I knocked on the trailer door and turned the knob. I stepped inside and scanned the room. Alphonse was fussing over by the dressing room and Christie and Sylvia were cleaning up their tables. Looks like they pulled out all the stops.
"Hi!" Christie and Sylvia called out in unison.
"Hello. Looks like some magic was done here in the last few hours!"
"You'd better believe it," Sylvia said. "We had so much fun with Arya."
Christie winked and held her hand to the side of her mouth to fake-whisper, "You're gonna love the result!"
And then, Alphonse came out of a curtain, winked at me, then pulled the curtain away.
There she was.
It was like time stood still. Arya was standing on a platform surrounded on one side by mirrors and open towards me on the other. She slowly turned around. It was still Arya, but in princess form. Christie and Sylvia had done an amazing job with her makeup. Not overdone, simple, and it brought out her chestnut eyes. Her hair was darker than I thought previously, and done in old time waves that flowed into a low chignon at her neck. A few longer pieces framed her beautiful face. She was smiling, but almost shyly, and looking at me, clearly hoping that I liked what I saw.
Her dress was a simple, royal blue silk dress that accentuated her perfect curves in all the right ways. The thin straps over her shoulders looked so delicate. They perfectly framed the simple diamond necklace and dainty earrings that she had chosen. She wore a diamond bracelet and an infinity ring lightly crusted with baby diamonds on her right hand.
She stuck out her foot, as if giving me the royal tour, and I saw her silver sparkling shoes, encasing her perfect toes that had been treated to a new pedicure.
My heart was my throat. She was so beautiful and there were no words that could express my feelings.
"Arya," I said as I looked at her bewilderingly, "You look absolutely stunning."
"Thank you," she said. I stepped forward to grab her hand and help her off the platform. "I mean it. Thank YOU. This has been such a fun time with Alphonse, Christie and Sylvia. I feel amazing and totally spoiled."
Alphonse chimed in, almost apologetically. "I'm sorry sir, I couldn't convince her to take a larger diamond. I tried." I laughed. That sounds like my Arya.
I reached out to her and pulled her gently toward me so I could hold her. As I did that, we could hear some rhythmic thumping in the distance, growing louder and louder.
Alphonse clicked his heels, pointed to the ceiling, and announced, "Your chariot awaits."
"What?" Arya gasped.
I took her hand and led her to the door of the trailer. I waited for the thumping to slow and opened the door. I helped her down the stairs, and my pilot, Darren, who had brought my helicopter from New York, greeted us.
"Tristan!"
"Let's go, my dear. Our evening is just beginning."
Arya's face was completely adorable. She was definitely in a state of disbelief, and I was enjoying every minute of this. I would continue to enjoy it as we flew the 25 minutes to Louisville for supper.
After our private dining experience with Chef Milanero, I had the limousine take us to our hotel.
Arya sighed, "That was an amazing meal. I'm completely stuffed with the best food I have ever tasted in my life." I couldn't agree more. Funny how being with someone special makes the food taste even better.
As we walked up to our room after checking in, Arya took my hand. We walked through the lobby with marble floors. Plush furniture was staged everywhere, and the elevators gleamed, having been recently polished.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked.
“A lot is on my mind.”
We walked into the room, and Arya gasped again. She walked around the room, touching everything, as if she didn't believe it was real. Everything was beautifully furnished. She sat on the huge king bed and looked out of the floor to ceiling windows, taking in all the lights of downtown Louisville. The Presidential Suite was even a treat for me and I planned to enjoy every part of it, especially the plush bed.
It had a small sitting area with high-end looking chairs and a couch. The television was massive and below it was a mini bar. I stuck my head in the bathroom to make sure we had everything and saw the large shower–I smiled, imagining the fun we'd be having with that. I saw a stack of fluffy towels and two brilliantly white robes.
This was perfect.
Arya kicked off her heels. She opened the sliding glass door and went out onto the balcony, where two chairs and a small table were set up. The warm summer night breeze wrapped around us as I came up behind her and encompassed her in my arms.