Wedding 2.0 ft. business
1933 Words
The next day, they flew with Ben to drop him in Glasgow and when the plane departed towards New York, they talked about weddings.
"When do you wanna do it?"
"Before it shows" she pointed at her stomach
"Wait, should we get divorced and remarry?"
"It's not worth it. We can just have a ceremony with everyone. Unless you want to?"
"No I'm good."
"How about next month?"
"That early? But we have to invite everyone"
"You invite people a day before a party and they show. If they don't come to your wedding, are they really your friends? Or family?"
"You're right. Let's do this"
And so they planned to do it in the garden, setting chairs and decor and a buffet. The good thing is : if it rains, they'll just turn on the glass ceiling and all will be good.
So a month later, Caroline, Alex and Ben were flown there and everything was set. Cara also revisited the walking down the aisle thing by holding both her brothers in each arm. And no bridesmaids or grooms. Just close family at the front.
After saying I do in front of everyone, although legally that doesn't do much, they thanked them for being here.
Some people, on Nathan's side of invited people, came to them and congratulated them. But then two sisters, apparently close friends of the family, asked Cara who she is wearing.
"What?" Cara asked in return
"Who designed your dress?"
"I don't know" she replied "I was just looking for one similar to my mom's. Didn't really care about who made it"
"So how much did it cost?"
"What.. what kind of question is this"
"Well, if it's not designer dress, then you're wedding is cheap"
Cara almost screamed. What kind of comment was that.
"Well, you know, if you think the price and the name of the dress is more important than enjoying a moment with family and friends, you should probably leave" and as she said that, Nathan joined her.
"Uh" one of them said "our gift is so expensive we will not leave until we eat and drink what we deserve"
"Oh I see. Which one is your gift?" Cara asked
They showed her the box. Cara grabbed it and handed it to them.
"Now what?" She asked
And so they left, mad.
"What happened ?" Nathan asked
Cara quickly told him before asking if she could do a speech for the people who came to judge and not just enjoy.
"Go ahead. Just don't say any name, mom's gonna be mad" he said
She grabbed the mic and started "Well, hi again everyone. I just wanted to thank you again for all being here. But I also want you to know that if you do not want to be here, or if you're only here because you felt obligated to, or if you're here to judge instead of just enjoying it, you're welcome to leave. And if you wanna take back your gifts because, as someone just told me after criticising my dress, you feel like because you brought a gift, you deserve to eat and drink your worth, feel free to take them back with you."
"What are you doing?" Isabella asked, horrified
"Not letting fake people in." She told her before talking back on the mic "See, this is our wedding, and we've only invited you because you are close friends and family members. And family is not fake. Family enjoys happy moments like these. If you're not here to enjoy, don't be here at all. Thank you"
Then she told Isabella not to worry because she wasn't naming anyone. But as soon as some people started leaving, Nathan grabbed the mic and thanked them by name.
Cara and Isabella looked at him, surprised.
"I swear I didn't know he was gonna do that" she told her mother-in-law.
"Thank you Claudia. And Steven." He kept going.
About ten people left from Nathan's side. And then Kylie, a firefighter, walked towards the exit.
Nathan handed Cara the mic as she said "Thank you Kylie?" surprised.
Everyone turned towards her, also surprised but then she laughed.
"Oh I'm not leaving I'm just getting my husband" she said
Everyone breathed out of relief and smiled.
"Wow you really have real friends" Nathan told Cara
"And you have fake ones" she told him
"Alright, let's start having fun!" She shouted
And everyone played the games that were set, ate and drank and talked.
Isabella took Nathan aside, probably to ask him why he did that, as Cara just danced with her friends.
"Wow mom is mad" Nathan told Cara
"What do you wanna do?" She asked
"Nothing. You're right, if they left, it means they shouldn't be close to us in the first place"
"Hi mrs Carloyl" A man, looking in his fifties, extended his hand towards Cara
"Mrs Moore" she corrected him "I'm not changing my name" she added, shaking his hand
He shook Nathan's hand as well before presenting himself.
"I'm Robert Jamison, head of the national pipeline industry. I would love to talk business with you"
"This is our wedding, do you mind coming another time?" Cara said but Nathan gently hit her on the side before smiling at Robert Jamison.
"Excuse her, she is kind of new to the way things work" he told him as Cara just stared at him
"No. This is our wedding. We are not talking business now. At least I'm not"
"Sorry I'll be right back" he told the man before running behind his wife.
