Three Girls And A Wedding (9 page)

“Jamaica, can you believe it? The
only problem is, the price jumps like crazy if we wait till the last week in
October—something about Halloween, I guess. So we’re changing the date to
a week earlier. I know the restaurant had said they had an opening then as
well.”

“
Mmmhmm
,”
I murmured, not really listening.

“Is that a problem with the Barker
wedding?” Ginny asked.

I looked up at her, lost. “Um, no,
there shouldn’t be any problem,” I said. Maybe she was asking me if it was
getting to be too hard, planning two weddings. “I can do both,” I assured her.

“Good,” she said, and I turned my
full attention back to the screen, already thinking of my response to Kiki.
“October twenty-third it is then. I can’t wait!”

Chapter Twelve

‘One fun pre-wedding
activity you may want to consider is an engagement party. This is a great way
to formally share your news with your friends and family. An engagement party
can be whatever scope you’re comfortable with—anything from drinks with a
small circle of friends to a grand sit-down dinner with your extended family.
The options are unlimited—just have fun and celebrate!’—
The Bride’s Guide to a Fabulous Wedding
.

“Well,” I sighed, stretching my
arms over my head. “I think that’s it.”

“You have the set-up crew
arranged?” Jason asked, looking uncharacteristically bleary and ruffled across
the table from me in the conference room.

“Yeah, all taken care of.” I yawned
and rubbed my eyes.

It was after ten already, but Jason
and I were still holed up in the conference room at
NoLimits
, going over the
last-minute details for the engagement party the following night. We’d been at
it for hours, and I was exhausted, but also fairly confident we had planned a
kick-ass party.

“Alright,” he said. “We should
probably both go get some rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”

    
I
stretched again, then stood, carefully packing my files and notebooks and
shutting down my laptop.

    
“When
are you planning on getting to the site?” Jason asked, removing his suit jacket
from behind his chair and putting it on.

“Probably around ten,” I said, stifling
another yawn as I put my laptop back in my case. “That’s when the flowers
should arrive and I want to oversee the setup.”

Jason nodded. “I have some work to
do early, but I should be there around three. You can call me if you have any
problems before that.”

“Sounds good.”

We walked to the door and Jason
turned out the lights behind us. Walking through the hallways was kind of
eerie—we were the only people left in the building, even the cleaning
staff had left a few hours ago.

“Oh, you got my email that I’ll be
leaving the ballroom around five to go help Kiki upstairs, right?” I asked
Jason, wrinkling my forehead, suddenly unable to remember if we had discussed
this or not. My brain felt foggy and way oversaturated with information. Not a
good sign.

“Yeah, what does Kiki want you to
do?”

“She wants me there when her
make-up artist and hairstylist arrive to oversee things,” I said, unable to
keep myself from rolling my eyes.

Jason chuckled. “Sounds pretty
intense. Sure you can handle it?”

“She just wants everything to be
perfect,” I replied, shrugging.

“It will be perfect,” Jason said,
looking down at me. We had reached the elevator and I hit the call button.

“I mean it, Jen. Everything is
going to be perfect tomorrow. You’ve done a great job.”

Jason was looking at me intently,
his eyes boring into mine in a way that made me distinctly uncomfortable. I was
relieved when the elevator arrived and we were able to step on board.

Jason and I had been putting in
long hours, mostly together, over the last two weeks in preparation for this,
the first major event of the Barker wedding. He had become slightly more
bearable lately, but not much. He had actually apologized for his outburst
after the venue selection day—though he had prefaced his apology by saying
he understood the importance of praising a subordinate when they did a good
job. Ass.

At any rate, I would be happy when
this party was over and things would calm down a little bit—at least
until the shower in August.

“Hey,” Jason said, shaking me from
my thoughts. “I know you’re tired, but would you care to stop somewhere for a
drink?”

“With you?” I blurted, before I
could stop myself.

“That was the idea,” he said, his
tone slightly peeved.

“Sorry, I just meant…it’s late,
like you said, I’m really tired. I think I’d rather just go home.” I felt
flustered and off-kilter. Why the hell was Jason asking me to go for drinks?

