didn't get tearful at the slightest suggestion of change about something. She leaned forward and scanned the example he'd done. She didn't want to admit she was slightly impressed.

"It's good," she said after a moment.

"But?" he asked.

"Just some minor tweaking to be done," she said. "Nothing major."

"Like what?" he inquired, leaning towards her. His fingers brushed against her hand as he jabbed them at the paper. "I don't see what needs to be 'tweaked.'"

"Well, this row should be here," she said, showing him. "And this doesn't need to be capitalized, but this does."

"Bloody hell," he muttered, falling back into his chair. "I'm not cut out for this."

"You did just fine," she insisted, waving her hand over it in a circle. "Honestly. For a first try, it was really good."

"You have to say that because I'm paying you," he commented. She opened and closed her mouth, but he started to smirk, and she found herself wanting to hit him. He was likeable and annoying at the same time. She wasn't sure how that was possible.

"Okay, smart ass," she said, setting down the paper. "Have you thought of what you're using for a card?"

"You don't just send them out like that?"

She really couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. She was starting to realize he was doing this to her on purpose. He was enjoying getting a rise out of her. She rested her elbows on the desk and gave him a stern look.

"If we're going to get along, you can't keep tormenting me," she told him.

"But it's so much fun," he replied, a twinkle in his eye. This was a very different version of himself than from when she first met him. He was being cheeky.

"Did you show Lacy this?" she asked, changing the subject. Sometimes it was helpful to remind the groom about the bride.

"No," he answered. "She hasn't had time." Emily knew why. She'd worked for Miranda long enough to know that you had no life at all when working for her.

"You might want to get her stamp of approval before we move forward and get them onto cards," Emily suggested.

"All right."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST HIM?!" a voice screeched. It made both Emily and Lee jump a little in their seats. Emily was up and to the door in a flash, poking her head out to see what was going on. Andrea was standing in the main hall with a petite, blond haired woman who was shaking her fist and going very red in the face.

"I...I don't know what happened," Andrea was trying to say.

"Without a caterer, we can't have a wedding!" the woman shouted. "How incompetent are you?!"

"Wow," Lee said from next to Emily. "Bridezilla alert." She turned her head to find him right there, and it took her off guard. She could smell his aftershave and feel the warmth coming off of him beside her. She gave herself a mental shake and was about to go assist Andrea when Nigel beat her to it.

"Let's go into my office, shall we?" he said, guiding the woman towards it. Andrea looked like she was about to cry. Jane had appeared at this point too, and she put her hand on Andrea's shoulder.

"It's all right," Jane promised. "I know a guy."

"I swear I put down the deposit, though," Andrea said to her. "I don't know what happened!"

"He might have been a scam," Lee offered, making the girls look at him, Emily included.

"Why, though?" Andrea asked him.

"Some guys like to be dicks," Lee answered with a shrug. "What better way to get money than to pretend to cater weddings where you get the deposit first before the job."

"I'm going to look into this," Jane said determinedly. "If that's true, then we'll get him."

"I'm so sorry," Andrea said tearfully.

"Andy, it's okay," Emily assured her. "It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it won't be the last."

"I promise I won't go all Rambo on you if you screw something up for my wedding," Lee said to Emily. Jane snorted with a laugh. Even Andy cracked a slight smile. Emily just blinked as she tried to work through the emotions that came up for her just now.

"I have to get back," she said. "Is there anything else you need before you go?"

"Nope. I just needed the holy stamp of approval from FLOP," he said.

"FLOP?" she repeated.

"Isn't that what you're called?"

"FLWP," she corrected. "Not 'flop.'"

"Oh. Sorry."

"You haven't been running around telling people that 'Flop' is doing your wedding, have you?" she asked, slightly alarmed.

"No-o-o..."

"Oh my God," she said, pinching her nose. "Who have you told?"

"Just my friend in New Orleans. Relax, he'd never say anything."

"All right. Is he going to be a groomsman?"

"He doesn't want to be, but he'll be here."

Fabulous. It was always a fun time when there were people in the wedding party who didn't want to be there. Emily felt curious as to why this friend didn't want to be in the wedding. Was he against the wedding? If so, why? She struggled to regain her focus. She shouldn't care about those details.

"At some point you'll have to do tux fittings. Who is your best man?" she asked, getting back on track.

"My brother."

"Okay. He'll have to be here too."

"He will be."

"Good. I'll be in touch," Emily said, wanting him to be gone. Being around him was making her feel dizzy.

"Righto," he said, bobbing his head. He gave a wave at Jane and Andrea, who were still watching their exchange, and he was gone. Emily went back to her desk. She didn't want anyone to ask why her face had flushed. She didn't want anyone to make any assumptions.

They'd be wrong anyway.

...

Lee went back to his empty apartment. Lacy had been working long hours in the last week; he barely saw her. She was stressed out when he did see her, and she wasn't eating. These things greatly worried him. He just didn't know how to bring them up with her without it becoming a fight.

He looked at his phone, which had started to ring, and he answered it.

