A/N SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE, BUT I HAVE MY EXAMS SOON. I WILL TRY TO UPDATE REGULARLY AFTER EXAMS, BUT THIS STORY WILL DEFINITELY BE COMPLETED ONE DAY. AND I PLAN ON WRITING A LONG STORY.
I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY IT. PLEASE REVIEW THE CHAPTER, ILOVEYOU!
Ch-4 The Planning
Today is the second day of practising the entry of the Bride that happens to be my best friend Mary.
"No, OhMyGod! Girl-with-green-eyes, this is the last time I am warning you. If you don't hold up Mary's veil properly the next time, I'll turn you out! And I am being dead serious. Hold the veil at an angle of 35* from the ground and not 60*. You'll absolutely ruin the look of the dress that way. And John Hamish Watson, you better stop smirking or I'll come over there to wipe that smirk off your face! I'm telling you, we don't have a lot of time. I'll just hire an actor to replace the groom, which happens to be you," I say to John and the girl-with-green-eyes.
"Oh, no! Please don't do that. I really love Mary, I don't want her to marry anyone except me," John says with a dramatic exaggeration.
Mary laughs and says,"Oh don't worry Anne, it all will work out just fine. And John, stop bickering with my Maid of Honour and the event planner or she'll run off and I for sure won't forgive you for that."
This takes the smirk away from John's face and gapes at Mary, but this just makes all of us laugh.
"By the way, the Raf Simons' gowns you had ordered for the bridesmaids have come in, they are in the house right now. Also our Marc Jacobs reception gowns have also come in and so has your Maid Of Honour gown," Mary says.
"Oooh! We better go and check on them. Although I doubt there will be any defects since I got them custom made, but we gotta make sure they are of right sizes for all the girls and fit them properly. Let's give the guys a bit of rest and go to your house. Also I need the final list of people who have RSVPd. The wedding is just 4 weeks away. We are not in a position to delay anything," I say to Mary and John.
"Yeah, sure! I bet you anything the guys would love to have a break from all this practice. Why don't you go to the cafe near Mrs. Hudson's house? What was it again? Ah, yes! Speedy's Cafe. Blow off some steam, have some nice coffee and cakes," Mary says to John.
"Yeah, sure! I'll meet my Best Man over there tell him how you and your Maid of Honour are bullying me," John says and we laugh.
"You know what, let's end our practice for today. I'm pretty tired and I'm done for the day. Let's just go and look at them gowns. And then we will go to Sephora or something to get all the makeup products required for the wedding look for the bridesmaids, me and the bride of course. Now, lead the way soon-to-be Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Morstan Watson," I say to Mary, she laughs but glides along.
I go inside Mary's house and enter the room Mary had cleared for all the dresses.
As expected, the dresses were wrapped and hung on the racks. The shoes were marked by their sizes and names and placed in the almirah attached to the wall. The bridesmaids enter after us and gasp at the gazillion number of gowns. I just sit back and smirk. It's my best friend's wedding, of course it will be grand and magnificent!
"Now, girls! Order please," I shush them all.
"Yes, now there are seven of us in total- Mary, me, Anastasia, Eleanor, Molly, Charlotte, Sophie. Mary's wedding and reception dresses will not be shown to anyone until just before the wedding and same goes for my dresses," the girls groan as I say. I hate doing that, but I want everyone and not just John to be surprised.
I pass on the five identical dresses. They are Alexander McQueen ivory lace gowns with Grosgrain waistband, picot trim, and are partially lined. They have concealed zip fastenings at back.
"I know, I know! I'd hate it if anyone would do that to me, too. But it is what it is. You guys will appreciate its beauty much more when you will see it everyone else. Now, why don't you guys try it on so we can see if any of the dresses need alterations. You can also try on your shoes but you can't click an image or upload one on Snapchat. Don't you want your husbands and boyfriends to be amazed? Jaws-drop, eyes-pop! I'm really sorry you guys, I really hate doing this to you. Now go on everyone, we have to go to Sephora after this," they quicken their paces and work their way into the intricate details and laces of the dresses. They all look alike, the same details. Next they wear their heels, Aquazzura blush suede pumps, the heel measures approximately 3.5 inches and has curved sides with a pointed toe. They have a buckle-fastening ankle strap and they fit all the girls perfectly.
