Authors: Claire Adams
Aria opened her mouth and closed it again.
“Okay, I guess so.”
“I have some bakers from Elegant Bakery
flying in from New York tomorrow,” Fiona said, still not taking her eyes off
her binder. “So get ready for a tasting.”
“Actually,” Aria said, looking almost
apologetic. “I was thinking…my best friend – the maid-of-honor – is the best
confectioner I know and she really wants to…I mean if it’s okay with you.” She
looked at Fiona nervously, who let out another giggle.
“She is too cute,” Fiona said. “What do
you mean if it’s okay with me? This is your wedding. Everything happens as you
desire. I will cancel the meeting with the bakers. Tell the maid-of-honor she
can design your cake. A personal touch. I rather like it.” Fiona smiled.
“We can tell her together in a bit. She is
on her way here.” Aria smiled nervously. “Sorry I just texted her, I couldn’t
resist.”
“Okay, you guys plan this out. I have a
meeting in an hour that I need to be in the office for. Don’t worry about
unpacking, Aria, I’ll get someone to do it for you later,” I said. I walked
over to her and kissed her on the cheek. “Are you happy?” I couldn’t help but
ask.
“I couldn’t be happier,” she said
radiantly.
“I love you,” I said and kissed her. “Now
work on planning the wedding of your dreams.”
Chapter
7
Aria
It was my wedding day! It was also
Christmas day, but that happened every year. But it was my wedding day on
Christmas day! I squealed the moment I woke up in the most comfortable hotel
bed I had ever slept in. After much consideration, Fiona and I had reached the
conclusion that we would keep the wedding ceremony itself really small and
personal. It was literally just going to be Zayden’s mom, my mom, Nick and
Stacey, and we were holding off on the big party at the Plaza with the enchanted
forest theme for the reception. It made more sense to me because I wanted our
wedding to be personal and the thought of a whole audience hearing my vows to
Zayden made me feel uncomfortable. Very few people in the world deserved to
hear that so I had decided that was how it was going to be.
The private wedding ceremony would take
place in Central Park and the Plaza would be reserved for the reception. This
was a last minute decision I made after visiting Central Park two days ago. The
place took my breath away. New York in general managed to do that. You see
things and places on T.V. and magazines and get mesmerized. Somehow you never
expect that reality would look better than your fantasies. Yet that was New
York. Everything about it was better than any camera could realistically
capture. Times Square actually glowed at every step and there were tiny flakes
of glitter spread across the sidewalks. People in the most extravagant and
colorful – and sometimes rather inappropriate – clothing zoomed around the place
as though they were characters from a movie rather than real people. Happy
tourists chattered alongside every corner and I could see fellow first-time New
York visitors have the same reaction to the extravaganza as I did and I felt a
crazy sense of solidarity. I had managed to purchase almost everything sold at
one of the myriads of gift shops and currently owned an “I <3 NY” shirt in
every shape and size possible.
What truly took my breath away, however,
was the serenity of Central Park. The fact that it managed to keep its sense of
nature and natural beauty in the midst of a city so loud and happening was
shocking and awe-inspiring. It was quiet and beautiful and as far as I was
concerned, the most romantic place in the whole world. So naturally, I had
decided that my wedding ceremony would take place there.
I rolled around the enormous bed in
delight at the thought of what was to come for the rest of the day. Zayden had
taken a different room, in favor of being somewhat traditional and separating
the bride and the groom the night before the wedding. That didn’t stop me from
being sorely tempted to walking over to his hotel room in just a robe and
nothing else and sliding it off. We had been abstaining from sex for the past
week so that our wedding night would be truly exceptional, but it had been so
much harder than I had expected, considering we slept in the same bed every
night.
And Zayden had the body of a Greek God.
But it was okay. It was all okay because
we were going to get married today. Nothing would ever be able to keep us apart
from each other ever again. I looked at my enormous ring once more and took a
very deep breath. This was really, truly happening. By the end of this evening,
I would become Mrs. Zayden Sinclair. I squealed like a little girl once more
and then got up to take a shower. Stacey, Fiona and my hairdresser would be
here in half an hour.
