chapter 1

"Jamie, you will not believe what happened!" Amy screamed over the phone to her best friend "Luke finally popped the question!" "OMG, Angela, that's awesome I'm so happy for you guys, you're the perfect couple!" Jamie exclaimed excitedly. Jamie and Amy had been best friends for years, ever since they met as freshmen during a shared core writing class at college. Since then they were practically inseparable. Amy was a committed journalism major and Amy's bubbly personality helped her as she pursued a major in communications. Post college they couldn't bear to live apart from one another, and they both moved to the same city and managed to get entry level jobs in their fields. Aside from their careers, they were both incredibly attractive; tall, thin, and flawless. Aside from their hair color, they could almost be sisters, Jamie with beautiful long chestnut colored locks, while Amy was dirty blonde. Their proportions were also almost exactly identical, both were 5'8" and 125 pounds, this turned out to be very convenient and they shared and swapped clothing all the time. They also had a ton of shared interests, aside from partying and their busy social schedule, they were both gym rats and you could always find them running on the treadmill aside one another at least four days out of the week.

"I bet you know what I'm going to ask next." Amy gushed "Will you be my maid of honor? I want this wedding to be over the top, so you better be ready to plan the most extravagant engagement party, bachelorette weekend, and bridal shower ever! Plus Luke and I have already decided on a destination wedding in Bermuda, so you better set aside the week of November 8th!" Amy sounded positively ecstatic. "Amy!! That's only 6 months from now! Are you crazy?" Jamie said, clearly shocked by the schedule for the whole thing. "Listen, the last thing I want is a long engagement, plus if anyone can pull it off, you can. You're the most organized person I know." said Amy. "Alright, alright, I'll do it, but only because you're my best friend. But seriously, I am so happy for you and Luke." Said Jamie. "Yes yes yes!! I'm so excited, plus as if being my maid of honor isn't good enough, I already enrolled both of us in bridal boot camp. It meets 4 times a week and I hear it's really intense, which is GREAT because this office job has me up 5 pounds and I've lost some of the definition in my abs. We're both going to be looking so good for the wedding, just wait until you see the bridesmaid's dresses I picked out, they're a two piece with a beautiful flouncy skirt and a tight crop top! Super stylish right now!!" The two women talked excitedly for most of the night about all the details of the wedding. By the time Jamie hung up the phone, she knew she had her work cut out for her.

The next two weeks went by as usual, the engagement party planning was going full speed ahead, and Jamie and Amy were really starting to get into the swing of things with their rigorous bridal boot camp sessions. Work was also business as usual. Jamie was hired out of college as an entry level writer at the biggest newspaper in the city, it was not glamorous work by any means, and she usually got stuck with the most boring and tedious assignments. But this week during the Monday staff meeting at work Jamie got the first big break in her career. Her boss, Michelle, who was responsible for the entire food section of the publication, was 8 months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave for the next 3 months and Jamie would fill in as her replacement while she was gone. "Sure, it's not a permanent position, but if I really work hard and do a great job, hopefully the higher ups will see my talent and potential" Jamie said to Gabe, her boyfriend of about a year and a half "Plus, my new found clout as a food critic will probably be able to get me some great deals for all of this party planning I have to do over the next few months."