Elly In Bloom (11 page)

Elly was shocked. “Er, later. Payment is due when services are rendered. The deposit will be four hundred dollars.”

Sunny opened her purse and pulled out five crisp hundred-dollar bills.

“Well, here is the deposit, and a little extra for you. I’ll be in touch over email with all the numbers and details in the next few months.” She bent over and kissed Elly’s cheek. “Thank you so much. I’m so glad to get you booked and have one less thing to do for Lucia’s wedding. I love your shop. It’s so…flirty.”

And with that Sunny Kepke exited, taking with her Elly’s last mortgage payment in her slim Prada pocketbook. Elly waited until Sunny had turned the corner, then she skipped to the back. Kim and Snarky Teenager were arranging coral roses, yellow tulips and yarrow into silver buckets for that weekend’s wedding.

“Guess who just booked a $45,000 wedding for November?”

There was a stunned silence. The jumping around and hugging that Elly had expected were left hanging in the humid air. Kim put down her arrangement.

“Forty-five thousand dollars? Are you serious? We can’t do a wedding that big.”

Elly pouted. “Why not? We can do it. I won’t take any weddings the week before…or maybe the week after. I can hire helpers. I can rent vans…”

Kim put her hand on her annoyingly lean hip. “Elly. I’m excited for you, but…that is a huge, huge wedding. The biggest we’ve done is…what?”

Snarky Teenager piped in. “The Yeadon Wedding. Last year. That was what, seven thousand? And you were a total wreck, remember?”

Elly suddenly remembered the chaos of that wedding. She flashed back to herself crying in a bathroom stall, holding a broken orchid, while Kim pounded on the door and Snarky Teenager ran around sprinkling pink petals over everything. It had been utter chaos, and the memory hit her like a brick in the face.

“Oh my God, you’re right. What was I
thinking
?! What have I done? We can’t do this. Maybe Clayton Flowers could, but we can’t. We don’t have the resources. You are right. No way.”

Kim put down her arrangement and handed Elly a water bottle. Elly drank noisily; she was getting all worked up.

“I’ll just have to call her back. The mom. Sunny…” Elly trailed off.

Snarky Teenager snorted. “Her name is Sunny?”

Elly shot her a look. “Don’t be mean. She was very nice. You guys are right. It’s too big.” She gave a sigh. “The great thing is, it was enough to pay off my apartment and refurnish the store. That would be amazing.” Elly turned back to the front, her head hanging. There was a beat of silence, then Kim and Snarky Teenager clamored after her.

“We can do it! We can! It’s going to a nightmare…”

“TOTAL NIGHTMARE,” echoed Snarky Teenager.

Kim pulled her around to face her. “Forget our MANY doubts - we can try anyway! If this stupid wedding can pay off that little apartment of yours, then let’s do it. We’ll either be the best florist in town or go down in flames. Large, fiery flames.”

Elly threw her arms around Kim. Cadbury barked joyfully, caught up in the excitement. “I can do this,” said Elly into Kim’s hair. “Posies can do this.” She was caught up in the moment and pulled Snarky Teenager into a group hug. Elly could feel the girl’s body go rigid, as though she thought she would die of lameness.

They heard the front bell and all looked up, still wrapped around each other. A handsome older black man in his early fifties had entered the shop. He had white hair and slick glasses, and was wearing the heck out of some khaki linen pants and a pink silk shirt.

“Er, Hello. I’m Anthony. I’m here to apply for the designer position.”

Elly straightened up, her arms still around Snarky Teenager’s shoulders.

“Have you ever slapped someone with a broom?” she demanded.

Anthony looked appalled. “What? Oh, my heavens, no! Why would I do that?”

“Great,” said Elly, “You’re hired.”

CHAPTER

SEVEN

The next two weeks dragged on seemingly forever as Elly waited to hear from Isaac. Luckily, she was distracted at work by Anthony, who had been thrown into training, a true baptism by fire. Elly’s instinctual call had been spot-on, much to her delight. Anthony was upbeat, responsible and above all, dependable. He also was a quick learner and had already started making daily arrangements, as Kim trained him on wedding design. Having a man at the store felt strange, but it also had breathed new life into all the workers there. Anthony fit right in, and Elly’s afternoons were filled with the shrieks of hysterical laughter as he regaled the girls with stories of his past adventures. There was a buzz at Posies, and Elly fell in love with her store and her workers all over again.

When Elly arrived home on Friday night, after a beautiful Victorianthemed wedding, her feet were tired but her heart light. She padded up the stairs, groceries in hand and shrieked out loud. There was a familiar red-inked note on the door. She had a hard time lifting her arm out to reach the note while holding the grocery bags, so she dropped them by her feet (forgetting about her eggs) and tore the envelope open.

Elly
, it read in his signature sexy scrawl,
Some friends of mine are playing at a jazz club tomorrow night. Will you be my date? Wear something beautiful. Isaac.

Elly felt the stairway spin around her, every inch of her skin tingling. Date. He said date. Not friendly gathering, not hanging out, not occupying the same space, A DATE. She laughed and unlocked the door, where Cadbury greeted her with a wet tongue over her flip flops. Elly practically leapt for the phone.

That night, as Elly sipped white zinfandel on her rooftop patio, she stared up at the inky black sky and considered what this meant. She really liked Isaac. She didn’t know him very well, granted, but the spark was there.
She could do this, right?
Elly hadn’t been in a relationship since Aaron. After he had shattered her heart into a million tiny pieces, she couldn’t bear the thought of anyone touching her. Love was out of the question – a vague and painful idea made of broken illusions. The things that Elly had held so dear were made a mockery, and she was sure she would never again be at the beginning of something so magical. Elly hadn’t been sure who she
was
without Aaron. But she knew now. And when Isaac had smiled down at her from her doorway, she felt her heart unfolding, layer by layer, at the idea of him.

