“If it’s speech time, then it’s speech time,” Father said and got up from his seat. Both men followed Lavina back to the party. I watched them go but made no move. The bright lights, the pretend smiles and phony laughs as Lavina trotted around in her three-inch heels with her phone just to get rehearsal-dinner content for some mysterious followers who had nothing better to do with their time… I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Instead, I stood there. Under the palm tree. Staring up at the sky. At the stars. The full moon glowed an unusual tinge of red. It was the closest I had gotten at that point to feeling something other than physical pain from deep within my heart.
CHAPTER5
ELLY
“It’s not just a cocktail party. Anyone who’s anyone will be there, so we need to be there too.” Simone pulled out a dress from the plastic garment bag. I took one look at it and shook my head.
“What?” Simone stepped out of her heels and padded across my hotel room to where I was sitting cross-legged on the bed.
“I…I can’t wear that,” I stammered.
Simone gestured for me to stand up and pressed the dress against my body. “Why not? The sky-blue tones perfectly compliment your eyes. It’s got a bit of lace on the bodice, which is so in right now, and the A-line screams ‘I can play both on and off the court.’ It’s very you. Or it should be very you if you could stop being so difficult about this whole thing.”
“It, uh…looks expensive.”And the last thing I should be doing is wasting money on dresses I don’t need and attending parties that have nothing to do with how well I will play tomorrow.
“It should be. You’ll be chatting with the sporting elite of South America, Elly. You can’t very well turn up in some cheap dress you bought back in Florida.”
Simone brandished the dress in front of me, waiting for me to take it from her. If I had known that playing tennis professionally would involve me going around cocktail parties like a show pony, I might have thought twice about signing my agent’s contract. Networking was not my thing.
“Come on. Put it on, and then we’ll go downstairs to get your hair done.”
“Hair?”
“And make-up. Did you think I was going to let you throw your hair back in that ponytail of yours?” There it was. Simone’s eye roll and the wave of hands. She snapped her fingers and I sighed. There was no getting out of this.
* * *
Even though the space was large, by the time we arrived at the networking cocktail party in one of the rooms at the back of the hotel, the room felt crowded. I was scared stiff of moving and knocking into someone’s elbow, drink, or back. My long limbs were dangerous in these types of spaces. I belonged outside, in the open space of grass courts. Here, I was a caged elephant in a room full of porcelain cutlery.
“And that man in the gray blazer and red striped tie is the CEO of Plant It Health. His company deals with protein shakes, etc., etc. You have to meet him. He’s already mentioned he wanted to talk to us and…”
Simone whirled me round and round the room, from one CEO to another, saying names that I’d forget in the next minute. I found it hard to focus as the room reverberated with conversation after conversation, and I held onto the drink Simone had placed in my hand as if I could gather strength from it. I didn’t even drink it. It was just an accessory just like my smiles and nods. And the constant repetition of my name.
When Simone finally stopped for a quick break so she could reply to some emails “on urgent matters,” I took the chance to slip away on the pretext of going to the bathroom. I had no intention of returning.
CHAPTER6
SEBASTIAN
Well, they can’t say I didn’t warn them.Even though, just for that comment, Elonzo would strangle me.
On the morning of the wedding, rather than doing my best to hide away from the festivities, I was somehow appointed the highly sought-after (not) role of peace broker between the bride and groom.
As Elonzo and Lavina’s voices rose in bitterness and anger, I looked at my brother, really looked at him. We were so different.
Physically, we both took after my mom, with hazel eyes, pointy noses, and thick waves of dusky hair—though Elonzo did inherit Father’s rounded chin. We both stayed physically fit, almost competitively, and were taller than the average man around Cartagena.
Character-wise, we were on two different planets. For one, I would never have gotten myself into the situation we were in right then. Because I would never have gotten myself a bride.
“What do you mean you want to change venues? We have already paid for this place! Paid in the tens of thousands, and all the catering and decorations and musicians are already here, ready for us to walk down the aisle in two hours!”
“How can you be so cruel, Elonzo? Do you want me to shame myself by having some second-class party when my biggest social-media rival has just posted photos of her St. Bart’s wedding? Can you not see how cruel that is?!”
Elonzo approached his fiancée but she turned away from him, screwing up her face as if she was about to cry. No tears came, though, unfortunately for her. Her acting skills were in need of an upgrade.
Elonzo bit his lip. He lowered his voice slightly, trying to be patient. “Lavina, this is not aparty. It’s our wedding. It’s the day we promise to love each other to the end of time. It’s supposed to be the happiest day of our lives!”