Not Quite Sheer Happiness

by Melissa Baldwin

  I nod my head slowly. “Yes, yes, yes,” I whisper.

  We have our wedding date, finally. We spend the rest of the evening enjoying being together, and I decide not to bring up Lisa again. There’s no reason to ruin another perfect evening.

  Chapter 10

  Lisa is in panic mode and I’m thinking the main reason is because she can’t breathe. And I mean physically can’t breathe. Honestly, her dress is so tight I’m expecting her limbs to turn color from the lack of circulation. At the same time, she looks amazing, and that’s another reason to dislike her.

  Craig and Nicole did a great job with the décor and the caterers are almost set up. We have everything under control, so I doubt her panic has anything to do with us or with the setup for the party.

  “Why is Lisa being so overdramatic?” I ask Craig. He doesn’t answer me, which tells me that he knows the reason.

  “Craig?”

  He covers his ears with his hands. “I don’t know anything, and I’m sticking to that.” Wow, so he and Lisa have been getting really close. Of course, I have no right to tell Craig who he can or can’t be friends with. Although, I would have hoped he would be somewhat loyal to me. It’s not that he has to choose sides, because there aren’t any sides to choose, but he does know how I feel about the situation.

  “Craig, I’ve known you a long time,” I say. “What . . .”

  “Really, Sienna, you’re going to use the old friend card?” he interrupts. “I promise I will tell you later. But this is not the place.”

  Hmmm . . . now my curiosity is piqued. Craig must really care about their friendship to be struggling not to blab her big secret. Or maybe he’s trying to change his ways or he just doesn’t want to talk about it here. I’m pretty sure it’s the latter. I see Lisa sitting in the corner, looking through a stack of papers. I wander over to her to offer my help. After all, that is why I’m here.

  “Lisa?” I ask. She continues to look through the papers, barely acknowledging that I’m standing in front of her. “Is there something I can help with?”

  “No,” she says firmly. “But thank you.” Okay, that sounded somewhat sincere. “Your company is doing a great job so far.”

  That’s a relief. I look at my phone, only a few more hours to go. “Well, let me know if you do,” I reply. She doesn’t say anything, so I take that as my cue to leave her alone. Whatever it is that’s bothering her . . . it’s big.

  I wander back to Craig. He gives me a curious look. “Now what’s wrong?”

  I shake my head. “Nothing. Let’s just do our usual fantastic job and get the hell out of here.”

  He holds up an empty champagne glass as if he was toasting me.

  “Please tell me that there was nothing in that glass,” I plead. He cringes.

  “Um, there’s nothing in it now.”

  I close my eyes and count to five in my mind. We’ve had this same discussion after he and one of the servers got buzzed at a wedding we did last year. Thankfully, nothing crazy happened, but I really don’t need any bad publicity.

  I smile and grit my teeth. “You know the rules about sampling the drink selection at these events.”

  “We have a problem,” Lisa interrupts. I quickly turn to face her; there shouldn’t be any problems because I specifically went through the lists three times.

  “What problem?”

  “That,” she says, pointing to the dessert table. They requested mini desserts and that’s what they got, so I’m really confused.

  “That’s the presentation?” she says rudely. “I was expecting a creative display, not just tiers of dessert cups. You recommended this baker and I’m not at all impressed.” She folds her arms and stares me down.

  What was she expecting, a display from “Cupcake Wars”?

  Craig doesn’t say anything, but I see him hide the empty champagne glass.

  “I’m terribly sorry, Lisa, maybe I misunderstood, but we didn’t discuss any kind of display.”

  She doesn’t respond and walks off in a huff. This isn’t good, but on the bright side, maybe she won’t ever call us again.

  *~*~*

  I think the event goes really well other than the dessert table nonsense. I make a few contacts, and everyone raves about the food. Lisa doesn’t speak to us all evening, and when it’s time to clean up, I probe Craig for more details.

  “Okay, spill it. What’s her problem?” I ask. “I know you guys are super good buddies now so just tell me.”

