Chapter Four
Emilia
I nearly burned the spaghetti, but I managed a good save. Ivy couldn’t stop praising the food, I had a bit myself. Those frozen dinners never seemed to fill me fully.
Ivy stuck around for a while and even did the dishes before she headed back. Then I was dead on my feet. I got into bed and was out like a light. I was glad I didn’t have to be up early tomorrow, but I still had to get a lot of things ready for this charity ball.
I must not have been that worried about it because it didn’t really keep me up late or anything. I let the rising sun wake me, even though it was still pretty early at seven in the morning.
I let out a dramatic yawn and stretched before I got up to use the bathroom and brush my teeth. I was still half asleep until I made my cup of coffee. I checked emails, and almost did a spit take when I saw one from Sasha. She had emailed me a few times, when I shipped out orders instead of her coming to pick them up.
Good morning Emilia,
I am so delighted to have you on board for the charity ball. It is so short notice, but I really believe in you. Attached you will find a detailed floor arrangement, and my budget for the event. Dan is dropping off checks later today for you to use.
-p.s. wear your best dress.
I was fine until I read the last part. I realized I had absolutely nothing that was close to acceptable for an event like this. And I didn’t have the money to go out and get one either. I had to shove that aside, I needed to do my job first.
I made a breakfast of oatmeal and a smoothie, then showered and got dressed in jeans, and a knit sweater. I tied my hair up, which I always tended to do when I had a big project ahead of me, and then headed to the shop. I felt a pep in my step since I opened this place, it had been my dream for so long. Now I just need a steady income to keep it afloat. My savings wouldn’t pay the lease forever. I hoped that this charity event would help me in some way.
Once inside, I went about the daily task of opening up the sun views, checking the flowers’ water levels, and keeping everything neat. I got a lot of pass throughs, but the business from that wasn’t necessarily substantial enough. I still treated them well, of course.
But today my mind was on this event. I printed the floor plan Sasha sent me, the place was huge. And so was her budget. You would think ten thousand dollars gets you a lot, but for gardening and a flower arrangement for a party of this size, it was just enough.
By about two in the afternoon, I had a plan put together. As if on cue, Dan came inside with the check.
“Hey Emilia, delivery from Sasha.” He pretended to roll out a creed and bow. The kid had a great sense of humor.
“Thanks. How was school?”
He rolled his eyes.
“Horrible. I hate biology. And no offense, plants especially.” He dropped his bag on the counter and blew out an exasperated breath.
“I love plants. Let me take a look.”
He took out his obnoxiously large biology book, and I spent the next hour helping him with his homework. I didn’t mind it, though. I was glad to help him, and he seemed to understand it by the time I was done.
“Thanks, you’re the best. I was prepared to fail this class.” He shook his head. “But Sasha wouldn’t have liked that very much.” He chuckled.
“Yeah, what about your parents?” I noticed he never really talked about them, and maybe I was overstepping. But my curiosity was getting the better of me.
“They work a lot. It’s my grandparents that I live with, actually. It was that or boarding school.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder, signaling he had to get going.
“Oh, okay. Well just let me know if you ever need help in that class.”
“I will, see you!” He called over his shoulder, and then the door shut behind him.
I never noticed his parents weren’t around. I mean, it must be sad. My dad worked all the way over in Barbados, on a botany research project. Something about the water retention in tropical plants. He seemed to be having a lot of fun whenever we talked. We would Skype about once a week or whenever he had service.
I missed my dad too, but that was a situation I couldn’t change. And after Mom had died, he was so different. More distant, enjoyed things less. I think it’s why he decided to go on this course when I left for school, that’s how long he has been gone. Ten years.
I placed the order for everything I needed, and the labor required. I managed to find a company that handled all of that. I was to drop off the check at the time of service, that way I could make sure everything got put in correctly. When I left for my apartment, I actually felt like I had a pretty productive day. Then I remembered the last part of Sasha’s email.
I was lucky my best friend was a designer. I didn’t expect her to make me anything in twenty-four hours, but maybe she had a massive discount to some stores, or I could borrow something.
“Hey, Ivy. Are you busy?” I skipped the formalities.
