“Hey, Perry is a great guy. You’ve always wanted to fall in love, right? I think finally we found someone worthy.” David laughed and passed the phone back to Marina.
Mara talked to her sister a little more, but she had to admit that David’s words lingered in her head.You’ve always wanted to fall in love, right?
So then what the hell was she doing with Jay?
Mara sighed and stared at the beach for a little longer. She knew this wasn’t complicated at all. That Jay had warned her she would feel things for him that might not be necessarily real. But she needed a bit of time to figure it out, and the wedding was a perfect opportunity.
* * *
“Holy fuck.” Mara gasped as she approached Shorewinds Hotel from the beach. The setup was incredible. Clearly Kal of Tropikal Flower had decided to throw all of the original floral designer’s plans out the window and made his own thing, which was absolutely unheard of. But to his credit, it looked great.
There were circular banigs on the ground, creating a makeshift aisle. It was framed by baby’s breath, which were daintily tied together in huge, bush-like bouquets with lacy blue ribbons. The aisle led to a table that faced the beach with palm trees framing the scene.
To the front, he’d arranged the flowers in a half circle at the center, like a floral tiara facing out to the beach. Above them, rattan basket lights were set up in neat rows, with twinkle lights in between. It was gorgeous, and even better that he’d done it on such short notice.
“Kal,” Mara said to her friend when she saw him walk back from speaking to his staff. “There was a plan!”
“Oh please. The original plans were mid. I got the couple to see my vision, and I think it worked out naman. Pagoda nga lang.” Kal winked at her.
Mara and Kal met at a wedding fair two years ago, when Mara just started Wildflower. She was picking up on an industry that had barely made it through the pandemic, and Kal was one of the few stylists that was eager to share his knowledge and not be a gatekeeper. They were industry friends, the kind who liked to gossip about everyone else and help each other out. Tropikal was still in recovery from the pandemic, but with the boom in weddings, he was recovering fast.
“You learn to move quick on jobs when you need to snap them up,” he said.
He’d taught her how important community was when it came to this industry, and Mara never hesitated to mention him whenever a client asked for a recommendation. Clearly this had been a good call.
“And you,” he exclaimed, holding a hand out so he could examine Mara from an arm’s length away, “just happened to have this dress on you?”
Mara laughed as she looked down at the sapphire blue dress she was wearing. It was made of a soft cotton that blew in the breeze and had a ruffle along the top. She’d brought this dress along to wear to dinner at the Italian restaurant next to her hotel, but she didn’t mind putting it to this use. She’d gathered her hair in a sleek bun and put on a pair of gold hoop earrings and all three necklaces she brought.
To be fair, itdidlook good enough.
“You know me. Always prepared.”
“Mara.” Jay’s voice sounded excited as he called her name, making Mara and Kal turn to him.
You would think it was his wedding day, the way he absolutely radiated happiness as he walked to them. He was wearing a linen suit with a jacket in the exact same powder blue as the accent ribbons in the decor. His camera was hanging from a strap on his wrist, and he pointed the lens on her to take a photo. Mara stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. He smiled at her through his sunglasses—a different pair than the ones he wore yesterday, along with a shirt with one extra button intentionally left open, showing off the parts of his body that Mara had yet to fully explore.
In short, he looked absolutely delicious. She was so fucked.
“You came,” he said brightly as he approached. There was a moment where it was absolutely clear on his face that he didn’t know if he was supposed to kiss her on the lips or on the cheek. To be completely honest, Mara didn’t know, either.
So he settled instead for taking her hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing the back of it. And honestly she didn’t know if that was better or worse, because Kal’s eyes widened like he’d just witnessed an important event in world history.
“Of course.” Mara’s cheeks grew hot as Jay lowered her hand and didn’t let go. She felt like she was floating, or like she’d drunk champagne and now the bubbles were popping in her stomach. “I couldn’t miss my one and only ex getting married.”
“Iknewit.” Jay laughed. “Alex isn’tthataffectionate with me, and I dated her for a month.”
“Okay, I’m going to need you to tell me this whole story later,” Kal announced, squeezing Mara’s arm as he passed her. “I’ll see you later.”
“See you.” Mara smiled at her fellow floral designer, then turned to face her plus-one. “So is that how you met Alex? You dated her?”
“Once upon a time, the algorithm decided we would work out. I guess it was only partially right.” Jay sighed dramatically, making Mara laugh. “And now she’s marrying Tori, and now the both of them will love me by annoying the shit out of me for the rest of my life.”
“Aw, a happy ending all around,” Mara teased, poking his side with a finger.
“Long live the lesbians.” He nodded in agreement. Then he kissed the top of Mara’s head like a greeting, and she caught a whiff of his scent. Mmm. Sandalwood. He took a quick selfie of them, and they continued walking.
She tugged at the collar of his blazer. “Did you get this jacket made specifically for this wedding?”