"Cara. This is Jamison. We were trying to get a deal for years"
"So? Can't he wait till, I don't know, tomorrow?" She told him
"We never could reach him before. I sent him an invite thinking he would never come but he did, it's a huge opportunity"
"Nathan" she looked him in the eyes "I am not talking business on my wedding day"
"Then I'll talk to him"
"I still own 90% remember?" She whispered
"Oh" he said, walking back towards her "please?"
She walked with him back to Robert Jamison and before Nathan said anything, she started.
"I'm sorry mister Jamison, my husband thinks we should talk now but I don't and, you see, I control the majority of our business. If you want to talk, we can do that tomorrow, at 11, here or wherever you want. But right now, I would like to keep enjoying my wedding and spend time with my family. Thank you for coming, you're also welcome to enjoy this party as you are a guest and I will hopefully see you tomorrow, how does that sound?"
"I'm sorry" Nathan started but Robert shook Cara's hand, smiling.
"I like the way you know what you want" he added "thank you for the invite" he added before joining someone near the buffet.
"Are you crazy?" Nathan asked, following Cara around as she was walking towards her mom "you blew up one of the best opportunities"
"He'll be there tomorrow" she told him without even looking at him "just have fun"
And then she jumped in the pool with her wedding dress still on.
After the crowd called Nathan's name many times, he also jumped and everyone else joined them.
The following morning, after a sleepless night for the couple because someone was panicking about Jamison, Cara got dressed up for the meeting.
But then just went to the kitchen to make herself a smoothie.
"What are you doing?" Nathan asked, following her
"Breakfast" she replied before pouring it in two glasses and handing him one.
"It's almost 11"
"I know" she replied, drinking
"Robert Jamison is gonna be here any minute. If he even is coming. We need to get to the office right now"
She finished her glass and walked back upstairs to brush her teeth.
"Are you serious?"
"Relax. His car just arrived"
"How do you know?"
She pointed at the window.
"I'm gonna meet him"
"No. Let him get to the office room first. Just calm down and let me handle it"
"But you know nothing about business."
"Well, I know you do. What I do know about is people's behaviour. And I know I'm doing the right thing."
He walked out to get to the office as soon as he saw through the window that he was no longer outside. Cara joined him a few seconds later as he was apologising.
"No, no" she cut him after he said "sorry my wife is a bit late"
"Hi" she shook Jamison's hand "See, he thinks I'm late, but I'm actually right on time. Discard his apology, but do appreciate mine for he is very stressed"
Jamison smiled and sat down, followed by Cara and Nathan in front of him.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
He presented them his project and how he wanted to use a building she now owns.
"And what's your offer?" She asked after reading the project
"2 million"
She looked at Nathan who seemed okay with it. But she wasn't.
"How much is the building worth as of today?"
"2 million"
"So you want to buy something at its exact worth" she told Jamison before turning towards Nathan "and you're okay with that?" She asked him
Nathan nodded, as though it was obvious.
"Well I am not." She said "see, I might not be used to doing business, but I know that selling something at its exact price is not good business. You're going to make so much profit out of it that, 2 million, is nothing compared. I say you pay a rent"
Nathan was about to say something, again, but Jamison asked how much.
"30"
"Thousands?" Nathan asked
"No silly, 30% of profit. Every month. + 30 off of each year"
"5" Jamison said
"25" Cara replied
"10?"
"25" she repeated
Nathan's eyes jumped from his wife to Jamison and back.
"What if we fail"
"What's 25% of nothing?" She replied
"Touché" he said "12?"
"18. Last offer"
"15?"
She just stared at him
"Deal" He finally agreed
"I'm gonna need you to say the deal" Cara said, standing up "I want it written" she added, looking at their graphs writing down the conversation.
"2 million plus 18% of profits each month plus 18% off of the year"
"Perfect" Cara said, handing her her hand.
"Before I shake it. Can we set a time limit?"
"Minus 1% each year" she said
And he shook her hand before getting his team out.
"You got yourself a good one" he told Nathan "my lawyers will send the contract to yours in about a week"
Cara just smiled and nodded.
"See?" She said
"Wow" Nathan replied "you really are crazy"
"Am I?"
He grabbed her and put her over his shoulder to run upstairs.
"Put me down" she said but they were already in their room when he put her on the bed.
"I didn't know you knew how to do that" he told her
"Oh I know a lot of other things" she replied, getting up and close to him to kiss him.
"You're really hot when you give orders" he told her, kissing her on the neck
"Well, you're not so much when you're stressed" she replied, unbuttoning her shirt
But right before they did anything more than undress, he stopped.
"Oh come on!" She said
"But you're pregnant" he told her
"So?"
"Won't it…"
"It won't do anything to the baby. Come here" she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him over her.
- Writer
