‘Of course, I won’t take up to much of your time’, Caspar sits back down.
This is so surreal. I mean Casper Danes is sitting in my office. Looking hot as hell, I might add. I can feel my body reacting to him. I am feeling a bit light-headed with lust. This is not the time to feel attracted to him. But god, he can get my heart pumping. I quickly compose myself.
‘How do you know where I work?’ I ask as I pull my laptop out of my bag and place it on the desk.
‘Gemma told me,’ he looks around my office. ‘You’ve done really well for yourself. The place looks great.’
‘Thanks,’ I say with as little emotion as I can.
‘Yeah when Gemma told me what you were a wedding planner and had your own business, I knew this was my chance to come and see you.’
‘Really?’ I suddenly panic. Oh god, don’t tell me he is actually engaged and is expecting me to plan his wedding. I won’t be able to cope.
‘I’ve been wanting to catch up with you for ages,’ Caspar continues. ‘But we haven’t really had the opportunity to talk.’
‘You’ve had 8 years to find me,’ I quip back sarcastically.
‘Look Sammi, this is really hard. I have wanted to speak to you for ages but I was afraid after what happened.’
‘What you did was pretty horrible and I don’t really know what kind of reason can justify what you did.’ I look him straight in the eyes as I say this.
He looks really uncomfortable and I know my words have had an impact on him.
‘I know Sammi, it was bad and I was a complete idiot. The longer time went on, the more awkward it got to contact you so I left it.’
‘Idiot doesn’t even cut it, Casper.’ I can’t believe I am being so assertive at the moment. The old Sammi would never have challenged him like this.
‘Listen Sammi, there is a reason. I can’t get into it right now but a really serious family issue came up that night. It changed everything and completely turned everything upside down.’
‘You could have come to me.’
‘That’s just it, I couldn’t,’ he looks pained as he says this.
‘Caspar, I thought we were close back then. You could have told me anything. I mean I knew your family. I don’t think there is anything you couldn’t have told me. I would have been there for you.’
‘Sammi, I have never stopped feeling terrible about that night.’
‘Really? If you felt that bad then why didn’t you come and sort it out sooner?’ I can feel myself getting cross.
‘Look Sammi, something big happened. This isn’t the right time or place to talk about it but I came here to sort out a time where we could meet up so I can explain.’
‘It’s been 8 years, why now Caspar?’ I ask him.
‘I’m back now and seeing you in the pub a few weeks ago, made me realise that it was time to put things right.’
I don’t say anything. There is too much going on in my head and I need some time to think things through.
‘Look, I can see this is difficult for you,’ Caspar reaches into his jeans pocket and pulls out his wallet.
I remain quiet.
‘I don’t want to force you into things but I’d really like the chance to explain what happened and sort things out with you. I know I didn’t treat you fairly.’
Just then, the phone on my desk buzzes and Jodie’s voice came through the intercom.
‘Sammi, Jasmine has just turned up. She’s in a bit of a state and wants to see you.’
‘Ohh… ok right. Thanks Jodie, tell her I’ll be out in a few minutes.’
Talk about bad timing. I look up at Caspar. God he is so good looking and he looks so distraught. Still, I can’t get sucked back in by Caspar’s charms. This is not going to be easy.
‘I can see you are busy,’ he pulls out a card from his wallet. ‘Here is my card. Think about what I said and if you want to meet up, give me a call.’
He stands up to leave. ‘I really hope you do, Sammi.’
I walk him out to reception. I would think about things later. Right now it seems Jasmine needs me. She is sitting on the bright pink sofa looking very teary and pale-faced.
‘Jasmine,’ I call out softly to her.
‘Oh Sammi,’ Jasmine looks like she is about to burst into a massive flood of tears. ‘Thank you so much for seeing me.’
‘It’s fine,’ I look helplessly over at Jodie who just shrugs. ‘Would you like a drink or anything?’
‘No thanks. I just really need to talk to you.’
‘Of course, why don’t you come through to my office?’ I walk Jasmine through to my office and we sit down.
