The tall man who had inky black hair is wearing a light yellow cardigan with a white inner shirt wearing black skinny jeans raced towards a nearby cafe with a shoulder bag at his side and a clipboard at the other.
He was in a rush as he dashed sideways avoiding hitting people who were walking at the sidewalk. Upon arriving at the cafe, he stopped, catching his breath and panted for a good while outside. The man pushes the door open with the small bell ringing and he was immediately greeted by a waiter.
"Good morning Mr. Xiao, are you here to check your last order?" The waiter asked as she led him by the counter. "Yes, I would like to add 50 more cupcakes if that is possible?"
"It is, also the cake is finished, would Mr. Xiao likes to see it?"
"Yes please," he answered politely with a smile and the waiter beckoned him to follow behind her. They arrived at the cafe's kitchen and the busy chefs and workers were flooding the inside. "This way sir."
Upon passing the kitchen, they arived were the cakes and delicious delicacies were being prepared and designed.
"I'll take my leave mister Xiao. Miss Mianmian is over there doing the finishing touches for the cake," the waiter said as she pointed where a woman who looked at her twenties with a messy bun also wearing a hair net who was currently looking if the a gorgeous wedding cake.
"Thank you," he gave her a short bow as he headed his way towards her. "It looks beautiful."
"Ah, Zhan-ge!" The woman named Mianmian said with a smile as she saw her friend and also a regular customer. "Thanks, it took a while. Honestly, I had a hard time looking for the exact flowers your customer was looking for," she said as she pointed the wedding cake.
It was a four layered cake with the theme color of white and a hue of peachy pink color. The alternating layers were design with fancy patterns with the second layer having floral designs on it coating, while the biggest and last layer had the leaves and petal like icing designs, covering the whole layer. The overall design was enhanced with the lovely and fesh looking peach and little pink colored roses, accompanied with small green leaves.
"You did an amazing job. How did you even make the flowers?" The man named Xiao Zhan asked in astonishment as he looks over the wedding cake.
"Of course, skills, my friend," she said as she playfully bumped his shoulder. "I don't have skills in baking. Too bad," he chuckled and takes out his phone to snap a picture.
"Thank you so much, Mianmian. Can you guys deliver it next week with the 250 cupcakes?"
"That won't be a problem," she replied. "Well, I need to go," Xiao Zhan said as he looks over his wrist watch and checked the time that was currently 8:04 in the morning. "I have other things to attend to."
"Well, I can see you out at the door?" Mianmian asked as she sets aside her tools. "No need, sorry for the trouble."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, thanks again," he said as he waved his hand at her and bid farewell. Mianmian smiled and sends him off as she returned a wave.
The man went out of the cafe and thoughy of heading to the textile shop next. But it seems like traffic is gonna stop him this time. It was better to walk and so he did.
Xiao Zhan, a known wedding planner in Beijing for almost 3 years running his own business. It became his passion after breaking up with his boyfriend. He was so depressed and upset that he didn't had any motivation to do anything anymore, until one day, his best friend Meng Zoey introduced him into designing weddings since she work in a small company with the similar job. He was hesistant at first but as he saw two people getting married, he was moved by the scene. It was too heart warming and pleasant to see. Two people loving each other and promising to be loyal and love each other until death separates them.
Obviously, not everyone started smoothly and he had his ups and downs. When he first started as a wedding planner, he had some background in designing since he was a visual arts major and also studied interior designs when he was in college. His friends supported him as he raised through the ranks of the business world.
Xiao Zhan was forever grateful with his friends for not abandoning him in the dark.
The wedding planner takes out his handkerchief and wipes his beads of sweat that was forming on his forehead. It was already hot despite being morning, the scorching heat of the sun was making things difficult for him.
After a twenty minute walk, he finally arrived at the textile store. He was greeted by the old store owner who was an old lady in her sixties, "Ah, well if it isn't our lovely A-Zhan," she said happily as she clasped her hands in delight.
"Good morning, grandma. How are you?" The wedding planner greeted with a smile and gave her a short bow. "Aiya, you sweet young boy, I'm doing fine as always! Are you here to check if the textiles have arrived?"
"Yes, since my crew and I really need to start designing the interior of the venue," he explained and the store owner smiled at him. "They arrived about an hour ago, you sure are in luck!"
"Thank you so much, here's the paycheck for all of the costs," Xiao Zhan said as he hands her a neatly folded paper. "You're welcome and oh, my son will deliver them, since there are 10 boxes of them."
"Alright, thank you, grandma."
"Of course," she smiled at him and Xiao Zhan once again bid farewell and went on his way. The wedding planner went store to store to check the things he ordered were all available, to his dismay some were closed and it seems like the other stocks didn't arrive yet.
By the time he came back at their personal office, he was greeted by the other workers and he gave them a nod. The wedding planner felt tired and sat at his cushioned chair. He settles down his bag at the side and takes out his phone, placing it beside his clipboard.
He checked the things that didn't arrive yet and marked the things that were finished. Then the telephone started ringing and with a tired sigh, he answered it. "Good morning, this is Wedding Delicacies, I'm Xiao Zhan, your wedding planner at your service where I bring joy to your most special day," he said slightly out of breath.
"I told you to change your greetings," Meng Zoey whispered at the side as she chuckled at him. Xiao Zhan just jokingly rolled his eyes and replied politely and attentively to his customer on the telephone.
"Yes, ma'am. The cake is already finished, you can check the design just like you asked," he said as he sends the picture to his iPad from his phone. "I'll send it to your email, ma'am."
He writes down some additional notes from the customer in a sticky note and placed it on his clipboard. "Okay, I'll update you soon. Thank you, ma'am," he said and the call ended with a beep.
"You sure looked stressed ah," Meng Zoey said as she smirked at her friend. "Of course, our customer is the daughter of a businesswoman, what do you expect?" He joked and writes down on his clipboard.
"Ah, rich people," she laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be facilitating the ribbons?" Xiao Zhan faced her with a raised brow. "Almost done, okay?" She said as she stood up from her table and went at the back of the store with a wave of her hand. The wedding planner just snorted and went back to his work.
Looking at the list once more, he totally forgot about the flowers!
Xiao Zhan ruffled his inky black hair as he heaves a sigh. "Yu Bin!" He called out from the back of the store as he turned around with his chair. "Yeah?" Yu Bin's voiced echoed.
"Will the delivery guy be able to deliver the lilies by Monday?"
"He said he could but there would be extra labour," Yu Bin replied worriedly as he appeared in front of Xiao Zhan. Yu Bin is one of Xiao Zhan's distant relatives from the countryside and they're working together to run the wedding business.
"What? That's crazy, I'll give him a call. Tell your cousin to finish the ribbons tomorrow," he intructed as he takes out his phone from his shoulder bag. "Alright, Zhan-ge," and off Yu Bin went back behind the store.
Xiao Zhan dials the delivery guy's number for a couple of times and cursed under his breath. No one was picking up his calls and it was stressing him out even more. The wedding was going to be by Wednesday and there were still a lot of things that were lacking.
The bell from the entrace door suddenly rang and the wedding planner immediately faces the customer to greet them. "Hello, welcome to Wedding Delicacies..." Xiao Zhan trailed off as he saw who the person was at the door.
The man stood there with the usual impassive look on his face. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke, "I want you to plan out this wedding."
"Ah?" That was all the wedding planner could mutter as he was frozen on the spot.
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Sorry for the typos and please do point it out! Let me know your thoughts of the first chapter!