Clarke stepped into the office and looked around. Everything in the shop had been repaired, and the place was back up and running. All her employees were on hand for a grand reopening that Monday morning, and she was happily exhausted. Vince had even added some extra touches, painting the office with some navy and custard yellow stripes, giving it the character she had always hoped it would have.
She smiled and sighed, feeling like she had opened a new door and closed another. Business was about to be booming, she could just feel it. But she couldn't help but feel a bit heavy thinking about the fact that Vince no longer had a reason to stick around. Although the sex was the best she had ever experienced, it was hardly a good reason for Vince to stay now that his restoration job was completed. It's not like they were really a couple or anything of that sort though Clarke had developed a fondness to having him around. He made her see things differently.
Clarke's phone buzzed, and she reached for it, sitting down in her comfortable office chair. Her mother's excited voice came through the receiver. "Clarke, I have some amazing news to share!" Clarke rolled her eyes; sure the news was about some local celebrity or something else shallow.
"Alright, make it quick, Mother. I'm at work, and it's pretty busy."
"Oh, you can spare a moment for this," Mrs. Bennett scolded. "Apparently your cousin, Vanessa met this man from Kentucky a few months back and had this whirlwind romance. So, it turns out that he owns some race tracks." Clarke sighed, feeling annoyed. Of course her mother would find that to be big news. He was rich, and her cousin was only 25 or 26. She was set for life.
"That's great, Mother," Clarke said, unenthusiastically.
"No, that's not the half of it, Clarke," her mother continued. "They're getting married! Your Uncle Toby just called to tell me. There's going to be a big wedding in a couple of weeks before they move to his huge estate in Kentucky. He asked me if maybe you could be in her wedding since they're putting this all together so fast. I think it'll really get you some points if you do this."
Clarke did not like the idea of walking down the aisle with some rich stranger and being paraded around by her mother at a rushed wedding that was going to be way over the top. And she didn't feel the need to have the kind of points her mother was referring to. But Vanessa and Clarke did used to be really close. "I guess I can do it for Vanessa," Clarke said, giving in.