The Days Before - Part 2
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When the doctor asks Elli, with that little cough of embarrassment that she fell in love with somewhere between his eyes and his smile, to take care of a few of the wedding details, she agrees without hesitation.
It isn't because she particularly likes ordering flowers and hand-stitching napkins, or because she's trying to live vicariously through Claire and pretend that she's marrying the doctor instead.
It isn't because she really believes that Claire is too busy for all the little details that are building up into an entire wedding, and it certainly isn't because she wants Claire to have the nicest wedding possible.
It isn't even because her heart feels a little bit lighter when she sees that twitch of annoyance in Claire's left eye every time she completes a task perfectly and there's no opportunity to caw triumphantly to the doctor, I knew she was going to ruin my wedding!
Okay, so maybe Elli likes that a little more than she should. The doctor might say she's being an angel through all the chaos, but he can't see what she's thinking.
Even while she's thinking her thoughts, and giggling at Popuri's and Karen's, she can't help but wish that Claire would stop hating her. Then they could be friends, and maybe then she could have the doctor back as her friend, too.
That's why she works longer-than-usual hours at the Clinic for a fidgety, absent-minded groom-to-be, then spends her two hours of evening booking caterers from the city for the dinner and professional decorators for the church. That's why Grandma has been pursing her lips in concerned disapproval at her average of four hours of sleep a night, and that's why Stu has been left alone to make mischief that she'll have to clean up after when things die down a bit.
The matter of the professional caterers and the decorators drew some angry words, the former with Doug and Ann (who really didn't need an excuse to be down on this wedding, when her good pal Elli's sometimes wobbly smiles are all the reason she needs), and the latter from Sasha, Manna, and Anna, but Elli wasn't really paying attention; she was already making a bee-line for Doug's phone to confirm the band.
It hasn't occurred to her, yet, to wonder what all this splash is for. Which is probably just as well.
After all, she's looking forward to hearing Karen's theories, and she doesn't want to spoil them by having her own.
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End Notes: Hi!