"You avoiding me?" Barney asked without a hello.

"No. I figured you were giving me the silent treatment," Lee countered.

"Pfft, okay. So what's new?"

"Nothing."

"You wanna go for a job?" Barney questioned. As much as Lee wanted to say yes, he knew it wasn't a good idea. He'd given it up for Lacy, and even though she was rarely here, he didn't want to go away for weeks at a time and make her worry.

"I'm good, thanks," he said finally.

"You don't sound happy, Christmas," Barney noted. "What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not."

"Yea, okay, and I'm not Italian."

"Are we going to do this every time we talk?" Lee asked, sighing impatiently.

"Do what?"

"You trying to prove to me that I'm making a mistake."

"I think you are."

"And I don't care," Lee said irritably. "We have established that. Can we talk about something else now?"

"Like what?"

"Anything."

"Okay. Well, Tool set himself on fire with his pipe the other night," Barney said. Lee snorted. He could picture it. How many times had Barney told Tool to not fall asleep with his damn pipe lit in his mouth? It was bound to happen.

"Did he get hurt?"

"Nah, just his ego."

Lee listened as Barney went on to talk about the rest of the team. They talked around Billy. For whatever reason, it was so hard to talk about that kid. It meant admitting they had failed him, and neither of them wanted to think that. Lee could still picture the knife going into the kid's chest. It would pop up randomly and make him have to catch his breath.

Lee ended the call with Barney by saying someone was at the door. He just didn't want to talk anymore. He guessed that in a way, he was avoiding his friend. He went to lay on the couch and stare at the ceiling. He really needed to find something to kill this boredom.

...

Lacy looked around at all of these super thin girls and knew she stuck out like a sore thumb. She'd lost a few pounds due to stress, but she wanted to lose more. She fidgeted, looking over at the bathroom. Did she really want to start doing that? She looked down at her unopened lunch. Maybe she should just stop eating altogether. That was easier. She hated throwing up anyway. She moved her lunch out of sight, knowing she'd have to throw it out here before going home or else Lee would ask what was going on. She didn't want to worry him. She just needed to lose a few pounds. That's all.

Judith came back, ranting about something else that had gone wrong that day. Lacy did her best to offer solutions. She was getting into a groove here, and she did like it when it wasn't a rat race. She guessed she would have to take the good with the bad. That was a job.

And she certainly didn't want to lose this one, not after telling everyone she could handle it.

October 2012

Emily wrapped her coat around herself tighter against the wind as she walked. She was mulling over the things she needed to do that day in her head. She was so lost in thought that when she crossed the street to head for the office, she didn't see the car coming right at her.

"Oh!" she cried as hands grabbed her and then arms lifted her from behind. She was quickly carried out of the way as the car's horn screeched at them. She was shaking a little, trying to make sense of what just happened and feeling triggered from the last time she'd been hit by a car. She finally twisted around to see who her rescuer was.

"You okay?" Lee asked. He still had his hands on her arms.

"I am. Thanks to you," she added. "I...I didn't see it."

"I know," he said.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing," he dismissed. He moved his hands off her arms and rested one on her lower back to usher her off the road and into the building. Emily felt her cheeks growing hot. Jane was the first to notice them when they were inside.

"What happened?" she asked, looking over the papers in her hands at them.

"Ms. Charlton was trying to be road kill," Lee answered. "I just happened to be there to nudge her out of the way."

"Oh my God!" Jane exclaimed. "Em! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Emily answered. She moved away from Lee, away from his hand. She pushed down her triggering flashbacks, but she felt her leg ache all the same. She had hated that cast so much. She went to her office, taking off her scarf as she went. He followed her. She noticed he had a backpack slung over his shoulder, and it looked heavy.

"I brought the Book," he said. "Not to be confused with THE book from Runway." He pulled it out from the bag and set it on the desk in front of her. Emily had to admit she was impressed. Lacy did her homework.

"Did she approve the invitations?"

"Yes."

"Any ideas on what card to put them on?"

"Something with flowers," he answered. "That's all I got, and I looked everywhere in that book for what ones, but they're not in there."

"It's okay," Emily said, rolling her chair over to her cabinet and pulling open the bottom drawer. She rooted around until she found what she was looking for, pulled it out, and went rolling back to her desk. She set down three options in front of Lee. One was of roses, one was of lilies, and the last one was of daisies. He looked down at them.

"Oh God," he said. "I have to pick?"

"It's kind of how it works," Emily reasoned.

"You pick," he told her.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. I won't tell her. You can blame me if it's the wrong choice," Lee insisted.

"Look," Emily said to him. "It's not that hard to make a choice. Which one stands out the most?"

"I'm a guy," he said back. "I don't care."

"You do care. You're just afraid of being wrong," she pointed out. He rolled his eyes.

"I didn't pay for a therapist," he said. "I paid for a wedding planner. Now, do your job and plan." There he was back to being the obnoxious idiot again. Any lingering nice thoughts about him from saving her life was long gone now. She was ready to throttle him.

