enough to buy a couple of cars. That was enough…. Oh Lord, Elly thought, that would be enough to pay off my apartment. Completely. Stay cool. Don’t pee your pants.
She tried to recover, and not show her sudden elation. She hoped neon dollar signs weren’t lit up in her eyes.
“Well, that will definitely be enough for this chandelier, and anything else you want.”
“Wonderful!” Sunny cooed. “Well, should I write the check now or later?”
Elly was shocked. “Er, later. We’ll ask for a deposit, to cover the cost of the flowers once we’ve had a chance to price that out. But the remainder won’t be due until all services are rendered. To reserve the date on our calendar, we do ask for a small retainer now though. The money will be applied to your flower order. It will be $400.”
Sunny opened her purse and pulled out five crisp hundred-dollar bills.
“Well, here is the retainer, and a little extra for you. I’ll be in touch over e-mail with all the numbers and details in the next few months.” She bent over and kissed Elly’s cheek. “Thank you so much. I’m so glad to get you booked and have one less thing to do for Lucia’s wedding. I love your shop. It’s so … flirty.”
And with that Sunny Kepke exited, taking with her Elly’s last mortgage payment in her slim Prada pocketbook. Elly waited until Sunny had turned the corner, then she skipped to the back. Kim and Snarky Teenager were arranging coral roses, yellow tulips, and yarrow into silver buckets for that weekend’s wedding.
“Guess who just booked a $45,000 wedding for November?”
There was a stunned silence. There was no explosion of hugs or woops of joy, just humid air hanging over the room. Kim put down her arrangement.
“Forty-five thousand dollars? Are you serious? We can’t do a wedding that big.”
Elly pouted. “Why not? We can do it. I won’t take any weddings the week before … or maybe the week after. I can hire helpers. I can rent vans—”
Kim put her hand on her annoyingly lean hip. “Elly. I’m excited for you, but … that is a huge, huge wedding. The biggest we’ve done is … what?”
Snarky Teenager piped in. “The Yeadon wedding. Last year. That was what, $7,000? And you were a total wreck, remember?”
Elly suddenly remembered the chaos of that wedding. She flashed back to herself crying in a bathroom stall, holding a broken orchid, while Kim pounded on the door, and Snarky Teenager ran around sprinkling pink petals over everything. It had been utter chaos, and the memory hit her like a brick in the face.
“Oh my God, you’re right. What was I thinking?! What have I done? We can’t do this. Maybe Clayton Flowers could, but we can’t. We don’t have the resources. You are right. No way.”
Kim put down her arrangement and handed Elly a water bottle. Elly drank noisily; she was getting all worked up.
“I’ll just have to call her back. The mom. Sunny … ,” Elly trailed off.
Snarky Teenager snorted. “Her name is Sunny?”
Elly shot her a look. “Don’t be mean. She was very nice. You guys are right. It’s too big.” She gave a sigh. “The great thing is, it was enough to pay off my apartment and refurnish the store. That would be amazing.” Elly turned back to the front, her head hanging. There was a beat of silence, then Kim and Snarky Teenager clamored after her.
“We can do it! We can! It’s going to a nightmare.”
“TOTAL NIGHTMARE,” echoed Snarky Teenager.
Kim pulled Elly around to face her. “Forget our MANY doubts. We can try anyway! If this stupid wedding can pay off that little apartment of yours, then let’s do it. We’ll either be the best flower shop in town or go down in flames. Large, bursting flames.”
Elly threw her arms around Kim. Cadbury barked joyfully, caught up in the excitement. “I can do this,” said Elly into Kim’s hair. “Posies can do this.” She was caught up in the moment and pulled Snarky Teenager into a group hug. Elly could feel the girl’s body go rigid, as though she thought she would die of lameness.
They heard the front bell and all looked up, still wrapped around each other. A handsome older black man in his early fifties had entered the shop. He had white hair and slick glasses, and was wearing the heck out of some khaki linen pants and a pink silk shirt.
“Er, Hello. I’m Anthony. I’m here to apply for the designer position.”
Elly straightened up, her arms still around Snarky Teenager’s shoulders.
“Have you ever slapped someone with a broom?” she demanded.
Anthony looked appalled. “What? Oh, my heavens, no! Why would I do that?”
“Great,” said Elly, “You’re hired.”
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