Eternal Ember

Chapter 8: The Wedding Bells Sing . . .

Day 4 - Days Left 1

"Come on young lady, it's time to go. We have to be there in thirty minutes or else I will never have time to help the bride —and I'm sure she will need me to— fix her beautiful hair." Ms. Swan says as I slowly walk to her car.

The lady is really starting to get on my nerves. I mean I am only being slow because I am being careful to not trip in my heels and fall. And in my opinion, it is pretty obvious that that is the reason why I am being slow. Since while I walk to her car I am holding up the edges of my dress and staring at my feet and the ground as I walk. Surly that is okay right,

"I'm coming, ma'am. Sorry. I just don't want to trip and ruin all your lovely work."

I roll my eyes as I say the word lovely but thankfully she is no longer paying attention to me as she heaves all her things into her car with a huff and a puff after each object goes in. Even the smallest thing seems to upset her which is odd. I try to catch her eyes to read her thoughts but she is too focused on putting her things in her car.

And on the topic of her car. The only word I can think of when I see her car is 'bragger' while most would think the word 'wow.' By this I mean that she is well, her car is just well . . . Okay let me try to explain. You see Annamaria Josephine Swan's car is not at all like the Davises old discolored red car. Her car is not even like anyone else or even everyone else's car and I know that I basically just thought the same thing twice but it's true. Everyone that I know or have seen that has a car it is obvious that the car is not new and that it likely does not have many years left in it. Her car on the other hand looks brand new. Like fresh off the rack or rather car lot new? I don't know which one but I do know that it definitely looks very present-day. Annamaria Josephine Swan's car is a shiny blood-red car that glows bright like the sun in well . . . in the sun and it has tinted windows that are so dark that you can't even see what the inside of the car looks like. Clearly, this lady has money to spare which is why I think of the word 'bragger' instead of 'wow.'

I pick up my speed —only slightly, I mean I really feel like I am going to trip in my heels— when she tells me to hurry up again and this time I detect the annoyance in her voice and it's pretty strong. When I get to the car door she opens it up and motions for me to get in. But the second I am seated I am confused. While she smells like hair spray. Her car smells like well, huh . . . I take another sniff so that I am certain of what I suspect. And with no regret, I find that I am one hundred percent right. The hair spray scent of Annamaria Josephine Swan is not at all what her car smells like. Her car smells like vanilla mixed with lavender. Which is quite a pleasant scent and is actually one of my favorite scents. I wonder if she knew that? Maybe that is why her car smells this way. To impress me? I wonder if Mother or River told her to do this? Huh. I sigh as I take another deep sniff of the smell. Then she gets in the car and I have to try to remember to breathe through my mouth since her hair spray scent is mixing terribly with the vanilla and lavender scent.

"Aren't you excited that your brother is getting married today?" She asks me with a little too much enthusiasm for my liking at the moment.

I nod my head "Yes of course. He is my brother after all. I mean why would I not be excited for him? Er . . . I mean uh, well, I mean you know what I mean." I stutter, not able to explain how I feel about him getting married. I wonder why I can't explain myself. I mean I am totally excited and happy for Noah and River but I guess I feel like I am going to lose him to her in a way. I then continue on and add "Uh I mean you do understand what I am trying to say right? " I hope that she really does understand what I mean because I don't even really understand what I am trying to say. After what seems like a very long moment of hesitation she nods her head but says nothing else.