"Does she have a favorite flower?" she asked. "That would help narrow it down." He looked genuinely lost, and she resisted reaching across to smack him across the face. How could he not know what his fiance's favorite flower was?

"Can I take them home and show her? Let her pick?" he asked.

"Fine," Emily answered with a huff. "Wuss."

"I am not a wuss," he said, pointing a finger at her.

"Right now you are, yes," she argued. "You're making this harder than it needs to be."

"Roses then," he shot at her.

"Don't make a knee jerk decision because you're mad," Emily huffed.

"There is just no pleasing you, is there?" Lee asked, annoyed. Emily gave a slight growl before leaning back in her chair.

"Just take them and come back with the one you want. You've got time. Invitations go out three months before the wedding or six to eight weeks if people aren't travelling."

"There's travel," he clarified.

"Okay. Then send them out three months before the wedding."

"Got it."

"Do you want me to keep this?" she asked, putting her hand on Lacy's wedding book.

"That means I have to come here to work on stuff," Lee said to her. "I don't think you want that."

"Not really," she said honestly. He gave a slight laugh, reaching to pick it up and put it back into his bag.

"Are you this mean to all your clients?"

"Just the ones who intentionally irritate me," she shot back. She knew it was unprofessional, but he was smirking, so she assumed he was okay with it. They'd seemed to establish this kind of rapport with each other.

"What is the next thing I should work on?" he asked.

"Venue. I called Blue Hill. I'm waiting for a call back. I'll let you know when I hear from them."

"Okay. Thanks," Lee said, getting to his feet. "Try not to get hit by a car anytime soon."

"Ha, ha," she said sarcastically, but she was still feeling slightly triggered. He flashed her a grin before shouldering his backpack and leaving. Nigel met him at the door before he could leave, though.

"Em," he said. "We've got a problem." Lee stepped aside to let Nigel in, but he hovered to listen.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked.

"The bartender for tonight's wedding is sick," Nigel said. "The Brooks wedding."

"Oh no," Emily gasped. "Did you try...?"

"I've called in every favor I had, and no one is available," Nigel said. He rubbed his face hard.

"What about Jane?" Emily asked. "She might know someone."

"Her guy is in Rio right now."

"Well, get him back," Emily said dumbly.

"I think I'll have to be spending the rest of this morning walking around bars and offering a gig to all the bartenders," Nigel sighed. "Maybe I'll get lucky."

"I can do it," Lee offered, making both of them turn to see him still standing there. Emily was a bit taken aback. One, she didn't know he was still there, and two, she didn't know he had the ability to tend a bar.

"You can do it," Nigel repeated.

"Yea," Lee said with a nod. "I know my way around drinks."

Nigel proceeded to fire random drinks at him, and when Lee was able to list out how to make them all correctly, Nigel breathed a sigh of relief and went to shake Lee's hand vigorously.

"Welcome aboard," he said. "We'll pay you."

"Oh, I don't need money..."

"It's a job. You're getting paid. You just saved our asses," Nigel added. "Who are you anyway?"

"Hendricks wedding," Lee answered, jerking his head towards Emily. For a moment, it looked like Nigel was going to decline since Lee was a client, but he was that desperate that he kept his mouth shut.

"You have a suit?" he asked instead.

"Yes."

"Wear it. I'll give you the address. Be there for three sharp."

"Understood." Lee took the paper with the information on it after Nigel wrote it all out and gave it to him. Emily wasn't sure what to say. She was assisting Nigel for this wedding tonight, and that meant she would be around Lee in an outside setting. She didn't know what to think about that.

"See y'all later," Lee said, bobbing his head and finally leaving. Emily gave Nigel a look.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

"Because we are desperate, and I don't want bad press," Nigel answered. "It's a few hours. What's the harm?"

"Nothing," Emily lied. She really didn't know what the harm was if she was honest. Lee was just a guy, a groom. He wasn't anything special. She thought to his hands on her arms earlier and felt her face grow hot. It had been a very long time since a man had touched her in any way aside from Nigel's comforting "it's gonna be okay" type hugs.

She didn't like how it made her feel.

...

"You're doing what?" Lacy asked over the phone. Lee had called to tell her where he was going so she wouldn't worry if she got home before him. He doubted she would, though. They were ships passing most of the time now.

"I'm helping out the wedding team by bartending tonight," Lee repeated. "Their guy called in sick, and they had no one else. I'm available, and I know how to do it."

"That was sweet of you," Lacy noted.

"I thought so."

"Well, have a good time. Don't insult people, and don't make too many jokes."

"I won't."

"Love you. Gotta go," she said.

"Love you t-" he started, but she had already hung up. He sighed and pocketed his phone. He went to his closet and dug out his nice suit. He wondered what Emily was going to wear, and he was slightly startled that he even had that thought. He shook it out and bent to grab his dress shoes from the floor of the closet. He was going to do a job. That was all.

He wondered why it caused his heart to flutter a tiny bit.

I hope this story is still being enjoyed :)