Chapter 21: Retinol
One Year Later
With a dramatic sigh, Sebastian walked into the office and mock-collapsed onto Ari’s desk.
“You will notbelievewhat that bloody bridezilla wants now,” he groaned. Ari leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him evenly.
“Language, Sebbie,” she chided. “I could’ve had a client in here. Reine could’ve been here.”
Sebastian at once stood, straightening his tie. “Is there a client here?”
“Well, no—”
“Is Reine here?”
“No, she’s at school.”
With another dramatic sigh, Sebastian collapsed once more over Ari’s desk. “You will notbelievewhat that bloody bridezilla wants now.”
Ari leaned forwards on her elbows, tilting her head so that her gaze met his.
“No, I probably won’t,” she replied. “What is it this time?”
Sebastian groaned again. “Her bouquet,” he muttered. “She wants it made fromCosmos atrosanguineus.”
“Okay then.” Ari gave a small shrug. “So, a particular type of flower. That’s not the end of the world, Sebastian. An easy request, in fact, compared with some of her others.”
“Easy?” Sebastian stood, shaking his head at Ari in disbelief. “Easy?I don’t know how much you know about rare plants, Ari, but for your information theCosmos atrosanguineusis only grown in Mexico.Mexico.”
Ari paused. “Mexico?”
“Mexico,” Sebastian emphasised again, sinking into his own office chair and swinging it around so that he faced Ari. “We only havefour daysuntil this wedding, Ari, and I can’t go to Mexico. I’m covered in so much anti-ageing Retinoid product these days that if I step out into the sun, I’m pretty sure I’ll burst into flames.”
Ari rolled her eyes. “You don’t need all that retinol.”
“I’m old. Of course I need it.”
“Sebbie, you only just turned forty. Don’t be so overdramatic.”
Sebastian waved a hand at her dismissively. “When you get here, you’ll know,” he warned, before running a hand over his eyes. “So, what do we do about this flower then?”
Ari tapped her pencil on her desk. “Give it to her, naturally. If that’s what she wants, that’s what she’ll get. She’s a bride, after all.” Ari thought for a moment. “I’m sure one of our suppliers in Holland will have some. One of the exotic flower specialists maybe. I’ll send a message to them all straight away. Did she say why she wanted this particular flower or...?”
“Apparently it smells like chocolate,” Sebastian replied, sniffing. “Her and chocolate. You know what she’s like.”
Ari smiled. “Yeah, I do. Okay, so we ship one over, whatever it takes, whatever it costs. You remember what they said — money is no object.”
Sebastian nodded, sighing once more. “Sometimes I miss the old days, you know. When I first set this business up, I planned weddings free-of-charge to hard-up brides who just wanted their special day to be special. Women and their families who’d scrimped and saved for years to buy a designer dress or a fancy cake.” He gave Ari a woebegone smile. “I once had a couple who’d saved for years to rent an entire Premier Inn by the side of the M25 so their friends could party with them the whole night. I remember getting there and seeing the laminate floors and worncarpets and hearing the screech of traffic outside and secretly hating it.”
“Well, no one likes the M25,” Ari offered, reaching out to pat Sebastian’s hand.
“I don’t know,” Sebastian replied. “When I compare couples like Mr and Mrs M25 to our current ‘money-is-no-object’ twosome I kind of miss it.”
Ari stared at him. “You need to lay off the retinol, because that doesn’t sound at all like the brother I know and love.”
Sebastian stood, collapsing into his own office chair. “I just need a—”
“No more cigarettes,” Ari cut him off instantly. “It took Luis six months to break you from your last nicotine addiction. None of us want to go through that again with you.”