  He casually looks around as if he’s some super spy about to reveal a huge important secret. Nicole is assisting the caterers with cleanup, so she’s not even around.

  “I probably shouldn’t say anything here, but I will tell you . . .” Just then Lisa starts walking toward us and he backs off.

  “Well done, you guys. I guess everything worked out after all, thankfully,” she says dramatically. Really? The desserts aren’t on a fancy display and she’s acting like the whole night was almost ruined.

  “I told you we would do a fantastic job,” Craig tells her. He gives her a hug as if they are life-long friends. I feel like I should say something.

  “Lisa, I’m sorry about the desserts. I should have clarified that with you,” I apologize. “Unfortunately, that’s what happens when we have to plan on short notice. Some things slip through the cracks.

  She waves her hand at me. “I understand. We will have more time to plan for the next event.” I force a smile. Thankfully, Craig speaks up. “Yes, we will, and I have to say that the desserts were so delicious that I doubt anyone noticed the presentation.”

  I raise my eyebrows at him.

  “Oh, and how many desserts did you have?” Lisa asks. The corner of her mouth curls up into a smile.

  “I have to be honest . . . I had seven,” he says dramatically.

  I drop my head and grit my teeth. “Craig, those were for the guests not for you. I’m sorry, Lisa.”

  She starts to laugh. “It’s totally fine. That’s why I love this guy. Although, I may have to deduct them from the payment.” Just then they break out into some secret handshake that only best friends would do. Well, isn’t this interesting? I think to myself.

  I make myself busy pulling centerpieces down from the tables, anything to get away from their annoying newfound friendship. Lisa joins me and fidgets with the flowers in one of the vases. “It was so nice to see Ace the other day. He really hasn’t changed a bit.”

  So, now she wants to talk to me? A few hours ago, I thought she was going to tell me to go to hell.

  “Yes, he said the same thing,” I agree. I have every intention to not act like a crazy jealous fiancée. “He really isn’t very good at keeping in touch with people.”

  She nods. “Yeah, I guess it’s hard when most of your friends are spread across the world.”

  I never really thought about it, but she’s absolutely right, most of them are probably in Australia or England. That must be hard, and I complain about Madison traveling once in a while. Am I really this selfish?

  “I’m sure it’s especially hard with Maureen being so far away,” she adds. What is she talking about? Who’s Maureen?”

  I give her a confused look. She must realize that I have no idea who she’s talking about.

  “Maureen. His mother,” she says firmly. Now I feel like an idiot. I knew his mom’s (or mum’s) name was Maureen. I’ve spoken to her several times.

  “Oh, of course. They have the sweetest relationship.” Shortly after I met Ace, I ran into him at the mall and he was wandering around like a lost boy trying to find a gift for his mother. I helped him shop for her but that was before we were even dating.

  “Yes, they do and she’s awesome,” she says as she digs in her bag for something.

  There’s that horrible feeling creeping up again. Did Lisa meet Ace’s mother? She sure feels very comfortable talking about her. I need to know more; my obsessive nature takes control once again.

  “Did you ever have a chance to
meet Maureen?” I ask nonchalantly.

  She nods. “Yes, she was also on vacation that summer when the soccer team was in the UK. We had dinner, one of the nicest ladies I’ve ever met.”

  Ugh. Can this get any worse? I haven’t even met my soon-to-be mother-in-law. I hate feeling so disconnected. It’s not fair. And now I’m acting like a spoiled child.

  “Anyway, I have to take care of a few things before I leave. Let me know if you need anything else from me, and good job tonight.” She says good-bye to Craig and Nicole, and then she’s gone.

  I wait until Craig and I are the last two to leave. “So, are you going to tell me what was bothering Lisa? I had no idea you two had gotten to be such good friends. That was awfully fast.”

  He smiles mischievously. “Don’t be jealous, you still come first in my life. Especially because you sign my paychecks.” He starts to laugh hysterically but I don’t find that funny.

