The downtown office of Big Guys Events, of which I am now an employee, is run by Scott Baker and his brother, Blake. They own the Cherry Creek office too, but they call that one Little Lady Events, and it’s run by the bitchy sisters, Leah and Ali—gag, they are a Mean Girls movie waiting to happen. I was never a favorite of theirs, so I was a little surprised when I got promoted up to Big Guys, but hey, I’m just living, breathing proof that hard work pays off.
The Big Guys are super-cool. We hit it off immediately at my interview and I’m hoping they give me club events to manage as my first gig. Big Guys handles a bunch of those, all of them hip, trendy rock clubs that have up-and-coming bands playing every weekend and special events once a month.
I’d be the special events girl. I wouldn’t be dealing with rock bands, thank God. Just planning one or two fantastic parties for each club every month.
Whew.
The reality of that is sort of stressing me out as I pull open the door to our building and push the button for the elevator. Our building is six stories tall and only has our offices on the top two floors. The bottom floor is a sandwich shop, but there’s a separate entrance for that.
The doors open so I get in and hit the button for the fifth floor for a quick stop at my office—squee—before I have to check in with the Big Guys on the top floor for my assignments. The doors open and Flora, the main receptionist, greets me with a wave as she talks to someone on the phone through her headset. My office is the last on this floor. It’s small and dark, but I do not care.
I flip on the light and stand there for a moment to let it sink in.
I’ve made it. I’m here. And even though the thirty-two-thousand-dollar salary isn’t a lot, it’s two thousand dollars more than I was making in Cherry Creek.
So squee again!
I sit at my old desk and take out my laptop and set it up next to my new desktop so I can check my mail.
I have a bunch of spam and an email from MrInvisible. I have to smirk as I open that up.
Enjoy your first day!
Wait. Did I tell him I started a new job? Did I give him my email?
“Grace?” Flora calls from outside my door. “You have a delivery.”
“Delivery?” I get up and peek out the door and spy the most ginormous bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen. They are like two feet tall and four feet wide, I’m not even joking. “What’s that?” I ask, walking up to the reception desk.
“Flowers, obviously.” Flora says, peeking out from behind them and pushing up her nerd glasses. “You have a great guy, I’m so jealous.”“Um, yeah. He’s really great. I don’t know if I can even carry—”
“I’ll get them, Grace,” Scott says as he walks up to us. “I was just coming to see if you were in yet.” He grabs the massive arrangement with ease, since he and Blake really are big guys, and walks it down to my office. He sets it down on the only table and then turns to face me. “We have a serious problem,” he says.
“Oh?”
“Yes, now listen, I don’t want you to think we’re taking advantage of you, but Grace, you’re the only person who can do this job.”
“What job?”
“The wedding,” he huffs out. “I know we don’t do weddings here, and the whole reason you wanted a promotion was so you can move away from weddings, but this is John Blazen’s fiancée. And Johnny went to school with us—with my sister, specifically—and wants us to handle the wedding, but the new Mrs. refuses to use Leah over at Little Lady.”
“Blazen? He’s the new quarterback for the Broncos?”
“Uh, yeeeahhh,” Scott says back, like he can’t believe I had to ask. “This wedding is the event of the year and it’s happening in two weeks. But Leah pissed off the future Mrs. Blazen, and now she wants Big Guys to handle everything. So…” He hesitates and shuffles from one foot to the next. “Will you do it?”
“How come I’ve never heard of this wedding?”
“Total hush-hush,” Scott says as he wipes his brow. He’s really sweating my answers. Which is ridiculous. I never say no. I’m a yes-girl. And besides, like I’d really turn down my first assignment. It’s something I do well and they need me. “Blazen just got raked over the coals by his ex after that whole cheating scandal, and didn’t want the media to know about it until after it’s over.”
“OK, I mean, sure, Scott. Whatever you guys need.”
He claps me on the shoulder—hard, like he must do to his brother—and beams a smile at me. “That’s great. I’ll make sure your club events are all taken care of this month. The wedding’s in Vegas in two weeks. I’ll have Flora get all Leah’s preparations over to you, stat, and you can set up a meet-and-greet with the future Mrs. Blazen today.”
Before I can ask if the future Mrs. Blazen has a name that might not reference the husband she doesn’t yet have, Scott is off, being his usual boisterous self to my new co-worker Adam.
I let out a deep breath. OK, for a first assignment, a wedding is right up my alley. It’s a good thing, really. It will give me time to settle in without the pressure of setting up club events on top of it.
Just one wedding in two weeks.
How hard can it be?
Plus, it’s a celebrity wedding. Sorta. The Broncos are superstars in this town, and everyone knows of Johnny Blazen, both on the field and off. He’s a huge playboy and his recent divorce from second wife Amber was a scandal this town will never forget.