Respectfully,
Antonio Romero, III
Romero Realty Corp.
Respectfully? WTF? Lucy was fuming. She was boiling up to a dangerously hot level. She could feel her blood sizzle in her veins.
I hate Antonio!
What was he thinking? Who was he to blindside me like that? What a creep!
Lucy could feel her breath getting short as she hyperventilated. Oh, God! She was going to lose control. Of her mind. Of her faculties.
So she would not be getting a second chance at love as she had foolishly thought.
Antonio used me!
I will never, ever, ever trust another man again!
Lucy poured herself a glass of wine and flumped on her couch in her living area of her bachelor apartment. Drowning her sorrows. She closed her eyes. I’m so through with the male species!
Four weeks later…
Lucy hadn’t heard from Antonio, not that she was really expecting an apology for breaking up with her via “electronic mail.” Heck, who spoke like that? It’s email, stupid!
She sat in her office typing up her latest contract and perhaps her last. She was going to train Maxine to take over her aunt’s business in the near future. She really didn’t want to have anything to do with arranging asinine weddings for people too-stupid-in-love to see that love didn’t work one iota!
She had already given Maxine the reins to guide the ambiguous wedding of their clients Crystal and Randy.
“Well, this is it!” Maxine bubbled as they drove up to the garden wedding party that they helped planned. Or that Maxine helped arrange. All on her own. Lucy had no part of it.
Everything seemed pleasing upon inspection. They both carried a clipboard to ensure that the flowers were properly displayed and all the decorations were up to standards and the waiters were present to serve the guests. The reception would also be in the garden.
“I heard one of the guests is planning to get his vid up on YouTube. Think of the publicity,” Maxine beamed.
“Yeah, it would be great.” Lucy tried to sound as enthusiastic as Maxine felt. But it was no use.
Antonio Romero.
It had been over two months since they’d been seeing each other and four weeks since that god-awful email he slapped her with. Emotionally slapped her in the face with.
Lucy caved under Maxine’s badgering and spilled to her what had happened between them, not to mention that infamous email.
Maxine truly provided the support Lucy desperately needed at the time and for that she would always be grateful. It wasn’t as if she had many friends. Heck, her friends tended to be the ones she spent the most time with like her colleagues. The nice ones, of course.
“So what is this theme?” Lucy said glancing at her clipboard. “It doesn’t say.”
“Oh, it’s a dance theme. It should be fun.”
“Oh, okay, cool!” Lucy said in a low voice. They were both dressed in wedding guest attire so they would at least fit in and blend in with the crowd as they surveyed the scene to ensure everything ran smoothly. They stood over to the side in front of rows of white chairs and the altar nearby decorated in white roses. The sky was blue and the sun shone, though there was a slight chill in the autumn air.
Lucy knew then that this would be the closest she would ever get to being in a wedding. She felt she would never become a bride. Ever. The feeling tore at her inside. Still, she was happy for Crystal and Randy since this was what they wanted.
Lucy grabbed a glass of wine from the waiter walking by as the guests filled up the wedding area.
The groom, Randy, walked down the aisle with his brother as soft music played. So far, so good.
Then the bridesmaids started in and the music changed to some dance-hall sort of heavy-beat song. It seemed so inappropriate but Lucy shrugged her shoulders as she watched from the sidelines.
Six bridesmaids with knee-length dresses glided down the aisle calmly at first then they broke out into a gymnastic-like dance. Lucy’s eyes widened. One of the older guests started fanning herself looking as if she would pass out at any moment.
But then it all went downhill.
The bridesmaid, in tune with the heavy beats, started doing this phenomenon known as “twerking” and Lucy almost choked on her drink and spurted out the wine that was in her mouth, coughing so hard that a waiter had to come by and attend to her.
She saw another older guest cover the eyes of a young attendee. The older woman who was fanning herself fainted while the elder gentleman beside her put on his glasses and started dancing too. He, at least, seemed to be enjoying the show.
A commotion soon broke out as the bride in question came dancing down the aisle, but then she tripped over one of the twerking bridesmaids.
I’m dead.
I’m so dead.
Maxine is dead.