  “Anyway, just tell me, does it have anything to do with Ace or me?” I ask. He shakes his head. “Nope, but it is a bit of a scandal.”

  Scandal? Now this sounds intriguing. We head out the door and toward my SUV. I open the back and pile up some of our supplies. We lean against the car as Craig continues his story.

  “Apparently, Lisa has had some kind of inappropriate relationship with one of the lawyers. That’s why she was so curious as to how Ace knew them, being that they’re a brand-new firm.” He gets so excited to blab the secret. It was probably eating away at him not to say anything.

  “So, why was she upset? Did someone find out?”

  He shakes his head. “No, but the lawyer’s girlfriend was here tonight and Lisa was frazzled. I guess the affair is over but she’s still trying to get over it.”

  “Interesting. I was wondering if it had to do with Ace.” We finish loading up the car and get inside.

  “Oh, she did say it was great seeing him but that he was a reminder of all her bad decisions, starting with the day she let him go,” Craig whispers.

  I can’t believe how much she opened up to Craig. “Wow, she really poured her heart out to you, didn’t she?”

  Craig puts his feet up on the dashboard, which I hate. “Yeah, a few drinks will do that to you.”

  He’s right. I immediately think of Abby. I haven’t even had time to call her after her breakdown the other night. I make a mental note to check in on her.

  Craig continues talking. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Sienna. She knows that you and Ace are very happy, whether she likes it or not.”

  I wrap my hands tightly around the steering wheel. That’s exactly right, I think to myself. We are very happy and I’m not going to let anything or anyone change that.

  *~*~*

  “What are you waiting for?” Madison asks. “Now that you have a wedding date set, you have to find a dress.”

  Yes, my wedding dress. It’s on my wedding to-do list that I haven’t been able to get too.

  “I will be back next week, so let’s get Abby and go shopping,” she continues.

  “Speaking of Abby, do you really think everything is okay with her?” I ask. “I feel so guilty. I’m always throwing my issues at her. I’m a horrible friend. I mean, not once have I asked how she’s doing other than asking how the kids are. I should have known that everything seemed too perfect.” I know Madie feels the same way.

  “I think she’s okay. You know how she gets when she drinks,” she says. “But if you’re a horrible friend, then so am I. We should do something nice for her. Let’s talk to Matt and take her out, maybe a spa day?” she asks thoughtfully. “And maybe we can incorporate some dress shopping.”

  I knew that was coming. I’m not really sure why this dress shopping seems so daunting to me. I never procrastinate this bad. Maybe I’m so used to planning other people’s weddings that, now that it’s my turn, I’m panicking.

  “Fine,” I agree. I know that it’s not worth my time to argue with Madison.

  “Good. I will set it up,” she says. “Now, did you pick a venue yet? Just don’t go with the Four Seasons.” She starts laughing.

  I scowl. “Not funny.”

  Madison’s wedding was supposed to be held at the Four Seasons, but unfortunately, we had a few wedding haters interfere, these haters included my old boss Carrie and Madison’s own cousin who sabotaged her wedding plans. I had to scramble to find a new location for the wedding at the last minute and the place was horribly tacky. It was not one of the finer moments of my career. At the same time, there were rumors circulating that Sheer Happiness was going under. I may or may not have had a mini-breakdown, but at least now I can look back and know it was not my fault.

  “I’m just kidding. For real, though, where are you going to have it?” she asks.

  The truth is I have no idea. I must be losing my touch because normally I would already have a location booked, especially with it less than a year out. I don’t want to tell her that I have no idea so I say we haven’t made a final decision yet. It’s just a little white lie. Instead, I agree to let her set up a dress shopping date in conjunction with a day out for Abby. I have to admit that I’m proud of myself. I don’t let go of control very often, so letting Madison set this up is huge for me.

  “So, in other news, Ace and Lisa finally saw each other again,” I tell her. I’ve been dying to tell someone.

  “Who’s Lisa?” Madison asks curiously. Typical Madison, she has a horrible memory.

  “Lisa, the girl, the one who broke up Luke and Ace’s bromance,” I remind her.