‘So what’s going on?’ I ask. ‘How are you holding up?’
‘Not very well actually.’
‘I’m not surprised, what Timothy did was a massive shock and just awful.’ I can feel my blood boil just thinking about it. I had never liked Timothy and I couldn’t believe how he felt he could treat Jasmine like this.
‘It’s so awful,’ Jasmine’s lower lip started to tremble.
‘I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now but it’s for the best that this has happened before the wedding. He is not a nice person and you deserve to be treated better.’
‘I know you are right, everyone keeps telling me but it’s just so painful and he won’t even talk to me.’
‘Well that’s probably not a bad thing.’ I say.
‘I know he doesn’t want to be with me but we were together for 5 years and now nothing. No contact at all. He’s just completely ghosted me.’
Ghosted. There was that horrible word again. I could feel my stomach clench at the word. Was this such a common occurrence now that the word ghosted had become part of normal vocabulary?
‘Ghosted you?’ I am intrigued to find out the details.
‘Yes he has completely disappeared. He’s blocked me so I can’t call or text him. I can’t even email him. He’s moved out and I don’t know where he is living. I have heard nothing.’
‘Wow,’ I am shocked by this news.
‘Yeah, tell me about it,’ Jasmine rifles around her handbag until she finds a little pack of tissues.
‘Has he moved all his stuff out then?’
Jasmine goes on to tell me the full story. Apparently, on the day Timothy cancelled the wedding, she received a strange letter from him. When she had returned home later that evening after spending some time with her mum, all of Timothy’s stuff was gone. There was a letter waiting for her on the coffee table.
The letter was from a solicitor stating that Timothy could no longer live under such emotional turbulence. It was causing him stress so he was removing himself from the situation and cancelling the wedding. But wait for the clincher. As a gesture of goodwill, he would accept any costs incurred from cancelling the wedding at short notice ….. as long as Jasmine makes no attempt to contact him. So this had all been pre-planned. This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard, I am flabbergasted.
‘What’s most upsetting is the fact that he is painting me as this unstable, emotional bully. It’s just not true,’ says Jasmine.
‘I’m sure it’s not. You are lovely,’ I reassure her. ‘I never liked him, there was always something a bit off with him, bad energy.’
‘He has major OCD and living with him was a nightmare. I lived on eggshells making sure everything was put away properly and clean. He would have to have things lined up in a certain way. And he cleaned for at least 3 hours a day. He used to wake up at 5:00am to clean the house every morning.’
‘Sounds like he is the one with issues,’ I say.
‘Yeah, I’ve realised that now,’ she says. ‘And obviously make sure you invoice Timothy for your time.’
‘My time?’ I ask.
Yes, that’s why I came in today. To let you know that you should bill Timothy for your time as he is expecting you to cancel everything and deal with deposits and payments.’
‘Oh okay, sure that’s fine.’
/> ‘After all you should be paid for the time it will take you to cancel everything. Be sure to triple your rate.’
We both laugh.
‘Anyway I just wanted to thank you for all your support,’ she says.
‘Of course, anytime you need me,’ I say. ‘And make sure you take some time to look after yourself.’
‘Thanks Sammi,’ Jasmine hugs me and then leaves my office.
I look at the time. It’s only 13:32 pm. So much has already happened today and I feel absolutely drained. I need a break. I wandered into the staffroom and switch on the kettle. Peace and quiet is what I need for a few minutes. I prepare myself a nice soothing peppermint tea and sit there with my hands wrapped round the mug for warmth. I start to feel myself relaxing.
After a few minutes, I pull out the card Caspar gave me and look at it. It’s a thick expensive creamy white business card. Caspar Danes, Senior Graphic Designer, SGM.
So he has gone up in the world. SGM is a very successful company based here in Roseford.
‘Hey hun, what’s up?’ Nic strides into the kitchen with two bags full of groceries.
Her latest diet fad was some detox your fat thing where she had to drink a few litres of heavily diluted cranberry and lemon juice and live on pretty much nothing.
