As she carries on speaking two things become certain. Firstly, this wedding is easily going to cost in excess of half a million dollars, and secondly, I was wrong earlier. I am well and truly out of my depth here, and I will be no matter what I’m wearing.
When Helen finishes talking, I pick up my glass and realize it is empty. I have drunk the entire contents of the glass without even tasting it. More for something to do with my hands than anything else. I put the empty glass back down.
Helen smiles at me, warmth in her eyes for the first time. “Don’t worry, Ashley. I know I’ve fired a lot of information at you, but like I said, Damon will go over everything properly with you later. He has a copy of this file, and he knows what choices are pre-approved. I would prefer you stick to those options, but if there’s something you want that isn’t mentioned, have Damon run it by me alright?”
I nod mutely, as our main courses are served.
“Now, how many people will you be inviting?” Helen asks briskly.
No one, I want to say. I mean the whole thing is a sham. It’s not something I want to share with anyone. I hate the idea of being that girl who has a big fancy wedding and then gets divorced a few months later. Besides, this a far cry from the quick wedding Finn had talked about.
“Surely, you must want to invite your family and friends,” she prods.
Actually, I don’t, but if my friends and family find out I had a wedding and didn’t invite them, they would probably never speak to me again. I do a quick calculation in my head. I’ll have to invite my parents obviously. Aunt Shauna, Uncle Jim and their daughters. And the people I work with. I cut into my mushroom main course and a gorgeous golden sauce made of butter oozes out. “Around twenty.”
Helen laughs, then she catches herself when I frown. “Oh, goodness me, you’re serious,” she utters, shocked.
“Yes. I don’t have a big family and I’ve always imagined a small, intimate ceremony if I ever did get married, with only my closest friends around. I understand this isn’t going to be that, but I really don’t want to invite all of my acquaintances. You can invite whoever you want, obviously, but I’d really prefer to only invite people I actually like for my guests.”
“If you’re sure that’s what you want, dear,” Helen concedes. “I’ve already ordered the stationery. If you can send Finn a list of names and addresses by the end of the day, that would be great. The announcement will be going out tomorrow, and people will expect their invites shortly after.”
This means I would have to tell my parents sooner rather than later. It didn’t so much matter about my friends. None of them were the kind of people who would read anything that carried society wedding announcements, that much was for sure. “Okay,” I agree, my mind blank.
“Just a couple more things, Ashley. I trust that you will use your discretion and not breathe a word to anyone of this being anything but a real marriage between two people who love each other,” Helen pontificates.
I nod quickly. “Of course,” I agree. I don’t add what I’m thinking. Why Helen might be worried about what society would think of her, and I really don’t get that, but I do get why the news of our fake wedding getting out would be bad. I don’t want people whispering about me, talking about the girl who married for money, even if it is for a charity rather than for herself. If anything, I am more determined to keep this whole thing under wraps than Helen. The hardest part of this for me is going to be convincing my friends that Finn is different from how he appears. How beneath his cocky swagger, and all his flashy money, he’s a genuinely nice guy that I could fall in love with.
Whoa! Where did that come from? I could NEVER EVER fall for him. NEVER.
“Good,” Helen says decisively. “And… of course, I expect you to throw yourself into planning this wedding. If you have an appointment, I expect you to be there. And please don’t allow Finn here to make you late for everything. If you think there’s a risk of that, call me and I will arrange a car to come and collect you. And Ashley, our family has a certain reputation to uphold. You won’t dangle out any skeletons for anyone to pick up on, will you?”
Wow, what would she think if she knew I had come here straight after being arrested? Maybe I should tell her and call this whole thing off. I am seriously debating doing just that, but then I see the faces of the kids I would be helping, and the faces of the hundreds of kids we would have to turn away due to a lack of resources, and I know I can’t risk this not happening. “I’m an open book Helen. There are no skeletons in my closet,” I say as my plate is cleared away.