Previously:
They all looked over at the door as Charlie came back through it.
She walked over the them, looking a little nervous. "Um, Mr. Molsa?"
"Yes?"
"Luck and I haven't discussed my debt yet, but I was wondering… whether he helps me pay it off or not… is it okay for me to still play here sometimes?"
Charlie didn't want to lose her friends in the Martillo family. She didn't think she would, since Firo was allowed to have a friendship with Luck, but she wanted to check, just to make sure they weren't cutting ties wit her.
"Of course," Molsa said.
Charlie smiled.
"You see? You were worried over nothing."
Chapter 13: Wedding Planning
"So how did it go at the church?" Charlie asked Luck the next day. They were sitting in the reception room in the office together. Keith and Berga were out.
"We're booked for June 1st."
"I invited some of the Martillo family to come to our wedding. Is that all right?"
"Yeah, I thought you might," he said, smiling wryly. "Anyone else on your guest list?"
"Well, Lia, Ennis, and Seina are going to be my bridesmaids."
"Is that so? I guess I should pick my best man..."
"Ah."
"What?"
"I just realized… Who's going to give me away?"
"Ah."
Charlie had no living family left. Even if Dino was still alive, there's no way he would've been up for the job. Who else could they ask?
"What about Keith?" Luck asked.
"That could work."
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Keith entered the reception room just after Charlie finished speaking. Charlie stood up and walked up to him.
"Keith… could you please give me away?"
Keith looked slightly surprised.
"…."
Keith nodded his head. He would be glad to do it for them.
Charlie smiled and gave him a friendly hug to show her gratitude.
"What's going on in here?" Berga asked, coming in, too.
Charlie let go of Keith as Luck said:
"Guess what, Berga. You're my best man."
"I am? I would've thought Keith was first in line, since he's oldest."
"I can always ask Firo if you don't want to do it."
"Hold on, I never said that. What's Keith going to do, then?"
"He's giving me away."
"Oh. Now I see. Good idea. Who else is coming?"
"Some members of the Martillo family. And Lia, Ennis, and Miss Seina are going to be Charlie's bridesmaids. And any dates the others might bring with them. I'm also going to invite Miria and Isaac, but since they went to dig for gold, I'm not sure if they can afford to come back..."
According to Ennis, they hadn't had any success yet.
"Those two idiots? What do you want to invite them for?"
"They're fun."
"I think you mean annoying. Who's coming on our side?"
"Claire, Kate, and Kalia, obviously. Our executives, a few particularly loyal men, and those cousins we hardly see. And any dates they might bring."
"Not Firo?"
"I assume you already invited him when you talked to the Martillos?"
"Of course."
"See? All taken care of. Besides, I was thinking of asking him to my groomsman."
"They'll all be getting their official invitations in the mail anyway."
"That's true. Can I leave preparing them and everything else to you?"
Luck and his brothers had been pretty busy lately, and Charlie's schedule during the day was more flexible than his.
"You could. If you don't mind a wedding where everything's pink."
"…."
Luck didn't know what to say to that. Was she serious? He didn't think Charlie liked pink all that much.
Charlie laughed a little and smiled.
"I'm teasing you."
Luck relaxed and a relived smile stretched across his face.
"Haha! She got you good," Berga said, laughing.
"But I think it would be good if you had some say in what our wedding was going to be like. How about I'll take care of as much as I can on my own, and you'll have a chance to veto anything you don't like before I make it final."
"Deal," Luck said, smiling as he shook his head a little. "Just have the bills sent to me."
"Isn't the bride's family supposed to pay for the wedding?"
"You don't have any money to spare, do you?"
Charlie looked down. She really didn't. Everything she had either went toward living expenses or paying off the Maritllos.
"So I'll take care of everything. And we can pay off your debt when my bank account recovers from the wedding."
"I can just keep playing for them. It's not like I'm in any danger."
"Do you think it looks good for one boss to have a wife who's indebted to another from a different Family?"
"… I suppose not."
Something else occurred to Charlie.
"… Are you going to ask me to stop performing?"
Luck could see that she didn't want to.
"I don't see why that has to change just because we get married, though I'd appreciate it if you'd cook dinner for me sometimes."
Charlie smiled.
"Deal."
"Are you sure about that, Luck? It ain't exactly normal."
"I'm sure. Think about how often we end up working late into the night. I don't want Charlie waiting up for me alone, watching the clock tick away."
Luck looked at Charlie.
"Right?"
"Yeah, that would drive me nuts."
"So put on the radio or something."
"And what about the meal she would've cooked for me that went uneaten? How many times do you and Kalia fight over that?"
They could see from the expression on Berga's face that Luck had hit the nail on the head.
"All right, so maybe I see your point… But what about the laundry and keeping house?"
"Can't I just do those things when I would normally do them for myself?" Charlie said. "I manage to fit them into my schedule just fine as it is."
"Uh..."
"Berga, you're not going to win. You should retreat with dignity while you can."
"I still say you spoil her too much, Luck."
"I don't see why I should take away something that makes her happy."
"Keith, would you let Kate keep working if her job hadn't been made..."
"Obsolete?"
"Yeah, that."
Kate had been an organist who played music in a theater to accompany silent films, but then they invented 'talkies' and organists were no longer needed because the movies came with their own sounds.
Keith thought about it for a moment.
"…."
"No way!"
"See? Keith understands."
