011 – The big day
“Did you see the look on his face?� Janie exclaimed, face flushed, giddy with excitement.
Anne stared. In all the weeks she’s worked with Janie on her wedding, the woman had never exhibited a disposition other than practiced elegance and here she was, on the verge of hollering and whooping at what she thought was a conquest in her favor.
“yes…� Anne answered, purely for the reason of answering though she didn’t really get Janie’s excitement. Perhaps Janie didn’t know May that well, “I mean, I have my own reasons to ruffle his feathers but have you taken a serious look at May? You saw her barge in uninvited, I shudder to think what she would do at the wedding.�
Janie shrugged, unaffected, “whatever antics May brings is worth the suffering on Ken’s part…come on, don’t tell me he actually likes her. I thought by the look on his face when he saw her at my house the other day that he was more horrified to see her than anything else, and that’s completely perverse for ken let me tell you…he never dislikes a woman, in fact, he seems to love all of them, but he must have known her a little longer than he likes or else he would allow her fawning to continue, the only time he dislikes them is when they get too attached…I can’t help if it gives me slight pleasure to see him squirm in discomfort…�
Anne eyed Janie suspiciously. Ken’s inability to commit didn’t surprise her, she picked up on the notion right away. And sure, the thought of ken suffering through a night with May brought great pleasure to her as well but as far as she knew, Ken, Janie, and Andy all grew up together; you’d think they’d take each other’s sides.
Janie saw the look of question in Anne’s expression and sighed, realizing she had to explain herself. “oh alright, I have another reason as well…�
Anne scooted forward, “dish.�
“well, Andy and ken grew up together so naturally they’re best friends…I used to have, lets say a slight infatuation with him (this was before I knew about his noncommittal ways,) anyways Andy always thought it was just a crush but I started talking to ken and becoming his friend as well…�
“and you guys dated?� Anne asked, having never thought of the beautiful and poised Janie as someone Ken’s dated.
“oh god no,� Janie replied, doing a slight shake, repulsed by the idea, “thank goodness….but I really did think we were getting close to it…that is until he introduced me to his girlfriend of 2 months....�
Anne’s expression changed to one of both understanding and empathetic pity, “oh…�
“don’t feel too maudlin, I’ve never been more glad of something not happening in my life…especially now that I’ve found someone who wholly completes me but I’ve still wanted to get back at him just a tad bit ever since, nothing too harsh mind you, I really wasn’t as crushed as I thought at the time, but just a little pain in return for the time I invested would allow me great peace to move on…�
Anne laughed, glad that someone as incorrigible as ken didn’t scar Janie beyond her teenage years, “well then I suppose having May as his date at a close family event like this would do the trick…�
Janie nodded mischievously, “I should think so….�
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“she did it on purpose!�
Andy nodded, holding back a grin, “probably.�
“I mean, you’d think after 7 years she’d be over it!�
Andy half shrugged, enjoying his scotch, “naturally.�
“and Anne! Oh, she must have put Janie up to it! Women! They’re all conspiring to defeat the male race!�
Andy nodded a bit, “possible.�
“I mean I had good reason to do what I did, but what reason did she have to strap May on me for a whole day and night?�
Andy sighed, realizing it was time he started offering more than one word replies or ken would keep ranting all night, “look Ken, you broke her heart….of course she’d want just a bit of revenge…�
“it’s been seven years!�
“women don’t forget, young or not…come on, hasn’t any of your other 50,000 ex girlfriends exacted some sort of revenge on you for letting them go? I’d say her choice of retribution is rather minor…�
“but I had a reason for doing it!�
“yes but she doesn’t know that…�
Ken growled, rubbing his forehead white in frustration, “if I told her why do you think she’d get me out of it?�
Andy laughed, finding hilarity in Ken’s predicament. Ken usually made sure he didn’t involve himself with one woman for more than two weeks, two and a half tops and here he was, unable to get out of a situation that would take him over his limit, pushing it past four, “probably not, she’d just reason it with revenge for women in general, you know how they are, they band together like they were born for all the same purpose.�
“the annihilation of men.� Ken agreed, defeated.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Anne sighed, feeling a mix of contentment and admittedly, a bit of self pity. She’d never seen a more beautiful wedding; it was like a feature straight out of Bridal Today and probably would extend its life there next but somewhere inside, in the deteterminatly suppressed and more shame eliciting recesses of her heart she wanted to wallow a bit in her unfortunate dawning that this project was completed. Her job was over and she was back to square one…though she knew this job would produce more business (Janie wouldn’t stop talking about her floral abilities to anyone that would listen,) the Little Pearl for the moment was still dying and falling behind despite her efforts to keep it alive. The crux of the matter was that people don’t use flowers like they used to. Where before you’d apologize, declare your love, and court another with a bouquet of flowers, today you’d send an email, or a nice animated ecard…it was a little heartbreaking to tell the truth…although she barely ever succumbed to defeat, matters were getting dire…the flower business barely supported their living and lately her grandfather has been acting…off…she knew something was wrong but she didn’t want to ask, he’d only become defensive…he’d been reasoning his attitude to her associating herself with ‘these people’ as he called them…her grandfather was hardly ever judgmental but he seemed to have less patience for the rich than he had for the poor.