---
“Okay we have five hours to get you
ready,” Fiona said in a business-like voice when she arrived. “You are going to
get ready for the ceremony and subsequent reception so Fabio here will do your
hair and make-up so it lasts the next twelve hours,” she said pointing to a
slender and flamboyant man she had brought along. “Is your dress ready?” She
eyed the room looking alarmed. “I don’t see it anywhere.”
“I hung it up in the living room of the
penthouse. I won’t be wearing it until all of this is done, so I wanted to keep
it safe.” I smiled.
The truth was that the wedding dress made
me very nervous and not just because it was the most expensive thing I had ever
purchased – and it was, it had tiny bits of actual diamond studded across the
hem – but because it reminded me of everything that was going to happen today.
I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle the joy and excitement it brought me.
“Good thinking,” Fiona said curtly.
She was a rather interesting woman.
Everything was business to her, even the tasting of the variety of cake Stacey
baked for us one afternoon. We were literally just chilling and having some
beers at my old apartment while Stacey tried out different combinations for
colors and recipe and décor. It wasn’t very different from the usual evening we
used to spend goofing around at the apartment, except the part where this time
Stacey was baking my wedding cake. Fiona somehow managed to make it formal and
businesslike by constantly taking notes after every tasting, flipping her
binder non-stop and refusing to partake in the beer drinking. She did bring her
own champagne so the last part must have been just a matter of preference.
That said, I had taken quite a liking to
her and felt excited by the notion that she would be joining us again next year
for Stacey’s wedding. There was something about her that reminded me of myself.
Perhaps it was her sheer dedication to her work. She was much older than I was
and I felt like I had been learning a whole lot from her about running a
business as a woman.
I watched her direct Fabio in admiration
before getting seated for my hair and makeup.
Stacey came half-way into my make-up and
exclaimed, “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas!” we all exclaimed back.
“But more importantly,” she said, sitting
down next to me. “Happy wedding day to the best best-friend in the whole
world!”
“That would be you.” I smiled, which made
Fabio give me a stern look. I was supposed to be sitting still. “Can I have one
moment, Fabio? I want to look at my maid-of-honor.”
“If you must,” he said reluctantly.
“Stacey, you look amazing!” I exclaimed
upon turning around to look at her. She was wearing a bright purple dress of
her own choosing – I didn’t believe in subjecting my maid-of-honor to a hideous
dress of my choice – and her hair was tied up in a neat bun.
“Nothing compared to the bride of course,
you’re going to be turning heads in all of Central Park today, mark my words.”
I beamed delightedly. “We will be,” I
said, reaching out both my hands to grab hers. “I can’t believe this is
happening, Stace. I am actually getting married today!”
She joined my squealing, which made me
feel a whole lot better about me acting like a little girl all morning.
“Now let Fabio finish getting you ready so
you can go get married.”
---
When Stacey, Nick and I arrived at Central
Park – we had a separate limo sent to us than Zayden’s – nobody was there
except an old lady with bright blonde hair dressed in a designer red outfit.
“You must be Zayden’s mother,” I said
brightly approaching her. I realized it was the lady I had met at his house
that one morning.
“You must be his newest play toy,” she
said with a fake smile. “Good for you, hun. Make sure he gets to play well,
since you’ll be getting quite a lot of monetary advantage in this situation.”
“That is incredibly rude,” I said with a
smile still plastered to my face. “And under any other circumstances I would
have responded with an equal - if not more – sass, and believe me I may look
small but I am capable of a lot. However, it is my wedding day and you are the
mother of the most important person in my life, so I will be nice. Look, Mrs.
Sinclair, I understand you have your own little pre-conceived notions about who
I am and what I want from your son. And you know what, in a way it’s oddly
endearing. It means you care about him in your own little weird way. But make
no mistake, I care about him too and I will not have anybody questioning my
intentions. Of course, I can’t expect you to change your mind based on my words
alone – anyone can claim anything, after all, as you witnessed from the whole
disaster with Gina, a woman I believe you did in fact approve of for your son.
