Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
C lara
“Oh, crap—it's 9:30 already!”
I hadn't heard any of my alarms. I tossed the sheets from me, casting them away from my body. I sprang from my bed and pulled on whatever was available in hopes that it all matched. I quickly did a soft palette of makeup, rounded up my necessary items, and fled out the door. Luckily, my sister had already gone to work, so my car wasn't trapped in the driveway.
I did my best not to speed through downtown. It was hard not to smash the pedal to the floor, but I was worried about leaving Jen hanging. I didn't want her waiting at my office too long without me there. She was already under a great deal of pressure. I stopped off at a drive-thru coffee shop and picked up two caramel coffees before speeding—as legally as possible—over to my office.
I parked on the curb and hopped out, nearly spilling my coffee everywhere. I stepped up to the curb and glanced around.
“Where is she?”
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I spun around in circles while trying to chase my purse. I must have looked like a madwoman fleeing around. Maybe I even looked like a dog chasing its tail. I set the coffees on top of my car and pulled out my phone.
It was a text from Jen saying, “I'm at the venue. Can you meet me here?”
I huffed and typed, “Of course!”
I grabbed the coffees, hopped back into my car, and drove—carefully, of course—to the Grand Hall Center a few blocks away. I repeated the same motions as earlier but, this time, with a little more finesse. As I hauled up to the door, I nearly collided with another body.
I held the drinks away from me, staring down at the blouse I was wearing.
“Whoa, that was a close one.”
The person chuckled. “Sorry about that, Clara.”
I glanced tentatively at who had spoken. “Oh, hey, Levon.”
“Don't look so disappointed.”
“Well, you don't make it easy, do you?”
He laughed. “I see you're mostly all smiles today.”
“Work keeps me smiling. I see you're mostly . . . free of work today given your appearance here.”
“Yeah, well, Jen wanted me to check out the venue. We hadn't spoken since yesterday.”
I looked curious. “And why's that?”
“I guess you don't know yet since you're still smiling.”
“You could keep me guessing or you could let me know.”
He shrugged. “I'll let Jen tell you. It's her wedding.”
“Okay, well, I don't have time for you mind games. We're not in high school anymore.”
“Ah, as always—teeth first.”
“You know it.”
“I sure do.”
He reached for the door handle and pulled it open. I gave him a rather shocked expression and tried my best to wear my professional smile. I might have been grimacing, but who knew? He wasn't betraying any reactions.
Not yet.
“Thanks, Levon.”
He nodded. “Of course. Go ahead—you'll find my sister running around in circles like a chicken with her head cut off.”
“I'm sure it's not that bad.”
“You'll see.”
I rushed through the door and tried to ignore his knowing grin. It was the same one he wore whenever he knew he was right and I hated that smile. He knew I hated that smile. To me, it was so smug. It was just better to let me find out.
And, sure enough, he was right.
I rushed into the reception room where Jen appeared as her brother had described. She was rushing around the room with the fabrics we had chosen—the sample fabrics since the new ones hadn't come in yet—wrapping it around one chair and then another.
She turned to me. “I just can't picture it yet, Clara.”
“I rush-ordered those fabrics, so we should be getting them by the end of the day.”
“But what if we don't?”
I held up her coffee. She dropped the fabric she was holding and accepted the coffee, immediately raising it to her lips. She hummed after taking a sip, exhaling what seemed to be the rest of her manic energy.
She smiled. “Ah, that hits the spot.”
“Did you not have any coffee yet?”
“Nope, I came right here.”
“Well, next time, grab coffee.”
She laughed. “Yeah, it certainly helps.”
“So, what are you trying to figure out?”
She turned and pointed to everything in sight. “The setup of the tables and the chairs—it feels crowded, doesn't it? I don't want everyone to be stepping on each other all night.”
“So, my favorite part about this venue is they usually have their floor plans available so you can see where everything is going to go. Where are the guys who brought it all in?”
“I think they're in the office.”
“Okay, I can go round them up and we can move things around. That way, you can get a better idea of how it's going to look instead of cluttered like this.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I figured they just moved it in here for us to play with.”
“They probably did. I'll go find them and we can get moving on the setup.”
“Thanks, Clara.”
I smiled. “Of course. Keep drinking that coffee and fuel up. We're going to need it.”
I winked at her before walking tall toward the doors at the other end of the reception room. It was a nice place, spacious and cozy. The windows on either side allowed a great deal of light into the room. I could already imagine the purple curtains hanging from them, billowing around the windows and giving the room a much cooler feeling.
I wandered through a set of double doors and peeked my head into the main office. I noticed a woman behind the desk. I smiled as I approached and leaned against the counter.
“Good morning! I'm the designer for Miss Milford today. Would you mind sending us a few guys to help move around the tables in the reception room?”
The secretary smiled. “Of course! I'll call them right away.”
“Thank you!”
I headed back to the reception room. The hallways of the Grand Hall Center were absolutely lovely. The carpets were lush and delightful, full of vines and cherubs that expanded all the way down the hallway. I smiled as I studied them.
