Chapter 59
Jamie was up before anyone else. How could she sleep? She got four hours, at best. Was there ever a bride who actually slept through the night before her wedding? Jamie would have plenty of adrenaline to get her through the day.
Nevertheless, Beatrice was quick to bring her a large cup of coffee and a breakfast that was hearty enough to give her strength but hopefully not enough to expand her stomach for a few hours. “Happy wedding day!” she said, smiling as broadly as the windows she then threw open.
Little by little, the rest of Jamie’s entourage awoke.
Luna was the first non-employee to burst into the room, commenting on the good weather and all sorts of good omens she divined from her tea and Tarot cards ten minutes ago.
This was, of course, after a naked meditation on the walkway where her daughter was to be married in a few hours.
More than one of Jenny’s helpers shrieked in surprise.
Jamie was not in a huge hurry to get up, since Raul wasn’t due to style her for another forty-five minutes. However, as soon as she heard a door slam open, she knew it was trouble.
“Hey, you!” Seena burst into the master suite, Natasha trailing behind her. They came up to Jamie’s bed, where she lay on her side facing her mother as they talked about who was coming later that day.
Now there was Seena, then Natasha, and Jamie knew things were underway.
“We’re here, half of us are queer, and you’re gonna get used to it.” Seena leaped on the large bed and nearly rolled onto Jamie, squishing the bride.
When the fervor died down enough, Jamie offered them coffee or iced tea, depending on how much caffeine they wanted.
Naturally, everyone wanted as much as possible.
It was a big day, and Seena, although the maid of honor, had it in her head that her main mission was to bag her own billionaire. She didn’t even care if he was married.
“Now, honey,” Luna said, while Seena ran to the master bathroom. “We need to talk about…” Luna lowered her voice, “tonight.”
Jamie stared at her mother as if she hailed from another planet. “Mom,” she said, “I’m not a virgin, as you have plainly seen before.”
Natasha raised her eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. She did, however, slowly inch away, because any discussion about her boss’s sex life set her on edge. Can’t imagine why.
“That’s not what I was going to talk about.” Luna sat up straight on the bed, her loose muumuu doing nothing to hide her saggy breasts beneath. I really hope she wears a bra today. Please, Mom, just this once. “That would be awkward.”
“All right. Then what?”
“Well, I know that you and Etta… are very experienced together.” At that, Natasha got up and took Seena’s place in the bathroom as the maid of honor bounded out. “So were your father and I when we got married.”
“Mom.”
“Now, hear me out. My mother didn’t tell me, but I always wanted to make sure to tell you. The first time you make love as a woman and wife…”
“Hell, yeah! I’m in time for the sex talk!”
“…Is a very blessed experience. It will be unlike what you’ve ever experienced before. If you’re lucky at all…” Luna leaned forward and patted her daughter’s stomach. “You’ll start the next phase of your life already.”
“How many times do I have to say we’re not hitting up the donor clinic anytime soon?”
“Doesn’t matter. Your father and I did a helluva dance yesterday.”
“You could say that again.”
Raul showed up early. He brought Jamie over to her vanity and piled his supplies high. The day had officially begun.
People ran this way and that, constantly coming in and out of the master suite, which was the bridal base for the day.
Etta had slept in her mother’s guest room on the other side of the manor the night before, and as far as Jamie knew, a few guests had already harassed her about her look.
Last I heard, Helen Warner brought her personal stylist. Jamie wondered how that made Adele feel, since she had often talked about doing Etta’s hair for the wedding.
That named woman stopped by more than once, first in a simple black shift, then her…
pantsuit. Holy shit! Everyone in the room gaped in awe as Adele Thompson, the usually regal femme with her sleek, short-skirted dresses, came waltzing in wearing a tailored black Armani suit with a silk purple cummerbund, no tie, top two buttons of her shirt undone. Raul dropped his comb. Seena whistled.
“Hello again!” Adele showed herself in, her hair the most pristine braid in a bun Jamie had ever seen.
Was that done by the personal stylist in Etta’s dressing room?
“Oh, my goodness, Jamie, your hair is divine!” She shuffled forward on her black stilettos, poking out from her trousers like a pair of flirty girls.
