The Groom's Dove

Conflicted

003

~The Planner~

"You know I don't open my shop on a Wednesday." Marco grunts.

"But you're my oldest vendor partner. The best among the best."

He chuckles. "What shade of roses do you want?"

"White." I say. "I'm booking them six months in advance."

"Six months... How big?"

"Three hundred guests." His jaw drops.

"Three hundred. Are you planning a wedding for the King himself?"

I laugh. "No. Charlotte De Vos hired me for her wedding."

He drops his dressing scissors and turns to me. "Charlotte De who? Charlotte De Vos? The i********: princess? " His Russian accent rolls off the last word. "A woman like you should have nothing to do with her."

I laugh. That's the worst sentence to say in this case.

"She once made an intern cry over the wrong shade of roses."

"Oh..."

"Threw a glass cup at a waiter for messing up her juice order."

"All I have to do is plan Marco. And the paycheck is huge." I defend. "I can't pass up on that because of rumours."

"They're not rumors, kid. These high profile weddings always implode." He picks his scissors back up and continues trimming the thorns on the rose stalks. "Especially when the bride cares more about the photos than the marriage."

***

"Charlotte De Vos?"

I sigh. "Not you too Jade."

"I bet everyone has told you against it." I give a closed teeth fake smile. "I've photographed her before Dove." He adds.

Of course he has. He's Chicago's premier photographer.

"She spends more time posing than experiencing anything new.""

"So are you out?"

He smiles and takes my hand in his. "For a paycheck that much? You know you can count on me right?"

I chuckle and shrug him off.

"I feel like something's off tho. Her fiance always looks miserable in photos. It's almost like he's trapped."

Those words ring in my head throughout the day and all the way to my office.

I can't help but research Charlotte De Vos. 2.3 million followers. I scroll through her page and there are tons of photos of her engagement ring.

Every picture of her is perfect. Not a blond strand out of place. Not a rumple in sight. Comments about wanting to be like her and how she's so seamlessly perfect flood her posts.

She's every girl's dream self. Maybe even mine.

Liam's photos are less than a handful. A thought drops in my head and I search for Liam Ashford.

The difference is shocking. Only 12K followers. His posts are mostly professional photos of charity work in developing countries and photos of his grandma. There are barely any pictures of him.

I scroll past a post and go back. It's a picture of him and Charlotte. He's staring at her with a face that is neither hate, nor love... It's a face I can't read.

I skip.

The next post is an article about his non-profit work. He mentions a society matriarch and philanthropist, his grandma, Margaret Ashford.

Was she his only family?

A quote from him says, "My grandmother taught me that love means service. My greatest hope is to build a marriage like hers... Partnership and not performance"

My stomach twists. This doesn't match the wedding Charlotte is planning.

"What are you doing?" I slam my laptop shut and turn to Sophie peeping over my shoulder.

"Huh?"

"You've been staring at his photo for ten minutes.""

Ten minutes? That couldn't be. It wasn't up to ten minutes.

"Just getting to know my clients."

Sophie raises a brow. "Your client is Charlotte De Vos. He's just the groom. "

An awkward chuckle croaks out of my throat. "He's the groom so he's kind of the client."

"Dove..."

"Ah!" I stand. "I'm supposed to meet Simone for cake design preparation. See you later Soph."

If this isn't Liam's dream wedding, why can't he just leave? It's clear that Charlotte is not right for him.

Then who is?

Simone's sigh turns my attention to him. "What a kind man. Nothing like the woman he's marrying."

I'm lost and she must have noticed my expression.

"Oh. Liam. I made his grandma's 85th birthday cake. "

Oh. I nod. Everyone I work with knows this family.

"At the introduction party, I could see the sadness on her wrinkled face." She shakes her head. "That woman is like a mosquito. She'll suck all the kindness and love out of that man and leave him bare. "

"Do you know how they met?"

She shakes her head.

"He'd love an orange cake with a lot of icing but..." Her sigh is defeated. "In the end, that woman always pushes him aside and has her way."

***

Home sweet home. It's nothing like Charlotte's penthouse, but warmer. I drop onto my bed with a loud sigh. I stretch and stretch till there's nothing left to stretch.

Maybe if I stretch enough, I'll do away all the worries of Liam and Charlotte's wedding.

I wish.

That thought brings Liam's eyes to my memory. Vivid and clear. His kind eyes that saw me. Really saw me in those brief moments we talked.

"Stop it," I tell myself. "He's the groom. He's off limits. This is just a job."

....such a kind man....nothing like the woman he's marrying....

But how did he meet someone like Charlotte? Are they college friends? Friends from childhood?

It couldn't be.

An arranged marriage? A contract marriage? A marriage of convenience?

I turn and stare at my ceiling, my head throbbing.

"Why are you getting involved?" I whisper, rubbing my eyes.

The chiming of my laptop wakes me.

Didn't I put it off?

It chimes again. With a groan, I get off the bed and sit at my table.

An email from Charlotte De Vos.

I don't know when I hissed. My hands immediately clasp around my mouth. "What is wrong with me?"

I open the mail.

""These are seventeen minor adjustments to the plans we discussed.""

At 11P.M? People are sleeping!

I read through all seventeen and each one of them contradicts all of Liam's suggestions that I know and we discussed.

Why is she shutting him out of his own wedding? Which bride claims she loves her husband does this?

P.S.: "Please coordinate directly with me. Liam is too busy to be bothered with details."

I scoff and hit the reply button.

"Why would you shut him off from his own wedding? Aren't you being too harsh??? Marriage is a-two-becoming-one-thing. It's not a standalone. I quit!"

I stare at the reply and with a sigh, delete all of it.

I write another reply that looks similar to the first and delete it.

"You need this job, Dove. This is what people like you wish for."

"I will make the minor adjustments you have stated. " I settle on this and send it to her before slamming my laptop shut.

Throwing myself onto my bed, sleep erodes me. I lay wide awake for minutes with nothing but Liam's eyes in my memory.

He's the groom. But he looks like he's in b*****e.

Your job is to plan the wedding. The biggest wedding in Chicago. You shouldn't get involved.

But I can't bear to watch someone who wants a marriage of love and beauty make the biggest mistake of his life.

Should I walk away? Why do I even care?