He was tired, too. The past month had been hell for him. Things with Nadia were going from bad to worse, and she had left him to handle nearly everything with the wedding. With his feelings for Ella, he knew he couldn’t have direct contact with her, so he had to juggle his staff to handle all of the interactions with Ella. And he had to have more staff to look after Nadia. She had gotten out of control and Karim was certain the media would catch her in a weak moment and reveal the truth about their wedding.
Ella sat back and sighed. “Fine,” she said, her sense of humor failing her. Still, she was glad Karim was speaking to her again, despite the kiss she had just seen. She still believed what Karim had told her on the island—that there was no love between him and Nadia.
“So, will you, or Amira, or Djaron, or someone just approve the cake so I can get it ordered, please!”
Karim reached his hand out and Ella handed him the pictures and prices. He looked them over briefly before signing the invoice.
“Done. Anything else?” He didn’t want to usher her out, but was afraid he had already to start to lose his resolve. He had told himself
he wouldn’t be mean to Ella anymore, but he had to keep their interaction to a minimum. Just being in the same room with her for more than a few minutes was driving him crazy.
Ella looked at him with wide eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. Okay, she thought. So that’s how he’s gonna play this. She stood up and grabbed the paperwork.
“Nope, that’s it for now. Thank you,” she said as she turned to leave.
She got to the door and then remembered what Nadia had said. She spun around and looked at Karim. “There's just one more thing,” Ella said.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“What was Nadia talking about when she said ‘tell her about the island?’”
Karim sat back in his chair and clasped his hands over his face. He slid them down until they rested on the leather blotter on his desk. Ella didn’t know what was coming, but based on his body language, it wasn't good news.
She stood at the door and waited for his response. “Well,” Karim said slowly, watching Ella’s reaction. “Nadia said that since the weather is so unpredictable in Eleuthera, she doesn’t want to hold the wedding there anymore.”
Ella threw her hands up in the air. “What?! Are you kidding me?” She looked down at her watch as if it were a calendar, calculating the days in her head. “She wants to change the venue thirty, no—twenty-nine days before the wedding?! Are you serious?!”
Ella couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Once, and only once, had she let a client change their venue. And that was six months before the wedding, and even then it had been a fiasco. Ever since then, Ella had included it in her contract that any venue changes were the responsibility of the client and Ella would not be responsible if the vendors could not accommodate the changes. Clients needed to understand how difficult it was to secure a location for a wedding, and she couldn't be responsible if not.
Karim just nodded. He wanted to laugh, just a little, at the sight of Ella. Her professional demeanor had quickly come undone. The tight bun that rested on the top of her head had started to unravel and loose hairs hung down against her soft cheeks. The steely cold look she had in her eyes began to shine with frustration, making them even brighter and greener than before.
As polished as she still was, Karim could see the real girl underneath coming out. He could tell that Ella just wanted to do a good job. She didn’t care about the praise, the money, the accolades. All she wanted was to make her clients happy and give them what they wanted. And Nadia was making that impossible.
“So,” Ella asked from her position at the door. “Where on earth does she expect she will have the wedding now?”
Karim cleared his throat and looked down as he spoke. “The Plhrra Hrrlll,” he said mumbling from his spot at the desk.
Ella put her hand on the door frame and looked at him with her head cocked. “Where? Did you say what I think you said?”
Karim looked up quickly and then shot his eyes back down to the papers on his desk. He said it again, this time a little louder. “The Plaza Hotel.”
Ella threw her arms up in the air. “You’ve got to be kidding me?!”
She turned and walked in a circle, unsure how to react. “She thinks she can move a wedding with three hundred guests from an island in the Bahamas to one of the most desired venues in New York in less than a month? In the springtime? Is she out of her mind?”
Karim looked up and shrugged as if to say “Sort of.”
Ella took a couple of deep breaths and steadied herself before she spoke. “Okay,” she said slowly keeping her eyes focused on the skyline behind Karim’s desk. “I'll call the Plaza straight away and see if it's even possible to get a spot. Then, I will call all of the vendors and see if they can transfer their services to local vendors.
“Then,” she paused, collecting herself. “Then I will call the cake company and let them know that you have finally approved the—” she looked down, unsure of what cake flavor she had even selected. “The red velvet mocha berry cake.”
Ella took her eyes off of the skyline and looked directly at Karim. Man, he looked good. But he was smiling. Why was he smiling, she wondered? Ella was fuming mad and his smug face just enraged her further.
“I’m not making any promises,” she said with a finger pointing at Karim. His smile widened, and she looked at him, shaking her finger as she spoke. “But I will promise you this. My rate just doubled!”
She turned and stormed out of the office with a signed invoice for the cake and a modicum of her integrity left.
Karim watched her disappear down the hall and sat back in his chair with his hands behind his head as the smile took over his chiseled face.
ELEVEN
Ella managed to cash in a couple of favors and get the Plaza reserved for the date Karim and Nadia had selected. She worked double time changing all of the arrangements, sending out corrected invitations and ensuring that all of the vendors were able to meet the new accommodations.
A week after her encounter with Karim and Nadia, Djaron called Ella and asked her if she could attend a photo shoot the couple was having for a well-known society magazine. Ella obliged, figuring she could get one of them to sign off on a slew of new invoices while she was there.
She arrived at the shoot with her attaché full of paperwork and the sole intention of staying in the background. The photographers were busy fixing Nadia’s hair and adjusting the lighting while Karim stood next to her looking incredibly bored.
Ella spotted Djaron and called him over to her. “I thought they already did all of their engagement shoots,” she said, unsure why they were having another professional photo session.