Chapter Twenty-Seven : The Crowning
Corinne
I was quickly starting to understand why wedding planners charged as much as they did. It wasn't because of the intricate flower arrangements, which Zoey was handling. It wasn't the delicately created invitations, which was Jesse's forte. It wasn't even the countless food tastings that Marie had arranged - and it was not the guest list, refinement, and orchestration that was all Brenna. No, it was because they served as a buffer between the bride and the mother-of-the-bride.
Emily Rand was relentless.
Between Dimitri and myself, we had managed to whittle our guest list down to two hundred and eighty guests. Surprisingly, most of them knew both of us - money seemed to have a way of shoving you in the same social circles, despite how exactly that money was made. The problem was we needed to have a small wedding. The reception could accommodate everyone, but with Brenna sliding in some wedding traditions that spoke to both Witchcraft and Magick, we were trying to keep the ceremony itself small. And naturally, Emily Rand was not having any of it.
"So you want me to just tell Sally Ryan that she is welcome to the reception, but not the ceremony? Do I have that right?" My mother's condescending nasal tone made me want to simultaneously wince and smash my phone against the wall, simply to be rid of her. Instead, I sighed quietly.
"Yes, mother. Dimitri wants a small ceremony - the Russians are quite private when it comes to their traditions."
"Nonsense, Corinne. I have Googled Dimitri's traditions, and it says here that the two of you are supposed to walk through the streets to accept the town’s well wishes. That hardly sounds like the private secret affair you're pushing."
Of course she Googled it. As if Google were a god itself.
"No." Emily Rand continued. "This sounds far more like one of your melancholic bouts, and I'm telling you, Corinne, that a man like Dimitri won't stick around for a sour woman, so you better snap out of this. I don't want another repeat of the ballet recital."
Isis could not fill me with enough strength in the world to handle Emily Rand, still I sucked in a breath and resolved myself to yet another round of arguments as I dug my heels in.
"Would you like to speak to Dimitri yourself?"
"Of course not." My mother scoffed. "He has enough on his plate without having to worry about who will attend the actual ceremony, that is your job."
I mentally counted backwards in a bid to remain calm, but with each conversation with her, the feat became more and more impossible. One of these days, I was bound to lose it with my mother, and I could only pray that it would happen after the wedding.
Without missing a beat, Brenna slid the phone from my fingers and I heard her talk Emily Rand off the cliff as she convinced her that a small ceremony was not social suicide, but would rather create the air of exclusivity, making the wedding hold even more importance. My mother lapped up her words, agreeing with everything Brenna said, and by the time my mother hung up the phone, she was convinced that the small ceremony had been her idea.
"Can we talk about the fun part?" Maxine sighed dramatically as she sat down next to me.
"And what might that be?" Brenna's focus never once strayed from the new list she was creating as she spoke to Maxine.
"The bachelorette - obviously."
"What did you have in mind?"
My curious mind demanded answers - the only wedding I had ever been to was my cousin Tira's, and it had been a blandly boring garden wedding where the eats had consisted of cucumber sandwiches and scones. My mother had been mortified with the entire affair, vowing to distance herself from that part of the family, and so we had. Suddenly, I saw Tiraand my aunt less and less, until one day we simply stopped visiting them entirely. According to Facebook, they now live in Florida, and despite my mother's misgivings, they looked perfectly happy and content.
"No strippers." Brenna barked the command, and Maxine just smiled. It was the kind of smile that spoke of mischief and rule-breaking.
"What?" Brenna defended. "Dimitri looks like a possessive guy, and I'm not about to catch the tail end of his fury because we bought Corinne strippers."
"Sure." Maxine shrugged. "He's given us the burlesque club for Corinne's bachelorette, so it's up to us what we do with it."
"You spoke to him about this?" I blinked away my surprise.
Maxine smiled at me, only this time it was all warmth. "Obviously." She pinched my cheek between her cherry red nails. "Now, we need to decide if we keep it open to patrons that night, or shut it down."
"Keep it open." Marie suddenly weighed in. "It's always more fun when others don't know what we are."
She spoke as if we were another race entirely, and I wondered if we were.
"We run the risk of getting caught." Zoey stepped in, her warm voice reminding me to be cautious.
"In Dimitri’s club? He would never let that happen." Brenna begrudgingly conceded.
"Then it's settled - we do the bachelorette then." Maxine's Cheshire Cat grin made my stomach clench. She was all sensuality and sin.