Ella stopped and looked at the woman she had become friends with over the past few months. “Look, what?” she asked curiously.
“It’s nothing,” Corinne said opening the door for Ella.
When they were out on the sidewalk, Ella pressed the issue. “Look what, Corinne? You said I look…”
Corinne looked down at the floor and Ella could sense her discomfort.
Ella reached out and touched her sleeve. “It’s okay, Corinne, you can tell me.”
“It’s just that you look sad,” Corinne said quickly. “No, I mean tired. That’s all. You look like you’ve been working too hard. Which I’m sure you have.”
Ella nodded slowly as her new friend tried to cover her slip of the tongue. “It’s just that I’m glad you’re taking a break from the wedding business for a while. I’m so grateful that you kept us as clients, but I’m glad you’re stepping back. It’s a tou
gh industry. Some brides can be just awful to work with,” Corinne said with a wink at Ella.
Ella smiled and hugged Corinne. “Yeah, I’m just tired,” she lied.
Corinne turned and walked up the street, leaving Ella alone outside of the bakery. She thought about going back in and getting a few slices of the red velvet cake to take home, but deep down she knew that burying herself in cake, no matter how good, wouldn’t solve her problems.
SIXTEEN
Ella kept herself busy preparing for Hannah’s shower and focusing on building her new business. Even though she had removed herself from the wedding business almost entirely, she still found herself drawn to the society pages. Nearly every morning, she would wake up and read the papers, checking to see who was engaged to whom, who was getting divorced, who was suing whom. Nearly every day, she saw some of her previous clients in every category.
“I know, Mom,” she said over the phone one morning. “I’m fine, really.”
Ella had told her mother that she was getting out of the wedding business because of all the loveless marriages, but even though she hadn’t mentioned anything about Karim to her, Ella’s mother sensed there was more to the story.
“Why don’t you take a break for a few days,” said her mother. “The one wedding you're organizing is pretty much done and Hannah’s shower is all arranged already; all you have to do is show up in a few weeks' time. How about you get out of the city and come up to Rhode Island for a visit?”
How could her mother always tell when something was bothering her? Ella wondered if Hannah would get that inherent sixth sense once she had her own children. It made Ella think back to Corinne’s words. What was it she had said? That Ella looked tired? No, Ella remembered. Corinne had specifically said that she thought Ella looked sad.
Ella thought about it and decided maybe her mother was right. It had been years since she had taken a real vacation; the only travel she had done was to scout and plan clients’ weddings. She immediately thought about the last trip she had taken and the memories of Eleuthera and her time in the hotel room with Karim came flooding back.
She knew that no matter how hard she had tried, she hadn’t let him go. She was still hanging on to a shred of hope that something might happen between them. It was pure fantasy, she knew. But nonetheless, she hoped that maybe, just maybe, Karim would come to his senses and call the wedding off before it was too late.
Who was she kidding? She had heard him say it himself. He was obligated to marry Nadia. And besides, the wedding was rolling full steam ahead. They had just had another photo shoot for a feature about their upcoming nuptials in the society paper. The paper. Ugh. Ella thought about how much she hated the papers and how much she couldn’t stop looking at them. A necessary evil in her business. Well, her previous business.
She convinced herself that her mother and Corinne were right. Time away from the city would do her good.
“That’s great news!” Hannah said when Ella called to tell her she was going out of town for a few days. “Yeah, I’ll take Princess. No problem. Just go and relax. Me and the baby will be waiting for you when you’re ready to come back.”
Ella hung up the phone and looked around her apartment. She had already firmed things up with Corinne and Hannah. The only thing left to do was to pack. She went into her closet and looked through her clothing. She was rather disappointed to see that she only had a few casual outfits compared to the dozens of business suits.
“Wow,” she said grabbing the clothes off the hangars. “If that’s not a sign that this girl needs a vacation, I don’t know what is!”
Ella packed her luggage and left instructions and food for Princess out for Hannah to pick up the next morning. She figured she would get a good night’s sleep and head out first thing in the morning for the three-hour drive to her parents’.