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Evelyn
I needed a few minutes after that call to catch my breath because what the hell had that been. Every time I saw him, it was as though time seemed to stop.
Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe so well; I was so shy that I wanted to pee my pants, and so horny I wanted to hump the nearest surface I could find. So completely ridiculous and weak, yet as I put the phone away and returned to packaging up Aurora’s wedding dress, it felt like I was floating on air. I stayed near surfaces, grabbing onto whatever I found until soon enough, we were out of the store.
We didn’t need any catering of any sort, but there was this one vintage cake I had seen at a store in Brooklyn a few months earlier. I had gone looking for croissants for a believe-it-or-not croissants themed pre-wedding photo shoot and had come across the bakery. The cake was a gorgeous, small cake with pearls and the most elegant vintage swirls. It would go so perfectly with Aurora’s aesthetic, I was sure.
Afterwards, we went to the florist. I was no stranger to these and had my go to vendor. It was last minute, but thankfully, I was able to order the flowers needed; a wide assortment of white roses, vines to hang off the altar and drape along the pews, dahlias, tulips, lilac orchids, and ranunculus.
I debated about red roses for a while until eventually, his assistant Scott reminded me that the budget was without limit and that I could get whatever I wanted in whatever quantity, even if it didn’t work out. I was impressed and flustered at the same time but regardless I wasn’t prone to waste, so I solidified my vision of how I wanted the photos to look and included it. Then I ordered candles in all sizes and in the hundreds because this had to be a magical moment. This made me also realize that I would need temporary workers, and instantly I called Anna. As a recruiter, she knew how to get these, and of course, she also, as a result, earned her invitation as well. She was so excited, especially as we headed over to her apartment to pick her up, and then it was time to head back to the Hamptons.
To my tiny bit of surprise, Scott told us that Drake had ordered us to take the helicopter. This way we could get to the church on time to get started while the rest of the supplies came over. Anna couldn’t believe her eyes and was too scared to get in, so that delayed us. When she eventually gathered her nerves, though, we all boarded, and her mouth remained wide open amusingly for the length of the trip.
Midway through, she leaned forward and whispered into my ear.
“You're going to propose to him, right?” she asked, and I was startled.
“What?”
“You're not?” she asked, horrified and flabbergasted all in one. “You're going to just walk away from all of this in two days. Thanks for the nice time. Are you insane? You really have no ambition at all? Or no vile bone in your body because I can put it there?”
“Shut the hell up,” I gritted through my teeth at her, and thankfully Scott didn't hear. Or perhaps he did because he not only wasn't hiding the fact that he was watching us, he also wasn’t hiding just how amused he was by how we hit and treated each other. Eventually, we arrived, and my entire plan was to avoid Aurora. It was too sad that within the next few hours, she was going to think I had abandoned her altogether and hate me even more, but I couldn’t feel bad because of this. Hopefully, later on, she would understand and forgive me. Anna took her dress to my room, and then I busied myself with heading over to the church with Scott to get started. It was indeed an old church and a bit unclean, so we immediately got to work in polishing surfaces.
Soon the supplies began to arrive as well as the temporary workers for everything, and I completely lost interest in all else beyond completing this and getting it ready for the very small wedding party. This was indeed the original party that Aurora wanted, and I was so glad to be able to give it to her.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Drake
“Do you have anything special you want to wear?” I asked my mom as I took hold of her wheelchair and began to push.
She thought about this for a moment, and then she nodded.
“This might be a bit tacky but...” she turned broody to look at me and I wondered why.
“But what?”
“I still have my old wedding dress.”
“You can’t wear your wedding dress to Aurora's wedding, Mom,” I said, and she laughed.
“No, it doesn't look like the flowing wedding dresses of today. It's more of a formal evening dress now. Off white, puffy sleeves, buttoned up. Absolutely gorgeous. I saw it the other day when I was packing for Aurora's wedding and wished that I would be able to wear it one more time.”
This was all she had to say because, in the next second, I was making arrangements for us to head over to their townhouse first. She found the vintage dress in no time, and it was gorgeous, but as I watched her try it on, I couldn’t help but feel sad because I knew that if it weren’t for how much weight she had lost over the last few months, she probably wouldn’t have been able to fit in it.
“I want to get dressed in here before we head over,” she said, and I nodded. We called her stylist and makeup artist, and after taking a shower, she started on getting dressed and bringing life back to her face. I couldn’t recall the last time I had seen her do this, and so I sat at the back watching. Time seemed to have completely slowed down, and I truly enjoyed the slow pace. It also once again gave me the time to think about another excited woman who had been running around the city trying to organize a last-minute wedding. I called Scott then, not wanting to interrupt her and pick up in a video call like he now knew to do.
He gave me a quick update and then turned the camera, and the first thing I noticed was what a complete mess her hair had now turned into from what it had been earlier. She was busy arranging the flowers that started all the way from the altar to the entrance. Everywhere I looked, there were flowers and candles, and it was breathtaking. The wood of the church was dark, so it made the atmosphere intimate, and the intricate drawings on the ceilings made me feel as though I was in some ancient city in Rome. All in all, I loved every bit of it and couldn't help but sigh. Because as grand as the wedding we had planned for Aurora was, this one took the cake. It was what I also imagined weddings would be. A few loved ones, rustic, intimate, unique. This scene was practically impossible to replicate, and I couldn’t wait for Aurora to see it. That was if she would agree to speak to any one of us.
Afterwards, I ended the call, rejecting Scott's offer to call Evelyn over so I could talk to her, and instead, I called my dad.
“She's with her fiancé,” he announced to me. He was on the patio in the golf club, enjoying the sunset with a few friends, and was in a significantly better mood than earlier. "They're not even here," he said. "I think she got too upset and just returned home. Where the hell is her temper from?"
"Be patient with her," I said. "This entire thing wasn't what she wanted. But we’re about to fix that."
"David is aware, right? He'll be able to get her out on time. But what about you? Will you be there? I won't miss it for the world. I'm wearing a burgundy suit."
“Oh,” I said with a smile, and he gave me an amused look.