"Alright everyone, you all look beautiful. Now let's go for makeup shopping, to make the outfit even more popping, shall we?" they eagerly get out of their dresses and change into their normal clothes.
We get into my Volvo XC90 SUV that I had bought a little while before this trip. I turn my GPS on and drive the car as the voice tells me to.
"Hey Mar, I haven't met the Best Man yet. How will I get him a Suit without meeting him to see what will work best for him? I gotta meet him, and soon," I say to Mary.
Why didn't I think about this earlier? But it's kind of okay because we still have 4 weeks to go.
"Well, how about tonight? I could invite him over," Mary says.
"No, not tonight. I have to go see-off and Aditi, she is going back to India by tonight's flight. I wish she could have come to your wedding," I say to Mary.
"He's probably just busy with a case anyways. How about tomorrow night? Consultant Detective, Sherlock Holmes," she replies, I nod in approval.
"Oh, wait! Did you say Sherlock Holmes?" I suddenly ask her.
"Yep, he's John's best friend. Do you know him?" Mary asks.
"The name sounds very, very familiar. I just can't pin-point how. I'll ask him when I meet if he knows me or remembers me from somewhere," I say to Mary.
"Sherlock and you having a connection. Strange..." she says.
"You know Sherlock? He's a great man isn't he? Helping other people by solving the cases and by giving out very rare smiles," Molly says, from the backseat, smiling.
I don't know why but her saying that offends me and makes me angry. It's definitely weird because I don't even know the man she's talking about.
"Does she fancy him or something?" I whisper to Mar.
"Oh, yes. Totally, she's gone bonkers. Sherlock knows and has made it evidently clear that he does not reciprocate the feelings but she still hasn't taken the cue. She's a great woman and doesn't deserve being neglected, but all the same that's what you get for loving Sherlock Holmes."
"Oooh! Love? You sure about that? 'Coz I..." I say but stop mid-sentence.
"Oh, wait!" Mary says and I swerve the car to a halt.
"What? What's wrong?" I ask her, tensed up.
"Let's get some ice-cream! Oh, and some cake and bacon," she says.
"You made me swerve my brand-spanking-new-baby because of ice-cream and bacon?" I ask her, flabbergasted.
She just pouts and looks at the cafe. What's wrong with her? She never acts like this. But... Oh, well! I might as well just take her and all the girls in.
"A'ight! Girls, let's go to the cafe to have some snacks and then we'll go to Sephora." I say to all the girls and they rejoice. Mary jumps up and down.
I just look at her like she's crazy. "What has gotten into you, Mar? Seriously, what's wrong?" I ask her.
"Nothing, let's go already!" she says, and I let go. It's her wedding in 4 weeks, it must be the nerves.
"What sounds good, girls?" I get mixed responses, so we decide to order different varities of food stuff.
"Hello ladies! My name is Tessa and I'm your waitress for the afternoon," a young girl of about twenty says, coming to us.
"Great, um... We'd like seven coffees, make them strong. Bacon and fluffy pancakes for all of us. And yes, ice-creams!" Mar says to them, and we laugh at her cheeriness and eagerness.
"Sure, which ice-creams would you guys like to eat?" she asks, noting our order in a cute, small Hello Kitty notepad.
"Chocolate Cheesecake", "Peanut Butter Puddles", "Raspberry Ripple","Fudgie Cheesecake", "Butter Fudge Almond", "Mocha Almond Fudge", "Black Walnut", we say at once.
The waitress-Tessa-laughs and says, "If only you all could repeat it separately, it would be much easier that way, don't you think so?''
Mary wastes no time and says, "Chocolate Cheesecake."
Then Molly says, "Peanut Butter Puddles."
Anastasia follows by, "Black Walnut."
Then Eleanor says, "Raspberry Ripple."
Charlotte follows suit, "Mocha Almond Fudge."
The waitress prompts Sophie and she says, "Butter Fudge Almond."
I wait for the next person to speak then I realize I'm the only left. So without further adieu, I say, "Fudgie Cheesecake."
"Sorry ma'am, actually we are out of Fudgie Cheesecake right now. Does anything else sound appealing?''
I think for a second, then say, "Caramel Praline sounds real good. That's available, right?"
"Of course! Now I'll try to make it as fast as possible," Tessa says and leaves us be.
