Planning Bliss (Bliss Series Book 1)

The Speech

The Speech (Unedited)

My jaw felt locked from all the smiling I'd done for the cameras in the past half hour. I massaged the area in front of my ears and along my jaw line. I claimed a spot on a bench under a mature weeping willow tree, slipping my shoes off my feet, and rubbing my aching calves. It seemed Louboutin stilettos weren't the best footwear on grass.

The photographer, Roan, her assistants, and the videographer wanted photos of only the newlyweds in another part of the garden, thus, giving the rest of us time to recover. The two flower girls had been given their passes to return to their parents. Lucky, girls!

Julie and Leah, one of our servers, had driven in one of the golf carts to bring us much-needed refreshments. By now, the wedding guests would have proceeded to the separate cocktail-hour areas we'd placed around the main tent, or in the rotunda of the main club building, enjoying delicious canapés and choices of three customized drinks for the event.

"Did you have the tartare?" Julie asked as she approached me, carrying a tray of champagne flutes.

"Hmmm, yeah, so good... what were those chips?"

"Taro chips. Laupin's a genius. Champagne?" she asked, handing me a flute.

I shook my head. "Nah. Gotta keep my head straight. Did you bring water?" She nodded. "How's Chase doing?"

Julie rolled her eyes. "Freaking out because she can't drink, or make out with anyone." We both chuckled. "She's really taking this seriously. We don't want you worrying about anything, and you shouldn't."

"I'm not." Disbelief was written all over her face. "I'm not!"

"You're not what? Oh, champagne!" Natali took one of the flutes and sat beside me.

"So thirsty." I gave Julie a puppy-dog pout. "Water please?"

"'kay, I'll grab it." As she walked towards the cart, Isobel stopped her to grab one of the crystals from the tray before making her way to us.

Natali made room for her on the bench. "What'up, bitches?" Isobel chugged the champagne as she took the spot.

"Someone's thirsty." Natali chuckled.

"When is this photo shoot going to end? I think I dislocated my jaw with that last shot." Isobel rubbed her cheeks.

I knew why she was antsy. I had happened to trip over her and her new boyfriend making out in a corridor inside the club earlier. She wanted to return to her new 'baby love'. His name eluded me. All I remembered was that he was young, good-looking (probably rich), and horny.

"Won't be long now," I replied, sagging against the bench.

From my vantage point, I watched Levi approach Julie. He had kept his distance so far, not that we had plenty of chances to closely interact, since the end of the ceremony . Julie laughed at something he said, then Levi took the two bottles of Perrier she offered.

Levi joined Jake's parents and cousins, and François by the large pond, and handed Sandrine's father one of the bottles. As they continued their conversation, Levi would glanced every now and then towards my direction. I kept in mind that there were three people sitting on this bench, one of whom was his modelesque ex-girlfriend. He nodded as a reply to what François said, then took out his phone from his pocket and made a call.

"You must be exhausted." Natali tapped my arm, garnering my attention. "I don't even know what time you left last night."

"Much earlier than you guys did. I had to be here first thing in the morning."