“No,” Elly could hear Kim gritting her teeth. “No, he was at work, at the hospital, so he’s meeting me there. Lucky for him he can just walk down from his office, get some coffee and watch his wife have a baby! It’s all very convenient. Owwwww…THIS HURTS!!!”
Elly widened her eyes and ran her hands over her face. How could this be happening? Of all days, of all times.
“Did you leave the store locked? Was everything picked up…I don’t see anything missing…”
“Elly. This. Is. Not. About. YOU!! AIEEEE!!!”
Elly pulled the phone away from her ear. “You’re right. I will be there as soon as I possibly can. I think we may have about two hours left, but I’ll hurry, I promise, I will be there.”
“You better get here fast, because your goddaughter is on her way.”
Elly felt tears of joy spring to her eyes. “I’m coming. I love you.”
“I love you too - Do you not see that TRUCK?? THAT TRUCK COMING RIGHT TOWARDS US? WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Kim hung up the phone, right in the middle of berating her cabdriver.
Elly took a deep breath. Okay. She could do this. She waved Ardelle, Snarky Teenager and the hired workers over to her. “Everyone, our deadline has just narrowed. We are going to finish the tables first. Ardelle – can you start dressing the chairs? Each chair is mounted with a gardenia on a folded ti leaf, tucked under and around the bow. Understand?”
Ardelle squinted her eyes at Elly. “Of course I understand. Do you know zat I studied under Madamoiselle Lorelai at ..”
“Okay, off you go.” Elly turned to the Russian students, who all standing around looking equal parts confused and amused, expect for the handsome one, who couldn’t take his eyes off Snarky Teenager. “This entire platform needs to be covered with pale pink rose petals, in the buckets over there. Then take the remaining rose petals and cover the buffet table. Can you handle that?”
They nodded and stalked off, grumbling. She turned to Snarky Teenager. “After we finish the tables, I need you to lay down the cattalaya orchids on each place setting – that shouldn’t take long – and then start instructing the men on cleaning up and packing the vans.” Elly looked at her watch. “I need all the trash out of here and everything ready to go by 4 pm. The cocktails start at 5:30. Do you think we can do this? We need to hurry.” She grabbed Snarky Teenager’s arm lightly and pulled her close. “Kim’s in labor. We need to get the hospital.”
Snarky Teenager’s mouth twitched into a surprised o. “So…we need to hurry.”
“Yes, we need to hurry.”
The next hour was a blur of fast movement and flying flowers. Elly worked at a constant furious pace, stopping every twenty minutes to guzzle water, look around, sigh in frustration and continue mounting centerpieces. At 3:30, Elly finally finished and checked on how the rest of the progress was coming along, only to find herself swept away in the romance of it all. Ardelle had almost finished with the ti leaves mounted to each chair, which gave the room a slight whisper of a tropical breeze. The orchid centerpieces stood tall and luxurious, while the low centerpieces were sophisticated and extraordinarily lush. Under the flower chandelier, the raised platform for the bride and the groom was covered – inches thick – with rose petals. They scattered out from the center, mingling with tall glass cylinders that held floating candles, along with submerged callas. Crystals winked and sparkled in the light, and the entire room was a whimsical fairy tale, a place brides would only imagine in their wildest dreams. The wedding guests would find themselves immersed, bedazzled – and mumbling about just how much money must have been spent for such lavish details.
Elly sighed, filled with relief at the near-finished product. A low hum had fallen over the room as the workers had begun packing up their supplies: Boxes, knives, buckets, foam, ladders, carts and even a small scaffold. Snarky Teenager approached Elly as she walked among the tables, pulling roses open and picking up loose petals.
“What’s left?”
“Hmm…” Elly flipped through her immense contract. “The entrance flowers – you are handling those, correct?”
“Those are the giant urns filled with white anemone and the New Zealand hydrangeas, right?”
“Perfect. Finish that and then get the workers packed up and on their way. I don’t want to worry about them touching everything.”
“That one is kinda cute…”
Elly snapped her fingers. “Focus.”
Snarky Teenager rolled her eyes. “We are as good as done. Stop flipping out.”
Elly ignored her and glanced over her checklist. Bathroom flowers, done. Foyer entrance, done. Arrangement placed on desk for the catering manager, done. Table numbers… She bit her lip. The last thing she wanted to do was the table numbers. She looked up to see who she could assign to the task, but everyone was knee-deep in their projects, including Ardelle who was cleaning up a broken vase.