The plans for the ball were all set up, and I actually had something to wear. I could get used to this relaxed feeling. Sure, it wasn’t over. Setup still had to happen and all that, but I could taste the success.
Ivy forced me into some jeans, so we could go out to dinner. There was this amazing burger place nearby that we always went to, so we sat in there and had a few beers while we watched a soccer game.
“What the hell are we doing? We don’t watch soccer.” Ivy laughed.
“I know, but the guys are hot.” I giggled.
She nibbled on some fries.
“True. Maybe we should find men. Then we won’t have to use Groupons for dinner.” I laughed at her joke.
“I don’t care if I ever get rich, I will always coupon.” She clinked her bottle to mine in a cheer.
“Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I never met Sasha.” I said over the noise of the crowd. It was starting to fill up, so I was glad we picked a seat in the corner.
“Do you think you wouldn’t have gotten the shop idea?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, “maybe I would have worked with my dad or something. She showed me what selling the flowers would feel like. I love the feeling.” Ivy looked at me intently.
“That’s amazing, you know. That you found something that makes you happy. I don’t think you would have been fully satisfied with Botany.” She said with a smirk. I nodded in agreement.
Chapter Five
Tristan
I spent the next few days getting things together for the gala. I had put a rush on a new suit to be tailored. It got there Saturday morning. Mom called to coordinate a limo, I said I would just meet her at the house. When I arrived, Natalie was already there in the foyer.
“Hey sis, you look beautiful.” I went in for a hug, but she backed away.
“Don’t wrinkle my dress!” Did silk wrinkle? I made a face and she high fived me instead.
“You look handsome.” She adjusted my tie. She was a perfectionist. Her hair was perfectly slicked up into a bun, her dress a deep gold color that wrapped around her and made a small train at the end. She wore diamond drop earrings, and that was it for jewelry.
“Where are Mom and Dad?” I asked her. She pointed to the access door.
My parent’s estate was something out of a movie. Seven different entrances, if I’m even counting right. Only three bedrooms since we were all gone. But there were three living rooms, two kitchens, a theatre room, and a bonus room. They both had offices in the house as well, equipped with a library. It was the house we grew up in, but they had upgraded things here and there throughout the years.
“Let’s go then. I want to get this night over with.”
Chapter Six
Emilia
“No, no! That goes here!”
Man, were some people hard of hearing or what? I was at the venue, supervising the set up. Everything was going fairly well, but sometimes things would end up where they didn’t belong. Maybe the plan I had created was too hard to follow.
“Sorry.”
The man apologized. He was fairly young, and he made no secret of staring at my ass in my shorts. I know I have extra curves everywhere, but it isn’t for everyone’s viewing entertainment.
“And this one should be a little slanted, so it meets in the center like an archway.” I changed the location of the Daffodils.
I was so excited already, everything looked beautiful so far. The load in crew were hard at work, and once I got some kinks worked out, I could relax and help when needed. I wanted the main floral arrangement at the entrance to be perfect, so I created that all myself. I was a little scared to be up on a ladder, so far from the ground that if I fell I would definitely die, but the arrangement looked perfect when I was finished, so it was worth it.
The inside of the ball room was a dark cream color with gold trim. The seating arrangements matched that color, so I didn’t want the flowers to pop too much. I chose a white lilies arrangement. It may seem like the simplest flower out there, but it matched. And the archway was a lot more intricate, so I didn’t want the entire place to be too flowered up.
Especially the entrance leading up to the main door. There was a cream-colored train that flowed all the way up, lined by five stone pillars on each side. In each of those, I put white rose bouquets, specked with daffodils. As I did a final walk through, I was perfectly content, and a little surprised that I could even pull this all off to begin with.