ever-hopeful nature helped to balance out Cameron's chronic pessimism.
"I have to disagree, Cameron. I mean, my parents lasted," Tabitha laughed, rolling her eyes. "So did yours. Or have you forgotten the giant forty year party you just threw them? Look at us, grown children with still married parents. It’s for real, for some people."
"I haven't forgotten, Tab. Hell, I'm not even sure I'm recovered from that party yet!" Cameron tucked an errant curl behind her ear, sipping coffee from the take-out cup on her desk. "But they're different, you know? They were married in a different time. Back then, what you were taught about marriage was that if it wasn't working, you stuck together and figured it out. Husbands and wives weren’t disposable because marriage back then really was meant to be forever. But now?"
"Yeah, I know," Tabitha said. "The marriage motto now is, 'there's other fish in the sea.' It's sad, I know. But still, you can't think the majority vote is the only one, Cam. Marriage is still real for some people. Look at the examples we have to follow."
"Mmhmm, that must be why we're not married yet, and I'm planning Drew's wedding before my own," Cameron retorted glumly, dropping her deep brown eyes to her coffee.
"Well you know," Tabitha said, reaching over to drop a new file on Cameron's desk, "always the planner, never the bride."
"Still, it'd be nice though," Cameron muttered, watching Tabitha wrap her red hair up into a neat bun with a pencil. "Even for someone like me, with the little tiny bit of faith that I just barely hold on to. Even I'd like having someone to go home to. Even if he is eventually going to cheat, or I will, or one of us will have to leave and go do something stupid like 'find ourselves.'"
"Jeez, such a cynic," Tabitha answered, looking into a mirror as she pulled tendrils from her bun to frame her face. "Get off it. You might find that someone if you didn't shut them all out. You just tend to have this vibe that tells men to stay away. So hopeless."
"I know, and I don't mean to be such a downer, you know? I just keep thinking; this is what I do every day. I call the florists, and I call the venues, and I remind the brides to breathe. I counsel the grooms to hold out, that their new wives are just nervous. And me? I wait, and I check the calendars to see how long until they come back to me with the next wedding request. Some of these people are getting married yearly, you know? Like birthdays and weddings are the same now. And I’m scared to put my toes in the water, because they’re all sharks out there."
"Oh, stop, it's not that bad," Tabitha laughed, rolling her eyes again. "Don't you remember why we started this? Where's the romantic in you?" Tabitha pursed her lips and blew her feathery bangs out of her eyes, sighing when they fell back to dust her eyelashes.
"I remember," Cameron answered, opening the file and starting to input the budget numbers.
"Remember us, when we were kids? Six years old and planning our weddings? We had it all worked out, you know? We knew what he'd look like, and how he'd act, and how he'd talk. And I just remember when we started all this, thinking that planning a wedding is like writing someone else's romance."
"Or like being a fairy godmother; you get to wave your magic cell phone and make someone else's fairy tale wish come true. We were really something else back then, hmm?" Tabitha laughed, dropping her pen on the desk and leaning forward to brace her cheek on one long-fingered hand. "Little dreamers, we were."
"Exactly. But part of growing up is waking up. That first wedding we did? Tab, I was riding high for months, remember? Those two were so young, and so beautiful together, and so in love. And they had a great story, so sweet. And they didn't last three years, and now I've planned their second weddings, watched their children nervously accept step-parents. I don't want that, not for
"I have to disagree, Cameron. I mean, my parents lasted," Tabitha laughed, rolling her eyes. "So did yours. Or have you forgotten the giant forty year party you just threw them? Look at us, grown children with still married parents. It’s for real, for some people."
"I haven't forgotten, Tab. Hell, I'm not even sure I'm recovered from that party yet!" Cameron tucked an errant curl behind her ear, sipping coffee from the take-out cup on her desk. "But they're different, you know? They were married in a different time. Back then, what you were taught about marriage was that if it wasn't working, you stuck together and figured it out. Husbands and wives weren’t disposable because marriage back then really was meant to be forever. But now?"
"Yeah, I know," Tabitha said. "The marriage motto now is, 'there's other fish in the sea.' It's sad, I know. But still, you can't think the majority vote is the only one, Cam. Marriage is still real for some people. Look at the examples we have to follow."
"Mmhmm, that must be why we're not married yet, and I'm planning Drew's wedding before my own," Cameron retorted glumly, dropping her deep brown eyes to her coffee.
"Well you know," Tabitha said, reaching over to drop a new file on Cameron's desk, "always the planner, never the bride."
"Still, it'd be nice though," Cameron muttered, watching Tabitha wrap her red hair up into a neat bun with a pencil. "Even for someone like me, with the little tiny bit of faith that I just barely hold on to. Even I'd like having someone to go home to. Even if he is eventually going to cheat, or I will, or one of us will have to leave and go do something stupid like 'find ourselves.'"
"Jeez, such a cynic," Tabitha answered, looking into a mirror as she pulled tendrils from her bun to frame her face. "Get off it. You might find that someone if you didn't shut them all out. You just tend to have this vibe that tells men to stay away. So hopeless."
"I know, and I don't mean to be such a downer, you know? I just keep thinking; this is what I do every day. I call the florists, and I call the venues, and I remind the brides to breathe. I counsel the grooms to hold out, that their new wives are just nervous. And me? I wait, and I check the calendars to see how long until they come back to me with the next wedding request. Some of these people are getting married yearly, you know? Like birthdays and weddings are the same now. And I’m scared to put my toes in the water, because they’re all sharks out there."
"Oh, stop, it's not that bad," Tabitha laughed, rolling her eyes again. "Don't you remember why we started this? Where's the romantic in you?" Tabitha pursed her lips and blew her feathery bangs out of her eyes, sighing when they fell back to dust her eyelashes.
"I remember," Cameron answered, opening the file and starting to input the budget numbers.
"Remember us, when we were kids? Six years old and planning our weddings? We had it all worked out, you know? We knew what he'd look like, and how he'd act, and how he'd talk. And I just remember when we started all this, thinking that planning a wedding is like writing someone else's romance."
"Or like being a fairy godmother; you get to wave your magic cell phone and make someone else's fairy tale wish come true. We were really something else back then, hmm?" Tabitha laughed, dropping her pen on the desk and leaning forward to brace her cheek on one long-fingered hand. "Little dreamers, we were."
"Exactly. But part of growing up is waking up. That first wedding we did? Tab, I was riding high for months, remember? Those two were so young, and so beautiful together, and so in love. And they had a great story, so sweet. And they didn't last three years, and now I've planned their second weddings, watched their children nervously accept step-parents. I don't want that, not for
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