The Sackler Trap

Toss The Bouquet

I snapped the box closed and rushed out of the room.

"Deanna!" I called.

The young woman was briskly walking towards the stage area, obviously busy on another mission when she spun and smiled at me.

Yes, Ms. Landor?" she asked eagerly.

I held the box out. "Who... who delivered this? There's no shipping box or label. How was it delivered?"

Deanna seemed startled as if she was afraid she had done something wrong. "No, there wasn't. The man just handed it to me at the stage door and told me to give it to you."

I grabbed her shoulders. "What man?" I demanded. "Where did he go? What did he look like?" My heart was in my throat.

She shrugged. "I don't know...he was an older dude...talked with a Bronx accent."

My shoulders sagged in disappointment. He had used a courier. I nodded. "Thank you, Deanna."

She hurried off and I went slowly back to my dressing room. When I reached the door, I heard Hadley call out to me.

"All right there, Julie?"

I nodded. "All right, Hadley. I think I'll go straight home tonight. I don't really feel like dinner."

                                                                                       ***

Sitting on the edge of my bed in my new three-room Manhattan apartment, I stared at the black velvet box nestled on my lace covered pillow, and toyed with my cell phone. I kept swiping it open and hovering my thumb over Adam's name, long restored to my contacts. Finally, I hit "call". It went to voicemail as before but this time the box was not full. 

When the tone sounded I hesitated a brief second, then whispered, "Thanks, sultan." and ended the call hurriedly. 

Taking the black box I flipped open the lid and stared down at the earrings' starlight twinkle, tilting the box this way and that to catch the light. I remembered Adam's long fingers fastening them into my ears and how amused I was by his surprising deftness. A lump rose in my throat and I slowly removed one stud from its cushioned bed. Almost ceremoniously, I pushed the post through my ear lobe and slid the back snugly behind it. I did the same with the other and got up to inspect the effect in my mirror. 

I held my long thick hair up away from my face and turned my head from side to side, loving the way the diamonds sparkled and shone. They would look amazing with the dress I had bought to wear to Eve's wedding, I decided.

                                                                                    ***

A few hours away from the noise and hustle of the city was the small town chapel where Eve and Arthur were to say their vows. It was secluded enough to fly under the radar of paparazzi and yet possessed an elegance and purity about it that seemed absolutely perfect for the occasion. I wore a pale blue lace strapless sheath with a matching chiffon capelet that circled my shoulders for modesty. My hair was down in curls and swept up on either side with pearl combs in keeping with Eve's vintage Hollywood theme. In my ears winked the extravagant diamond studs.

I hurried to the bride's room, a tiny annex off to one side of the narthex. Eve was there with her assistant, Barbara, and together we helped Eve with her dress and her nerves.

"You look so beautiful, Eve!" I sighed standing back and looking at her. "You look like you just stepped out of Vogue!"

Barbara nodded in agreement.