Page 56 of Perfect Mess

To pull something like that off would require master planning. Precise execution.

“Mary?” Gary stood there waiting.

Gary and I would have to be joined at the hip for weeks. Plotting and planning. Day and night.

“What else were you going to talk to me about?”

And we would have to get started immediately, before things with Janet and Jack progressed. It was a long shot, sure. But look at what was at stake. People’s lives were on the line. Okay, maybe not their lives, per se, but their love life for certain.

The bus honked, and Karen stepped down to the bottom step by the door. “Gary, everyone’s waiting!”

Could I really just sit back and watch? We’re talking long-term happiness here. Quality of life. Fulfillment. Life partner stuff. Really, if you thought about it, it was my duty, my responsibility to intervene. What kind of friend would I be if I just sat back and watched Janet throw her life away?

And then what about Kyle? An innocent child. Really, he’s the one who sealed the deal. He was concerned about his father being lonely. Would I just ignore the suffering of a child? When there was the perfect woman just waiting for him, standing there right in front of his face?

Gary waved his palm in front of my face. “Maaar-yyy. Hello? Anybody home?”

That’s when I made my final decision. I was going to go all-in. No turning back.

“Mary, I’ve got to go. Was there something else you wanted to say?”

I put my hand on Gary’s arm and took a deep breath. It looked like he was holding his. “There was one more thing I wanted to ask you,” I told him.

Gary still looked like he was holding his breath. “Ask me then. Ask me anything.”

So I asked him. “What are you doing tonight?”

My battle with the universe was just getting started. And it was time for me to start putting points on the board.

ChapterThirteen

The Fresh Foods market was always busy at that hour. Located along the main road, it was a convenient spot for people to stop to pick up groceries on their way home from work. People like Janet. The bookstore where she worked was only a block down the street. And every Thursday, after her shift ended, she would stop at Fresh Foods to grab dinner.

“How do I look?” Gary seemed nervous. Probably because I was staring at him and frowning.

“You look great,” I said.

Getting here hadn’t been easy. And I’m not talking about the drive. I’m talking about convincing Gary. Naturally, he had been resistant at first. And last. And every moment in between. I started with the truth, telling Gary that Janet had a crush on him. I told him that Janet was single, and I thought the two of them would be a great fit, just leaving out the part about how Janet liking him had been twenty years ago, and the “single” was the filing status on her tax forms. No need to make things more complicated than they were already.

“I don’t know about this,” said Gary.

“That’s okay,” I told him. “Because I do.”

“You don’t think this is, I don’t know, desperate or something?” We were standing in the cheese section. Gary picked up a wedge of gorgonzola and grimaced.

“It’s not desperate,” I said.It was totally desperate.“We just want things to happen organically.”

“Maybe we should stand over in the organic section then,” Gary quipped.

I took the cheese out of his hand and put it back on the shelf. “This is serious.”

“Sorry. Of course.”

I stepped back to give Gary a better look. Per my instruction, he was wearing a nice green shirt, Janet’s favorite color, and a nice pair of khaki slacks. I felt I had to be specific because, with my luck, he would have shown up in paint stained cargo shorts and S.U.K.C. shirt.

“You sure I look okay?”

“You look great.”

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