  “Oh yeah, how did that go?” she asks.

  I tell her about them meeting again and how it felt weird, and then I tell her about Lisa meeting Ace’s mother.

  “Does it seem like there’s more to their relationship?” I ask her. “Ace only tells me that she broke things off and that was it. He doesn’t give any further details.”

  Madie sighs loudly. “He probably hasn’t said anything because it’s not important. Why don’t you just ask him? You really need to move on from this.”

  She’s right. Everyone is right. I should probably just ask him once and for all.

  “I was doing okay, until she brought up his mother. I know how close Ace and his mom are and I still haven’t had a chance to meet her.”

  Madie starts to laugh. “You know, that may not be so bad. Don’t forget my mother-in-law is my neighbor and, as great as she is, sometimes I wouldn’t mind if she lived across the world.”

  She has a point. I promise her that I will discuss it with Ace next time we are together, that’s if he lets me and doesn’t try to distract me.

  Chapter 11

  Sometimes a change of scenery is all you need to clear your head. I’m sitting in one of the cozy chairs in Starbucks with my laptop. I had to get out of the office for a bit. I couldn’t take anymore listening to Craig tell Nicole about all the people that Lisa knows and about getting in the VIP section at Nobu. Ace will be back late tonight from another trip, and I’m planning on asking him more about the details of their relationship. I know myself well enough that I won’t be able to leave it alone until I get closure.

  I’m working on the details of the charity event Faith, Fashion, and Hope. Last year’s event was a smashing success so I have to continue with that and make it even better this year. I have a fantastic live band lined up and décor is planned; thankfully, the Cantons are family friends and they trust my creativity.

  “Sienna?”

  That familiar feeling of dread comes over me. I turn to see Carrie standing next to me. Damn, Craig was right. She’s had even more plastic surgery done; she’s hardly recognizable.

  “Carrie,” I say with a groan. So much for trying to escape from an awkward situation, now I’ve found an even more awkward situation. I try to look busy in hopes that she won’t stay, but Carrie’s never been one to take a hint.

  “I’m very glad I ran into you,” she says unconvincingly. She sits down on the edge of the empty chair that’s next to mine.
>
  I don’t look up from my computer. “I’m sorry, Carrie, but I don’t have time to talk, and like I told you on the phone, we really don’t have anything to say to each other.”

  She pulls a mirror out of her very expensive bag and checks her makeup. I look up from my computer and watch her. Now is my chance to ask her the burning question I’ve wanted to ask her for years.

  “Carrie, why do you continue to get more plastic surgery? You know you don’t need it.”

  The look of shock comes over her face. Come to think of it, I’m actually shocked I asked her, too. Wait until I tell Craig.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says defensively. “I’ve had a few Botox treatments but that’s all. And I don’t recall you ever being this rude before. Has your new fame gone to your head?”

  I nearly choke on my latte. A few Botox treatments? Oh well, I asked her so I may as well keep going—maybe I will piss her off so much that she will get up and leave.

  I lean in. “Carrie, be serious, did you forget that I used to help with your finances? I know about all the countless hours and doctors. It’s nothing to be ashamed of really—this is Southern California and plastic surgery is very commonplace.”

  She looks at me as if I just punched her in the face. “I don’t appreciate you making up these lies. I’m trying to make amends and you choose to insult me?”

  I wait for her to storm off, leaving me in a cloud of Chanel perfume, but so far no such luck. I fold my arms and stare at her for a few seconds. “Tell me, Carrie, why is it that you suddenly want to make amends with me? All because a therapist tells you that you should?” I ask.

  She puts her mirror away and folds her hands over the top of her bag. “I realize that I made some wrong decisions in the past, but I truly feel that it’s important for us to move forward. There was a time we worked well together and don’t forget you got your start in this industry with my help.”

  I knew that was coming. When I initially told her I was leaving her company she tried to tell me that I would never make it without her. The fact is she had been mostly hands-off for quite a while and I was basically running her company for her. She would never admit that, though.