Her eyes started to well with tears. Raffi stepped forward and put a hand on her arm. Envy surged hard in Ani. But no, that was stupid; she knew how Raffi felt about Kami.
“What is it?” he asked Kami.
“Kam?” Galia asked in concern. Ani’s envy was quickly replaced by worry.
Kami began to shake, her face turned red, and her eyes filled with tears. Oh no. “Why isn’t it more…white? Didn’t I ask for white? I thought I specifically asked for white. It’s just not white enough!” she whined. “Why did you make this huge decision without consulting me?” Her tone grew angry.
Somehow, whether by proximity or some other force, Kami was taking out all her annoyance on Raffi, like it was his call. Ani had seen this side of Kami a few times, when things didn’t go her way at, say, an airport, and she wasn’t able to use her charms (or platinum card) to fix the situation. Not pretty. Ani was about to walk over and say that the lack of white tiles was completely her doing when Raffi spoke.
“You’re absolutely right, Kami. I thought white would be perfect, too, at first.”
And Ani stopped dead in her tracks. Was Raffi about to throw her under the bus? What in the actual hell?
He continued. “But then I realized this amount of white stone, facing this way with the sun”—he pointed upward, helpfully—“would completely blind all your guests and ruin the photos.” Raffi spoke slowly, calmly, rationally. Not only had he not sacrificed Ani as the scapegoat, but he took responsibility as the person who made the decision, taking the fall for it while Kami was in a state to blame someone.
And on top of that, his measured response seemed to be calming Kami down. Just when Ani thought she couldn’t like him more.
“Oh,” Kami said. “That’s…that’s a good point. I wouldn’t want that.”
“That’s right. That’s what I thought, too.” Then, and only then—when the tension had fully ebbed from Kami’s shoulders—did he glance over at Ani, his voice shifting ever so slightly as he added, “I didn’t see it until Ani pointed it out to me.”
Ani felt the warmth in his gaze, the quiet pride in his expression as he said her name.
She stepped forward, ready to take this. “Also, Kami, the good news is, this place is going to be absolutely decked out in white flowers. So you’ll get all that bridal white, plus the natural earth tones of the stone and dome. Honestly, with the flower order you guys put in, you’re barely going to even see the stone.” She gave her a reassuring smile.
“Okay, that makes me feel better,” Kami said, seemingly placated but still in the process of getting over it.
Ani whipped out her phone and pulled up the mock-up she’d shown Raffi. She held it in front of Kami. “Dang it, I see what you mean,” Kami said.
Galia chimed in, “I like it the way it is. I mean, it’s perfect. I don’t get what the problem is.”
Kami turned to her and laughed. “Of course you don’t. You’re just a kid.”
Galia turned away as if slapped, and Ani felt for her. She squeezed Galia’s shoulder. “Not for long. October birthday?”
Galia nodded sadly, apparently still stung by her sister’s words.
Kami piped up. “Walk me through what else needs to bedone? But I have to leave in like ten minutes. Galia and I have a lunch with an old friend at Farmstead. We’re going to put some makeup on her and try to get her to pass for twenty-one so we can all partake in the vino.”
Galia came back to life at this, being included again in her sister’s afternoon.
“Fun,” Ani said, not quite hiding her bitterness. She was somewhat envious that Kami could do whatever she pleased during the work week, since her businesses were mostly run by managers she had to check in with only occasionally. A lip gloss company, a boho accessories drop-shipping company, a Pilates equipment company that simply put her logo on some standard Pilates reformer machinery. What a life. Then again, the less effort put in, the less there was to be proud of. That was how Ani saw it, anyway. Although she thought Kami was probably plenty proud of herself.
“Did you say Grace was in LA?” Raffi asked.
“Yes! Her promo stuff is really ramping up. They dropped a couple teasers, and the trailer is being released this week. I’m so excited for her.”
Raffi, Sanan, Chris, and Ani all shared various exclamations of interest. It was pretty cool. They were all now one degree of separation from Robert De Niro.
Ani walked Kami through more of the setup and wedding details, then Kami and Galia headed out. Ani realized, after speaking to Kami, that she had more venue-related tasks to see to so she could ensure they had everything absolutely finalized. She had a list from her vendors of items she had to check on. This was good, as Ani wanted more time with Raffi.
Raffi, Ani, and Sanan walked through the grounds together while Chris got back to work, and Ani kept her tone and her inquiries very professional. She almost hated herself for it. She wanted to joke more, open up, show him that she still cared about him. But she was scared, especially in front of Sanan. It probably wasn’t her imagination that while Raffi reflected her professionalism, there was a sadness in his eyes.
About fifteen minutes in, when the three of them walked into Ô’s kitchen, Sanan’s phone buzzed. She read it, then her head popped up to Ani.
“Um, Ani, mind if I—” She indicated that she needed to pull Ani aside. Ani excused herself, and the two of them stepped aside.
“Ani, I’m so sorry, I know we still have a whole list of things we need to do here, but my mom texted me that my dad isn’t feeling well. Maybe he has food poisoning, but it could be something worse. I don’t like to seem unprofess—”
