The Next Best Thing Read Online Free PDF Page A

Lennon
    SUNDAY
    Lisa, my third cousin twice removed, cornered me at the packing party, and asked, “So, what are you going to do now?”
    That annoyed the hell out of me.
    I was all set to give Lisa a piece of my mind when I realized that was actually a damn good question.
    One of the top ten rules of event planning is to always have a plan A-Z. And while I do that all day every day professionally, I was negligent in doing the same in my personal life.
    What am I gonna do now?
    At this point, the only thing I know for sure is that I have to do away with that twenty-year plan that included Roland and a bunch of his little chocolate babies. I have to create a brand-new future for myself. Where to start and what the details are? Hell if I know.
    That is something I guess I’ll figure out, one day at a time.

3
    Of all the skyscrapers that make up the downtown area, the Price Morgan Pavilion is the most impressive, with its eighty-six stories and ultra high-tech exterior. The Pavilion is also home to Sophie Wilkerson Events, the most successful event management firm in Kansas City, which is where I work.
    Located up on the sixty-eighth floor, I walked through the glass and chrome doors of SWE this morning, and my co-workers were as wide-eyed and startled as if they were seeing a ghost.
    After all, most of them were there to witness the fiasco that was supposed to be my wedding, and it was evident in their faces that the last thing any of them expected was to see me bounce back so quickly from such an extreme public humiliation. Half of them were giving me sympathetic looks, while the other half were looking me over for signs of weakness.
    The questions of the day were Tori, what are you doing here? and Shouldn’t you be taking this time off?
    The phony concern was so transparent it made me laugh. Because the truth is, most of them were probably hoping that I was at home slitting my wrist, so that one of them could move in and take my spot.
    At SWE, the title of Senior Event Coordinator comes with a bull’s-eye on your back, so you can’t sleep. It is imperative to bring your A-game all day, every day, or it could be a wrap for you in an instant.
    We may throw parties for a living, but SWE is just as cutthroat a workplace as any brokerage firm on Wall Street.
    Picture fifty anal personalities under one roof amped up on Red Bull, espresso, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts; all back-stabbing, tattle telling, and jockeying for better positions, and you got some idea of what our office is like on a daily basis.
    That is because Sophie Wilkerson happens to be a shrewd, fiercely competitive businesswoman who breeds these same qualities in the office among her employees; says it inspires greatness, and keeps everybody on their toes.
    By the time I made it to my corner office, there were so many people following me that it felt like I was leading a parade.
    I turned on my computer and checked my inbox, feeling like I was on display. My co-workers were crowded in my office and around the doorway, staring at me as if I were some rare piece of artwork they were trying to figure out the intricacies of.
    I met their gazes head on, with what I hoped was a look of strength and resilience. “Listen, people,” I said. “I’m here, I’m fine, so let’s get to work. Okay?”
    As they were all filing out, I overheard someone in the crowd utter, “Wow, what a champ!”
    Hah! Suckers !
    I laughed and congratulated myself on my stellar acting abilities. If they knew the enormous amount of inner strength and determination it took for me to even get out of bed this morning, they wouldn’t be nearly as impressed.
    Sophie would be the real test, though. She hired me right out of college, and no one in the company knows me better than she does.
    Sure enough, I was faxing an invoice to a client when Sophie got the news that I was back to work. She made a beeline to my office, her green eyes shining with