Chapter 2 #2
The big screen at one end of the meeting room was playing a montage of wedding photos; some traditional, some flamboyant, some quirky.
There was more variety and colour in the photos on display here compared to the other places they’d been to.
She particularly liked a spectacular fantasy-themed wedding where the bride wore a green-and-silver dress and the groom had a headdress with horns on it.
It seemed this company was open to more unusual wedding themes.
‘Can I get you something to drink?’ The woman who had shown them in was all smiles. ‘We have tea, a variety of coffees, rooibos, fruit juice or, if you’re feeling particularly flush, champagne.’
Kalpana was about to ask for tea, when Marcus cut in, ‘Champagne, please.’
They sat together at one side of the polished wooden table. ‘Let’s see if it really is champagne and not prosecco or something,’ Marcus said to her. ‘I’m a bit surprised the planner isn’t here yet.’
She glanced at her phone. ‘We are twenty minutes early.’
Marcus gave a small shrug. ‘On time, is already late.’
Kalpana looked down and fidgeted with her handbag.
Marcus had been given the contact for this firm by an old school friend.
She wasn’t sure that boded well. Marcus’s school friends tended to be loud, overconfident men who liked to talk about how they worked harder than anyone else.
As a person who worked in the creative industries, Marcus was considered the wild and wacky one in the group.
She really didn’t know what sort of a wedding she would end up with after using one of these places.
The woman returned with two champagne flutes. Behind her a South Asian man in a plum-coloured suit and shirt patterned with tiny plum flowers came in. He was carrying an iPad and a mug.
He put the mug down on the table and said, ‘Hi, I’m Sam, your wedding planner. I’m sorry to keep you waiting.’
Kalpana opened her mouth to say that they were early, when Marcus said, ‘That’s quite all right,’ as though they genuinely had been kept waiting. Sam smiled.
Kalpana blinked. Oh. She knew him. He was the man from the Tube. The one who read her books. ‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said, delighted. This man was her fan. Maybe she wouldn’t end up with a soulless wedding after all.
Marcus’s eyebrows shot up. ‘You know each other?’
‘We met a few weeks ago. On the day of your publisher’s annual party,’ she said. ‘We met on the Tube.’
‘Nobody talks to people on the Tube,’ Marcus said.
‘Under normal circumstances, you’re quite right,’ said Sampath. ‘But the lady dropped her book, and it happened to land on me.’ He gave her an apologetic look.
She noticed that he had lovely long eyelashes and the tiniest dimple on one cheek. Something to note for the hero in the book she was failing to plot right now, perhaps.
‘I’m sorry if I said anything weird. I didn’t realise who you were,’ he said. ‘Mind you, if I’d known I was talking to the actual Kalpana Jay, I might have been a gibbering wreck. I’m such a huge fan.’
She remembered the enthusiasm in his voice when he talked about her books. It wasn’t like she was going to forget in a hurry. Stuff like that kept a writer’s soul alive. ‘When the new book comes out, I’ll sign it for you,’ she said.
‘You read her books?’ Marcus said. He looked the other man up and down, taking in the plum suit and the flower-dotted shirt. ‘I suppose. Yes. I see.’
When the planner sat down, he passed his business card across the table, one to each of them. Marcus read it. ‘Your real name is Sampath. Not Sam?’
‘Ah, yes. It is Sampath, but everyone calls me Sam.’
‘That’s silly, we should use your proper name,’ said Marcus. ‘Sampath.’
Even Kalpana could tell that he was saying it wrong. Sampath corrected him. ‘It’s not Sam-path. Think of the “a” as a “u”. Sum-puth.’
Marcus tried again. It was still incorrect, but it was louder.
Sampath’s eyes darted to Kalpana, as though seeking fellow feeling.
She’d had a similar discussion with Marcus when they’d first met.
Her parents had given her and her siblings names that could be easily shortened and anglicised.
She had been called Kally all her life but Marcus insisted on using her ‘beautiful real name’.
She gave Sampath a small, apologetic shrug.
Sampath paused for a second, then seemed to pull himself together. He tapped something on his iPad and clasped his hands together. ‘Why don’t we start with telling me how you guys first met?’
