Page 61 of Divine Sense
Before I realized it, spring was turning into summer and May was well on its way. The temperatures were escalating right along with the rising moisture in the air; the Lowcountry humidity rolling in and settling in for its summer stay. The months of May through October were always crazy for business because warmer temperatures meant festivals, concerts, and more prominently, wedding season. Charleston was a popular city to get married in because of its plantations and old history. Whether it was on the beach or in some hundred year old mansion, hundreds of weddings occurred over the summer. With our new event planning division headed up by Hank’s fiancée, Bailey, business was booming.
I’d hired her at the end of last year because I knew she had experience in the industry but I didn’t realize that the girl was a machine and hustled more than I did when I was building Sweetgrass Security. Every day she was updating me on things, letting me know we had booked a new wedding and informing me of where she needed more support. She had even managedto lock in several celebrity weddings that would normally go to a more established event planning firm in the city. But once you met Bailey, you couldn’t tell her no. She had this infectious energy about her that pulled you and caught the attention of anyone in the room. It’s no wonder why my best friend fell in love with her.
“Hey boss, you ready to bounce?” I looked up from my computer screen to find Hank standing in the doorway of my office with his backpack slung over one shoulder. We were all heading to the bar Malcolm worked at on the other side of the bridge for a drink to celebrate making it through another week. I was about to let him know I would be there in a second when a wave of blonde hair dipped under his arm and came walking towards me with a stack of papers in her hands.
“Okay I know it’s Friday or whatever, but wereallyneed to talk numbers for waitstaff at some of these venues. It’s just simply not enough to have twenty people dressed as fancy penguins when you have a guest list of almost 350. Our people are going to get crushed and then we will look bad because they’re overwhelmed. That’s not fair to them, I mean really, we can’t ask that of them and I won’t do it,” she said, exacerbated, letting out a huff before speaking again. “Can we do anything to bring on more people before this wedding at the end of the month?” Bailey, who was now standing on the edge of my desk, looked up from her papers expectantly. I leaned around her to look towards my friend, who had his lips curled around his teeth, biting back a laugh.
“Don’t look at me like that, you hired her,” he played, shaking his head at me. Bailey turned to look at Hank and then back to me.
“Hello? Don’t look at him, look at me.” She snapped her fingers at me. “This is a problem, we can’t have this happen. We need to hire more people.” She was nearly shaking the papersin my face as if doing so would miraculously make more staff appear by immaculate conception.
Without saying anything, I stood from my chair and gently pushed the papers down onto my desk. “Yes, Bailey, we can bring on more people to help staff the weddings we have coming up. But it’s Friday and time to go get a drink. We will talk about this on Monday, first thing, I promise.” I watched the muscles in her face relax, the soothing tone I used having helped to calm her panicked heart. The last thing I wanted to think about was more work. Between the growing business she was pulling in and everything the Sinclairs had going on, I just wanted to shut my brain off. My friends and I would be spending the evening at the bar together and then Magnolia and I would be driving out to family brunch again on Sunday.
“Thank you, Kolbi. You’re the best boss a girl could ask for.” She gave me a wink and turned to walk out of my office. I looked at Hank who watched her leave with a stupid smile on his face.
“Why don’t you ever tell me that?” I pointed towards where she once was, giving him a hard time.
“Because, brother, it would be weird if I did.” He and I laughed, walking out of the office together. Bailey joined us as we walked down the hallway towards the elevator, slipping her hand into Hank’s as she did.
“Is Magnolia coming tonight?” she asked, leaning over Hank to speak to me directly.
“Yep, I’m heading to her place now to pick her up.”
“Oh good, I can’t wait to get to hang out with her. I love having another girl in the group. You guys are okay, but boys are gross. Girls are way more fun.” She gave us both a look as we exited the building.
“I don’t seem to recall you thinking I was gross last night while we were?—”
“Hank Martínez, you hush up right now unless you wanna sleep on the couch for a week,” she threatened, cutting him off mid sentence. You knew you were in trouble when her Southern drawl came out and her words were laced with it. He pressed his lips together and looked like a puppy who had just been batted on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. I barked out a laugh at just how much my friend was whipped.
“I’ll see you two over there.” I waved to them both as I unlocked my SUV. From the driver’s seat, I watched their pre-ride routine. How Hank would help her into her riding jacket, slip on her helmet and buckle it under her chin, then tilt her head down so he could kiss her now protected forehead before repeating the routine for himself. It wasn’t too long ago that watching their love made me wish I had the same thing. But now, I know I did.
Smiling to myself, I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to pick up the girl who had made all those wishes a reality.
We wereall crowded around the bar and enjoying the warm spring evening. Magnolia was perched on the stool in front of me and I stood behind her like her own personal bodyguard. True to her style, she had on a floral sundress that hit just above her knees and a pair of shoes with short, stubby heels to match. Her dark hair was pulled back at the nape of her neck, putting her clavicle on full display. She had tied a long white bow into her bun and the tails of it ran down her back. Pearl studs adorned her ears and matched the gold bracelet she always wore, just like I told her to.
Conrad had met us all here and Malcolm was behind the bar simultaneously keeping up with our conversation and servingpeople who were swarming the bar. It was a full house tonight and it seemed to get more and more crowded as the night went on.
“So, Magnolia, what do you do? I wish we knew more about you, but Kolbi is so secretive when it comes to you.” Bailey flashed her blue eyes at me with a smirk and looked back towards Magnolia who was pressing her back into me and holding onto the hand I had resting on her shoulder.
“Oh, uhh, right now I’m not really working. I’m lucky enough to have my parents help me out with things.” I felt the muscles in her back tense, embarrassed at her admission of not having—or needing—a job.
“Must be nice to be a trust fund kid,” Conrad scoffed sarcastically, a little too loudly. Hank slapped him upside the head and gave him a look. His eyes went wide as he realized he’d said it out loud and sank his head into his shoulders. “Sorry.”
Magnolia let out a breathy laugh. “No, it’s okay. I feel the same way about myself sometimes. I’ve considered finding something to do, I’m just not sure what that might be. I got my degree in economics and political science, but really don’t intend on using it for work.”
“You could come and work for me if you wanted,” Bailey offered, her voice teeming with excitement. “I was just telling Kolbi today how I could use more help. I run the events division at the office and things are kind of exploding faster than we can keep up. How do you feel about a good party?”
“Ilovea good party. I help my mother plan all the annual parties we hold on our plantation each year.” She looked up at me with a smile. I loved watching her and Bailey hit it off so easily. Knowing she had a friend in my chosen family meant everything to me.
“Who’s having a party?” Malcolm walked up to the counter and was wiping down a glass with a rag.
“We are and you aren’t invited,” Bailey quipped, busting his balls for no other reason than he was Malcolm and deserved a good ball busting every now and then.
“Hey, isn’t that your friend?” he asked, jutting his chin towards a table on the other side of the crowded bar. Our group looked in the direction of his eyes.
“Oh yeah, that’s Ophie,” Bailey explained cheerfully, looking at her friend who was sitting at a hightop with another man. She was laughing and leaning closer to him, bumping his shoulder and taking a sip from her drink with a flirtatious uptick of her lips. Bailey turned around to face Magnolia again. “Ophelia is my best friend, I used to live with her before moving in with my soldier.” She turned to look at Hank who had been watching her the whole time with admiration.
“Who’s the stiff?” Malcolm grunted, not breaking his gaze from Ophelia and the man she seemed to be on a date with. I looked at his hands that were now ringing the glass as if it were someone’s neck. Bailey looked at her friend for a moment before looking back towards Malcolm who was now scowling at the stranger from behind the bar.