‘You would not believe the morning I have had.’ I lay my head on the table. ‘I am totally exhausted!’
‘What’s happened?’ Nic pulls out a Tupperware container filled with a lot of green leafy things, two prawns, a small cherry tomato and half a boiled egg.
‘Wow, that looks filling,’ I say sarcastically.
‘It’s not that bad,’ Nic pops the tomato in her mouth. ‘Plus I have the cranberry shake and fruit.’
‘That’s alright then,’ I grimace at the cranberry juice shake that Nic has to mix with some grainy fibre things that will thicken it up. Apparently, it’s meant to clean out your intestines or something.
‘It’s really good for you and I’ve already lost 3 pounds,’ she says triumphantly.
‘Fair enough,’ I help myself to a couple of jaffa cakes and sip my tea.
‘So tell me what’s happened then?’ Nic asks again.
I fill her in on the events that happened at Darlington Manor this morning.
‘You locked her in the toilets?’ Nic can’t stop laughing. ‘That’s hysterical. I bet she was fuming.’
‘She totally was,’ I start laughing uncontrollably, remembering how frazzled and angry Linda was after being released from her cubicle.
‘I suppose we should keep this on the down low,’ Nic whispered. ‘I wouldn’t even want Jodie to know. You know if things like this get around, it might not make us look very professional.’
‘No of course not.’
‘Not that I don’t find it funny. It’s made my day.’
‘I feel like we are acting in the best interest of our client anyway. After all, Amelie is our client, not Linda. Amelie really wanted that venue and Linda has no right to interfere,’ I say to justify my actions.
‘True,’ she agrees.
‘I actually felt like I needed to stick up for Amelie’s rights. I mean the poor girl has suffered enough having to deal with Linda being her mother.’
‘Absolutely,’ Nic says as she crunches through the last of the green leaf selection in her Tupperware.
I finish off the last of my jaffa cakes and I suddenly feel a bit guilty.
‘Sorry, this probably isn’t helping your diet with me scoffing jaffa cakes around you,’ I brush a few crumbs off my mouth.
‘No not at all,’ she takes a swig of her peculiar looking cranberry shake. ‘I am mentally switched on for this diet and I actually don’t fancy anything sweet believe it or not.’
‘That’s fantastic. I’m proud of you,’ I say encouragingly.
‘So anyway, Jodie said that a couple of other people stopped by to see you today,’ Nic is prying for information. I can tell that she knows Caspar stopped by.
‘Yes and I am also sure she also told you exactly who those people were as well.’
‘Yes of course, now tell me what happened,’ she demands.
‘So I get back from Darlington Manor and Caspar is waiting for me in my office. I actually can’t believe that Jodie let him go through,’ I begin the story. ‘Anyway, he’s sat there and starts complimenting me on the business.’
‘That’s a good start, I mean you want him to realise that you have moved on and become successful,’ Nic says but stops when she notices I am not impressed.
‘Then he basically wanted to set up a time where we can meet so he can explain what happened.’
‘Did you agree?’ Nic looks at me wide-eyed.
‘No not really, I wasn’t really sure what to do and then Jodie buzzed through telling me Jasmine had just turned up and needed to see me.’
‘So how did you leave it then?’
‘He left me his card and told me to ring me when I’m ready.’ I stand up to go and wash my cup out at the sink.
‘So what do you think you’ll do then?’ Nic asks in between slurping down her revolting drink.
‘Not sure yet. I’m not making any quick decisions.’ I pick up a tea towel to dry my mug.
‘I think it may be a good idea. Getting a bit of closure on this is probably quite a healthy thing to do.’
‘I know but he comes in here all good looking and charming and I just don’t trust that he is playing games with me. I can’t afford to get hurt again.’ I put my cat mug away in the cupboard and sit back down.
‘It must be really scary, but he may not leave you alone until you hear him out,’ Nic says as she rummages through her plastic carrier bag looking for more food.
