Amaya
My next appointment was about twenty minutes away and I stewed over Mr. Daniels’ words as I drove. Play dress up.Seriously? How would he have liked it if I said all he did was sit at a desk looking handsome all day? He pushed papers around and raked in the money. Except, someone else did the actual raking for him.
I pulled up to the bakery still muttering under my breath. When I saw my bride, however, I did my best to switch that part of my brain off and switch on the bridesmaid bestie part. This bride was shy, disorganized, and as sweet as pie. I was to be her only attendant and truth be told, I was giving her a steep discount after I spoke with her future mother-in-law about the planning.
“Sydney, honey, I’m so excited to see you! Are you ready to pick out a wedding cake?” I gave her a light squeeze when I approached her and she heaved a sigh of relief.
“I’m nervous. This looks expensive,” she stammered.
Sweet Tooth Savannah’s was a middle of the line shop that I brought clients to frequently. They did a good job for a decent price. I eyed the window and the six-tier dummy cake in the window was definitely impressive. “You’re not getting a huge cake, though, right? And there are plenty of options to cut costs. But this is only a free tasting, so don’t worry about it just yet.”
She took a deep breath. “Right. Yes.”
We sampled several kinds of cake, and the baker assured us he could create a beautiful small cake for cutting then have cupcakes for everyone else. Sydney was happy with the compromise and even happier with the estimated cost.
As we left, she laid a hand on my arm. “Amaya, you have no idea what a godsend you are. I know nothing about being a bride and being without a mom, you’re doing all the things I would be doing with her. So thank you.”
This is why I do what I do. It’s not about dressing up. It’s not about cake or showing off custom chandeliers. It’s about making a connection with a bride who needs help, who is looking for someone to guide them through a perfect day. Helping the Sydneys of the world feel beautiful and happy on her big day, that’s what it’s about.
“Sweetie, I am honored to be with you for all this. Don’t worry about a thing.” I hugged her tight. “I will see you next week for invitations, right? And if you need anything before that, just text me.”
Goodbyes were said and I made my way home. I changed into sweats and sat at my desk to organize a few things. Each couple had a folder, color-coded by the month of their wedding. I added the contract for the Promenade to the couple I had been with that morning and the cake order for Sydney’s wedding.
My mind went back to Orlando saying his mother wanted me to work there with them. I stayed busy, but I could always be busier. I loved coordinating events, not just weddings. Would the job come with a regular salary? Benefits? That would be nice.
But then I would have to see that insufferable Orlando Daniels every day. Oh, he wasn’t insufferable, he just put his foot in his mouth from time to time. I do enjoy dressing up and looking nice, and it was pretty clear he did, too. The way he filled out a suit with those wide shoulders and toned thighs were enough to turn my cheeks pink. Not that I had noticed his thighs under his tailored slacks.
The ringing of my phone made the picture of Orlando’s thighs disappear from my mind. My sister’s face appeared on the screen. “Hi, Linaya, what’s up?” I cradled the phone with my shoulder while I pulled up my email.
“What are you doing Friday?” She sounded near breathless.
I didn’t mean to laugh, but my Friday nights and Saturdays were usually jam-packed. The majority of my work was on weekends and Linaya knew that. “This Friday? Girl you know I have to work. This weekend is the Amick wedding.”
The heavy sigh that came through nearly blew out my eardrum. “Ugh, you’re always busy on weekends.”
“It is my job. What’s up?” I scanned the emails for anything that stood out while I waited for her reply.
My sister’s voice came through sounding very pouty. “I just miss you and I want to talk to you.”
With a chuckle, I replied, “Talk to me now.”
“In person.”
“Come over now.” I laughed fully. She was good at getting her way and though she was my baby sister, she was also a built-in best friend.
“Really?”
“Really. We’ll order Thai food and I have ice cream.”
“I’ll be there in thirty.” The excitement in her voice made me smile. I loved nothing more than making my sister happy, and if she needed an in-person chat session, she had something going on.
I put my phone down and opened my emails. A dozen new inquiries appeared before me. Ever since I had been interviewed for Action News there had been a definite uptick in requests. And while not everyone wanted to book, many did. Unfortunately, many who asked couldn’t afford my rates, but that’s what being in demand did. It was exciting and humbling at the same time.
How would that change if I were to work for the Daniels family? What about the clientele I had already booked? I hoped Linaya would know what to do, because I sure didn’t. She always brought a fresh outlook to everything.
Over bowls of pad thai and tom kha kai, we chatted on my couch, our legs intertwined between us. Linaya wore a cropped shirt and running shorts while I had on sweats. We both wore our hair in wild messy buns. A pair of glasses sat forgotten on my sister’s head as she squinted at her phone.
I told her about the potential job at The Promenade and she nearly jumped from her place on the couch. “That is so exciting! When would you start?”
I shrugged. “No idea. I don’t know how these things work. I have clients booked out eighteen months.” I slurped on my soup. Yai, our Thai grandmother, would have given me a shocked expression at the faux pas. Slurping was considered rude. But our father, her son, thought she was so outdated, he had taught us to slurp and slurp loudly. Linaya and I still enjoyed seeing who could be the loudest.
“Quit slurping,” she scolded. “Can you still work with those brides even if they’re not married there?”
I wish I knew. It wasn’t something Orlando and I had discussed at length. My immediate thought has been to turn him down, but it could be beneficial in the long run. One day I would be too old to be a universal bridesmaid, and having event planning on my resume would be great.
“I guess I need to talk to him more about it. There’s a lot to consider.”
Crinkling her nose, Linaya grabbed my hand. “Does this mean a shopping trip?”
“Let me talk with this guy first. Then, we shop.” We settled into silence for a few minutes, both of us eating and occasionally making a very loud slurp. Yai would be tanning our hides by now if she heard us. Thankfully she lives several hours away.
“So I dumped Josiah,” Linaya finally said, a sad expression crossing her face.
There was no surprise there, but I tilted my head and tried to look sympathetic. “I’m sorry, Linny. But truthfully, he didn’t seem well suited to you.”
“I guess not,” she muttered with a pout. “I’m ready to find the right person, you know?”
I sat up straighter. I did not know, and I told her as much. “You want to go to New York, you want to design for runways. Why do you feel the need to settle down now?”
Linaya chewed on her nail while she thought. “Well, Mom married Daddy when she was twenty-one. Yai was nineteen when she married Pop. Gran was twenty-two when she married Granddad. I think my biological clock is ticking.”
I put my hand to my stomach, feeling for an imaginary biological clock. At twenty-six, I did not feel like mine was ticking away like a time bomb. I rarely dated, being a perpetual bridesmaid pretty much killed my dating life outside of creepy groomsmen. My mind went to Orlando. He was the closest thing I’d had to a date in the six months since Kyle. I figured he was a little older than me and wondered if men had biological clocks that began ticking at a certain age.
My gaze came to rest on my sister’s big doe eyes. “Your biological clock hasn’t even begun yet, let alone be counting down the time you have left. You’re young. And people don’t get married as young as they used to. I mean, Gran and Yai got married in the seventies – do you know how long ago that was? That’s just how it was done then. You have all the time in the world now.”
Even though she heaved a sigh, Linaya smiled. “I guess you’re right. Maybe I need to be looking for a guy after I graduate and go to New York.”
I stood and put my bowls in the sink. Opening the freezer, I called back to her, “That’s right. And until then, I have mint chocolate chip ice cream.”