All I ask of you is you reserve some judgment until you get to know me. After a
month or two, if you still feel like I am using your son for money and don’t
actually care about him, feel free to hate me.”
“Bold. I like that. I should have known
Zayden wouldn’t be marrying some wussy,” Mrs. Sinclair said with an awkward –
but what I suspected to be genuine – smile. “And pretty too. Very pretty,” she
said those words with a sternness that almost felt like an insult. “Well, I
guess I can reserve judgment after all.”
“Thank you,” I said, trying to sound
softer. Somehow her approval of my boldness made me soften towards her a
little. She was an old woman and the thing that mattered most was that she
cared about Zayden. “I, on the other hand, don’t need to reserve any judgment,”
I said smilingly. “You seem to care about Zayden which wins my approval of
you.”
“I don’t recall asking for your approval,”
she said in a stern voice, but seemed somewhat amused.
“You didn’t have to.” I grinned. “Now if
you excuse me, I have to go get married to your son.”
I turned away, realizing a little too late
that the effect couldn’t have been as grand as I had hoped considering that
Zayden had yet to even arrive. I simply sat down on one of the benches by the
tree where we were holding the ceremony and admired the breath-taking view.
Getting married on Christmas Day was a stroke of pure genius, for New York City
looked like it had been embellished with the joy that I was feeling.
All the trees in Central Park were covered
in Christmas Lights, and the buildings on the edge of the horizon appeared to
be glowing in celebration of my big day. Everything was bright and shiny. The
crisp winter air of December didn’t even bother me – despite wearing a
sleeveless dress – because the happiness of the moment was enough to keep me
warm from within.
When Zayden’s limo pulled in and he got
out of it, I was sure my heart stopped for a few moments. He looked just like a
movie star in his tuxedo and I took a deep breath, unable to believe that this
was the man I would soon marry. The look on his face mirrored my awe and I
could swear I saw the hint of tears in his eyes. He wasn’t supposed to see me
yet, but since we were getting married in a park there was nowhere to hide.
My mother walked me down the aisle,
something I was very happy about. She had, after all, been both my mom and dad
for me the last few years and she deserved this honor. I hadn’t even thought to
look for my dad to invite him to this wedding. He had decided to run away and
with that lost all my respect. But mom looked radiant and proud as she took my
hand and walked with me right until I stood face to face with Zayden. Nick and
Stacey were next to me while Ned stood cheerfully behind Zayden.
The minister began the ceremony and
half-way through asked if we had written our own vows.
“Yes,” we both said. And I went first,
because I didn’t think I would be capable of speaking after I heard what Zayden
has to say.
“Today I am fortunate enough to be
entering a union with the love of my life and I doubt there is a single person
on this planet that is as happy as I am. I love you Zayden Sinclair and even
though I ignored your advances at first, somehow I feel like I knew this since
the moment we first met. You have the wits and charms to win over the heart of
any woman in the world, yet you chose me and fell for me, making me feel like
the luckiest woman in the world. You are as kind as you are handsome, something
not many people get to see because they haven’t spent as much time with you to
know you like I do. You practically saved my family and never asked anything in
return. You go out of your way to do little things for me, which in turn are
things of great value. The amount of time you spent going over my homework with
me. And submitting my paper to that journal. Things you had absolutely no
reason to do, except that you thought somehow they would make me happy, and you
were right. I have learned so much from you, Zayden, just from a few months of
our time together. I yearn for our days ahead when I will only learn and grow
more from your incredible company and our love, both personally and
professionally. You have made me feel like the luckiest woman on this planet
and I want to return your love by making you feel like the luckiest man every
single day, every single hour, every single minute for the rest of our lives. I
love you, Zayden Sinclair, and on our wedding day, I vow to always love you
just as much as I do right now, and a little bit more with every passing day,
as we build a life together and grow old together. And live happily ever
after.”