A Certain Time and Place

Chapter 1

"You are going to be 40 in a month! We need to start making plans now!" I looked over at my best friend, who was dancing all around my desk.

"Calm down, Blaine. Can I just forget about the whole thing and pretend it's not really happening?" I asked putting my head down on my desk.

"Are you kidding me Em?" Blaine exclaimed. I gave him a look that said to knock off the theatrics, but it did little good, and he flat out ignored me.

"If you don't care, then do it for me! You know I can't resist a reason for a party!"

"B, we plan events and parties for a living. I would think it would be the last thing you would want to do!"

Blaine is my best employee, best friend and confidante. I opened Emery Event and Party Planners right after I graduated college. Blaine and I became fast friends in college. I figured after graduation, Blaine would make waves as a fashion designer, but he quickly became disenchanted with it and came begging me to let him work with me. He is now technically my partner more than my employee.

"Emery Elizabeth Evans! This is not just any party! This is your 40th Birthday celebration. You will not have to lift a finger. I need to do this for you!", Blaine said, looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, just don't forget your other duties and I won't stand in your way. But know this is not necessary and I wish I could just forget my life is going to be half over."

"Now who is being dramatic?" He stared hard at me. "You are in your prime. You have a successful business. A beautiful home on the water. Douglas and I are so jealous of you!". Douglas, Blaine's husband of 15 years is amazing.

"Oh, stop B! You have a gorgeous surgeon husband and an equally beautiful penthouse over looking the whole city. You have nothing to be jealous of! I may have those things, but I also have a failed marriage and zero love life."

"Whatever. You may have the failed marriage but John was a complete dick. I hated him from the beginning and begged you not to marry him. You got Charlie from him and that's the only reason I never hired someone to kill him." I smiled when he mentioned Charlie. My son will be 21 soon. He is a great kid, well adult I should say. I have been incredibly blessed with him.

"And I should have listened to you, but at least I do have Charlie." Charlie graduated college early. Always was at the top of his class. He is interviewing with marketing firms currently.

"I love that kid so much!" Blaine has been the one stable male figure in Charlie's life since he was 4. Blaine is correct. Charles' dad is a dick. And that is being nice.

"Are we still on for game and pizza night at your place tonight?" Blaine asked.

"Of course! 6:30 okay?"

"Douglas should be off by then."

"Let's call it a day then." I said starting to pack up my things to head home. Blaine leaned over and kissed the top of my head.

"See you there!" He practically yelled as he walked out the door. I watched as he basically skipped back to his own office. I have the greatest best friend.

FLASHBACK 1995

I have been at this big city college for almost a month now. I haven't made any friends. I didn't rush a sorority like my roommate did. Thankfully, that means she is rarely in our room. People from my small town said I wouldn't like it here. Maybe they were right. But I have never been a quitter. The last thing I want is to prove them all right.

I decide that I can't sit alone any longer in my extremely small dorm room. It's Friday night. Maybe I should try to socialize. I grab my favorite over-sized sweatshirt, take a deep breath and venture out into the hallway. Music is already blaring. I can hear what I think are three different songs blasting from dorm rooms. There seems to be a hip-hop battle going on between rooms across from each other. One playing Jump by Kriss Kross at full volume and the other making a statement that Baby Got Back by Sir Mix A lot is the superior song of the moment. I shake my head smiling as I walk by. As I near the end of the hall, I notice a very attractive blond guy dancing with another boy. They look to be laughing and having a blast. As I come closer, I realize that they weren't exactly dancing but pretending to walk a runaway. I also realized that they were doing this to the song, I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred. I couldn't contain my laughter. It wasn't just that it was hysterical to watch but they both were filled with joy and happiness and it was contagious.