She rolled over and looked at Billy, who was still sound asleep in her bed. They’d stayed at her place last night and stopped for pizza at a local restaurant on the way home. Jill was a little nervous that today was the day they were planning to tell the office that they were an item. Billy said he’d do most of the talking, which was fine with her. She was happy for it to be out in the open and she didn’t think anyone was going to mind. She hoped not anyway.
She jumped in the shower and by the time she was out, Billy was up and drinking coffee in the kitchen.
He gave her a kiss on his way into the bathroom. “My turn.”
Jill drove and they reached the office a little before eight. They were the first ones there, but within minutes the rest of the team began arriving. It was a typical Friday, busy and loud and as usual, the day flew by.
At four, Billy came into the bull pen, the large open office where all the recruiters sat in their cubicles. He walked into the middle of the room, holding a bottle of champagne and looked around expectantly. Everyone quickly understood that he wanted their attention. Once everyone was off the phone, Billy smiled and held up the champagne.
“We have an announcement and something to celebrate today. Jill and I wanted to let you know something. You all know we’ve been friends, best friends for many years?” He looked around the room as people nodded.
“Well a few months back, we decided that maybe we wanted to be more than friends and we started dating.” He grinned. “So, we wanted to let you know that we’re officially an item. What do you think of that?” There was a moment of silence and then a chorus of congratulations. Jill was relieved that they all seemed to be happy for them.
But Billy wasn’t done yet.
“There’s something else that I wanted to do, here, in front of all of you. This company that Jill and I started brought us together and it just seems appropriate to do this here, too.” Billy set the champagne down, took a few steps closer to Jill and shocked her by getting down on one knee and pulling a small black box from his pocket. He opened it and held up a huge, shimmering square-cut diamond ring.
“Jill, we’ve been friends for a long time, and then business partners, and there’s no one else I’d rather have as a partner in life and love. Will you marry me?”
“Of course I will!”
He slid the ring onto her trembling finger while the room erupted in cheers and clapping.
“Billy, I can’t believe this,” she whispered as he pulled her in for a kiss.
“Believe it. You’re it for me, Jill. I can’t believe it took us so long to figure this out. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
Jill smiled. She felt the exact same way. “You’re crazy, but I love that about you. I can’t wait to marry you, Billy.”
Chapter 26
“Your sister Jill is on the phone. She needs to talk to you and Mandy immediately. Says it’s an emergency.” Gary looked concerned as he handed the phone to Emma. Mandy was on her way back to the reservations desk and Emma waved her over.
“Jills on the phone for both of us.”
“Is everything okay?” Mandy looked worried.
“I don’t know. Gary said it’s an emergency.”
Emma held the receiver so they could both hear. “Jill, is something wrong?”
Jill laughed. “No, nothing is wrong.”
“What’s the emergency then?”
“Well, it’s not every day that your sister gets engaged.”
Emma almost dropped the phone while Mandy squealed. “Engaged! Tell us everything.”
Jill told them about Billy’s big announcement, which was followed by a completely unexpected proposal.
“You had no idea he was going to do that?” Emma asked.
“None. We’d vaguely talked about getting married someday, but I thought it was a long way off.”
“Are you ready for it now?” Mandy asked.
“I’m thrilled. Couldn’t be happier. And I think we want to have the wedding at Mimi’s Place, maybe in six months or so. Can you help me with that?”
Mandy smiled. “Of course. We’ll give you an amazing wedding.”
“Thanks. You guys are the best. I had to call you right away.”
“What are you doing now?” Emma asked.
“We’re heading out for after-work drinks with the whole office. Billy’s buying.”
“That sounds fun. Congratulations again,” Emma said.
She hung up the phone and looked at her sister. “Wow. That was unexpected.”