"Dude, I'm running late!" Nick looked at his watch for the tenth time. He knew that Abby was waiting for him and she would most likely be pissed off. The meeting had stretched out a whole extra hour.
Howie rolled his eyes and smacked Nick with the folder. "Listen, this is work related. What's more important?
Nick didn't really think either one of them were important. If it were up to him; he would have married Tiffany in a barn or the ocean front without anyone around. That would have been a million times better than all the money and energy that was being put into one stressful day; that no one would end up appreciating anyway. As for the modeling gig, he would have loved to tell Howie to shove it up his ass.
"They are both important. I'm sorry, but is it possible that I can leave now?" The sarcasm was apparent as he questioned his manager.
"Get out of here...sheesh. Don't forget PETA Monday at nine."
Monday at nine. He made a mental note and then cringed when he remembered that his appointment with the transportation was at noon. He couldn't miss it. Tiffany would flip. With a deep sigh he told himself to deal with it when the day came. He rushed to his truck and revved the engine and sped away towards the flower shop.
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"Are you waiting for your fiancé?" The young blonde woman asked Abby as she saw her pacing the room.
Abby chuckled and nodded her head. "Oh no. He's my sister's fiancé. He's just running late."
"If you like...I can show you around. There is so much to look at while you wait." The blonde suggested.
It wasn't such a bad idea. At least she wouldn't be standing there like a moron just pacing around. The blonde wasn't lying about having so much to see. In the hall entrance there had been a huge arch made out of red and white roses and all types of flowers covered the sides. Abby wondered how they kept so many flowers alive.
"Ok!" She grinned and followed the woman into another room. "Holy..." Her eyes widened as they tried to follow the rows of different flowers. There were bright, neon, soft, and bold colors all over the place. Her eyes fixed on the row of calla lilies that sat in a far corner, they were shooting out of the large flower pot.
The bell rang announcing a customer and the blonde excused herself to check. Abby quickly made way towards the flowers she'd been eyeing. She couldn't believe how beautiful they were and how perfectly they would match the dresses she had been able to convince the other bridesmaids to use. Carefully she bent over to take in the delicate scent of her favorite flower.
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Nick had rushed into the store almost knocking over a large pot of marigolds right in the entrance. He'd apologized to the blonde as he entered. "I'm supposed to meet someone here and I'm really late."
The blonde grinned and motioned with her hand and head for him to follow her. They walked down the hallway and through one room and into another. "Wow...that's a lot of flowers." He muttered looking around. His eyes settled on Abby who he recognized right away. She was bent over talking to herself or the flowers; he wasn't sure. Nick smiled remembering that one conversation they'd had over flowers, if only she knew he'd brought it up to get an idea on flowers for his wedding.
He walked over and stood behind her; she was so engrossed in the colorful flowers she hadn't noticed him standing there. "Calla lilies aren't they? I remember you said they were your favorite!"
Startled to feel Nick so close to her and whispering in her ear she spun around and backed away. "You remembered."
"Why wouldn't I? We had this whole conversation on--"
Then it hit her. "You are such a jerk! You're not the one that thinks orchids are beautiful...it's Tiffany. They are her favorite flower. You were asking me these questions for your wedding plans...Oh...my...God!"
"Ok. Maybe...I asked for that reason. But I was interested in your opinion."
Abby felt slightly betrayed. Nick had grown to be a part of her life in those two short months. They talked every single night for hours on; sometimes about the simplest things, like flowers. She wondered if a lot of things she'd been asked by him had been to compare her answer to Tiffany's.
"Are you guys ready to see some of the arrangements we have?"
"Yes. We are." Abby shook her head.
Nick knew he'd blown it again. Whether he wanted to admit it to himself, Abby had gotten him through some stressful times; just by talking to him online. She'd unknowingly helped him make some decisions for the planning of the wedding. Otherwise he'd have been clueless as to what to do. Not only that, but he knew so much about her and she knew the real him.
"Earth to Nick!" Abby waved her hand in his face and fell out of his thoughtful trance.
"Yeah?"
"She already showed you three arrangements and you just said 'uh huh' to each of them."
"Oh...I'm sorry! I just..." He wanted to apologize to her at that very moment, but the blonde interjected.
"Well, did you want long, round, small vases?" The blonde asked.
"Small round ones..."
"Long ones..."
Nick and Abby both looked at each other quickly.
"It all depends on the flower you choose. Although, in my opinion, long vases are more elegant." Abby stated.
"Yeah, well small round ones are cheaper and simpler."
"We are talking about Tiffany! I'm not sure she would be too happy about that decision...but, it's your wedding."
"We can always arrange whatever flowers you want. If you like?" The blonde suggested.
He smiled instantly and told her to hold on a second. "Gimme a sec." He took out his cell phone and dialed the familiar number. "Hello"
"Hi, baby. How are you? How are the flower arrangements going?"
"Uh...it's complicated. There is so much to look at here and well there are some really nice ones. I thought...I mean Abby and I thought you would like some calla lilies and orchids. They have a really nice color--"
"Oh come on Nicky. You know me better than anyone. I'm pretty sure...oh stop it..." Tiffany let out a giggle as she spoke to someone in the background.
"Uh...what's going on there?" Nick tried to act casual when he asked.
Tiffany giggled again, "I'm sorry baby. I have to let you go. My boss is here and I have to be focused. I love you. You guys will decide just fine. Bye."
"He's there?" Nick asked, but she'd already hung up on him. He stared at his phone for a bit. Jealousy grew slowly in the pit of his stomach. His fiancé was laughing away with her good looking boss, while he debated on flowers. So he went with what Abby had been staring at the whole time. He'd read the names on the tags, until he knew them by memory. "Um...she said the dark pink orchids and white calla lilies are fine for the arrangements. In the long vases. What else do we have to decide? I need to go."
"Alright, that sounds great." The blonde jotted down a couple of things on her clipboard and then looked up. "What about the bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids?"
"Abby, what do you think?"
She smiled, thankful that he'd let her make that decision. She'd seen the bouquets in a magazine. "How about for the bride we do pink cymbidium orchids...with mini dark pink callas. Then we do only the dark pink mini callas for the bridesmaids. You know, like five of them." The blonde smiled and excused herself for a second.
"That sounds like you have it all figured out." Nick smirked.
Abby just blushed. "I just paid a little attention to what Tiffany wants."
"Point taken!"
"Oh...I...I didn't mean it that way. I really didn't."
Nick scratched the back of his neck. He was slightly offended by her simple comment, or maybe it was the fact that he was a bit bothered to know that his fiancé's boss was in her room and she was giggling like a teenager. "No. It's cool. Most people think I'm marrying her cause she's soon to be this big shot attorney."
"I wasn't even thinking that. I just meant that I've heard some of her plans before." Abby was curious as to what had changed Nick's mood drastically. "I know you better than that."
He was already pissed off; why not let out some steam. "You don't know shit about me. You only know what I told you."
Abby pursed her lips and glared at him. "I'm done for today. I think you can finish up here." She walked out of the flower shop and made way to her car. Maybe he was right, she had no idea if anything he had told her was true. They were probably all lies that he had fed her. She slumped in her seat and slammed the door. The realization that this wasn't going to be such an easy task...had finally sunk in.