Keeping her word, Tessa brings the food in a matter of few minutes, or ten maybe and we dig right in. I did not realise how hungry I was until the food had arrived. And boy was I hungry.
"Mm. The Bacon is so good,'' I say to no one in particular. I wish to come here with Mar again and make a mental note to make sure me and Mar come here again.
I suddenly have an idea and I say to Mary, "I'd like to meet the Best Man in this Cafe, ask him to come here with John and we'll discuss things over snacks and coffee."
"That's a great idea! I'll make sure of it. I'm sure John will love the food and coffee here," Mary says happily and we chatter away.
Half an hour later, all the girls are done with their food and ice-cream. The ice-creams were really good too.
"Hey, Mar! I have an idea. Are you ears?" I say to Mary.
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead," she says, her ears perking up.
"I really liked the ice-cream here. Maybe I should contact this cafe for the Wedding Cake and the ice-cream, what do you think?'' I ask her anticipating her answer. The ice-cream is really, really good. That's why I'm asking her.
"Yeah, I was about to ask the same thing! Our thought process is so similar, ain't it Anne?" she says, bubbling up. I smile at her and she smiles right back.
"Great minds think alike!" I say grinning, she nods and grins right back.
"Now, I am gonna go and ask the owner if they cater at weddings. Damn, I wish they do!" I say to her, getting up.
I walk to a reception-like structure and ask for the manager. The girl at the table asks me to wait and goes to get the owner.
While she's gone, I look around the store and take a look at some cake designs plastered over the walls.
"Hello, Dear! I'm the store owner, Ellie Grace. What can I do for you?" an elderly lady says to me.
"Hey, Ellie! I love your name, it's so elegant and graceful... Well, the pun wasn't intended," I say, going all red. Did I really say that?
"Oh, don't you worry! It's perfectly fine. Now, you were saying...?" she asks.
"Well, me and my friends just had your ice-creams and they were really good. So my friend over there-Mary-is getting married in a month. Ooops! Unintentional again! I just wanted to ask whether your store caters at weddings?" I ask her, anticipating her answer.
"You're exactly on time then, we take orders at least 3 weeks prior, not after that. So you're lucky then. We are a small store you see. And all the cakes and ice-creams recipes are authentic and original, so we need a lot of time to process the orders. And as for the wedding cake, you could come for sampling tomorrow if that's fine with you,'' I let out a breath of relief when she says this.
I ask for their card which she promptly hands to me and I thank her profusely.
We reach the nearest Sephora store within ten minutes and get ready to shop.
"All righty girls, would you all like to do different looks or similar looks?" I ask the bridesmaids and not surprisingly, they wanted to look different and better. Ah, common homo-sapien behaviour.
"So, how about this; you all can shop for yourselves if you want to and run the ideas by me? Then we can try out the looks and then those looks will make the final cut," I say and they all agree.
I ask the Sephora store helpers to help us with our looks.
"Sure! My name is Erin. You guys need some help with your looks, I'm more than ready to do that. I'm sure my Cast Members suggest a look for everybody if you can show me your dresses!" Erin, the 'Director' says.
"No, we don't need that for all of us right now. We only need makeup for five of us for now," I say motioning towards the bridesmaids.
"And as for the dresses, here are the dresses. All are wearing the same ivory lace maxi gown," I say to Erin showing her the photo of the dress on my phone.
"I would really recommend that all of them share the same makeup look. Many bridesmaids and brides still thank me for this advice. Trust me, it will look really good," Erin says and I turn towards the girls with raised brows, looking for my answer.
They glance at each-other, looks are exchanged and they all nod their heads in approval.
"Okay, so I'm free at the moment. I can suggest a really good look, just let me call the cast. Adriana, Meredith, Spencer, Jessica, Aria- I need you here," she says and sound of clicking heels follows.
"You are supposed to do half-side of their faces as I ask you to, then they can recreate the look on the other half," she says to them and tells them the names of all the items required and they hurry to assemble the products.
"First things first, Primer! I would suggest Laura Mercier Foundation Primer- Radiance. It's velvety, rose gold veil adds a sheer, soft illuminated glow to skin while minimizing the look of imperfections and providing a smooth, silky surface for makeup," she says and the members apply the primer on the left halves of the girls' faces.