Whatever the case, she would have to find out what was wrong before she made a more major commitments to other projects.
Turning her attention back to the Reception she heard applause, assuming that meant the announcement of the newly wed couple she joined in and pushed her worries into the back of her mind for a rainy day.
“she looks really happy.� Andy commented from beside her.
Anne nodded, smiling, “she does.�
The happy couple started making their rounds, greeting all their guests as was tradition. Andy offered to get Anne a glass of champagne with she accepted with haste, “thanks….�
He chuckled, “you worked hard all day, looks like you could use one.�
As soon as he was gone, another presence was by her side, breathing down her neck.
“where’s your date?�
Anne glared, unappreciative of his derisive tone, “getting me a glass of champagne to celebrate the night actually.�
Contrary to earlier beliefs, she didn’t derive that much pleasure out of seeing Ken suffer through the day with May as his date. He certainly looked uncomfortable having her cling onto him all night while he greeted relatives and important members of society but he spent the entirety of the time glaring daggers at her as if she had insisted Janie do this to him. In fact, were it her choice, she could rather not have May within 200 feet of her if she could help it.
May was not only the biggest nut job she’d ever seen, she was completely obnoxious, loud, patronizing, and self-important which is probably why she relates to ken so well. But ken seemed even more peeved tonight if it were possible. There was probably another ex girlfriend in the room or something because the moment he arrived and saw Anne and Andy he looked like he was about to blow a fuse. Andy kept attributing it to May’s presence but Anne knew there was something else. She didn’t know that much about Ken (which is how she’d like to keep it) but she knew the man was hardly ever angry. He spent most of his time flirting with anything that walked and indiscriminately teasing the female population, not being angry. But today, he was angry.
She could see it from the furrow in his brows and the way he clipped his replies, as if he were trying to deal with multiple annoyances. But whatever it was that bothered him, he seemed to have taken to attributing her as the cause because whenever she caught his eye, he glared at her, seeming to direct all his anger in her direction. Which didn’t make sense because he knew Janie was the one who came up with this plan. He probably thought she egged Janie on or something and didn’t want to direct his anger at the bride on her wedding day so deflected it to her accomplice, which, in this case was Anne.
Personally she didn’t care. She was just trying to do her job and being Andy’s date was just icing on the cake. Janie had asked her to attend the ceremony and the reception but she had declined, saying it wouldn’t be professional but Janie was as insistent as ever, quilting her over by saying she’d come to think of Anne as a friend and was saddened that Anne still thought theirs a business relationship. Unable to deny such a request, she agreed but was unprepared for the next one which came immediately after. Janie proceeded to ask Anne to be Andy’s date for the wedding and started naming reasons for her to be his date which included extremes such as Anne needed someone to help her in case wedding crashers came and tried to hit on her or another incredibly well thought out one: Andy’s boutonnière might fall out and it would be handy to have Anne as his date to clip it back on.
After she still refused, Andy asked her personally and admitted he put his sister up to it (not the inviting her to the wedding part, the date part.) unable to turn away his pouting request, she accepted.
And here she was, waiting for him to get a drink while the one man she rather not see spoke to her accusingly.
