Tattered Beauty (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

“Daniel,” I said firmly, “We are not inviting Snoop Dog to our wedding. This is the last time I’m going to tell you.”

            Daniel and I were up to our elbows in potential invitation samples—we still hadn’t selected a color scheme—and trying to decide the guest list. Close friends and family were all on the list already, putting the number up to seventy five. Apparently my husband-t0-be had many close friends. Now it was time to decide which celebrities did and didn’t make the cut. “Why? I let you have Robert Pattinson!” He complained.

            “I don’t want any rappers at our wedding. Let’s class it up a little, okay? Here…” I looked at his pouting face and decided to compromise. “I’ll let you have the next person you say. Go ahead.”

            He gazed thoughtfully into the distance, until a smirk lit up his face. “I want the Kardashians there.”

            I waited for the punch line, “Are you kidding me?”

            “Nope!”

            “This isn’t a reality TV show!” I banged my palm against my forehead. It was my own fault, really. Now I had to honor the compromise. “If they upstage me on my wedding, I’ll have you put away.”

            He kissed my cheek, “Not possible. You really are the best fiancée ever.”

***

“Wake up!” was the first thing I heard a few weeks later while sleeping. I had been up on the phone half the night with the wedding planner, going over details. There was only two months until the big day; there was still so much left to do. We officially had wedding colors now though: scarlet and silver. The scarlet would contrast against the rich green of Scotland…and silver was just pretty. “Wake up, birthday girl!”

            What? Birthday…whose birthday? It wasn’t my birthday! My birthday was on…April twenty seventh. Oh, my God. I had forgotten my own birthday. How does that even happen? I guessed the stress of planning everything had made me lose track of time. “Mmmmm.” I groaned, rolling over.

            “No, you need to wake up!” Daniel said. “There’s a surprise for you in the den.” He whispered in my ear, “I think you’re going to like it.”

            I unwillingly opened my eyes. “What is it?”

            “Go look!”

            I pattered out to the den in my ratty, polka dotted pajama pants. I was barely conscious, but the sound of a little bark woke me up quick as could be. Inside a cage was the smallest animal I had ever seen. It was small, white, and fluffy as could be. “You got me a puppy?” I practically screamed.

            “Her name’s Adèle. She’s from France. Isn’t she cute?” Daniel said.

            I had wanted a puppy since I was a child. My parents had always cited reasons about the fur on their carpets and shredded furniture as reasons why there would never be a puppy in our house. After a while I accepted it. But Adèle was the cutest little thing on the face of the earth. “I love her! I love you, too.” I ran up and hugged him. “Any other big birthday surprises for me today?”

            “Well, I have to go to work for a little bit. But we have dinner plans at seven, where I’ll give you your other present. Your bridesmaids are coming round at one, as well.” He smiled, “So you might want to get dressed.”

            I looked down at myself and realized I was half dressed from yesterday and half in my pajamas. I wore a simple button down top and my ratty pants. Makeup I had forgotten to remove was smeared under my eyes, and my hair was sticking up in random directions. Despite how awful I looked, Daniel made me forget petty things like this. He made me feel totally, one hundred percent comfortable within my own skin. I guess love is like that—it is supposed to be like that. You’re supposed to be able to be yourself all the time, and not feel embarrassed or weird around them. And even though I had a pimple the size of China on my forehead, I didn’t care, because I had a new puppy and a fiancé to distract me.

***

My bridesmaids and I didn’t discuss much. I showed them the style of dress they were to be wearing; there was no negotiation. I wasn’t necessarily being a mean bride-to-be, but I really needed them to all wear the same dress in the same color—short and scarlet. Luckily, they were all around the same dress size, and there was a better chance they’d all look alright.

            We also discussed the price of flying out to Scotland a good two weeks before the wedding. They had jobs to work around and children, plus the financial situation. I had told them gently, “I only need you guys the last week beforehand. I would prefer you come the whole time,” I had made it crystal clear with my tone that they would definitely be coming for the full time period. “But you need to be there for the bachelorette party, the two rehearsal dinners, and the actual wedding. Mr. King has generously agreed to let you stay in his new hotel for free the entire time you are there. This would normally run you three hundred a night for a basic room…so appreciate it. You have to pay for airfare, but really, it isn’t too bad. So, you can go. I’ll have someone call you when dresses are in to be fitted properly. See you soon, girls!”

            Daniel sent a car round to take me to dinner that evening. I wore a one shoulder violet dress and strappy black heels. My hair was swept back into a messy chignon and I carried a small silver clutch. Quite the birthday ensemble, I had to say.

            I walked through the restaurant with my head held high, searching for my boyfriend. After asking a waiter quietly, I found him in the furthest corner back. “Hey, gorgeous,” Daniel smiled as I slid into the booth. “How was your day so far?”

            “Lovely. I played with Adèle for awhile this afternoon, I love the little fur ball. The girls came over, too, and I finally had their dresses ordered. They’re these short, flow-y kind of dresses. Can you believe they actually had the right color? Spot on, really.” I said. “Oh, God, Daniel. There’s still so much left to do! Are you sure we’re going to get it all done on time? I’m so worried!”

            He held my hand across the table and looked at me, “It’ll be just fine. Don’t worry.” He pulled back. “You stress way too much, darling.”

            Maybe I was overstressing just a tad. I took a deep breath. I needed to put all the wedding things aside and make it through the rest of the day. I mean, come on—it was my birthday!  You only turn twenty once.  This was my first day as an adult, no longer a teenager. So I relaxed and ordered something with shrimp in it.

            As dinner came to a close, and we were walking out, I remembered something. “So what is my big surprise?”

            Daniel dug around in his jacket pocket.  “Hey, do you see that car right there?”

            I looked over in the general direction he was looking. There was a very nice, bright red Cadillac parallel parked in the spot. The windows were tinted a dark, dark gray, but I could see the real leather seats inside. “It’s nice.”

            “It’s yours.” He dropped the keys into my palm. “Happy birthday, Hailey!”

            “You got me a puppy and a car? Best birthday ever!”

            I insisted on driving us home. There were many times I almost crashed from hitting the gas just slightly too hard. It really had a kick to it. I felt like a socialite on crack; I was buzzing beyond belief. This…yeah, I could definitely do this sort of stuff forever.

****

Next chapter will be more interesting, I PROMISE