Where I Wanna Be (28 page)

“
I’m just saying, katydid. You’re almost 30. It’s time you settle down and get married.” Meredith commented. “I want some grandbabies.”

“
You have four by Alicia,” Simone reminded, “that’s plenty.”

“
I’m not complaining at all. I enjoy my grandbabies.” Meredith replied. “Yes, I wish she had them all by the same man, but that’s beside the point. When are you coming to visit us again?”

“
As soon as wedding season calms down. We’re in the middle of it and I can’t leave just now. I’ll be there for Thanksgiving for sure, though. I can’t wait to see you and Javier.” Simone promised.

“
Very well, then. That’s only in a couple months. I can’t wait to see you, again. Love you, katydid.”

“
Love you, too, Mommy.” Simone then hung up the phone.

Simone let out a deep breath and curled into a ball on the bed. She was going have to set some firm and unbreakable rules with Eli. No contact. No phone calls, texts or e-mails unless they were strictly business-related. And possibly no friendship. It was clear that neither of them was capable of being just platonic and it was best for her sanity. She wasn’t going to wreck his marriage. She wasn’t going to be responsible for him leaving his wife. No. No. No.

If only she could get her mind to stop saying yes, yes, yes.

“
All right, everyone. Today is the big day and we need to be on our game. In a few hours, all of the hard work we have done for weeks and months will culminate in the biggest day of the bride’s life. That being said, get that coffee and water ready, those protein bars consumed, and all of the prayer you can get. Are we good?” Simone looked around at her staff and the hotel employees. “Good. Now let’s go.

“
When the wedding cake is delivered, I need that cake over by the corner with the windows. Not too close to the DJ or the booming bass will make that cake crash on the floor and I’ll have one pissed off bride. Pepper, can you make sure the bridal party is getting ready and
on time.
And when I say on time, I mean
on time
, not CPT. Monte, I need you to help with the hotel staff setting up the tables. Eight to a table. Do not try to squeeze another chair, that’s why we have extra tables. Chris, Rachel, and Monique, I need the three of you to set up the candy jar table. Please don’t eat the candy but if you have to sneak some, do it so I don’t see it. Everyone else pitch in where it’s needed. If we hustle, we can have this place on and poppin’ well before the bride gets here.”

Pepper raised a hand. “What about the centerpieces and other floral arrangements? When are they coming?”

Simone hesitated upon being reminded of Madre’s. She didn’t know if Eli was going to make a special guest appearance but she had to assume he was going to since he specifically handled her account—and her. “They should be coming in a couple of hours.” Simone glanced down at her watch. If she assumed correctly, those flowers would be making an appearance within three hours. Eli’s team would stop by the bride and groom’s respective places to hand out the bouquets and corsages before they made their way over to the church to decorate it and then to the hotel to decorate the ballroom. Assuming Eli wouldn’t be with his team when they made the deliveries, it meant his first and only visit would be the hotel ballroom.

Where she currently was and staying.

She got a room in the hotel because she knew she was going to be too exhausted to travel back to her apartment after the wedding. Plus, she needed to decorate the honeymoon suite for the bride and groom and it was just easier to stay where she was.

She couldn’t let Eli know what was going on. Oh hell, she couldn’t even let him be too close to her. It wasn’t so much she didn’t trust him. She knew for damn sure she couldn’t trust herself. It was in her best interest to be nowhere remotely close to her ex-boyfriend, despite how much she wanted to bed him.

****

“
So today is the big day, huh?” Faith curled the bride’s hair. “How are you feeling? Nervous? Excited?”

“
More excited than nervous.” The bride, Crystal, commented. She was a young Black female with dark chocolate skin and a richer personality. She had been dreaming of her wedding day for years, planning her day since she was a little girl. She was finally marrying the man of her dreams. “I’m just ready to get married already.”

“
I hear that,” Faith nodded. “I remember my wedding day. I wish I was as cool and chill like you are. I was anything but.”

“
You were all over the place?” Crystal asked.

“
Girl…” Faith purred. “…I took a shot of vodka to kinda calm me down, you know? One shot turned into three or four shots. You see, I chased it with orange juice, thinking that was going to somehow help…”

“
How drunk were you?” Crystal smiled through the mirror.

“
Girl, I was so gone!” Faith chuckled. “Even my husband was like, ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ and I was like, ‘Nothing, honey, I’m just really excited to get married to you, that’s all.’”

Crystal smiled. “How long have you been married?”

“
Almost six years. We’re going to celebrate our anniversary at the end of the month. Together for twelve total.” Faith nodded as she curled another piece of hair.

“
Wow,” Crystal commented. “Why did you wait so long to get married?”

“
I was too young and I wasn’t sure about his ass,” Faith laughed.

“
Faith, you know you’re lying!” Krista chimed in as she pressed a bridesmaid’s hair. “You knew Eli was the one!”

“
I did but I don’t know…” Faith slightly shrugged. “You see, we met when I was still in high school. I was still a child back then. He drove a nice car, had the fancy jewelry, and had a couple of tattoos back then. He was a total bad boy. My father is a preacher so he was like, ‘who the hell are you around my daughter?’”