He looked at me intently, a smile
playing about his lips. “Well, maybe another time. In fact, I insist.”

“Um, okay?” I said.

We reached the main level and Jason
insisted on walking me to my car, another first. As I opened the door and
prepared to climb in, I felt his hand on my arm, squeezing fleetingly before
releasing me. “See you tomorrow, Jen.”

It wasn’t until after I drove away
that I realized that Jason had just come onto me.

***

“Kiki, you look perfect. Seriously.
Now we really need to get going,” I said, trying hard to sound sweet and firm
at the same time.

“Oh, Jen, are you sure? I feel like
maybe we went for totally the wrong look here. Should I have my hair
up
?”

I stifled a scream. Kiki’s
engagement party was scheduled to start down in the ballroom in exactly five
minutes, and we were still upstairs in her room at the hotel getting ready.

The engagement party was being held
at one of David Barker’s many hotels downtown. The site was perfect—I had
been there all day making sure of that. Jason and I had arranged a lengthy
cocktail hour, complete with live band, before everyone would be seated for a
formal dinner. It was going to be wonderful—if only I could get Kiki
downstairs.

“No, Kiki, I’m sorry, but I think
you’re wrong,” I told her, racking my brain for an argument that would appeal
to her. “Your hair is going to be up for the wedding—it’s going to be the
ultimate in elegance. You don’t want to diminish any of that impact. For the
engagement party you should be going for fun, kind of sexy. And that is exactly
how you look.”

“God, Jen, you’re totally right.
Like usual.” She stood up from the dressing table and gave me a huge hug. “Man,
what would I do without you? I mean, you like totally save me a hundred times a
day.”

“I’m just doing my job,” I assured
her, lightly steering her toward the door. “Do you have everything you need?
Eric and your parents are already downstairs. I think you really should be
there before the guests start arriving.”

“Oh God, yeah, you’re right. Oh!
Where’s my purse? And my shoes!”

“I have them both right here. We’re
all set.” Again, I tried to usher her towards the door.

“You really think of everything,
don’t you?” she said, stopping where she stood and putting her hands on her
hips.

“Kiki, really, let’s go.”

“Yup, yup, all set.”

Finally we were leaving the
room—or, more accurately, the penthouse suite, which David had reserved
for his daughter’s use tonight.

“How does it look down there?” Kiki
asked anxiously as we boarded the elevator.

“It was just about perfect the last
time I checked,” I told her. I was beginning to feel a rush of adrenaline. This
would be the biggest event that I had a hand in so far. I was so anxious for
Kiki and her family to like it. Under the adrenaline was pure exhaustion. I had
been going non-stop for the last few days—I could only hope I could hold
it together until the end of the night.

Just
a few more hours
, I reminded myself.
A
few hours and then you’ll be home with Annie, Ginny, and Danny.
I had
already taken Monday off as a reward for all the work that had gone into
tonight, which meant if I could get through this party I would have two full
days off. And the following Saturday we would be celebrating Danny’s first
birthday. I just had to get through tonight and things would look up.

“I’m so excited, Jen,” Kiki
squealed, grabbing my hand.

“Me too,” I murmured honestly.
“Here goes…”

The elevator doors opened and we
stepped out into the lobby. There were already a dozen or so people milling
around as I led Kiki through to the ballroom. “You ready?”

Kiki nodded, squeezing my hand, and
I threw open the ballroom doors.

The room was perfect, absolutely
perfect. It looked just the way I had envisioned it for all these weeks of
planning.

We had closed the room off into two
sections, wanting to create separate spaces for the cocktail hour and the
dinner. To do so, we had brought in whitewashed trellises to create a wall
across the width of the room, which we then covered completely in vines,
flowers, and twinkly lights. The same flowers were stationed in large pots
throughout the room and, in smaller vases, on the cocktail tables. The twinkly
lights were strung throughout the room as well, wrapping around the tables, the
length of the walls, and twisted into the pots and vases of flowers.

It was as if we had walked into an
enchanted garden—exactly the type of place where fairies might live. It
was breathtaking, if I did say so myself.

