Into The Orchard

XVII

It was Friday afternoon. There were about twenty-four hours left before the wedding started, which meant that the prep work should have been completed by today. For about three days Bobby had practically not left the kitchen. This was due to the fact that he had to prepare the entire menu for the wedding celebration. He was assisted by two kitchen journeymen who obediently carried out all the young cook's instructions. Pyra and Myra were not alone in their preparations either. For this occasion, the Von Rostovs hired a few more servant girls, who since yesterday had been meticulously cleaning every nook and cranny of the house. Tomorrow they were to walk around with trays and serve drinks to the guests. Two bartenders have also been hired to prepare elaborate cocktails especially for the guests. To be honest, I was afraid to go into the orchard. I could see through the window how the hired workers were struggling to bring in heavy tables, chairs, setting up decorations and the like. Horticulturists were also assigned to the preparatory work, and they beautified the huge white canopy of the orchard with various kinds of flowers. I was not to learn the details of the decorations and the setting of everything until tomorrow. However, everything indicated that an intimate wedding for about fifty guests would be carried out on a grand scale. Additionally it is worth mentioning that a real orchestra was hired for the ceremony, as well as two music stars from Poland. Personally, I didn't know either the man or the woman who was supposed to sing at the wedding ceremony. All I knew was that they had participated in the "Eurovision" contest, but had not won. I also did not know why they chose musicians from Poland. Maybe Gregory thought that the less known stars would demand a smaller fee for their performance? This was also to turn out to be the case tomorrow. They had already been invited to dinner tonight, but the artists said that they still needed to prepare and rest before the show.

As for the wedding guests, they were all scheduled to show up tomorrow as well. Of course my family from the US had already arrived on Wednesday. This decision was understandable, because considering how far they had to travel, they certainly wanted to rest before the ceremony.

It was a pleasure to meet Uncle Larry, my mother's brother. Uncle was witty, entertaining and always showed considerable interest in my life. Aside from the formal table talk at dinner, Larry was not shy about asking me all sorts of questions. He was curious about my life here, asking me details about the contest I was entering, what the school system was like in this country, and such. Aunt Debby was also one of those pleasant people. She was looking forward to meeting my mom and me. As I mentioned in the past, my aunt and uncle were one of my favorite parts of the family we left behind in the states. Debby clearly took a liking to Luna because my aunt had her own style of dress. Always casual, yet elegant. On the first evening, for example, she wore a loose-fitting cotton dress with black and white polka dots, which clearly appealed to Luna. Although there were many questions about my mother's wedding dress, Luna and Catleyn chose not to divulge details. Everything was not to be revealed until tomorrow.

Along with my uncle and aunt, their daughter Margaret also came to the Von Rostov house. She was surprisingly very nice and greeted me as if she really missed me. I was glad that she did not want to be teased or played rudely. After all, they were only going to be here for the wedding and would be returning to the US soon after. I think we all wanted to spend this time on relatively good and friendly terms.

Kevin did not arrive until Thursday evening. I have to say that meeting him was somehow extremely difficult and uncomfortable for me. The boy seemed to be even more angry with me than before. In company, he tried to put on a good face. However, I knew that his dissatisfaction was strictly connected with me. I thought that after such a long time he would get over it and we could go back to normal. But Kevin was avoiding me like a fire, he wouldn't even look at me. Honestly, I felt really bad about it. I also knew that I wouldn't be able to walk friendly paths with him with this attitude. The hardest part for me was that Kevin's anger was escalating instead of diminishing. It had to do with Aurelia, or rather her father, whom the teen was supposed to meet later today. I had no idea how Kevin had arranged it, but judging by the boy's behavior, nothing good could come of this meeting. Kevin also spoke little to Aurelia, which in a way encouraged me. If he doesn't talk to her or to me, it must have meant that he is simply upset about this unfortunate meeting. Aurelia, on the other hand, behaved like a child at an amusement park. She was in a good mood, happy and even gave me some unpleasant comments or strange looks. This was of course also due to her excitement about Aurelia's imminent meeting with her father.