Yes

You and Jill were engaged, and that meant you needed to be open and honest with her. Even if it was painful. “Well… the truth is there’s a lot of stuff going on at work right now.” You told her slowly, and uncertainly. Her expression grew concerned, but she didn’t interrupt you and just listened. “We’re coming under new management soon, and it seems like a lot of people are gonna get laid off. Maybe even me.. Probably even me.” You told her, reporting what you’d heard. Jill nodded sadly. “I see. Now I get it.” She said, nodding sadly. “I’m sorry honey. How about a hug?” She asked you, opening her arms towards you. You accepted and the two of you held each other for a moment.

After you pulled away, you continued. “I guess they’ll probably keep some people on, so it’s not a sure thing. I might have to dust off the old resume though.” You told her. She nodded again. “Well that really sucks, but we’ll be okay.” She said, reassuring you, and then her mind seemed to make the connection between this new circumstance and your upcoming nuptials. “I guess we won’t do caviar at the wedding then.” She joked, making light of the situation. You were surprised that she could make jokes like that after hearing such bad news, but it was a relief to hear her taking everything in stride. But you didn’t want her to have to compromise anything she wanted. “Hold on- I don’t want you to change anything about the wedding because of me. It’s your day! You should have everything you want.” You told her. “It’s OUR day.” She corrected you, and then she continued. “I appreciate the thought honey, but we do have to be realistic. If you don’t have your job anymore, we’ll probably need to compromise on some things.” She said, and that was hard for you to hear.

You thought about the situation. “I don’t know. Maybe I just need to get creative. I could take out some loans, or… reach out to my family I guess.” You said, and Jill cocked her head curiously at you. “Your family?” She asked, and you nodded. “Well- you know my dad is pretty well off. I just don’t feel great asking him for handouts…” you said. You and your father weren’t very close, so that option was a tall order. Jill seemed deep in thought too. “Okay. Yeah. Those are possibilities. And I guess we could, like, invite your new boss over for dinner to try to impress them. Maybe if they like you enough, you’ll be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t get fired.” She suggested. Desperately trying to schmooze your boss sounded a bit undignified, but then again, these were times. You had to settle on a strategy.