Elly In Bloom (39 page)

Sitting against the corner of the fire pit, Elly took a minute to catch her breath. She gazed up at the hulking hotel, a postmodern glass and steel high-rise that mingled gracefully with its stone entrance. Somewhere, inside that building, Aaron was putting on a tuxedo, getting ready to marry Lucia, the love of his life. And Elly was sitting here, in the hotel’s backyard, looking up through the windows, pondering the sad irony of it all. Her thoughts were interrupted by a handsome waiter.

“Ma’am? Miss Sunny Kepke ordered this to be delivered to you here.”

He set down a black tray laden with a dripping glass of lemonade and assorted scones. Elly felt foolish, sitting out on the fire pit when there was so much work to be done. She jumped to her feet and wiped her hands on her bright yellow Posies apron. “Thank you.”

The waiter bowed to her, as Elly reached for the tiny note on the tray. Her head smashed roughly into his. “Oh my gosh – oh, I’m sorry, are you okay?”

The waiter scurried off, holding his head. Elly stood perfectly still. This was the kind of day she was going to have. She let out a disgusted sound and opened the note.

Elly – I cannot wait to see your amazing talent in full force today. The best decision that I’ve made in this whirlwind of planning was to hire you and your extraordinary team. Your patience and glowing enthusiasm for this wedding…
Elly gave a curt laugh
…have made this experience the highlight of my year. Thank you, my dear.

Elly folded the note and pressed it against her heart. It was good to have a reminder of her reasons for doing this as she gazed at the intimidating pile of ceremony décor. She greedily gulped the lemonade down and got to work.

It had been an hour and a half before she took a five minute break. Flushed with sweat, Elly stood back proudly to look at her work in progress. The back of the ceremony site had been transformed from an outdoor living space into an elegant utopia of orchids, branches and dripping urns of flowers. The fire pits had been filled with beeswax candles and pale pink peonies and lined with gold votives. Each bamboo chair had been draped with a satin chocolate brown ribbon and covered with a cascade of gardenias and tulips in different shades of white, from diamond to a creamy ivory. Blown garden roses and gladiolus lined the aisle, making a heavenly path to the altar area. At the front, two gigantic urns overflowed with antique hydrangeas and hanging Dutch tulips, giving the courtyard a whimsical effect as they blew slightly in the wind. She was only half done.

Her hands were covered in charcoal as she flipped open her phone and dialed Isaac for the ninth time in the last hour. It went straight to his voice-mail. Again.

“Hey, it’s Isaac, give me some love! If this is a booking for Everest Oppressed, press one, everyone else, press two. Leave a message or do whatever your soul compels you to do!”

Elly rolled her eyes. Her soul was compelling her at the moment to be pissed off. “Hey, it’s me. I was just wondering if you got lost, or if you were confused about the time…I can’t wait to see you and…” She paused, trying to keep the edge out of her voice, “I could really use the help.”

She hung up the phone with irritation and looked at the monstrous job before her. She began gathering thick manzinita branches into large bunches and placing them in their respective urns. In a large black bucket, she soaked her light green floral foam until it guzzled up the water, turning it a hunter green and giving it the consistency of a sponge. She shoved the heavy foam into the urns to secure the branches in place, and covered the foam with a thick, green moss. She stood up and brushed off her face. One down, five to go. She felt like crying. She plunged the second bunch of foam into the water, enjoying the cool splash rising up to her elbows. Her phone vibrated against her thigh. She snapped it opened, annoyed.

“Isaac? Where are you?!”

She heard Isaac chuckle and murmur to someone in the background. “Hey baby! I’m so sorry that I didn’t get back to you sooner. You will never guess what happened this morning!”

Elly felt her fingernails pressing into her palm. “What?”

“Stanley from Gemini Records called, and he needs an opening band for Valentine’s Marine on Sunday night and they asked us! Isn’t that SWEET?”

Elly pushed the phone closer to ear. “Yes, that’s great, but WHY AREN’T YOU HERE?”