—∞—
Charlie went to check out the neighborhood bakery that Charlie had chosen to order her wedding cake from, Esposito's, together with Kate and Kalia, who were helping her plan and prepare for the wedding.
"Oh, they all look lovely."
Kate complimented the displays.
The shop was crammed with pastries and cakes: There were squares of tiramisu, rows of cannolis, jars of crunchy biscottis, fluffy, flaky sfogliatellas, bombolinis dusted with powdered sugar, spongy genoises, small crostatas, crispy zeppoles, jam-filled and cream-filled cornettos, and creamy cassata siciliana, Buccellatos bursting with flavor, delicious zuccottos, totra paradiso, torta caprese, panforte di siena, ciambella, cassata, and too many types of cookies to name.
The wife of the baker, Mrs. Antonia, smiled when she came out from the back and saw Charlie.
"Miss Charlie. Congratulations on your engagement to Mr. Luck!"
Although they had only been engaged for a day, it was the kind of news that spread like wildfire in that area.
"Thank you," Charlie said, smiling.
"Here for your usual?"
Charlie was very fond of the jam-filled cornettos from this bakery.
"Don't tempt me. I'm here to order my wedding cake."
"Wedding cake? You want to get it here?"
Mrs. Antonia was surprised that she would choose their small bakery.
"Can you do it?"
"Of course! What did you have in mind?"
"I'm not sure. Do you have any examples I could look at?"
"Of course. Let me get them for you."
Mrs. Antonia reached down behind the counter under the register to retrieve a photo album. She placed it on the counter and turned it toward Charlie for her to look at.
Charlie opened the album and looked at the different photographs inside. Kate and Kalia moved closer to look, too.
"Some of them may not look like much in black and white, but they're absolutely beautiful in color."
Charlie stopped when she came to a cake that looked unusual to her. It seemed to be layers of pastry that alternated with some kind of creamy icing or pudding and what was probably bits of chocolate.
"What's this one like on the inside?" Charlie asked, pointing to it.
Mrs. Antonia tilted her head to look at it and smiled.
"Ah, that's our millefoglie. It's made with alternating layers of Chantilly cream, puff pastry, and rough chocolate chips."
"That sounds delicious."
"Berga and I had something similar at our wedding. It was a big hit. Only ours had raspberries instead of chocolate."
"Could you maybe add raspberries?"
"Instead of the chocolate?"
"Actually, I'd like both, if possible."
"Of course."
"That sounds interesting," Kate said.
"How many does it have to feed?"
"Let's say… fifty people?" Charlie said, rounding up. "Out of curiosity, how much would that cost?"
Mrs. Antonia did the math in her head and wrote the sum down for her to read.
"Oh."
"Is that all?" Kalia said.
"What a good price," Kate said.
It had sounded expensive to Charlie, but going by what her future sisters-in-law were saying, it was a reasonable offer.
"We'll take it," Charlie said.
"When do you need it ready for?"
"Well, the wedding is set for June 1st..."
"We can have it fresh and ready for you on the day. If you give us the address where your reception is being held at, we can deliver it there for you."
Charlie suddenly realized she hadn't picked a place for the reception yet.
"How about Alveare?" Kate suggested. "From how you've described it, it's much nicer than the basement or even the jazz hall of Coraggioso." She didn't have to mention that they would also have a real bar there, and since Alveare was also like a restaurant, they could probably just order the food from there as well.
Charlie considered it.
"Can I use your phone?"
"Go ahead."
Charlie used the bakery's phone to call Luck at Coraggioso.
"Yeah?"
Berga had answered the phone.
"Is Luck there?"
"No, he's out. What did you need him for?"
"Well, maybe you can help me. Would it be better for us to have our reception at Coraggioso or Alveare?"
"Uh… hold on, I'll ask Keith."
Charlie waited for Berga to get back to her.
"Coraggioso. Definitely."
"Okay, thanks."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Charlie hung up.
"We'll have it at Coraggioso," she informed Kate, Kalia, and Mrs. Antonia.
"You should have just gone ahead with Alveare and asked for permission after it was all set up. They would've let you have it then."
Kalia spoke with a confidence that came from experience.
Charlie was tempted to ask if that's how she got into so many fights with Berga, but restrained herself. She didn't want to start a fight with Kalia either.
"Now, what about entertainment?" Kalia asked.
"Entertainment?"
"You're having your reception in a jazz hall. You can't just leave the stage empty. You have to book someone. You're not planning to play at your own reception are you?"
Charlie would rather not have to work on her wedding day. She wanted to be with Luck, and the guests would probably want to talk to her.
"Well, we can get one of the bands that have played there before."
"That's true. And speaking of music, do you have any idea what songs you would like the organist to play at the church?" Kate asked.
"Yes, and, actually, I was wondering if you would play for us?"
"Me?"
"Well, no one plays the organ like you do."
"That's true," Kalia agreed.
Kate looked pleased.
"Well, yes, I suppose I can. We'll have to let the church know ahead of time."
"Wait, do you have a maid of honor yet?" Kalia asked.
"Uh… not yet..."
"Then allow me to nominate myself for the job."
"Uh..."
Charlie couldn't think of a reason to turn her down, and it's not like she disliked Kalia.
"Sure, if you're up for it."
"In that case, with the rest of that settled, I think you should be more concerned about your wedding dress."
"And we need to get the wedding invitations, too," Charlie said.
"Well, let's get moving," Kalia said.