‘We met at a literary garden party organised by our agency.’ Marcus took her hand in his. ‘I looked up and saw the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, standing on the grass, drinking a glass of sparkling white wine.’ He gazed at her with adoration in his eyes and Kalpana felt her cheeks warm up.
‘Oh!’ Sampath said. ‘Was it love at first sight?’
‘It was,’ said Marcus.
Kalpana said, ‘It was super intimidating meeting someone I’d seen on TV.
And I am such a fan of his writing … But he came over and introduced himself – like he needed an introduction.
’ She remembered how astonished she’d been.
And flattered. He had made his way across the space to talk to her.
When she said she wrote romance, she fully expected him to look down on her, but his expression didn’t change.
His attention had stayed on her, his eyes never leaving her face.
It was like being bathed in sunlight. ‘And then we got chatting. And after the party, we went to a bar—’
‘And then a restaurant,’ said Marcus.
‘One thing led to another and here we are.’
Sampath was scribbling away on the iPad. ‘What was the name of the restaurant?’ he said, eyes still on his work.
Marcus frowned. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I can’t remember. I had eyes only for Kalpana, you see.’ He gave her a dazzling smile.
Sampath looked questioningly at her.
She gave him the name of the restaurant and the bar they’d gone to as well.
‘I know that place,’ Sampath said. ‘It’s very nice. Really nice canapés.’
‘Yes, they are. The honey roast garlic thing was lovely.’
‘What do you need that for?’ Marcus asked.
‘It’s useful to know these little details,’ Sampath said. ‘It’s your special day, so it’s good to know in case there are any details we can weave in to make it extra meaningful. That’s what sets us apart from other wedding firms.’ He scrolled on his tablet, clearly filling in a standard form.
‘Do you want a religious wedding? Which religion?’
‘Oh, no,’ Marcus said. ‘No need for all that.’
‘Marcus was raised C of E and I was raised Buddhist,’ she said, and fought down the urge to make excuses for never going to the temple. ‘But neither of us is particularly religious, so no. We don’t want a religious wedding.’
‘Okay,’ said Sampath, making notes. ‘No need to look for church venues.’
‘We want something fun,’ Marcus said, earnestly. ‘Impactful.’
Sampath nodded and wrote that down too.
After a few more questions, Sampath put his pen down, leaned forward and said, ‘So, what would your ideal wedding look like to you?’
Kalpana looked at her fiancé. The idea that she was getting married, let alone to Marcus, still didn’t feel real to her. She couldn’t picture the wedding at all. ‘I … I’m not sure.’ She shook her head. ‘It feels … our whole romance feels like a fairy tale.’
The wedding planner’s eyebrows rose. ‘Fairy tale?’ he asked, meaningfully.
Did he think she wanted a fairy tale theme? ‘No,’ she said, firmly. ‘I don’t mean that we want a fairy tale-themed wedding. Just that it all feels a little unreal.’
‘But it’s real,’ Marcus said. ‘We’re in love and we’re getting married.’ He leaned across and kissed her cheek. ‘You’re going to be the most beautiful bride there’s ever been.’
Logically, she knew this, but still, it was hard to really believe it was true. It was like she’d stepped into someone else’s life.
Sampath smiled. He must see this a lot in his line of work. ‘You don’t have to have the specifics worked out. Let’s just get a general idea to start with,’ he said. ‘Do you want to get married outside? Or in a place with a view? What sort of vibe are we aiming for?’ He looked at Marcus.
‘Well,’ said Marcus, ‘I know I want it to be a celebration.’ He took Kalpana’s hand. ‘It’s a public declaration of our love and we should make it the best thing it can possibly be.’
It was hard to argue with that, so Kalpana nodded.
‘So, as I said, money is no object. We would like to have the chance to embrace Kalpana’s heritage as part of it. We’re not sure what sort of things are available …’
‘That’s where I come in,’ said Sampath. ‘I’ll put together a list of options – when we go over on the reconnaissance trip, we’ll check in on all of those and you can make a decision on whether you want them. If you want to change things up a bit, we can see about that too.’
Marcus nodded. ‘That sounds good, but not that different from the other people we’ve spoken to. The only difference here is that you’re actually British–Sri Lankan. None of the other planners have been.’