“I’m talking about just buckling down and getting the job done,” Val said in the tone she used when she was trying to explain something simple to someone who wasn’t bright enough to understand it.
“But I don’t have anyone I want to marry,” I said dumbly. “And I’m not going to peruse the list of potential suitors my mother has created. I’m not a child bride being sold to the highest bidder!”
“Oh Lord, do stop the damn dramatics, PG,” Val said, rolling her eyes even more dramatically. “Just run a finger down the list and pick the richest one and get it over with, for God’s sake!”
“What is wrong with you?” I said, pushing myself up off the couch and slamming my cup on the table before I began pacing the room. “I thought you’d be on my side! You’re my best friend!”
“Look, the way I see it is that you do what you need to do to get what your mother is asking and then you go back to living your life the way you want to,” she shrugged. Val leaned forward and took a bagel off the tray and spread some cream cheese on it before she looked up at me again. “What did you want me to say? Oh, poor Payton, she is being made to do something she doesn’t want to do? Boo hoo.”
“You’re such a bitch,” I hissed as the tears welled up. “This is absolutely unfair, and you know it.”
“Payton, you’re letting your privilege and emotions rule you again,” Val said calmly. “I’m not against you at all. In fact, I’m 100 percent on your side. I just think that the path of least resistance is going to get you what you want a hell of a lot quicker than your high and mighty climb over the wall.”
“I have known you for half my life and I still do not even begin to understand you,” I said, shaking my head in frustration. “How on earth can giving into my mother’s unreasonable demand make my life easier?”
“You find a guy who fits her requirements and you negotiate with him,” Val said before she took a huge bit of the bagel and chewed. I waited for her to swallow and finish her thoughts. “You tell him what you want and you tell him what you’ll give him in return. It’s Business 101 stuff, really.”
“But we’re talking about marriage!” I cried.
“Oh Christ, PG, let go of that Victorian romance bullshit you think is real life,” she sighed. “We’re living in the 21st century, and women like you and I are definitely not the norm. We don’t have the luxury of falling in love and all that crap that other people buy into.”
“But you’re engaged!” I protested. “Don’t you love Richard?”
“Yeah, engaged to Sir Richard Spencer, a distant cousin to the Queen, power, prestige, intrigue, money,” she said rolling her eyes. “It’s not a love match, if that’s what you’re getting at. We negotiated.”
“Val! How could you?”
“I did it because I don’t have a family fortune to fall back on, darling,” she said matter-of-factly. “So, I found a guy that I can live with and I told him what I want and told him to tell me what he wanted. It turns out that he needs a wife who will not interfere with his desire to race horses and travel to distant lands. I have no problem with his business and he has no problem with mine; that’s why we’re getting married next spring, but you already know that.”
“You’re mercenary, you know that, don’t you?” I said, staring at her from across the room.
“No, I’m pragmatic,” she replied. “And I think it’s about time you were, too. Look, I want stability and security, PG. I need someone I can count on to do what he says he’s going to do, and if falling in love isn’t part of that, well, then I’ll accept it and move on.”
“But I don’t want to get married to some man just so I can do what I want without being bothered,” I said helplessly. “I want to have my career on my own terms.”
“You’ve always been way too idealistic,” Val said as she put the bagel down and stood up. In her heels, she towered over me and as I looked up into my friend’s piercing, green eyes, I realized she was trying to help me and I burst into tears. Val wrapped her arms around me and rocked me gently as she rubbed my back saying, “There, there. It’s all going to be all right.”
When I’d let out all of my frustrated tears, I wiped my eyes and stepped back. Val put her hands on her hips and tilted her head as she smiled and asked, “Feeling better now?”
“Yeah, but I still don’t want to get married,” I said glumly.
“No one really does, dear,” she said. “But it’s what you’re going to do, so let’s get the list from your mother and get to work vetting the field, shall we?”
“You’re crazy, you know that, right?” I laughed as I looked up at my friend.
“Crazy as a fox!” she said with a knowing smile.
“Fine, I’ll get the list and you can help me figure out who might be good candidates,” I said. “Better yet, why don’t you ask my mother for the list? That way she’ll think I’m totally on board rather than reluctantly being dragged to my doom.”
“Good God, the drama,” Val said rolling her eyes again. “Fine, I’ll call and see if Joanna will chat with me.”
“She’ll love that,” I said rolling my eyes back at her and making her laugh. Val’s phone began beeping and she walked over to her purse and fished it out.
“Crap, I need to get going,” she said. “I’ve got a fitting at Saks in a half an hour. Wanna go with me?”
“No, I need to get a few things done today,” I said reluctantly begging off the fitting. “But what about later this week?”
“We’ll do dinner,” she smiled as she gathered her things and headed for the door. As she opened it, she turned and said, “And don’t spend all day moping around this apartment, eating leftover bagels, you hear me?”