Chapter 2 #3
‘I am,’ Sampath said, smoothly. ‘But full disclosure, I only lived there for about two years, when I was a kid, so I have very little local knowledge.’
Marcus waved a hand.
Kalpana looked away. However little knowledge he had, this guy knew more than she did. Once again, the idea of calling herself ‘Sri Lankan’ felt wrong. She was British, born and raised. The Sri Lankan part seemed like a strange heirloom that she’d inherited.
‘It’s your wedding,’ Sampath said. ‘There are no right or wrong answers.’
She raised her eyes. Was he talking to her? Her gaze met his. He was.
‘Right. Yes.’ She gave a little nod. ‘I’ll remember that.’
The smile that he gave her was warm and reassuring.
The simmering anxiety in her chest subsided.
This was the fourth planner they’d been to see.
They had all been very nice, but most of them had given up trying to push past her shyness and ended up listening more to Marcus.
Sampath was the only one who had tried to reassure her that she wasn’t doing ‘bride’ wrong. She liked that.
Later, when they’d walked out of the building and were waiting for Marcus’s driver to bring the car round, she said, ‘I like him. He seemed very grounded.’
Marcus looked up from his phone. ‘Yes. I liked him too. He seemed to understand what we wanted. Plus, he’s Sri Lankan. Him being a man would probably help with negotiations and things. Besides, gay guys have great taste.’
Kalpana raised her eyebrows. That was at least two sweeping generalisations in one go. She wondered whether to point this out, but decided that no, she would leave it. She had no doubt Sampath would deal with it if Marcus’s thoughtless comments crossed the line into rudeness.
***
Sampath made himself another coffee and went to his desk. His first job was to put a pitch together. Marcus and Kalpana hadn’t actually chosen their wedding planner yet. This was just the preliminary meeting. From what they’d said, he had some serious competition.
Despite the swanky customer-facing rooms, their actual work area was a normal open-plan office. There weren’t even proper cubicles.
His friend Ashley knocked on the side of his desk. She dressed like a corporate businesswoman but had the most approachable smile in the world. ‘You lucky duck,’ she said. ‘You get to pitch for the literary wedding of the year. And you’re a bookworm.’
Sampath grinned.
‘So, did you meet Kalpana Jay? What’s she like? I love, love, loved her last one. Got me through Christmas at home with the family, that book.’
‘Oh yes. That was a lovely read,’ he agreed.
‘And … Kalpana …’
‘Oh. She seems really nice. A little quieter than I expected. Seemed to defer to Marcus a lot. I didn’t expect that.
Her book voice is so …’ He searched for the word.
It wasn’t ‘feminist’, although her books were feminist in that the women got to be who they wanted to be, and they always won.
It was something else. ‘Strong,’ he said, finally.
‘Yeah. I know what you mean.’ Ashley leaned against the desk next to his. ‘And what about Marcus Lloyd-Howell? What’s he like? Is he really that handsome when you see him in the flesh?’
Sampath made a rueful face and nodded. ‘Yup. Precisely that handsome. Sickening, really.’
Ashley sniggered. ‘Have you tried reading his books though?’
‘I bought the latest – the one that got nominated for the Pulitzer. I’m going to read it as soon as I can. If he’s going to be a client, I should know his work.’
‘I found it impenetrable,’ Ashley said. ‘Like, the writing is beautiful and nuanced. There are sentences where you sort of have to stop and admire the words, you know. But it’s a bit like work. Not relaxing as such. I like Kalpana Jay’s books better. I inhale those.’
‘Different products, I guess.’ He opened a second file.
He needed to do some research and come up with a plausible itinerary.
It seemed the couple had about two and a half weeks for the trip, and they wanted to spend some of it actually being on holiday.
So, his job was to come up with an itinerary that took them to picturesque places and let them investigate wedding venues, while also giving them gaps of free time so that they could just be tourists.
He planned to make a list using information he could find on the internet, then ask his distant cousins to suggest a few more interesting places that locals knew about, so his pitch would stand out.
He wondered if they could help him find a local guide to be his ‘fixer’.
Ashley was still there. Sampath looked up. ‘Listen, Ash. I kind of have to get on.’
‘Oh. Right. Yes. I’m well jealous that you get to do this,’ said Ashley. ‘If there’s anything I can help with, just ask, okay?’
‘Will do.’
‘I’ll see you in the pub this evening?’
‘Yep.’
As he tidied up his notes from the meeting, Sampath couldn’t help but feel that all the plans were dominated by Marcus. Did Kalpana even want any of these things? If she didn’t, what sort of wedding did she want? He tapped a pen on his desk. Well, it was his job to find out.