Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
I feel it’s even more unlikely to happen to me. I’m a florist. Who orders flowers? People in relationships. People getting married. Barring polyamorous exceptions, which I’m fine with but want no part of, people aren’t usually looking at their florist and getting ready to ask them on a date.
I guess there’s the people ordering flowers for funerals too, but I’m not crass enough to try to pick up guys who are grieving.
I’m happy for Olivia. And all our friends. I’m glad it’s all worked out, but for me? I’m starting to consider getting a few cats, just to get my collection going. If I’m going to be a crazy cat lady spinster, I’m not going to half-ass it. Cats from wall to wall, the smell of litter strong enough to knock out anyone who isn’t me.
“What is this?” I hear, the scream echoing through the air. I cock an eyebrow and lean over. It’s the bridezilla being her most bridezilla-ish, stamping her feet and screaming at her groom to be. “Is this silver?”
They’ve moved from the church to the adjoining reception room, where the afterparty will be held. Expensive catering trays are everywhere, but the caterers themselves haven’t yet begun their preparations.
“Yes? Silverware is silver, honey,” Luke says, the confusion in his voice all too clear.
“Silver is for peasants. I thought you would spare no expense for my wedding, Luke, and you’re using silver!?”
“Did... did you want golden forks and knives?”
“No. I want more than that! I want platinum!”
“I don’t even know if platinum silverware is a thing that exists.”
“You’d make it so if you loved me, Luke. You’re a sham of a man. No wonder your family didn’t want you!”
“That’s low, Ophelia.”
“And I don’t want you either,” she says, shoving him, but he isn’t moving. “Shitty silverware, shitty flowers, shitty church, shitty wedding. I want no part of this! The wedding’s off!”
She stamps her feet and makes as much noise as possible in marching away from him. She walks right past me and I’m just staring in awe at her, wondering how the hell she could so easily give up a man like him.
I’m also trying to estimate how many brain cells are in her head, given her understanding of SILVERware.
She doesn’t even look at me. She thinks she’s too high and noble even to acknowledge the existence of the help.
Sensing that perhaps I shouldn’t keep up my work, I head over to Luke once Ophelia is out of the church. “So, uh... what’s the plan now? I’m guessing things have changed.”
He smiles. His demeanor is steel, although hints of confusion from his fiancée’s actions still remain. “Yeah, I guess the plans have changed.”
Goddamn, that smile. How could any red-blooded heterosexual woman walk away from a smile like that?
He stretches and lets out a long sigh, one that sounds like relief.
“For someone who’s a few hours from being stood up at the altar, you’re taking this well.”
“I’m free of her. It’s a good feeling.”
I rub my chin. “Free of the woman you were planning to marry? That’s a strange thing to say.”
“Hey, I’m honest with myself. Her walking out felt like the weight of the world lifting off of my shoulders.”
“Then, uh, why were you marrying her in the first place?”
Luke slides down into one of the pews. “My father wanted me to marry her. Thought she had the right sort of connections.”
“Connections?”
“Between his company and her family’s company. Old-fashioned blood ties to seal an alliance, but with corporations instead of warring clans.”
I blink rapidly, trying to process this oddness. “It’s the twenty-first century. Your father knows that, right?”
“He does. But old habits die hard. There’s a reason I left his company to go out on my own.”
I stare at him, more confused. “Then why are you trying to marry just to secure a business alliance for him?”
Luke laughs, a loud cackle. “Piper, if I’m remembering correctly?”
I nod. “That’s my name, yes.”
He stares into my eyes, his steely blue ones enthralling me. “Why don’t you have a seat next to me?”
“I don’t have any work to do given the wedding being canceled, so I guess I will.”
“You do some gorgeous work. Maybe you should finish it for artistic purposes.”
I blush. At least someone likes what I did. “I don’t know. If I’m done here, I should get back to the shop. I lose walk-in business whenever I’m out on a job like this.”
“You should take it easy. Things aren’t that tight for you, are they?”
“They aren’t. I'm just driven to hustle, and there isn’t anything left to do here.”
“I paid for your time, didn’t I? Why don’t you spend it by my side?”
The butterflies deep inside my gut start to flutter. I haven’t felt them since I was a teenager being asked out by my crush in high school. “Um, sure,” I say, trying not to look like the nervous wreck I’m becoming.