Elly finished her glass and leaned back on the soft weathered fabric. She let the cool breeze circle around her bare arms and watched her wine swirl around the glass.
A date
, she mused, her hand lingering on Cadbury’s soft fur. She hadn’t been on a date in about five years. Even then, she had very little dating experience. Aaron hadn’t courted her – no, he swept her off her feet and claimed her as his own. There had been very few dates to speak of.

What does one wear to a jazz club
? she wondered.
Should I eat first or later? Would there be kissing? Would he touch my stomach?

Elly was starting to hyperventilate. She took a sip of her wine to calm her nerves. She forced herself to focus on something else. Isaac’s eyes. Those deep brown cosmos, so much like hot chocolate… That was the last thing she remembered thinking as she drifted off to sleep there, on top of her roof, the bright stars above becoming bursts of light beneath her eyelids.

The next morning, after a panicked phone call to Kim, Elly stood in front of
Figure
, a popular plus-sized women’s store, waiting for Kim to arrive. She was now 20 minutes late, and Elly was both annoyed and warm. Her hair was frizzed out and she was seriously craving a crepe. She heard heels approaching and turned around with a smile on her face. It didn’t last. Snarky Teenager stood in front of her, shopping bags in one hand and her cell phone in the other.

“Oh hey” she mouthed, “Hold on.”

She was wearing what looked like a swimsuit cover-up and bright lemon heels. Elly raised her arms up in confusion.

“Okay. Okay. I know. No, there is NO WAY I am wearing a simple black dress. It’s demeaning. Whatever.” She hung up the phone. “Hey. Sorry.”

There was an awkward pause. “Umm…what are you doing here?”

“Kim called me. She couldn’t come. Something came up. She said you needed help finding a dress for your date?”

Elly hoped that somewhere today a bird pooped on Kim’s head.

“That’s very nice of you to come – I can’t believe Kim called you – but I should be fine.”

Snarky Teenager arched one perfect eyebrow.

“No, you won’t be. You totally dress like my grandma.”

Elly’s jaw dropped. “I’m your boss, you know. You can’t say stuff like that to me.”

Her young ingénue smiled. “Yes, I can. I mean like, whatever. Today is my day off. It’s all honesty from here on out.”

Elly sighed. This was going to be very painful.

“Okay – I’m going to kill Kim – but I could maybe use an extra eye. Here are the rules: You are not allowed to say the word ‘fat’ at any time, at any place. Also, I am not buying any sexy underwear. I’m not that kind of girl.”

“That’s fine,” Snarky Teenager replied. “I’m not even
wearing
underwear.”

And on that note, they entered Figure.

They were greeted by two curvy mannequins that were complete with large breasts and thighs and even little love handles. Elly wanted to hug them.

“Oh my God, how weird,” hissed Snarky Teenager, “They are, like, fat …” She trailed off as Elly shot her a death look.

“Fat-tastic!” she finished.

They ventured farther into the store. So many beautiful fabrics surrounded them. Plum blouses dripping with sequins, apple red halters, sleek navy dresses, earrings and belts and shoes and bras…all in sizes that could fit Elly. No praying, squeezing, tears or ripped zippers. There would be no crushing sense of just how round she was. Here, she was the smallest size on the rack, and that was a good feeling. She threw a couple of blouses and pairs of pants over her arm. Snarky Teenager reached for a lacy corset top. Elly slapped her hand.

“No way. Don’t even think about it. I want something classy, flattering and just a tiny bit sexy.”

“Okay,” said Snarky Teenager. “So, where are you going, anyway?”

“A jazz club.”

The sneer on Snarky Teenager’s lips showed that she could not think of anything more laughable, and she stalked off in the directions of the formals. Elly hated her life at this moment. She loathed clothing shopping. Candles, furniture, flowers – she didn’t mind picking out nice things for her place – but anything that required looking in a mirror that showed her from behind was the equivalent of dropping a hair dryer in the bathtub while bathing.

She heard a murmured “
What
the…?” and turned to see Snarky Teenager marveling at the size of a pair of pants. They were literally twice the width of her body. A small, round saleswoman approached her timidly.

“Miss, can I help you?”

Snarky Teenager spun around.

“Oh, I’m helping my friend.” She gestured in Elly’s direction. “She needs a dress for a date, and I guess she doesn’t fit into the clothes at, like, a normal store, so she’s shopping here.”

The woman looked ready to strangle her, so Elly jumped in.

“Sorry, sorry, my…uh, my niece is just helping me.”

The woman gave her a strained smile, glancing at her “niece,” who was trying to see if she could make a plus-sized tube top into a mini-skirt.

“Good luck, ma’am.”

Elly was mortified. “I’m going into the dressing room now.”

Snarky Teenager piped in. “I’ll be right in. This tube top as a skirt is SUPER fly.”

Hiding her face behind her clothes, Elly walked quickly to the fitting room, a well- lit room with an elegant chandelier and leather bench. She quickly shed her clothes and tried on the first dress, a dark Cerulean frock the color of island water. It looked awful. Not only did it emphasize her short calves, but it made her breasts look like two bowling balls, struggling to be held aloft by straining fabric. The next dress, a bit slinkier, made her resemble a circus tent. She moved on to pants. After two failed attempts, she found a pair of black knee length pants and a light green sleeveless top with beading around the neck.