by Haley Travis
Her laugh was like bells ringing through the room as she introduced my old school friend Barry to one of her friends with shaggy orange hair.
“Barry, I think Jacob told me that you recently went to the play, Kensington Strangers.”
“Yeah. I don’t get out to many of those, but it was amazing.”
“Well, this is Collins, and she was the lead.”
They shook hands, immediately discussing the unusual venue and the ornate sets, then Mia fluttered off to make more introductions.
She must have studied everyone’s social media pages, combing for clues, taking notes, and looking for common threads. Any other woman I’d ever dated who was suddenly set up in a luxury home would have done nothing but shopped and lounged, but Mia had obviously been working her hot little ass off.
I snuck over to where she was making sure that Rayanne and Lauren had enough wine. Wrapping my arm around her waist, she looked up at me with that grin that melted my insides.
“I was just telling them about how you’re a big liar.”
Clutching my hand to my heart, I pretended to be offended. “Moi? Never.”
Rayanne laughed. “Sneaking the ring home so that you could propose properly is adorable, so we’ll let it pass just this once.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I know that you’re her protectors, so if I ever get out of line, I expect that you’ll tell us both immediately.”
It seemed as though they were thoroughly charmed, then I remembered. “Wait,” I said, turning to Mia, “We haven’t really announced our engagement yet.”
“You don’t think my best friends could miss this ring?”
“Oh, then we should do this right now.” Taking her hand, I led her to the window, turning the music down on the way.
“Friends, I have a couple of quick announcements, then we’ll get right back to drinking, I promise.” Mia laughed along with everyone, but as I held her hand, I could feel her quaking.
“In a way, this is a housewarming party, to welcome my gorgeous Mia to my home.” A ripple of applause and cheers took over for a moment.
“It’s also a chance for our friends to get together and meet before another event that’s happening next week, and we hope you’ll join us.” A few people glanced at each other curiously, but they obviously had no idea.
Holding up Mia’s right hand, I shook her ring in the light. “This brilliantly clever, creative, kind, gorgeous lady has agreed to be my wife, and the wedding is next Sunday.” There was a moment of stunned silence before the applause and inevitable cheers.
She looked up at me, grinning, obviously thrilled that they were all so happy for us. I leaned in to give her a sweet kiss, trying to hold back a little.
I wasn’t sure whether she would want to say anything, but she held up her hand to quiet everyone. “First off, no, I am not pregnant.” She paused while the laughter subsided. “Some of you know me very well, and you know that I don’t like being the center of attention. For those who don’t know me yet, you’ll find out that I always like to get things done without a fuss. And you might know that some people…” she shifted her eyes back and forth suspiciously while everyone laughed, “Like to make a huge deal over big life events. Having it quickly will cut down on that, and the perfect date presented itself, so there we are.”
She looked up at me with those big, pretty eyes shining. “And since Jacob is the first man who understands me, cares for me while still letting me make my own choices, truly listening to me, you know I need to lock this unicorn down before he changes his mind.”
Stretching up to kiss me, I couldn’t believe how perfect her speech was. She was selling everything brilliantly. She must have written and memorized it within the past day or so.
Turning back, I said, “So drink, eat, meet people you don’t know yet, and save Sunday, September ninth for the little shindig.”
“Actually,” she corrected me, “It will be a hootenanny, not a shindig, because there will be no banjos.”
We walked away amidst laughter and congratulations, and I grabbed us two glasses of wine from a passing server. “You were amazing,” I told her, clinking glasses.
“Laughing and light,” she whispered. “I studied up on convincing speeches and how to make crowds like you immediately.”
“You’ve been working so hard,” I said, suddenly concerned. “Do you even sleep at night?”
“I have all day now,” she shrugged. “I’m used to working an eight to ten-hour shift, so I’ve just been putting that in, plus overtime, but in a different way.”
“Damn. I had no idea.”
“Serious business,” she said with a grin, taking a huge swig of wine. I could see that her hand was still fluttering from nerves. “Now I’m going to calm down with just this one glass of wine, and flash my rock under everyone’s nose. Prepare yourself for the girlie squealing.”
She kissed me on the cheek, taking off to a cluster of my female friends. Sure enough, they clutched her hand and practically screamed in admiration.
A few minutes later I heard Mia squeal, “Liam!” as she ran into the arms of a tall, lanky black haired man. He gave her a long, meaningful hug, and seemed to be a sweet, big brother type of friend. I was touched at how close she was with these people.
Hours later, after the guests had left and I escorted the last couple out, I turned to see her gathering glasses and helping the caterers clean up.
“Please,” I said, “set those down.”