She heard Isaac’s joyful mood go somber. “Well babe, we have to practice if we are going to be opening for them on Sunday night! The whole band is here – Tifah made veggie lasagna, it’s so awesome…”

“Isaac!” Elly heard her voice on the edge of tears. “I told you that I needed you here with me today! I am setting up this ceremony site all by myself, and it’s taking forever because I thought I would have an extra hand today.” She choked. “Not to mention I wanted you here to take my mind off the fact that this is Aaron’s wedding!” Elly hissed the last words.

Isaac was silent. “Babe…who is Aaron?”

“Forget it. And don’t call me babe,” Elly snapped, a wide surge of anger pouring out of her. “I depended on you today. I never ask anything of you! I do everything you want me to do. I go to your shows and sit through your four hour practices with your stupid band!” She took a deep breath and starting yelling. “I cook for you, and I take you out to dinner, and I just asked this one little thing of you, and you couldn’t even do it. Do you even care that this is the most important moment of my year? That this could mean everything for my business? Not only that, but that my emotional well-being is dangling from a thread?”

Isaac inhaled sharply. The background noise had vanished, and Elly was sure that everyone in the room with him was now party to their conversation. His voice changed when he spoke again. Now, it sounded like a pleading child, rather than a grown man.

“Don’t be mad at me. Are you breaking up with me? You can’t. Elly, you’re my muse.”

Elly was bewildered. He truly was taken aback by her anger. “I’m not breaking up with you, but I’m…” She took a deep breath and looked up at the impassive job still before her. “I’m overwhelmed and exhausted and I can’t fight about this right now. I have more work to do then you could possibly imagine.”

Isaac’s voice wavered. “I love you, Elly. I told you that. I’m sorry. Do you want me to come there right now?” He paused. “Do you really think my band is stupid?”

Yes.

“No. I can’t really talk right now. I will call you later.”

Isaac rushed into his sentence. “I can come. I mean, the band is here, but I will leave now. You are the most important thing to me. They can wait.”

Elly frowned as her words were twisted around. The pleading tone in his voice pulled at her heartstrings, and she found herself relenting. “No. Don’t come. Be with your band. I’ll talk to you when I’m done.”

“Elly…” Isaac said pleadingly.

Elly hung up the phone and wiped a tear off her face. As she looked over the half finished terrace, she felt a wave of nausea run over her. She knelt on the ground, her head between her knees. For the next ten minutes, she focused on breathing and letting the sun beat down on her, warming her skin and pulling her out of the depths of despair. Shakily, she stood, resolving that she would finish the job, Isaac or not. She plunged the third batch of foam into the water. There was a soft thudding sound to her left. She heard footsteps echoing down the narrow alley and turned around, a surge of joy pulsating through her. A man’s khaki pants strode toward her, his face and chest covered by a white box, which Elly knew contained white dendrobium orchids strung onto fishing wire. She wiped her hands on her bottom, instantly regretting the action, as she knew the back of her pants were now covered with wet green handprints.
Thank you, Lord!

“Hey! You came!” A wave of relief crashed over her. “I didn’t think you would actually leave everyone. I’m sorry for the things I said. Give me a kiss!” Elly cried.

He turned around, putting the box down gently. Keith’s face broke into a grin. “Are you sure?”

Elly gasped. “Keith? What are you DOING here?”

Keith’s blue eyes widened. “So does that mean I don’t get a kiss?”

Elly stopped awkwardly. “Er – no.” She gave him a tight hug. “I, uh…”

Keith chuckled. “Never thought I would see you speechless. I came to help, of course. What, do you think I would
stay
at this ridiculous place?” He waved his arms at the lush hotel. “I’ve catered here before, so I know the layout. Kim told me where you would be. She didn’t look so great.”

“What do you mean, she didn’t look so great?”

“Oh, she looked tired.”

“Keith” Elly grinned. “She’s eight months pregnant.”

“That must have been it.” Keith put his hands on his hips. “Well, what can I do?”

“Didn’t you have your niece’s christening today?”

