Two's Company

notice.”
    “Waiter,” Ian summoned. “Bring me a bourbon. Straight up.”
    “I’ll take one too,” David said.
    “A Cosmopolitan,” Gillian said.
    “Just bring me the biggest stack of pancakes you’ve got,” Sylvia said.
    “And you, ma’am?” the man said to Helen, but received no response as
    she and Catherine chattered.
    “Just ignore them,” David said. “You won’t get them to shut up long
    enough to order anything.”
    “Very well, sir,” the waiter replied and left the table.
    “So, Gillian,” Ian said with a smile. “Bet you’re glad you came on this
    trip!”
    A short laugh left her lips. “I am, actually. I haven’t had time off in about
    five years, so I was relieved when Sylvia invited me.”
    “How long are you staying, little sister?”
    “A week. I can’t leave Oscar alone any longer than that. No telling what
    the house will look like when I get back. I envision take-out cartons and pizza
    boxes strewn across the floors with boxer shorts and dirty socks!”
    “I’m sure he’s not that bad,” Ian said as the waiter brought their drinks
    and food.
    “Why not? You are.”
    “Hey, I’m single!”
    “Some excuse,” Sylvia said, digging into her stack of pancakes.
    “And do you have a husband destroying your house with pizza and dirty
    socks, too?” Ian asked Gillian with a grin.
    “Oh no.” Gillian shook her head and held up her left hand. “No wedding
    band for me.”
    “I keep trying to get her married off to one of Oscar’s friends, but one date
    is all she’ll go on with any of them. That is when she’s in town and not off saving
    the world of commerce.”
    “Yes, you’re quite the matchmaker, Syl, but I told you it won’t work on
    me. I have no plans to get married anytime in the foreseeable future.”
    “You sound just like Ian,” Sylvia replied through another mouthful of
    pancakes.
    “Don’t even think it, sister!” Ian warned.
    “Think what?” Sylvia asked innocently.
    “You know what, so don’t even.”
    Gillian looked from brother to sister and back again. “Oh no, Sylvia. You
    promised me before we left Boulder there would be no matchmaking between
    me and your brother, or anyone else while we’re here!”
    “Aww, you two are no fun,” Sylvia said with a smirk and took another bite.
                                                   ~ * ~
    “So how did we wind up alone in my car?” Ian asked, starting the engine.
    Gillian laughed. “You sister won’t give up.”
    “I know. I was so relieved when she moved to Colorado. I thought she’d
    introduce me to every single woman in the Midwest while trying to marry me
    off.”
    “She does the same thing to me. I’m almost afraid to call her when I get in
    from a business trip! Married people just aren’t happy unless everyone around
    them is married too!”
    “Don’t kid yourself. Sylvia has been matchmaking since she was twelve
    years old! I was seventeen then and she brought home every girl in her class. She
    was so disappointed when I didn’t show an interest in twelve and thirteen year
    old girls. And it just got worse as she got older. Don’t tell her, but I did
    everything I could to convince Oscar that he wanted to marry her.”
    “You didn’t?”
    “I did. They’d been dating for a couple of years already, but it didn’t seem
    as if he’d ever pop the question, so I just kinda nudged him in that direction. Six
    months later, Mom was booking the church and planning the reception.”
    “So you’re a matchmaker, too.”
    “Hell, no. I just wanted my sister off my back!” They both laughed.
    “So, you’re here for a week and then back to Colorado?” he asked.
    “No. Actually, I’m here with your sister for a week before I go to Tulsa for a
    few days. Then to Dallas, and then I’m off to Tokyo.”
    “So you’ll be saving the United States first, then the world?”
    Gillian laughed. “It’s not quite as exciting as Sylvia thinks. I simply go to
    different companies and show them how to improve management-employee
    relationships in order to increase production and become more time efficient, cut
    losses with time management, and reduce the number of employees who call in
    sick, come in late, go home early, that type of stuff.”
    “And just how do you do that?”
    “It’s not really difficult. A lot of it is simple things like job sharing, the fourday
    workweek, in-house daycare, working from home, and generally