“We still getting married today?” she said, not quietly enough.
“What do you mean… still getting married?” Seena asked, half-dressed in a slip.
“Oh, didn’t you hear?” Adele rested her elbow on Jamie’s shoulder as Raul went back to combing out the other side of her hair. “Etta can’t make the ceremony, so she’s asked me to stand in.” She winked at Jamie. Cute. “Why do you think I’m in this getup?”
Natasha dropped the flowers she carried the moment she got a look at Adele.
“Hi!” Adele spun around, winking at her as well. “Is that your dress? It’s lovely!”
“I… uh… I gotta go.”
Great. Gearing up the drama for my wedding. Where was Eve Warner for a cat fight over Natasha? Actually, that might be a great distraction from the parents…
“My, what a great look!” Luna was positively beaming as she got a load of Adele in her maid of honor suit. “You must be Adele. I’ve heard so much about you.”
The look on Adele’s face said everything.
Jamie didn’t pay much attention beyond that. Raul, one of the only men allowed to come in and out of the bridal suite, finished up Jamie’s hair while the makeup artist took to her face.
They had the discussion of how she should look many times.
A week ago, Jamie went into the salon to not only get her customary wash and trim, but to try out some bridal hairstyles.
She didn’t have her dress on, obviously, but she brought a picture from the most recent fitting.
They originally wanted to do an updo, but both agreed that Jamie looked too little like herself.
“We could do the updo for the ceremony and then take it down for the reception,” Raul suggested, “but it’s up to you. ”
I want to look as much like the woman Etta imagines as possible.
“Let’s take it down,” Jamie had said. So, that’s what they did now, fluffing out Jamie’s hair and putting in as many curls as possible.
I don’t look that much different from usual.
Just fancier. She looked like the day Etta proposed to her. That made her smile.
“All right, I am here!” That thick accent echoed down the hallway, sending Adele to Etta’s suite. Not hanging around, huh? Drama! “Let’s get this vestito on the bride!”
Bonita took over the room as she and her two assistants fluttered in and dictated this woman move here and that man get his ass out. Jamie was hauled from her vanity to the center of the room, where a dais was placed for her to stand upon while three Italian women mauled her.
The dress was brought out of its case, the gold detailing shimmering in the bright, natural light coming through the bedroom windows.
Everyone oohed and aahed at the glistening gold and beadwork traveling through the room as Bonita made Jamie model it, making sure it moved well.
This is more about her than me. Jamie would go along with it.
She wasn’t enjoying all the attention on her anyway – the more for Bonita?
The better. Although Jamie hoped she could get out of the heels soon.
There would be plenty of time for heels later.
Two hours before the ceremony began, the bridal party was done up in their dresses, hair, and makeup.
Natasha was radiant with her loose blond hair and the purple dress swishing through the air whenever she walked.
Seena was feistier, a bit tomboyish but still delightfully feminine with a loose black bun and enough jewelry to make her rattle with every step.
Tosh put on the suit and allowed Raul to smooth out his hair – actually, Raul insisted, refusing to let a single member of the bridal party go out without his touch to their heads.
Adele and Jenny came to the room to confirm that the others were finished having their photos taken in the garden.
Now it was Jamie’s turn, and after she received further confirmation that Etta would not see her in the dress, she allowed her mother and Natasha to help her down the grand staircase, where several people saw her in her regal glory.
More than a few claps and whistles sounded in the main foyer as they hustled to the backyard.
The ushers had done an admirable job of relegating the early arrivals to a reception area to wait for the ceremony.
There were two photographers on hand. One was the professional Etta hired to take their personal pictures.
The other was the lead photographer for a society magazine, who would not only use his photos exclusively for an upcoming spread, but also sell a few choice ones to newspapers and other magazines around the world.
Jamie tried not to think about that as she was posed around fountains and flowers, the sun reaching its zenith and spreading sunshine across the gardens.
After that, she was led back upstairs, where they would wait for the ceremony to begin.
I’m getting married. She thought that while her mother kept excusing herself to wipe tears from her eyes.
Today, I will begin my journey as a married woman.
She thought that while people continued to make sure she looked “perfect,” and speculated how Etta would react when she saw her beautiful bride tour the catwalk through the garden.