Although carrying a mere garment bag, as she made her way along the stone hewn walkway leading to her spacious two-story home Audrey moved as if she were transporting the Shroud of Turin.

Then again, the cargo contained within was extremely precious to her. As was the party she was currently engaged in a most animated conversation with.

“Sweetheart, guess what? Hold on. Give me just a second. . .” Phone cradled against her shoulder, with her right eye squinted shut she concentrated on attempting once again to slide her key into her front door’s seemingly uncooperative keyhole—all the while having the garment bag draped across both arms. “Almost. . . got. . . it. . . Dammit! Missed again!”

The rumble of distant thunder caused Audrey to gnaw at the inside of her jaw, a telltale sign the normally unflappable government contractor was nervous. The last thing she needed to contend with was rain—now or later. Her insides felt as if they were in knots as she wondered which would be the worse catastrophe: stuck outside her home and thus subjecting the contents of the garment bag to what appeared to be a torrential downpour looming on the horizon; or, if the weather persisted, having virtually nil turnout for her pre-nuptial celebration—scheduled to take place less than 48 hours from now. Expelling an aggravated breath that served to flip an errant lock of her blonde tresses out of her line of vision, fueled by frustration she gave the key a forceful turn and was rewarded with a blessed *click* as the lock finally rotated. Safely inside, as she made her way to her bedroom Audrey resumed her conversation without missing a beat.

“I was updating the guest list and I received the last two RSVPs for the invites I sent out!” Audrey all but radiated joy and excitement as she recounted to Jack the names of several wedding guests whose attendance she was eagerly anticipating. Still cradling the phone against her ear, she draped the garment bag across her queen size bed and began to gingerly remove the floor length gown. “Can you believe that daddy actually bet me, I mean he went so far as to even say—tell me to my face—that I’d lose?” Her incredulous bark of laughter was accompanied by a triumphant yet rude noise. “Well, isn’t he gonna be in for a surprise? My father didn’t think I could do it, but I did!” Boasting was far too pedestrian of a description for what she was currently engaged in. “I not only kept the number of guests under 100 but I’m just two shy of my target goal of 50.”

She had every reason to take pride in keeping the guest list to a total of 50 attendees. Accomplishing such an act was neither a small nor an easy feat given the numerous connections, many political, that existed on both Audrey’s and her father James’ behalf due to their roles within the Department of Defense. As a result, Audrey made it explicitly clear to her father she in no way wanted the occasion of her wedding to serve as an opportunity for networking by those seeking to use the event as a means to bend the ear of the “third most powerful man at the White House” instead of the celebration of her committing to a life with Jack it was meant to be.

“I still have two invitations left. Which is what I wanted to talk with you about,” she hedged. The slightest hint of uncertainty clouded her voice; not due to any doubts on her part. Rather, Audrey’s lack of confidence could be traced to pondering Jack’s reaction to the identities of the two potential guests. Reasoning there was no sense in trying to avoid the matter she decided to address what she considered to be the easier of the two explosives to diffuse. “I left a message for Paul’s brother Gary to call me.” Just as Audrey expected all that greeted her from Jack’s end of the line was silence. Without the benefit of being face to face she was unable to determine if his response or lack thereof was evidence of anger or resignation. Undeterred, she pressed on. “I’d like to be able to tell him the truth, Jack—that I called to invite him to my wedding. But if you still are not comfortable-”

“I’ve got every reason not to be ‘comfortable,’ Audrey,” Jack interrupted. “Do you really think Gary’s gonna want to come celebrate your marriage to the man who is responsible for the death of his brother?”

Audrey continued as if Jack had not even spoken. “Even when Paul and I were separated, Gary and I remained close.” Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. “His friendship means a great deal to me, Jack,” she said. A brief pause as she sighed. “That said, when he calls back I’d like to be able to tell him real reason I called. But, if it’s gonna be a big deal, sweetheart, I can always cover and tell him the reason for my call was I wanted him to hear the news from me – not in the press or from someone else – that I was getting married again.” Reasoning that if she was already in for a penny she may as well be in for a pound, Audrey decided now was as good a time as any to address the other pink elephant in the room. “That still leaves me with one more invitation. Have you given any more thought to inviting Sabrina?”

Had he not been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 101, it was quite possible Jack’s Suburban might have careened off the expressway upon hearing his fiancée’s last question.

“You’re really serious, Audrey?” Jack raked a hand through his hair, all the while shaking his head in disbelief. “I thought you were being. . .flip. . .just doing that thing women do when it comes to men’s ex-lovers.”

“Yes, I was being serious,” Audrey replied. “I meant what I said when I told you I’m perfectly fine with her attending the wedding, Jack. Just like I meant it when I said I view this as an opportunity to start on a better note than we did when we first met.” Audrey knew Jack was fully aware of the less than civil interaction between her and Sabrina when Sabrina performed the lifesaving surgery on Audrey’s father.

“Audrey, sweetheart. . . your father asked Sabrina to be his personal physician, not marry him.”

“I’m aware of that, Jack,” Audrey said. Her voice held the slightest hint of exasperation. “But the fact of the matter is we’ll eventually all be crossing paths anyway. Or have you forgotten she’ll be traveling with my father – at the President’s request no less, mind you – when he’s out of the country as her schedule allows. And when daddy travels, there’s always a really good chance that means I travel. This could be a chance for us to. . .I don’t know, bury the hatchet?”

“Yeah, square in the center of each other’s forehead,” Jack muttered.

“Well, at least you’re cracking jokes about it,” she noted playfully. “And that’s a start. We can talk about it more, tonight over dinner. . .”