She stuck her tongue out at me before taking a carefully balanced armload of glasses to the kitchen, then came back to me. “Instinct,” she said with a laugh. Her cheeks were glowing from running in circles, and likely from so many compliments all night long.
“Do you want some tea or anything?” I asked.
“I just chugged some water, thanks.” She looked positively exhausted.
“You should likely get to bed, then,” I said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Tonight must have been pretty draining.”
She nodded, but her eyes flashed. “Come on, let me show you something.” Grabbing my hand, she led me to her room. I tried not to think about how that gesture was becoming automatic.
Her room hadn’t been altered much, but the desk was now definitely lived in, featuring the new laptop I had insisted she buy. Opening it quickly, there was a huge spreadsheet with all of our friends listed.
“This is how I could connect everyone,” she said, immediately flipping into business mode. “Everyone’s interests broken down into code words so that I could search, connect people with common interests, and get people talking to each other.”
“I’m so damn proud of you,” I blurted.
Mia looked surprised. “This is my job now. Everywhere I work, I try to be the best, even if it’s a dump.” She gestured to the room. “Obviously this is a bit nicer, so I need to up my game.”
Pulling up a seating chart, she had her friends names with a drop shadow of pink, and my friends with a drop shadow of blue. “I was taking mental notes of which people got along well tonight so that tomorrow I can make sure that they’re seated together at the wedding. If they already have a connection, the mood of the room will be more comfortable. That will bring any stray family members on board.”
“How… how the hell did you think to do this?”
“I’ve been reading psychology articles on how to put people at ease, and bring disparate groups of people together.”
“You’re magical,” I whispered. I sat down on her bed, as she closed the laptop, sitting beside me.
My arm slid around her without thinking, pulling her over to sit beside me. “Honestly, I don’t know if anyone has ever shocked and impressed me as much as you have from the second I met you, and especially tonight.”
She absolutely beamed, her smile overtaking over her face. Unfortunately, that drew attention to her lips. Leaning in, I kissed her softly.
Mia shifted to bring us closer, her lips gently pressing to mi
ne, then parting. Her arms circled my shoulders until we were melted together. Her soft little hand cupped the side of my face, then she pulled back, staring deeply into my eyes.
“Is this a good idea?” she whispered.
“Probably not,” I said, capturing her mouth again. My hands wandered along her back, then unzipped the back of her dress so that my fingers could glide across her smooth skin. I felt her tiny moan against my lips, then realized that this was crossing all sorts of lines.
Pulling away, I clasped her hands between us like a shield. “Mia, I’m so sorry. Being a couple with you all night just…” I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”
She tried to laugh, but I could see that she was hurt and confused that I stopped. “I know.”
“And we’ve both been drinking.”
Her bright giggle was the perfect tension breaker. “Actually, I only had one glass after our announcement, then had the servers bring me non-alcoholic wine.”
I laughed so hard it shook my spine. “Clever thing.”
“I have a lot to remember.”
My hand flew to her cheek, my thumb tracing her cheekbone. “You amaze me. Dazzle me. I’m so lucky.”
Blinking hard, she looked at me strangely. Desire was flooding me on a level I’d never felt before. We were sitting on her bed. I knew she wanted me too, and she was biting her lip slightly, looking up at me with those huge soulful eyes. I had to keep it together.
“We need sleep,” I said, standing up. “Sweet dreams.”
I didn’t dare look back at her again, quickly going to my room and closing the door.
There was no way I could risk everything just because she was the most brilliant, hard-working, irresistibly beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Off-limits. Forbidden. Perhaps I should tattoo these words backward across my forehead as a reminder so that every time I passed a reflective surface I could yell at myself.
M I A
<<< 17 >>>
WEDDING PLANNER
Most of my friends were the sorts of people to never make a phone call before noon. With musicians, artists, writers, and anyone who worked in kitchens or nightclubs, the hours we sometimes kept ran quite late. Pre-noon calls were usually met with a sense of emergency.
So my heart jumped unreasonably Monday morning when I had a call from an unknown number at ten am.
“Mia, my dear,” Rosalind’s voice trilled, “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Rosalind. How are you today?”
“Wonderful, dear. I’m just checking in to see how moving in was coming along.”
“Fabulous, actually,” I said, finding myself automatically reflecting her exuberant manner of speaking. “I’m almost completely unpacked, and just learning where strange little things are kept around here.”
“Be sure to have Carol give you a proper tour. I’m sure Jacob is thorough, but women sort things differently.”
I laughed lightly, hoping that she’d get to her real point. “That’s a great idea,” I said, trying to make her feel like it was okay to give me motherly advice.
