“You made that!? Like you. Little ol' you, made that … that … that piece of art!?”
Katya followed her stare and took in the huge cake. Sometimes, Katya forgot what she did for a living, even as she was doing it. It just became work. Like a puzzle. Something to figure out and create, like a Rubik's cube she built as she solved it. She knew she did good work, she could be objective enough for that, but art? All she saw when she looked at it was the massive amount of hours and stress it required. Hearing from someone else that it looked good, it meant a lot.
“Yeah, it turned out pretty okay,” Katya sighed, resting her hands on her hips.
“Just okay!? Katya, it's phenomenal. Sometimes I forget how amazing you are. C'mon, let's go get shitty on expensive champagne and celebrate your frickin' awesome talent,” Tori laughed, then dragged her to the bar. They had just received their glasses when Katya felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.
“You're here!”
Lauren, the newly-wedded bride, hugged Katya to her side. She looked stunning in her mermaid style gown and veil.
“Yes, finally,” Katya laughed. “There were some complications, but we got here a minute ago.”
“I hope this beast didn't cause you any problems. God, it turned out great. Thank you so much,” Lauren breathed, looking over the cake again.
“No, thank you for trusting me with your special day. Everything looks beautiful, Lauren, and especially you.”
“Oh, stop. I know, right? It turned out amazing. And you two look simply beautiful, I can't wait for ...” Lauren's voice trailed off, then she burst out laughing. Katya and Tori glanced at each other.
“For … ?” Tori questioned.
“It's gonna be a fun night, I just can't wait till the drinks really start flowing. Just remember – no throwing this cake,” Lauren teased Katya. “C'mon, let's go do the chicken dance.”
Before anyone could say anything else, they were all forced onto the dance floor. Thank god the chicken dance wasn't actually playing, but Katya did get to witness Lauren and her husband reenacting the dance sequence from House Party.
After an hour or so of rocking out, the stress of the morning and afternoon drifted away. She did a shaky foxtrot with the bride's father, traded recipes with the groom's mother, and had to control the wandering hands of the best man. He eventually turned his attention to Tori, who loved playing games with drunk guys.
Katya laughed to herself as she watched them from across the room. Then she let her eyes wander around, taking in all the couples. A slow song was playing, and the candle light bouncing off all the white clothing and table toppings gave everything an ethereal glow. Hallmark couldn't have painted a more romantic picture.
Yet surprisingly, she didn't feel bad about standing there alone. In the past, when she'd gone to weddings or parties alone, she'd always felt a little conspicuous. A lady always had a handsome gentleman at her arm – that's how she'd been raised. But now she felt kinda good about being alone. Strong. She'd been having a great time, no male company needed. Who needed a man, anyway?
Of course, Katya should've known better. Whenever she was finally feeling better about her whole situation, the universe had a way of slapping her back into line.
“Care to dance, milady?”
She turned her head at the same time Liam stepped into her view. She gaped at him for a moment, then glanced around, looking for the hidden camera prank show. Then she looked back at him.
“What are you doing here? You crashed a wedding? That's low, even for you,” she hissed. She was mortified. Lauren wasn't only a friend, she was a client. One that Katya had embarrassed herself enough in front of. She couldn't have Liam acting foolish at this wedding.
“Who said anything about crashing? I'm here under totally legit pretenses,” he assured her.
“Oh, really. Like what kind of pretenses?”
“The legit kind.”
“Liam.”
“The caterers,” he sighed, gesturing over his shoulder to the elaborate set up on the other side of the room. “One of the owners used to work with me. I was able to wrangle an invitation through him. A real invitation, before you ask.”
“How did you even find out what wedding I was talking about? There's like four others, at least, going on this weekend,” she demanded.
“Tori was babbling about the fancy wedding she was coming to, I asked some questions. So where's the brunette?” he asked, looking over her head.
“Excuse me?”
“Your date, that guy, Fence or whatever his name is.”
“Oh my god,” Katya groaned. “His name is Gate, and he's not my date.”
“But you said -”
“I said I was coming with a sexy brunette,” Katya reminded him, all while pointing at Tori. The other girl was on the dance floor a couple yards away from them, laughing at her drunk partner.
“Ooohhh, I get it now. Funny. She is sexy,” he agreed, and Katya watched as his eyes passed over her roommate. Tori was wearing a long, flowing white maxi skirt matched with a white tube top, both of which showed off her assets to perfection.
“Well. This has been super fun, but I have to go guzzle champagne directly from the ice fountain,” Katya said, moving to walk around him. She didn't make it far. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her onto the floor.
“C'mon, just one dance. We never danced, did we? I'm a great dancer.”
“Liam, I don't want to dance with you. I don't even want to -”
He didn't give her an option. It was funny, but it was easy to forget he was so much bigger and stronger than her. Before she knew it, they were in the middle of the crowd and he was wrapping his arms around her waist, trying to pull her close.
“Don't make a scene, angel cake. Just go with the flow,” he suggested. She growled and pulled back, grabbing one of his hands and taking it up in a proper dance hold.
“Don't call me that. I thought I made my feelings clear, Liam. I don't want to play games with you,” she told him.
“I'm not playing games,” he said. “I want to see you, Katya, but you won't see me. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. If you worked at a bank, I'd become a bank robber. If you worked at a McDonald's, I'd get incredibly fat. So if I have to steal an invitation to some swanky uptown wedding, then so be it.”
“You stole the invitation!?”
“Um ...”
Katya couldn't help it. She actually laughed. It was just so … Liam. And when he was standing in front of her, handsome in a white dress suit and white satin tie, smiling that goofy grin, it was actually hard to hold onto her anger. She still hurt over what he'd done to her, and she didn't think she could ever trust him again, but … Tori's and Brie's words were floating through her brain.
Just do whatever you want. Whatever feels good.
“You're such … such a dick,” she finally sighed, smiling up at him.
“Yeah. But I live to see you smile, so I have some redeeming qualities,” he pointed out.
“I wouldn't go that far. If you're here and Tori's here, who's running the club?” she asked.
“Hey! The club runs just fine without Tori there.”