A Good Girl's Manual: To A One-Night Stand

Monica Brookes ordered a ride, and this time the driver was not an asshole. Although he was quite boring, he refused to play music, claiming it distracted him from driving. When they got into the thick of the traffic, he opened all the windows and turned off the air conditioner; he claimed he needed to save battery.

By the time they got to Catalina’s house, she was already feeling moist from all the sweat, and she was using her purse to fan herself. She paid him angrily and walked out of the car. She was surely going to give him the worst rating.

Just like yesterday, there were people in the compound, doing one thing or the other in preparation for the wedding. She could see an electrician who was laying a string of tiny colored lights along the length of the compound. There was someone else who was on a scaffolding that was setting up some strings in the air; Monica suspected that would be for the balloons.

She let out a sigh as she walked through the throng of working people and into her friend’s house. The door was shut, so she knocked. When she did not get any reply, she knocked again.

Still no reply, she took hold of the knob and turned it, and then she pushed it open.

“Hello…” she muttered as she poked her head in. “Good afternoon.”

Just then Catalina emerged from a room and saw her. “You are here already? Come on in! Why are you skulking about?”

Monica let out a sigh as she walked in. “I have been knocking, but no one was answering me, so I decided to check if there was anyone home.”

“I heard you knocking; that is why I came here. I suspected it was you, seeing as I am already expecting you.”

Monica closed the door behind her, and Catalina walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. “It is so good to see you again, even though it was just yesterday we last saw each other.”

“Oh yeah…” Monica replied, “It is indeed good to have someone to talk to. It can get really boring in my hotel room.”

“Well, you are here, and I am glad to have you with me. And now that you are here, I really need your help on something.”

“What is that?”

“Come with me, please.”

Monica followed her friend out of the living room, and they walked through the passage and into Catalina’s room. It was still the same as yesterday, and Monica made a beeline for the bed and dropped herself into it. She saw the remote to the air conditioner beside her, and she picked it up and increased the blast to the coldest, instantly vaporizing the heat and sweat that was on her body.

Catalina closed the door behind her and studied her on the bed. “You look different when you wear a dress, more sexy and beautiful. You should dress like this more often.”

Monica laughed at that. “That will require some getting used to, but I will think about it.”

“You would not be doing it for me, but for yourself.”

“Sure, we would see how things go.”

Catalina sat on the bed as well, planting herself beside her. “I need your help with something.”

“So you said, what is this thing you are talking about?”

“Nah… let me rephrase. I need your help with someone.”

Monica raised her eyebrows at that. “What do you want to do?”

“Do not look at me like that; it is nothing sinister. Just my mother-in-law.” Catalina let out a sigh. “Or should I say, future mother-in-law.”

“Okay… so what do you want to do to her?” she asked again.

“Like I said, nothing sinister. She has suddenly gotten it into her head that she wants to change the entire menu for the wedding, and so far nothing I am saying to her makes sense.”

“Oh… that is it.” Monica let out a sigh. “What does she want to change it into? And what is she changing it from?”

“Currently, we would be doing exotic dishes, along with some French and Italian, both in dessert and drinks. But now she wants everything to be just pure American and Spanish. She wants us to use the money earmarked for French and Italian dishes to pay for the Spanish, and that is just not going to happen. I have already told all our guests that we would be serving Italian and French dishes. I would not be the bride that goes back on her word on her own wedding day.”

“Okay… that makes a bit of sense. So have you told her all these things you have been telling me?”

“You think I haven’t? This was totally the first thing I told her when she informed me of the changes, and she said she was going ahead with it anyway. This is my wedding, and I am supposed to have a say in what dishes are being served.”

“That is correct, but you do have to tread carefully here. There will be a way to resolve this without making matters worse for yourself and her.”

“How do you think we should do that?”

“What if you all added Spanish to the menu as well?”

“There is not enough money; if there were, then there would not even be a problem with the idea. My issue is that, seeing as there is no money for the Spanish, she wants to use the money that was budgeted for French and Italian to make the Spanish, thereby there will be no Spanish. How do you think I should go about this?”

“Uhm… this should be something that could be easily solved. In the end, you both have to conclude that two of you can work with comfortably. For starters, you can ask her how many people she knew that was coming and would love the Spanish dishes, then you compare that with how many you know will love and enjoy French and Italian dishes. That will decide if you will go with one or the other.”

“And if she does not agree?”

“Then that is beyond me. You might have to take it to your parents; they will know best how to resolve this issue.”

“Yeah, it did cross my mind to take it to them, but I just thought it was something I could handle on my own. Well, I failed. I will tell them.”

“But the issue is not creating any major issues yet, right?” Monica asked.

“No, not yet.” Catalina told her, “And I do not want it to go any further; that is why I want to address the matter now before things get any worse.”

“That is the right thing to do.”

“I guess I have to talk to my mother now,” Catalina told her. “She is the one who is more open-minded and will handle it best with my mother-in-law. The thing is that once I am with her now, pulling away from her might be difficult.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing much… she is just the kind of person who always has one thing or the other that she is doing. Which also means that she will find a way to rope me in as well. I am just saying I might take some time; will you be able to stay on your own?”

“Here?”

“Wherever you want. I want to tell her now so she will figure out a way to get to the bottom of the matter as soon as possible. You can stay here if you want, or you can go to the living room and watch TV.”

“I will stay here for now. If I get bored with my phone, I will go to the living room. But please do not forget that I am here.”

Catalina laughed at that. “I would not be away for that long. Not even up to thirty minutes.”

“Okay then, hurry along.”

“Thank you.” Catalina got off the bed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

And just like that, she was left all alone.