Chapter 66
Juliana
Finally, the day of the engagement party arrives and a few minutes after 3, Tatyana and I walk into El Mezcal, our arms loaded with bags. The restaurant owner hurries over to us and I shift some bags around to shake his hand.
”So nice to meet you. I am Juliana and this is Tatyana. She and Mike are the ones who recently got engaged. Mike will be joining us a little later, he is still at work.”
”But he is getting off early for tonight!” Tatyana pipes up, a big smile on her face as she reaches to shake the owner”s hand as well.
”Lovely. My name is Don Lizarazo, I am the owner here. It”s nice to meet you both and I look forward to meeting Mike as well. Please let me know if there is anything we can do to help set up.”
”We should be able to handle it ourselves, I think. And we will try not to bother your other guests.” I smile apologetically since I can tell people are already watching us. Don nods at me and then excuses himself to go assist one of his waiters.
”He seems nice,” Tatyana comments, then goes to set up a large table at the back of the restaurant. She places all her bags on the floor by the table and I do the same.
”I”ll run out and grab the rest of the items. I should be able to carry them by myself.” I grab my keys and head back outside while Tatyana gets to work inside.
I am able to get the rest of everything but struggle to close the hatch of my car. When it”s finally closed, I let out a breath and make my way back into the restaurant. Someone grabs a bag off my arm and hands it to another person.
”Here let us help with those,” Sam, one of our friends, smiles at me while taking the rest of the bags to divide between the three women who have just shown up.
”Thank you. And thank you all for coming to help set up.” I express my gratitude and look around at all the smiling faces surrounding me. Oh no, some have a hint of sadness or maybe pity in their eyes. I guess word did travel. Well, it has been three weeks. Everyone probably knows about Kurt and me at this point. Although we had never directly addressed anyone outside our parents about our breakup, everyone knew that I was back living with T and I hadn’t spent much time with Kurt recently. I feel the need to remind them. ”Tonight is about Tatyana and Mike.”
They all nod in agreement and head off into the restaurant to help with the setup. Sam stays behind, loops her arm through mine, and tugs me along.
”This is going to be so much fun!” I chuckle at her enthusiasm but agree and let her drag me to the rest of the girls.
”Thank you all for coming to help!” Tatyana throws her arms around the women nearest her and everyone squeals excitedly. ”The party doesn”t start till 6 p.m. so we have an hour after the restaurant officially closes for our use at 5 p.m. but I figured we”d better set up now so we have time to get ready before the party and of course arrive fashionably late.”
”Not too late,” I scold her, teasingly. ”I did book us all a quick spa appointment at 4:45 p.m. so we only have about an hour and a half to get all of this finished. Nothing too fancy, just a mani-pedi. Alright now, let”s get to work ladies!” We all cheer then quiet down realizing there are still guests around us.
The other women start laying out tablecloths and setting up stands for cute placement of the food and carefully hanging things on the wall. Adding it to the decoration already there trying to make it look right for an engagement party without completely cluttering the wall.
By 4:30 p.m., only a few tables remained filled by customers while the others had been taken over by our party. Some of the customers even offered some ideas which we gladly accepted.
When the last table gets up to leave, they congratulate Tatyana and comment on the amazing decoration. We grin and thank them and of course, Tatyana invites them to come back and join us in a couple hours. They happily accept and we laugh with our new friends. Finishing the last table is quick since we”ve gotten it down to a simple process now and while the other ladies are still making a few adjustments I check my watch and see we have five minutes to make it to the nail appointment.
”Alright, we have to go! Tatyana get your stuff. Ladies, are you all right to finish up here and meet us over there?” Everyone agrees as there isn”t much left to do.
”I”ll hide all the empty bags in my car,” Sam offers.
”We can store everything in the back room and we will roll the bins out to the trash. Don”t worry about it. Go have fun. Everyone,” Don tells us and shoos us out the door. Don came out around 4 to help us decorate. I think he really enjoyed the process. I throw my arms around him in a hug and thank him profusely before shuffling everyone out the door. We decided to take two cars to make it easier to go back to our own places to get dressed for the party.
When we arrive at the nail salon, we are ushered in and Tatyana takes the middle two of five empty seats, leaving room for the rest of the girls to sit beside us. After soaking our feet for a few minutes, the salon doors open and the chatter of friends enters growing louder as they make their way towards us. They spread out around us and take their seats.
”Sorry, it took us so long,” Kamie apologizes, tossing her purse into the little cubby beside her chair. ”Of course, we couldn”t find any place to park. How did you guys find a spot so quickly?” Kamie groans and rolls her eyes but doesn”t let the annoyance ruin her time.
”Luckily someone was leaving right as we pulled in. Pretty decent spot too,” I add just to tease her. ”Okay so are we all matching colors or did everyone have their own idea?”
”Ooo! I think we should all get matching themes. We can do different colors but they just have to match the theme of the party!” Sam suggests.
”Yes! That sounds cool. And then we can do a similar thing for the wedding, well depending on how this turns out. What do you think, T?” Kamie adds in then turns to see how Tatyana feels.
”Oh my gosh, I love that idea!” Tatyana looks excited and another cheer goes up with the group. The ladies around us laugh and enjoy our excitement. ”Okay, so the theme colors are light purple and light gray. So hm, let me see the options.”