Keith bowed his head and fidgeted nervously. “Yes, I did. I got halfway to Kansas City when I turned around. I knew that you needed help, and what kind of friend would I be if I left you when you needed it most? Besides, my niece doesn’t need my help to get christened, but it looks like you need my help to get this…” Keith looked around, baffled. “Whatever THIS is, done with.”

Elly felt adrift in confusion. She was still wishing that the man behind the box had been Isaac, and yet…she was so happy that Keith was here. It felt right, as if his arrival guaranteed that things would be okay. Gazing at his wide smile, she realized that it wasn’t that she couldn’t do it alone – she could – but that she had someone who believed in her, who knew without a doubt that she would succeed. Keith had always given her the gift of believing in her, more than she did herself. She was staggered by this revelation, but had no time to dwell on her thoughts. She was already an hour behind, and the reception was waiting.

“Okay. These are manzinita branches. They go in these urns…”

“Before we begin,” noted Keith, “you should know that you have charcoal all over your face.”

They worked for an hour, quick and furious. Elly gave rapid directions and they moved well as a team. The forest made of manzanita trees went up first, followed by pink cymbidium orchids that were tucked into their rough nooks. With Keith on the ladder and Elly passing them up, they hung dangling curtains of white dendrobiums from a gorgeous wood arbor, bathing the outside aisle flowers with a shower of tiny white blooms. Buckets full of white and pale pink rose petals were spread down the aisle in the couple’s monogram: A large letter L crossed over a smaller A. Elly was tempted to write out some other choice words, but Keith gently reminded her of Sunny and her job stability.

The sun simmered lower in the sky when they finally finished. Elly looked at her watch: The ceremony started in two hours. They were still officially one hour behind. Frantically, she began throwing all the trash into the van that Keith had backed up into the alley. She was covered in tree bits when Keith gently took her arm.

“I know we’re in a hurry. But come see what you have done,” he insisted. “You have reason be proud.” They walked together to the front of the ceremony – the same place where Aaron and Lucia would stand – and looked back at the empty chairs. Elly felt an unexpected rush of pride. It should have been horrible to look at it, to marvel at the beauty that was the place of their wedding, but Elly for some reason couldn’t shake the astonishment of the sight.

It was a heavenly delight, a wildwood of pearl and peonies that swayed and blushed in the breeze. The hanging orchids quivered in the wind, and the overhead braches invited everyone to join in their fantasy. The hydrangea urns were elegant and romantic on a grand scale. The chocolate brown ribbon matched perfectly with the soft tan brick ground beneath it.

“It’s perfect,” breathed Elly.

Keith stared into her eyes. “Perfect,” he murmured.

Elly was suddenly aware of their surroundings and stepped back, insecure. She faked a yawn. “I feel like I could sleep for a year.” She let out a sly smile. “I have an idea. Let’s just go home and you can make me sandwich. We’ll kick up our feet and watch some trashy daytime television.”

Keith laughed, a deep throaty sound. “I think that we may have to finish this.”

Elly groaned. “I can’t believe it’s only half done. We still have the reception!”

Keith shook his head. “I can’t help you with that. My family will disown me if I don’t at least make the party. And my niece will never talk to me again. She’s three years old and very attached.” He paused. “I’m probably going to have to wear a princess crown.”

Elly grinned as she started picking tiny petal pieces off the ground. “I bet that looks nice.” She stood, stretching out her back. “Keith, this is more than I ever had a right to expect. I would never have finished this in time. I hate to say it, but this looks incredible.” She eyed the ceremony site. “Maybe he’ll leave her at the altar.”

Keith tilted his head. “Or maybe she’ll leave him.”

Elly scoffed.

Keith recanted. “Maybe the hotel will fall on them both.”

Elly mimicked a scream and then was aware of how silly she looked as her designated butler came back around the corner. “Ma’am, they are ready for you in the reception room. I was told to ask you…” He looked at his note and cringed. Elly recognized Snarky Teenager’s messy scrawl. “Where the hell are you?” He cleared his throat. “Should I respond?”

Elly grabbed the note from his white gloved fingers. “Tell them I will be up in five minutes.”