more complicated?” No , she thought, everything is perfect. For once, everything is good. She didn’t want to rock the boat. Last year had been so emotional, so tangled. Posies was doing great. Elly was doing great. For once, her life was a calm sea. Did she really want to invite chaos in? But a new store … targeted at a younger generation … the thought was becoming more and more appealing the longer she considered it. The fax machine gave a beep, gently jostling Elly out of her train of thought. She gave a shrug and walked over to the machine, glancing at the order. “Romantic arrangement for sixty-five—do you want it?”
Anthony nodded and pulled it out of her hand. “Just give it some thought. And know that you’ll probably have to call her before the day is over. If you don’t act, she’ll be working at Hot Topic within a week, selling fishnet stockings to twelve-year-olds.”
“Right?” Elly was laughing at the thought when the phone rang loudly. “Hey, make sure you use up those fuchsia snapdragons.”
Anthony saluted. “You got it, boss.”
At least someone remembered she was the boss. Elly pulled her hair back into a messy bun as she ran to the phone. She coughed awkwardly as she answered. “Posies, this is Elly speaking.”
“Hello, Elly. My name is Gemma Reynolds, and I’m an associate producer with the television show BlissBride. ”
Elly felt as though she received a swift punch to the stomach and suddenly she was very, very hot. Sweat blossomed out from her forehead.
“Um, yes, are you there?”
“Yes. Yes, Jemima, I’m here.”
There was a beat of intense silence. “It’s Gemma, actually.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, sorry.” Elly gave a high, hyena laugh and stopped short. Oh my gosh, Why did I do that? Calm down.
“Right. Elly, we are calling some highly recommended St. Louis vendors to see if your shop would be interested in appearing in a very special St. Louis episode of BlissBride . Are you familiar with the show?”
Are you kidding me? Wednesday nights, after she got back from bible study, she drove up the private driveway to Kim’s house, a bottle of Tintero Moscato D’Asti on the passenger seat. Kim would let Elly put Hadley to bed—the highlight of her week—and then they would curl up on Kim’s couch to watch the most recent episode of BlissBride . The show focused on B-list celebrity weddings, and covered everything from the planning to the big day. The weddings were almost always enormous, and the semifamous brides brought their enormous egos to match. The show reveled in the ridiculous, extravagant details of the wedding (“I just don’t see why it is so hard to get fresh pears covered in gold!” cried a bride on last week’s episode), the vendor meltdowns, and the temper tantrums that were thrown along the way. It was delicious and sinful reality TV, a true guilty pleasure, something that Elly looked forward to every week. So yeah, she was familiar with the show . “Er, yes, I think I might have seen it a couple of times,” Elly lied. She didn’t want to sound desperate. Or did she?
Gemma cleared her throat. “Well, we have a celebrity that, for some reason beyond me, has decided to get married in St. Louis instead of LA or New York, and we are interviewing local vendors to see if they would be interested in participating.”
Elly turned to Anthony, who was standing by her side, snapdragons in hand. She mouthed “BlissBride!” and he began silently freaking out. She forced herself to be calm and in control. “I’ll have to consult with my team first, but I think we would definitely be interested. What would our next step be?” She congratulated herself on staying so professional.
“Well, we interview about three vendors in each category and the vendor that our bride likes best is the one that gets the wedding and the chance to be on national television. We have a viewership of around 1.7 million.”
This is an incredible opportunity , thought
Anthony nodded and pulled it out of her hand. “Just give it some thought. And know that you’ll probably have to call her before the day is over. If you don’t act, she’ll be working at Hot Topic within a week, selling fishnet stockings to twelve-year-olds.”
“Right?” Elly was laughing at the thought when the phone rang loudly. “Hey, make sure you use up those fuchsia snapdragons.”
Anthony saluted. “You got it, boss.”
At least someone remembered she was the boss. Elly pulled her hair back into a messy bun as she ran to the phone. She coughed awkwardly as she answered. “Posies, this is Elly speaking.”
“Hello, Elly. My name is Gemma Reynolds, and I’m an associate producer with the television show BlissBride. ”
Elly felt as though she received a swift punch to the stomach and suddenly she was very, very hot. Sweat blossomed out from her forehead.
“Um, yes, are you there?”
“Yes. Yes, Jemima, I’m here.”
There was a beat of intense silence. “It’s Gemma, actually.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, sorry.” Elly gave a high, hyena laugh and stopped short. Oh my gosh, Why did I do that? Calm down.
“Right. Elly, we are calling some highly recommended St. Louis vendors to see if your shop would be interested in appearing in a very special St. Louis episode of BlissBride . Are you familiar with the show?”
Are you kidding me? Wednesday nights, after she got back from bible study, she drove up the private driveway to Kim’s house, a bottle of Tintero Moscato D’Asti on the passenger seat. Kim would let Elly put Hadley to bed—the highlight of her week—and then they would curl up on Kim’s couch to watch the most recent episode of BlissBride . The show focused on B-list celebrity weddings, and covered everything from the planning to the big day. The weddings were almost always enormous, and the semifamous brides brought their enormous egos to match. The show reveled in the ridiculous, extravagant details of the wedding (“I just don’t see why it is so hard to get fresh pears covered in gold!” cried a bride on last week’s episode), the vendor meltdowns, and the temper tantrums that were thrown along the way. It was delicious and sinful reality TV, a true guilty pleasure, something that Elly looked forward to every week. So yeah, she was familiar with the show . “Er, yes, I think I might have seen it a couple of times,” Elly lied. She didn’t want to sound desperate. Or did she?
Gemma cleared her throat. “Well, we have a celebrity that, for some reason beyond me, has decided to get married in St. Louis instead of LA or New York, and we are interviewing local vendors to see if they would be interested in participating.”
Elly turned to Anthony, who was standing by her side, snapdragons in hand. She mouthed “BlissBride!” and he began silently freaking out. She forced herself to be calm and in control. “I’ll have to consult with my team first, but I think we would definitely be interested. What would our next step be?” She congratulated herself on staying so professional.
“Well, we interview about three vendors in each category and the vendor that our bride likes best is the one that gets the wedding and the chance to be on national television. We have a viewership of around 1.7 million.”
This is an incredible opportunity , thought
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