I was on my couch, just about freaking out. I couldn’t exactly show up looking like the flower girl, I had to blend in. Otherwise, I would rather not stay.
“Not in theory. Are you okay? Did something happen at work?”
“No, not really. It’s just I realized I don’t have anything to wear to this gala. Sasha said, I quote, wear your best gown or something like that. I have nothing!” I shrieked.
Ivy just laughed, how could she be laughing?
“Don’t worry, Emilia. I actually just finished a show with my boss, and I think one of the dresses would be perfect. You can wear it and he would never know.”
I gasped. “Really?”
“Yeah, I can bring it by later. Just let me finish this up. Deep breaths, girl.” She laughed and then hung up.
I supposed I could relax more now that I had a prospective dress. I decided to let the rest of my frustration out and then go for a run. I laced up my shoes and went a few blocks and back. By the time I was back and showered, I had missed a few calls from Ivy.
“Hey, sorry I missed you.” I called her back.
“No worries, I was just on my way but I’m literally outside your door now.” On cue, there were four knocks.
I hung up and opened up the door to Ivy being swallowed up by a black dress bag.
“Oh, my goodness, there really is a dress!” I exclaimed.
She rushed in and set the dress on my bed, just a few paces from the door.
“Go ahead, open it.” She pressed. I looked the large bag over and then turned my attention to her.
“You look fancy.” She was in a tight skirt and pink blouse. She actually managed to get her hair in a bun.
“Yeah, it’s from the reveal we had. Open it up, I can’t wait for you to see it!”
Gently, I unzipped the bag as if I would break it or something. “You’re sure I can wear this?” I double checked before I looked even more.
“Yes. He won’t know it’s missing. I was supposed to bring it to the cleaner’s anyway. Besides, he doesn’t remember half of the designs he has anyway.” She laughed, dropping herself onto my nicely dressed bed.
“Okay.”
I bit my lip nervously, pulling the dress from the bag. And my goodness, was it beautiful. The deep blue color was almost black, but the shine on it was amazing. The sweetheart neckline and shaped bodice would bring out my curves in a flattering way. I lifted it up and was surprised by how light it was compared to how much fabric was cascading down.
“Try it on, I can hem it anywhere if you need it.”
I nodded and stripped down to my underwear to put the dress on. She helped me zip it up. I didn’t have a full body mirror, so she took a picture and showed me. The look wasn’t even completed, and I was already in love.
“You can borrow one of my heels. The length should be fine. It’s nice and dramatic anyway.” She giggled.
I nodded in agreement, looking down at the fabric. It glinted under the dim light as I moved around. I hadn’t noticed the bottom had intricate etchings on it, almost like flowers. It was so beautiful.
“This is so perfect, thank you Ivy!” I squealed.
“No problem, I can’t wait to do your hair too.”
She helped me out of it and then I hung it up and got dressed in my sweats again. It was like everything was coming together. I had figured it all out, it seemed.
The plans for the ball were all set up, and I actually had something to wear. I could get used to this relaxed feeling. Sure, it wasn’t over. Setup still had to happen and all that, but I could taste the success.
Ivy forced me into some jeans, so we could go out to dinner. There was this amazing burger place nearby that we always went to, so we sat in there and had a few beers while we watched a soccer game.
“What the hell are we doing? We don’t watch soccer.” Ivy laughed.
“I know, but the guys are hot.” I giggled.
She nibbled on some fries.
“True. Maybe we should find men. Then we won’t have to use Groupons for dinner.” I laughed at her joke.
“I don’t care if I ever get rich, I will always coupon.” She clinked her bottle to mine in a cheer.
“Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I never met Sasha.” I said over the noise of the crowd. It was starting to fill up, so I was glad we picked a seat in the corner.
“Do you think you wouldn’t have gotten the shop idea?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, “maybe I would have worked with my dad or something. She showed me what selling the flowers would feel like. I love the feeling.” Ivy looked at me intently.
“That’s amazing, you know. That you found something that makes you happy. I don’t think you would have been fully satisfied with Botany.” She said with a smirk. I nodded in agreement.