But my smile quickly fled from my face when I remembered what Levon had said.
I'll let Jen tell you. It's her wedding.
I shook away the memory and followed the wonderful dancing cherubs to the double doors. I pushed through them, alerting Jen that I had returned. She was standing in the center of the room in the middle of what appeared to be a dance floor. She spun around slowly, squinting at the floor.
“Are you practicing?” I teased.
She giggled. “Sort of. I still can't believe this place will be filled with people soon, you know?”
“Were you able to get a good look at the chapel?”
“Oh, it was so lovely. I don't think we need to change any of the decorations in there except for a few curtains of purple.”
I giggled. “Well, that's good news. That means less hanging things up for me.”
“I figured that would make your job easier.”
“You're already making my job easier by being yourself.”
She smiled warmly. “Awe, Clara. You're just saying that. Ugh, I can't even handle this. I've been stressed out. I even yelled at Levon yesterday.”
My features softened as I held her at arm's length. “Hey, you're going to survive this. It's your wedding. It's your day. And you've made every single decision without ripping your hair out. You've been, by far, my easiest client. You already know what you want.”
“You really mean that, Clara?”
“Of course, I do. And I'm not just saying that so we can move forward. I'm letting you know that what you're feeling is normal and you're not inconveniencing me at all.”
She smiled. “Thanks, girl.”
“Of course. Now, the guys should be here any second to help us with the tables. Let's start on how you want the table to look. I brought extra fabric.”
“Oh, good. That should put things in perspective.”
I nodded as I headed for the side door. When I pushed through it, I felt the morning breeze blast my hair away from my face. I needed the fresh air. As much as I loved my job and loved designing, it was a lot to deal with people who were under stress. I was decent at handling stress, but this was also Jen. I didn't want to make any mistakes that would damage our friendship.
I mean, technically Levon was a mistake and that didn't hurt our friendship . I thought with a giggle. So, I'm sure the two of us can survive her wedding just fine.
I unlocked the trunk of my car and gathered the fabric I needed. I frowned at the trunk. I had meant to ask Jen what Levon was talking about. I held my forehead for a second, trying to clear my brain. I needed to focus on the task at hand. If it was important, she would tell me when I needed to know.
Then again, it could have all been a dirty trick to infect my brain. Even though Levon was intelligent and clever, he was also incredibly petty. He had a way with getting under my skin. He probably said what he said because he wanted to see me squirm.
I groaned with frustration as I shut the trunk and marched back up to the venue.
Well, I won't let it get to me. But I will ask when I remember. For now, we need to set up the tables. We need to see how it looks.
I walked calmly back inside and held up the fabric to Jen. “Ta-da!”
She squealed. “Oh, it looks so pretty ! I can't wait for the rest of it to get here!”
“It should be here by the evening.”
“I just can't wait!”
I giggled. “Let's see how this looks on that table there.”
We went to the nearest table and I dropped the fabric on the ground. I spread the purple cloth over the table and tightened it underneath, glancing at Jen for her approval. She nodded eagerly. I left the cloth tightened and reached for the silky purple fabric to start wrapping around the chairs.
I kept glancing at her to see whether her face lit up. That was always the best way to gauge whether she liked it. With every move, she seemed more intrigued. I took that as her way of expressing approval. I reached into my bag for the trinkets.
“Alright, this is the kicker,” I announced. “Because these little baskets and trinkets are adorable and I think they'll really make the room pop.”
I set the teal centerpiece on the table. It was a simple weighted centerpiece that had shiny teal foil and stars sticking out the top. They were sparkly and cute, commanding the eye and making the purple seem to shine even more. I added the baskets around the centerpiece and turned to Jen.
“What do you think?”
Her eyes were shimmering. “Oh, that looks wonderful.”
The double doors sounded on the other side of the room. I glanced up to find the three men we had been promised. I smiled and waved them over.
“Alright, we're going to set the tables now. Do you want them lining the dance floor or in a zig-zag sort of pattern?”
Jen looked like a deer in headlights. “What do you think?”
“Wow, that's the first I've seen you indecisive.”
“I think I just got sick.”
I smiled reassuringly. “Take a breath. We're in this together, remember? Let's see how the first option looks. I'll take a picture and then we can look at the second option.”
“That sounds good. I trust you.”
“Great—alright, boys!”
I started handing out instructions left and right. The reception room filled with noise as they maneuvered the tables and chairs where I told them to go. After several minutes of loud screeching, the tables were in their first position. I took a picture as promised and dove into my next set of instructions. After another several minutes, we finished setting up and we were back to deciding what worked.
Jen chose the second option. From there, we went into basic decorations and, before I knew it, the day had flown right past me. I ended up collapsing in my bed at my sister's house with Levon's voice still circling my brain.
I blinked through my exhaustion.
It doesn't matter , I reflected. I forgot to ask, but it doesn't matter. I don't even care. I don't want to get sucked in all over again.
And with that, I fell right to sleep.