"You can fake a glow with powder highlighter: a champagne shade if you have fair skin, a golden tone for medium or olive skin, or copper for dark skin. Dust it over your cheekbones, then dab some at the inner corners of your eyes, on the centres of your lids, and on the bow of your lips. We are going to use Diorskin Nude Air Serum. It is a light-coverage foundations and has a talc-free formula which creates an even radiant-looking complexion and it has instantly evaporating oils. We are going to mix it with Cover FX-Custom Enhancer Drops. It is a bottle of ultra-concentrated illuminating and bronzing drops that allow you to customize your ideal glow with a liquid metal or sunkissed finish. Now when these two are mixed and applied as base, it gives a natural glow that seems to come from within. Then we'll use Sephora Collection MicroSmooth Baked Luminizer. It is infused with radiance-boosting minerals, sea coral, and green tea extract, this baked pigment sweeps on weightless, natural-looking color—so you'll be the picture of health. It adds a natural, seamless luminescence to Cheeks, Temples, and Browbone for a healthy-looking, radiant, and gorgeous glow. The breathable baked formula applies smoothly while the unique, airy texture perfectly melts into skin for a natural finish. We'll lighly brush it all over our Cheekbones, Browbone, a bit on the inner corners of your eyes and Cupid's Bow," she says and the cast hurries.
They are looking so beautiful and it's just the beginning.
"There's no simpler way to get a sex-kittenish pout. We'll choose a nude that's slightly pink or flecked with shimmer since they're the most flattering, and we'll concentrate the gloss on the center of the lips. You can go matte if you want, but the look won't be as dewy as I anticipate," she says, the cast members offer them a lot of glosses and they all end-up choosing Too Faced Sweet Peach Creamy Peach Oil Lip Gloss in shade Papa Don't Peach.
"Now, we all know what a vibrant pink glow evokes. What we don't all know is how to duplicate one believably: First, brighten skin all over with a slightly shimmery foundation—you can make it yourself by adding a few drops of liquid bronzer to your normal base. But we have already done that. Now we'll rub rosy cream blush on the apples of your cheeks and blend it back along your cheekbones using a few fingers—the heat of that skin-on-skin contact will cause the blush to melt beautifully," the cast is doing their job really well and they all look divine right now.
"Now we'll line your top and bottom lash lines and choose a light pink-champagne shadow and matching shimmery shades to top your lids for a lighter, yet still dramatic look. We'll be using Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Eye Shadow Palette. It is a present-day take on Renaissance colors, this eye palette features 14 shades that let you create stylish, day to night looks. From the earthy yellow and ultra-matte finish of Golden Ochre to Primavera's shimmer gold with a metallic finish, this palette's high-pigment shadows are crease and fade-resistant and are sure to bring modern elegance to your eye looks," she finishes and the cast members stop. Firstly Adriana creates a look then the rest of the members follow the same.
"OhMyGod! You guys look so pretty!" Mary exclaims, breaking her silence.
"Now the cast will help them recreate the looks. Let's get you all the products required. Do you want them separately for everyone or just single piece of each?" Erin asks me.
"Actually Mary and I loved the products too, we'll have 7 pieces each, packaged separately," I answer.
"Okay, sure! I'll get my members on it," she says and vanishes.
After half-an-hour, all the girls come back with the second halves of their faces done. They are a bit uneven, but beautiful none the less.
"All, right! Let's go. I'll drop you guys off at Mrs. Hudson's house then I'll see-off Adrika and Aditi. We're are a bit tight here, let's go!" I say and hurry to my car.
oOo
"I'll miss you both so much! I had a great time with you guys, I would have loved it if you could have stayed for the wedding Adi," I say to Aditi, kissing her cheek after hugging her.
"Oh, I wish that too! But Ranveer and I are getting married soon, so I gotta go and look at the..." Aditi says, but I cut her off by saying, "Oh, don't explain yourself, it's okay!"
"Now, go boo! You don't want to miss the flight, "Adrika says, smiling.
"Oh, yes! Bye Girlies, have fun at the wedding!" she says and finally leaves, waving at us.
"Now, let's go back. I'm really beat!" Adrika says and we leave for the hotel for a good night's sleep.
HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT! PLEASE REVIEW THE STORY AND POINT OUT MISTAKES, IF ANY.
XOXO,
BibliophilicBlunder