“One for Barnes Jewish Hospital, ASAP. Thanks, Eddie.” She hung up the phone quickly.
Snarky Teenager piped up from the corner. “That was nice.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Elly walked to the front, where Kim, hugely pregnant with a belly that looked as if it might pull her over, was working on the phones.
“Guess who is not coming?” Elly announced.
Kim dropped the phone. “Are you kidding me? Anthony’s not coming?”
“Apparently, he had an attack of appendicitis.”
Kim put her hand over her mouth and gasped. “Elly, it’s not an “attack of appendicitis” It’s just appendicitis. Poor Anthony! He was really looking forward to designing this wedding, too. Is he going to be okay?”
Elly grabbed the back of her office chair. “Yes, thank God. The doctor said he’ll be back on his feet soon. It sounds horrible, but I can’t really worry about him at the moment– what are we going to do? It’s...” she looked at her watch “…8 am already, and we’ve barely started. The wedding is tomorrow and even if we stay up until two in the morning, we can’t finish by then, not to mention we’ll be exhausted for the delivery.”
Kim shakily got to her feet. “Elly, I can help with designing.”
Elly held out her hand. “Absolutely not. First of all, I’m not going to have you standing in the back with all the slippery leaves. The last thing I need is for you to fall, and then I have two workers in the hospital. Secondly, you can’t even get your arms around yourself. How are you going to design exactly?”
Kim reached around her belly - there seemed to be mere inches to spare. She laughed softly, a tinkling sound. “I guess you’re right,” she sighed. “What are we going to do? I guess we could call Clayton Flowers and see if they can spare any workers…”
Elly shook her head. “No way. I can’t have a florist from another shop poking around here. They’ll sneak into our client list and steal our design style.”
Kim rolled her eyes. “No one is going to steal your design style, Elly.”
“Regardless. I wouldn’t be comfortable with that.”
“Well, beggars can’t be choosers,” snapped Kim.
Elly sighed. “You’re right. I can’t be choosy. I need to finish this wedding, otherwise it will bury me.” Elly’s face creased with worry as she walked quickly to the filing cabinet and started pulling out papers.
“Wait, what are you doing?” asked Kim.
Elly looked up at her, a hint of insanity in her sparkling blue eyes. “You should prepare yourself for what’s about to happen.”
Twenty minutes later, Ardelle Buche flung the front door open, sending the bells crashing against the wall. Elly cringed. Ardelle threw her scarf onto the table and ripped off her peacoat, revealing a yellow ruffled top and tight white pants.
“Darlings, I am here. I am here to save ze day, to design and preserve the precious name of your inner city store and to make an artistic achievement zat will win the admiration of people everywhere.”
Elly nodded and picked up her coat from the floor. “Yes, Ardelle, but remember what we talked about – you have to design exactly what I say. There is no room for creativity here. Everything has already been ordered and set up in back for you. It’s going to be a very long, intense day of designing and we are glad that you could help us – er, are you wearing heels?”
Ardelle tipped her toe. “Of course, one cannot design unless one is dressed to design. My personal style must live up to ze standards of my creation.”
Elly looked down at her T-shirt and green cargo pants with sneakers. “Riiight. Okay. She…” Ardelle arched an eyebrow at Snarky Teenager who stood scowling at Elly, “is going to be your boss today. She’s going to tell you everything you need to do, and you need to do exactly as she says. If you have any questions, please come find me, but we really need to work as fast as possible. This will be a 10 hour day, at the least.” She clapped her hands. “Everyone set?”
Ardelle ignored her. She turned to Snarky Teenager, eyeing her up and down. “You are so young to be a floral designer. I cannot take direction from someone so…new to the world of designing. It is insulting, that zis 12-year-old child will tell me what to do.” She turned back to Elly. “I believe I can handle myself…”
Elly’s temper flared and she raised her hand to stop Ardelle in the middle of her sentence. “These are the conditions of you designing here. I am not paying you to create your own…creations; I am paying you to do what we tell you. Can you handle that?”
Ardelle bit her lip and considered it. “You are paying me well, and I need a new fountain for my bathroom. Yes. I will stay. Although, I am not sure how I can work in such conditions.” She pushed a fern away from her foot, disgusted.
Snarky Teenager rolled her eyes. “Oh, geez. Follow me – don’t step on anything!”
They headed to the back.
“Oh, Ardelle?”
Ardelle spun around to face Elly.