Next to me, Kiki burst into tears.

“Kiki!” I cried, dismayed. “What’s
wrong? Don’t…don’t you like it?”

“Oh, Jen,” she sobbed. “This is the
most beautiful thing I have ever seen!” And with that she wrapped her arms
around me and sobbed noisily into my shoulder.

“Well done, Jen,” Mr. Barker said,
patting my arm as he and Mrs. Barker joined us.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous,” Mrs.
Barker said, nodding at me. “Thank you so much.”

“It was my pleasure,” I said,
patting Kiki, who was still crying, awkwardly on the back.

To my relief, Eric appeared at my
side and pulled Kiki away. “This is awesome, Jen,” he said, wrapping his arm
around his sniffling fiancée. “Thanks so much.”

“It’s perfect!” Kiki said, wiping
under her eyes, carful not smudge her mascara.

“I’m so glad you all like it,” I
said. “Jason really did a wonderful job.”

“
Hmph
,”
Kiki said. “He’s not the one who’s been on the phone with me at all hours for
the last few weeks.”

I bowed my head slightly, unsure
how to respond. “Actually, I should probably do a lap of the room, check with
the vendors. I hope you all have a lovely evening.”

“Thanks, Jen!” Kiki cried as I
walked away, her parents and Eric echoing her sentiments.

I quickly made my way around the
room, double- checking the flower arrangements. I stopped at the bar and
conferred with the three bartenders, making sure they were well-stocked and
knew where to get extra bottles if needed.

I headed off in search of the
maître d’, hoping to remind him of my expectations for the wait staff and the
order of service. As I walked, I kept an eye out for Jason, whom I hadn’t seen
since leaving the ballroom for Kiki’s suite a few hours ago.

The room was beginning to fill up,
and I heard many appreciative murmurs as the guests took in the décor. I
stopped at a large flower pot where several twinkle lights appeared to have
gone out. Methodically, I began turning the small bulbs until I found the loose
one. The dark bulbs around it immediately came to life, and I smiled.

“Impressive,” said a voice behind
me. I turned and saw Matt, looking at me appraisingly.

“It’s all part of the job,” I said.

“Hmm. I don’t see your associate
anywhere tightening light bulbs.”

“Jason?” I asked, looking around
for him. “I’m sure he’s busy somewhere, I haven’t seen him for a while.”

Matt didn’t say anything, but he
also didn’t make any move to walk away. I started to feel slightly flustered.

“So,” I said. “What do you think?”

Matt looked around. “It’s
very…overwhelming.”

I don’t know why I felt
disappointed. What had I expected? He had made his feelings about this kind of
stuff well-known to me.

“Well, the bride and groom think
it’s perfect.” I could hear the defensiveness in my voice, but I couldn’t hide
it.

“I’m sure they do,” he said,
looking slightly abashed. Perhaps he felt bad for offending me. “Don’t get me
wrong, it’s really cool, really…pretty. I just think…”

“What?”

“Well, isn’t it a bit much? I mean,
think of how much money this cost. For a
party
.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Actually, I know exactly how much money it cost, seeing as how I planned it
and all.”

He looked sheepish. “No offense. I
just…you know, I think of all the other things this money could have been spent
on.”

“I get that, I do, but I guess I
see it differently. I mean, I arranged for the flowers, and the caterers and
the bartenders…a lot of people are going to have a better quarter, or get a
better paycheck, because of this party. I hardly see that as a waste.”

“A lot of corporations, you mean,”
Matt said, raising his eyebrows.

“You’re wrong. Mr. Barker
specifically asked me to use local, independent vendors—and even if he
hadn’t, I always make it a practice to do just that. The guy who did these
flowers—this single party will pay his employees’ wages for the entire
month.”

Matt just looked at me for a
moment, not saying anything.

“What?” I finally said,
uncomfortable and fidgeting.

“Nothing…you’re just…interesting.
That’s all.”

I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded
like a compliment. At any rate, I couldn’t stay here talking to Matt all night,
even though he provided a heck of a view. I had a job to do.