Monday morning Pearl went into her logistics meeting very optimistic. They had covered all the bases and she couldn't think of anything that would set them back.
That optimism carried on through the day and she delivered a wonderful presentation to a group of counselling practitioners about the benefits of experiential learning and therapy.
She was speaking at a dinner for the Christian Counselling Community. It was an annual fundraising event and this was her third time in five years speaking on her work.
What she didn't expect was for them to call her up to receive the Shield of Dedication. It was an honour bestowed upon psychologists and counsellors who went beyond the conventional practices to meet the demands of their industry and the clients.
Todd hugged her and walked her to the stage to receive the accolade.
"Thank you so much," she said. "I'm truly honoured to be the recipient tonight. It's an encouragement to keep on fighting the fight. Bless you."
"You deserve it," Todd murmured as they walked back to their seats.
She smiled gratefully and took her seat. "I really hadn't thought this would come to me this year. There are so many people working very hard in their fields."
"Well, you work hard too," one of the men at their table said to her.
"Thanks, Ken. That means a lot."
The following day began just as well. She chose her clothes carefully because she had a reunion tea to host that morning. It was an age old tradition from her college days that every six months her former sorority sisters would fly in to a particular city and one of them would host a tea. The last one had been in Dallas and it was Pearl's turn to host now.
When her assistant saw Pearl walk through the door, her jaw dropped.
"You look gorgeous, Pearl!"
"Thank you." She knew Beth had never really seen the preppy side of her before. She also knew that the way she was dressed was even less understated than usual.
These were the times she enjoyed dressing up, when she and her old girlfriends got together. She usually dolled up in the hotel or at the airport so Beth never saw her boss's ability to pull off day time glamour.
Today the white suit with pink trimming, her pink stilettos, pearls and elegant up do were a positive change and Beth was won.
"That make up looks nice on you," she now said.
"Thank you," Pearl said again. "If only you could see my sorority sisters. This is mild!"
"It's perfect though!" Beth blurted out.
Pearl raised an eyebrow. "Don't get too used to it- it's just for sisters' tea."
"Oh," Beth started. "This is for your tea date? I thought this was for your lunch appointment."
"Lunch-?' Pearl bit her lip.
She had forgotten all about lunch with Jesse. Pearl headed into her office saying, "Please let's go through my schedule."
"Sure." Beth followed her.
She was leading the office devotionals, overseeing despatch for tomorrow's camp, meeting for tea, going for a doctor's appointment, having lunch with Jesse Murray, attending a track meet on behalf of Monty and then she'd be coming back to the office for a video conference before calling it a day.
After devotionals, Pearl headed straight to despatch. She'd already received several compliments on the way she looked and she still had to bring their attention back to the camp material. They had to ensure that enough for every girl from Gutin High School would make it onto the truck, which was leaving that very morning for the state of Missouri.
It took them forty minutes to go through the inventory list and then Pearl left them to double check alone. She headed back to her office, went through her mail and then Beth reminded her of the tea date. So she picked up her clutch bag and got ready to go to the hotel she had booked a parlour in.
She could've hosted them at home but as a single career woman, she felt she just didn't have the time to cut flowers and place stuff on trays in attractive patterns during the week. It was fun but if she was going to hire someone to do it, she wasn't going to give them access to her house.
Pearl handed her keys to the valet and went to the front desk to get her access card for the private room, hoping everything was in place.
She needn't have worried. The room looked perfect from the flowers to the furniture. A small juice bar was already set up and the tea, she knew, would be set out once the women had all arrived.
She sat on one of the white seats, prepared to wait for her friends.
"I don't know what's more gorgeous," a lady's voice said a few minutes later, "the view or the décor in here," she continued. Pearl turned around to smile at Joann Addison. "Or you, Pearl!" came the exclamation. "Look at you!"
Pearl stood up and the two women embraced.
"And look at you, Jo. Happy as ever!"
At that Jo chuckled. "I try." Pause. "I'm the first one here, imagine that."
Pearl laughed and said, "We might as well get comfortable."
"Yes, of course."
She asked the now present barista to make her a shandy with no alcohol.
"You better make that two," another woman voiced from the door.
There were more enthusiastic exclamations and the tea began in earnest as all the other women filtered in after Maddy Best.
Because she left the hotel late, Pearl had to make a quick meeting of seeing the doctor. She voiced her concerns, but there was nothing life-threatening and Dr Douglas sent her on her way with a kind reminder that she was human. The doctor told her she shouldn't expect to get through life without her health catching up with her now and then.
At that Pearl wrinkled her nose. "I know. I'll be fine."
"I'm sure you will be- just don't overdo it and stick to your plan!"
'Yes, ma'am."
Driving back to the office, Pearl was determined to just check her mail and then leave for lunch.
She actually managed to do just that. She waved at Beth and said she would be back after lunch. She was going to Juno's.
"'Ok, Pearl," Beth said, ready to take any messages for her boss while she was out.
She had not been prepared, however, for the tall handsome foreigner who walked in looking for Miss Guthrie. Beth assumed he was foreign because of his delicious accent. He looked down at her with amazing hazel eyes and she stared at him dumbly.
The man looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer and eventually she found her tongue. She told him apologetically that Pearl had gone to lunch.
"Oh." His brow knit together in a frown. "Did she say where she was going?"
"All I can tell you is she was going to a lunch appointment, sir. I'm sorry."
He nodded and turned away from the thin red head and took out his cell phone.
Pearl told the manager she would order her food when Jesse got there. She looked at her watch and took a sip of her juice. Maybe he had gotten stuck in traffic on the way in from his current home town. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, her phone rang.
It was Jesse.
She answered promptly, expecting confirmation for her thoughts.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Pearl, it's Jesse."
"Yeah, what's up? Are we still on for lunch?" she asked innocently.
He chuckled and said, "I was just about to ask you the same thing."
"What?"
"I'm at your office."
"Wh-" she stopped and closed her eyes. "Were you supposed to pick me up?" A blush began to spread across her face.
"You forgot?" he sounded disbelieving.
"I did, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I'm already at Juno's. Do you know where that is?"
"Thank God for GPS. I'll find it."
"I'm sorry, Jesse," she said weakly.
"It's okay." He rang off after saying, "See you soon."