‘Maybe, I’ll see,’ I look into Nic’s second bit of Tupperware. ‘What the hell is that?’
‘It’s a banana and mango raw superfood bowl with hemp and cacao nibs.’
‘Looks delicious,’ I make fake gagging noises to wind her up.
‘Stop, it tastes better than it looks,’ she smiles as she spoons up a bit of yellowy-brown goo.
‘Whatever,’ I wince as she puts the goo in her mouth.
‘So what’s going on with Jasmine? You said needed to see you?’ Nic never likes to miss out on any situation that happens in the office.
‘Nothing much, apart from the fact that Timothy is a complete douchebag. He had already moved all his stuff out of their place before he came here to cancel the wedding. He had it all planned out.’
Nic’s mouth falls open, ‘No way.’
‘Yep and he sent her this really strange solicitor’s letter saying he was forced to end the relationship because of the mental strain she was putting him under. It says that he will accept the total loss of money they spent on the wedding as long as she doesn’t attempt to contact him in anyway.’
‘The guy is so mental.’
‘I know, I think she’s had a lucky escape. Apparently he is one of these psycho OCD guys. He had to have everything put away and lined up in a certain way and he used to do at least 3 hours of cleaning every day.’
‘Okay, I think he is the one who has the mental issues here.’
‘Totally, anyway back to work for me. I need to sort some things out for the Pineapple Wedding,’ I get up and sneak one last jaffa cake before going back to the grind.
I am in a massive dilemma about meeting up with Caspar and it is on my mind for the rest of the afternoon. I need to get on with my work without any distractions. I eventually manage to muddle through a few of the tasks on my currently very large to-do list.
The Pineapple Wedding is only 6 weeks away which is crazy as the lace has only just arrived and Debbie, the dress-maker is on a tight schedule to get it made.
I give her a ring to check up on her progress. Debbie is a complete star and I am so lucky to have her as one of my contacts for Wedding Boss. I worked with her at Sheridan’s where she ran the sewing and fabric department.
Her true passion was dress-making
and she left Sheridan’s a few years ago to set up her business. She is a lovely lady who treated me like her own daughter when we worked together. Nic and I helped her get started on her business and we send a lot of clients her way. In return we get a first class service and can really rely on her especially when we have any dress emergencies.
All is good she tells me. The lace is beautiful to work with and she has already cut the pattern out. She reckons that Honey can come by in a couple of weeks for her first fitting.
What a relief. I can always rely on Debbie.
Honey Edwards, Pineapple Bride. I doodle on a piece of paper. In all fairness, her dress will look awesome. The design is fabulous and the lace is divine. She will make a very original bride. Did I mention that Honey’s family are loaded? Well they are.
Honey’s wedding is going to be held at a very large country estate owned by one of their family friends. One of the orangeries (a conservatory to you and me)…. yes there is more than one and it is being turned into a tropical island.
They are flying in sand from somewhere in the tropics and filling the glass house with palm trees, sun loungers and a posh bar which will serve drinks. And yes…. you guessed it. Custom pineapple cocktails will be served at the bar.
I will complete the look with pineapple decorations, all very tasteful of course. I have managed to get Honey to agree to also serve prosecco, wine and beer. This is a total relief as I have a fear that her guests will get sick if all they have is sugary pineapple food and drinks all day.
I also arrange a meeting with Renata so that Amelie and I can go through more specific details including the flowers, decorations and music.
All the while I am trying to push thoughts of Caspar at the back of my mind. I have to say it’s not working very well at all.
Nic puts her head around my door to say she is off. I check my phone and see that it is already 6:00pm. I switch off my laptop and turn off the lights. It’s Wednesday night and the cleaners are in so I don’t need to lock up.
I give the gym a miss as I really don’t want to see Caspar for a second time today. Things have really changed. I used to live for the moments I spent with Caspar. It’s so sad that someone who once made you so happy and was the most important person in your life can become someone you want to avoid.
Ghosted: Wicked Wedding Planners Series Page 10