“I wish I had known in advance, Mia. I could have sent one of my assistants to help with the packing, organizing and moving. Surely that must have been days of work.”
I certainly couldn’t tell her that all of my worldly possessions were already packed because had been on the verge of homelessness.
“Actually, I was in the process of beginning to look for a new apartment, so I’d done a massive purge recently. You know how dazzling all of those minimalist homes look in the magazines.”
She laughed, obviously delighted. “Good for you, dear. Well, the reason I called is to talk about the wedding.”
Sweet baby Elvis, I thought. Here we go.
“You see, Jacob said that you’re a real ‘do it yourself’ sort of gal, and that’s wonderful, but there are so many things to consider, and I just don’t want you to get worn out. Event planning can have a lot of tiny things sneak up at you, and I assume you’ve never done this before.”
I almost laughed at her not-so-subtle way of asking if this would be my first marriage. I was only twenty-four for goodness sake.
Giggling lightly, I said, “Well, that’s true. I’ve never planned a wedding, or anything this big before. But my friends have put on many shows and events, and–”
“Dear, please let me help. I have an event planner I’ve been working with for years, and he’s just a dream, I promise. He’ll take care of things exactly the way you want them, and make all of the silly little details disappear so that you don’t have to worry about if the flowers in the powder room match the arrangements in the foyer.”
Seeing as I’d never been to an event fancy enough to have flowers in the damn bathroom, I could see that she had a point.
Plus, I quickly realized, for this show to be believable, I was going to have to ingratiate myself to Jacob’s family. I wasn’t just marrying him. I had to make this seem incredibly real, so I’d have to swallow my pride, ignore some of my issues with money, and get swept up in the wealthy old-money family wedding traditions.
“That would be amazing, Rosalind. I would love to meet with him.”
“I’m so glad to hear that, dear. It turns out that he’s between projects, and he’ll meet you at Jacob’s… oh, I’m sorry, your condo in an hour.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“I don’t mean to be pushy, darling, I just want to get him started so that he can take the work away from you before you wear yourself out.” She paused for a moment. “I know I don’t’ know you very well yet, dear, and I do think that hard work is wonderful, but these are the sorts of things that really are better off left to the professionals.”
I took a deep breath, and adjusted my tone to sound like the grateful daughter in law. “Thank you so much, Rosalind. I really appreciate this. You’re right, My gut reaction is to do things myself, but I wouldn’t want to get in over my head with something this important. You’re certainly the wedding and party expert, so now that I have your number, I hope it’s okay if I text you occasionally to ask for advice?”
I could hear her beaming. “Dear, I would be delighted.”
“Thank you. And Jacob told you that we’re trying to keep this extremely small? Perhaps eighty people?”
We knew that it would swell to a hundred, likely a hundred and twenty-five, but figured we should low ball her so that she kept her guest list under control.
“I’ll see what I can do, dear. You know about the politics of large families.”
I certainly didn’t, having had no family of my own for the past five years. “We’re hoping that since it’s a quick little ceremony that it won’t seem like a big deal to those not invited.”
“Don’t you worry about the extended family. I’ll take care of all of that. You just get Zachary started with putting together a wonderful glamorous wedding.”
“Actually, I was thinking fresh and green. The natural, mismatched, elegant minimalist aesthetic.”
She paused. “Actually, you’re right, dear. That’s a bigger trend this year, isn’t it? I’m sure that Zachary will have his own ideas as well. He always has his finger on the pulse of the latest fashions. Have a great meeting!”
I was left feeling a little worried. Although of course it would be nice to have an expert taking care of things, what if he tried to force me to do something ugly, trendy, or expensive just for the sake of throwing money around?
An hour later when I opened the door, I was instantly relieved. A short, jovial man entered. “Honey, may I give you a squoosh?” He gave me a giant hug and a grin, then I led him to the dining room table, which was the best to use for an office. After pouring him some coffee, he got right to the point.
“I know that Rosalind can be the typical overbearing rich queen, but she means well. I hear that you’re getting married this coming Sunday?”
I nodded, and his eyes flicked to my stomach. My sudden laughter caused him to crack up as well. “I need to get a t-shirt
made that says, ‘Not pregnant’.”
“Right. Not my business anyway. My concern is getting you the wedding that you want that will also keep Rosalind off your case. Am I right?”
I sipped my coffee, nodding, and extremely relieved that he understood.
“So what are we dealing with here?” he asked pointedly.
“Well, Rosalind already told us that the venue shall be the Cornwall Arms Hotel. The second we told her the day she made a call.” I didn’t mention I was pretty sure that she had another party kicked out for that date.