After a few minutes of deciding while the manicurist and pedicurist began the prep work, Tatyana finally chose the two exact colors she wanted.
”Perfect! Okay, I like these two colors. Feel free to use them any way you choose.” Tatyana points to the two colors she picked and her nail artist goes to grab the colors and confirm they”re correct. We all approve and the girls start chatting amongst themselves about different designs they could add.
When we are all finished, we are highly relaxed yet still excited. We stand at the front counter ready to pay and while we take turns, we all show each other our designs and newly painted nails. Kamie and Sam both choose variations of the purple and gray combo. Melanie chose to simply use purple and added a hint of sparkle, pre-approved by Tatyana just to make sure. Tatyana herself got the light gray polish turning into purple. Almost an ombre effect. And I got the reverse of her nails. All in all, we matched each other quite nicely, all of us.
”Now time to go get ready!” Kamie claps her hands excitedly. ”See you all at the party at 6 p.m. Well probably a little later but hey, beauty takes time.” We all laugh but agree and carefully walk to our cars so we don”t mess up our nails.
Once back at our apartment, Tatyana flops down on the couch.
”Hey, what are you doing? We don”t have much time to get ready.” I check my phone to see the time and notice a few messages. I skim through them quickly, respond to some more pressing texts, and then set my phone aside, seeing that Tatyana hasn”t moved an inch.
”I”m suddenly very tired,” Tatyana yawns and stretches out on the couch. Not laying down yet but laying back and sliding down further.
”No no, you”re just too relaxed. Go take a cold shower and I”ll make you a drink. Then we need to get ready. It”s already 5:45. But I figured you wouldn”t be arriving before 6:30 anyway.” Tatyana chuckles and nods in agreement then reaches up to have me help her up. I haul her off the couch then pat her bum as she passes by, to hurry her along.
”Alright alright, I”m going. No need to get handsy.”
While Tatyana is showering, I go pick out stellar outfits for both of us and change quickly into mine then just as I”m entering the kitchen I hear the shower turn off. Tatyana emerges with a towel wrapped around her. Her first stop is the kitchen, of course.
”Here you go,” I say and hand her a drink that I whipped up pretty quickly so hopefully it isn”t horrible. ”And yes it has alcohol, I have learned a few drinks from living with you.”
”I was going to say ”my hero” but I guess I am the hero in this story,” Tatyana gratefully accepts the drink and takes a sip. ”Not bad.”
”You”re the hero for teaching me how to make drinks?” I laugh and shake my head.
”Oh yes, it”s a much-appreciated gift to have.”
”Go get ready. Dry your hair first then while you”re getting dressed, I will get the hot iron warmed up.
Half an hour and one small refill later with mostly coke, and we are ready to go. I chose a light purple pantsuit for the evening and grab my gray clutch to match the theme and my nails. For Tatyana, I picked out her slightly sparkly gray mini dress but at the last minute decided we”d better switch outfits. Purple looks amazing with her skin tone. Although I”m not too comfortable with how short the dress looks, I”m a couple of inches shorter than Tatyana, so the dress comes down a bit further on me.
”Are we forgetting anything?” I ask on our way down to the lobby of the building.
”Yes,” a voice grabs our attention and we turn to see Mike striding towards us with a big grin on his face. ”You”re forgetting the groom-to-be.”
Tatyana launches herself at him and he catches her easily with a tight hug and places her back on the ground giving her a kiss before coming to hug me.
”Hey! Glad you could make it,” I tease. ”But you”re absolutely right we were definitely about to leave without you. Whoops. But now that you”re here I”ll drive myself separately so you guys can be the last to arrive. Fashionably late of course.” I squeeze Tatyana”s hand and make my exit while they talk on the way to Mike”s car.
Arriving at El Mezcal, I see the restaurant is already pretty decently packed with all of Tatyana and Mike”s friends and families. I see my parents are here as well but I don”t make my way over to them. The family that was dining here earlier have come back and our friends are making them feel welcome. I wave to them and say a quick hello to as many people as I can.
After a few minutes of mingling, I see Don gesturing to me and I make my way to him.
”Tatyana and her fiancé have arrived. Is there anything we need to do to announce them?” Don asks and I nod.
”Thank you, I will get right on it!” I make my way over to where we have music set up and get the music quieted down then switch the song to one of the songs I know Mike and Tatyana say is one of ”their songs”. The room grows quiet and perfectly timed too because at that moment Mike and Tatyana burst through the front door.
”She said yes!!!” Mike yells and we all cheer and holler in excitement.
”He said yes first!!” Tatyana yells in return and more cheers and laughter erupt in the crowd. Even though Tatyana proposed to him a couple of weeks ago, Mike revealed he had been planning to propose too. So almost a week after Tatyana proposed, Mike popped the question as well. Tatyana was not expecting it obviously so she was surprised and very excited.
The newly engaged couple make their way through the throng of people congratulating them and all saying how much they were looking forward to the wedding. Especially seeing how amazing the engagement party is.
I watch the happy couple mingle among friends and family then turn my attention to Tatyana”s dad who has just approached me asking how my new job is going. We converse for a few minutes as other guests trickle in. At one point I look up from the conversation I”m having with Tatyana”s dad, and my heart starts fluttering as I see Kurt enter the restaurant.