“so…just a florist huh…�
She sucked in air, trying to be civil despite his insinuation.
“florist to some, date to others…all in a days work…� she replied airily, too tired to argue with him.
“so you agree you’re trying to hook Andy!� he accused, turning her to face him now.
She narrowed her eyes, letting go of the civil thing, “look,� she said, “I don’t have designs on your friend ok?�
“then why are you here with him?�
“he asked.�
“before or after you bed him?� he couldn’t help it, he was beyond mad.
Her eyes widened, “how dare you!� and before she knew it, she slapped him across the face, the sound of her palm against his flesh resounding for seconds.
Luckily everyone was too busy watching the bride and groom take pictures, no one saw.
Unluckily, he chose that moment for revenge, grabbing her face and thrusting his tongue down her throat. Punishing her, he delved, kissing her hard, satisfied that she wasn’t strong enough to break it.
Finally she mustered her mite and broke surface, pushing him off in sputters, “urgh, you disgust me!�
He smiled, changing demeanor, “oh come on, it wasn’t that bad…here let me have another go..�
She immediately scooted, bumping into a hard chest. Spinning she felt immediately relieved to find Andy behind her with two glasses.
“sorry it took so long, I was distracted by an business associate who wanted to talk about a new project…anyways heres yours…�
Handing it to her he finally noticed Ken standing not to far away, “oh Ken…where’s May?�
“gone I hope.� He muttered though he knew his wish was too good to be true. Speaking of which, she came trotting over, sliding her arm through his, “honey lets dance…the bride and groom already had theirs and now everyone can dance…�
Ken glanced over at Andy for help but none came because Janie and her groom walked over, making their way to the four.
“are you enjoying yourselves?� she asked, flushed from her first dance as a married woman.
Anne, Andy and may nodded enthusiastically, ken only gave a noncommittal grunt.
“well I’d like a word with Anne, I’ll leave you all here, honey why don’t you have a drink with the boys…�
Take Anne’s arm she guided them away. Once within distance she burst out laughing, “did you see his face….oh, he’s beyond angry…�
“yes� Anne answered, “at me.�
Janie frowned, “at you? But he knows I invited may as his date…�
Anne shrugged, “I think he’s mad because he thinks I’m trying to trick Andy out of his money…�
Janie laughed, “that does sound like him, player that he is, he’s extremely protective of Andy which is why I didn’t kill him years ago…anyways don’t worry about it, he hardly stays mad for long, he’s more into happy things like flirting and bedding.�
“that’s what I thought..� she muttered, not completely taking Janie’s word for it.
But before Janie could reply, a guest stopped her and greeted her with congratulations.
“thank you…� she said graciously, “ oh, this is my friend and florist for my wedding, Anne and Anne, this is the wife of Ken’s business partner, co-owner of Ukon Textiles, Marie.�
The woman nodded, “nice to meet you…�
“pleasure,� Anne replied, getting the feeling that the woman would rather dismiss her than meet her. She was short but still beautiful, maybe in her forties. She held a grandeur about herself, much like may but with more a haughtier attitude and less crass.
“have you done any other events?� she asked, as if distracted by something on her face, “I fell like I’ve seen you before.�
Anne shook her head, “no, this is my first…�
“well…you did a beautiful job…you must give me your card, I have a daughter who’s arriving back in Thailand soon and I need flowers for her presentation ball…�
“oh,� Anne replied, not expecting that from a woman who didn’t seem too interested in meeting her to begin with, “I don’t have any on me…�
“that’s alright, I’ll have Janie give me the information, she’s close with my daughter.�
“certainly,� Janie replied, glad to lend a hand in helping Anne’s business, “I’m excited for her return, how long will it be till she’s back?�
“just two weeks.�
Anne stood, watching them discuss her daughter’s return until someone waved the woman over and she left to greet them.
“don’t worry about her,� Janie said, catching the look on Anne’s face, “she’s rather….traditional, you know, blue blood, old money....�
“you said she owns half of Ukon?� Anne asked, unsure of what it was about the woman that piqued her interest.
“literately, half shares, half the tower…her husband and ken’s father and their fathers and the fathers before them started the business together with a merger a long time ago…the business thrives off the relationship…