Snarky Teenager grinned and turned to head down to the shop. “Nice granny panties!” she called as she rounded the stairs. Elly shut the door behind her. Kim’s purse was gone from the table beside the door. She must have left early this morning to let Elly sleep.
Elly yawned and headed for the shower. She turned on the faucet and undressed. She climbed inside, savoring the jolt she felt from the pressured water pounding down on her. She stood in the shower for ten minutes, letting it cascade over her tired shoulders and neck. Eyes closed and hands on her fleshy belly, she her thoughts ran wild. Can this even be real? Aaron is coming here? What will he think when he sees me? Will he want me back? Elly imagined Aaron’s face at the end of a wedding aisle. She knew what it looked like. Maybe she’s pregnant? Maybe she trapped him? Elly shook her head, as if to shake loose the rampant thoughts. Stupid – you shouldn’t even care. The real question is, how can I hide this from Isaac? She turned off the shower and wrapped herself in a giant towel.
Rubbing a small circle in the steamy mirror, Elly looked at herself. Her blond hair was streaked back from her forehead and a tiny drop of water ran from her forehead down the tip of her nose. Bloodshot and weary, Elly’s eyes had never looked worse. She was ragged all over, as if she had been fighting an emotional war. Ignoring the wreck in the mirror, Elly brushed her hair up into a quick and messy bun, quickly applied some mascara and lip-gloss and ran into the bedroom to change into her delivery clothes: Khaki’s and a white polo. She pulled on sneakers, and not being able to find matching socks, decided on going without. She glanced back at Cadbury, still passed out under the covers and headed downstairs to the studio.
Thankfully, there were few remnants of her tantrum the night before. The consultation table had been righted, minus the glass and thank you notes. A broom leaned against the far wall, the only evidence of a hasty clean-up. On the long design table, Anthony and Snarky Teenager had already started pulling the flowers for the delivery, their first of the fall. Rows and rows of fat glass cylinders lined with thick leaves and wrapped with twine covered the area. Circus roses, their yellow petals morphing orange into a pinky red at the tips, poured out of the containers, with rustic pinecones and bright red winter berries peeking out between the roses. The bridesmaids’ bouquets, all circus roses with deep cranberry wraps, stood in stark contrast to the bride’s all white mini-calla bouquet that was accented only by a gold brooch tied at the base of flowers.
“This looks great” Elly breathed in relief. Anthony grinned proudly.
Snarky Teenager sidled up beside her. “So what happened last night? I just found an orchid from the table on the top of the shelves.”
“We’re not going to talk about that.” replied Elly. “Let’s just get packed up and get this thing done with. A wedding is the last thing I want to face today, but I have no choice. Anthony – would you mind getting the cart out for all these centerpieces?” She gestured towards Snarky Teenager, “Why don’t you start counting the personal flowers out and I’ll make sure that we have all the tools we need. You know we’re decking the entire pavilion, correct?”
Snarky Teenager nodded. “I heard. Thank goodness that the parking lot is so close, otherwise that would be a nightmare.”
It was an hour later when Elly solemnly declared, “This is a nightmare.” They were standing at the bottom of a large grassy hill peppered with fertilizer. The road that normally wound up the hill to the World’s Fair Pavilion had been dug up and was roped off by a detour sign, tractors and road work debris. A small hand-written sign declared “For the Bradshaw/Sander wedding, please head up stairs on East side of Park.” The Pavilion was a large stone rotunda with columns filtering the light in on either side, covered by a burgundy roof and had the best views of Forest Park in the city. It was also very, very high up.
“You have got to be freaking kidding me,” breathed Snarky Teenager. Elly looked around for an alternate entrance. There was none. At the bottom of the hill, a large staircase carved up towards the building, separated upon encountering a large slate man-made waterfall and the returned again to make a steep climb into the Pavilion. These were the stairs they would have to climb, carrying a van load of flowers. Elly and Snarky Teenager stared dumbfounded up the hill.
“I can’t do this today” snapped Elly, sitting down defeated on the curb. “I can’t do this.” She had a moment of drowning in self-pity before a centerpiece was handed down to her. She looked up into Anthony’s smiling face.
“Well, are we going to do this or not? I didn’t design all these gorgeous flowers to sit in the shop. Also, I’m guessing you don’t feel like being sued.”