“
The bad boy wanted to date the preacher’s daughter?” Crystal asked.

“
Yep and my daddy wasn’t having none of that. But once he got to know Eli, he saw that he was a nice guy and wasn’t trying to hurt me. Eli asked for his permission to marry me and my daddy was like, ‘You can have my permission now that she’s still in school or you can have my blessing when she’s finished.’ So Eli was like, ‘Well, I’ll just wait.’ Poor thang… he didn’t realize I was going to be in school for five years!”

“
Wow…” Crystal was amazed. “He waited five years?”

“
We were on and off. He kept asking me to marry him and I kept telling him over and over, ‘I will marry you when I’m done with school’. He got tired of waiting and I was like, ‘Well, leave then! I’m not stopping you from doing what you want to do.’” Faith gave a look that read, ‘you believe that shit?’ “But once he realized that there was nobody out there better than me, he came back.”

“
He
always
came back!” Kimberly said to other nods and agreements around the salon.

“
Sounds like you were meant to be,” Crystal commented.

“
You know, it’s one of those things where if it’s true love, they’ll always come back to you. If they don’t, they were never yours to begin with.” Faith smiled. “We’ve been through a lot though. We were together when we had no money. We were together when we got money. We have come a long way…”

“
I’m sure the lottery helped some?” Crystal asked.

“
You have to understand our history. You see, Nicola won the lottery and my parents have money. But did they offer to help at first? Hell, no. They wanted us to experience life in the trenches. I can remember the time when we were so broke, we slept on an air mattress because we couldn’t afford a bed. We ate hot dogs, cup of noodles, and microwave dinners because I didn’t know how to cook!”

“
She still doesn’t…” Cameron smirked.

“
Anyway,” Faith dismissed her stylist, “after our parents were able to see that we were responsible, they gave us money. We were able to afford the house we wanted and we bought some cute toys with it. He did help me start up this salon and his mother used a bit of the money for the family business. But it was really us and our hard work. We both are ambitious and determined. I could’ve just gone to cosmetology school and that would’ve been it. He could’ve just gone to school for his graphic design degree and that would’ve been it. But we both were hungry for more and we grew together. You can have all the money in the world but if you have no ambition, you’re just wasting it.” Faith put the finishing touches on Crystal’s hair.

“
Sounds like you’re a pro at this marriage thing,” Crystal commented.

“
Girl, marriage is hard work. I recommend this—lots and lots of communication. Always make sure you’re on the same page. You can have your disagreements and not see eye-to-eye about things. Don’t try to change him and don’t have him try to change you. And always, always… keep those feet on the ceiling,” Faith laughed.

“
Faith!” Kimberly laughed.

“
I’m just sayin’,” Faith removed the shampoo cape and dusted off Crystal’s shoulders. “Keep it hot and keep it fresh. Don’t give him a reason to stray.”

“
I’m not sure if you’re the best person to give that advice,” Krista curled a bridesmaid’s hair. “You’re known to withhold sex from Eli if he pisses you off.”

“
If I’m mad at him, I’m not giving him any. Why in the hell should I?” Faith huffed. “Be a man and apologize. Then he can have the kitty-cat all he wants.”

“
All right, missy…” Kimberly shook her head. “One day you’re going to do that and it’s going to backfire.”

Faith held up her left hand, broadcasting her enormous wedding ring. “It hasn’t yet.”

****

Eli stood in the back watching Simone direct traffic to the SHE and hotel staff. He had already sent his employees out to the respective locations to decorate and drop off the flowers while he stayed behind with other employees to decorate the reception area. The bride, Crystal, had a purple and silver theme for her September wedding, a little unusual for a fall wedding. With Eli’s help, she chose a variety of crisp and beautiful flowers such as roses, Peruvian lilies, and hydrangeas that were enhanced with crystal sprays and pins for an extravagant look. Purple, white, pink, and lavender rose petals were going to be splayed over the cake table and the bride and groom were going to have personalized roses waiting for them at their table, courtesy of Madre’s for their business.

For the first time, Eli didn’t care about any of that. He was too busy focusing on Simone.

She wore jeans and a tank top as she helped getting everything set up. He knew she would change into something more comfortable later but he didn’t mind seeing how her breasts bounced with every movement. Her jeans looked tight on her, as if they were painted on. She walked around the ballroom as she if owned it, directing everyone to their respective roles without being aggressive or demeaning. Assertive; that was the word Eli was looking for. Simone was assertive, like she had always been back in high school.

He loved watching her in action. He knew there was something special about her back then, whenever she didn’t want to take shit from anybody. It was no surprise to him that she ended up running her own business. He just couldn’t fathom seeing her as a willful and obedient employee to anyone else.

He momentarily took his eyes off her and looked at the set-up of the reception site. It was beautiful, lush in rich colors and had a grown-up vibe to it. He had been to too many receptions where it was romper room or something out of a magazine called Stingy R Us. The bride and the groom were on a strict budget—a little under twenty thousand for two hundred guests. But the way the reception was set up, the guests would think the bride and groom spent a fortune for their wedding.