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"Hello, Steph," I said and gave her a quick hug. "I'm so glad to finally meet you. Of course, Ella's talked about you pretty much from the first day we met. I've been so curious to finally meet you."
"Do I match her description? She tends to describe me as a gazelle, but I feel more like a giraffe."
"A thoroughbred is more what I was thinking, to be truthful," I said, for she did remind me of a racehorse, sleek, looking like they could run for hours.
"Ooh, I like that. A thoroughbred racehorse. That's miles better than a giraffe. Do you mind if I steal it?"
"Not at all. It's all yours," I said with a grin. "Ladies? I have a treat for you. Here," I said and handed Steph the room key to their hotel room at the Ritz. "This is for you both, so you'll really enjoy your stay."
Steph took the room key and stared at it, but then she stroked it in a comic way, her eyes mock-rolling back in her head.
"Oh, my God, Josh. You shouldn't have," Steph said. "But I'm glad you did. Did you know about this?" Steph asked and turned to Ella.
"No idea," Ella said and leaned up to kiss me. "Thank you."
I smiled. "My pleasure. This will give you two a chance to indulge yourselves and me to work all weekend."
"Not all weekend? Aren't we going out for dinner?"
"Absolutely, we're going out for some delicious meatballs. The best meatballs in all of Manhattan. Shall we?" I asked and held out both my arms, elbows crooked.
"Please," Steph said took my arm while Ella took the other. "I'm famished. The food on the road isn't the best by a long shot."
We left the building and made our way to the restaurant where I first took Ella and had a lovely meal, and I enjoyed listening to Steph and Ella reminisce about old times growing up together, living in a college dorm together. I knew that Ella and Steph would be busy all weekend, shopping for dresses for the wedding and furniture for the apartment. Which was good, because I had to deal with my own issues -- namely, the hack of MBS and the breach of our security.
I hoped things were back to normal now, and that our staff was being properly trained to recognize phishing attempts and not get trapped but with staff overturning frequently, that was a real challenge.
19
Ella
I was really excited about my long weekend with Steph and knew the two of us would have a blast.
Josh was a prince for being generous enough to spring for another stay at the Ritz. We had a room identical to the last time we stayed, but down the hall so it was like old times. When we arrived, we found some beautiful flowers and chocolates waiting for us in the entry to the suite, as well as a chilled bottle of Moët et Chandon. The gifts were from Josh and so we opened the box of chocolates and picked out our favorites from the menu.
"This is so much fun," Steph said as she poured us some champagne and we ate chocolates. "I promised myself I'd be good all weekend and stick to my low-carb lifestyle but to hell with that. I'm not missing out on these chocolates."
We planned on spending the entire time pampering ourselves, shopping and eating all the room-service meals and restaurant meals we could.
"I'm going to have gained ten pounds by the time I go back on Sunday night," Steph said and rubbed her very flat belly.
"Yeah, right," I said, laughing.
On Friday, after sleeping in until ten o'clock, we had showers and then went down for brunch, gorging ourselves on the buffet of eggs, waffles, sausages, and every kind of brunch food you could imagine. After we sat and digested for a while over our coffees, we set off to stroll around Chelsea and check all the bridal salons. I tried on a dozen dresses, trying to get an idea of what kind of dress suited my figure and what suited my personality.
I modeled several choices for Steph, and she took pics on her cell so we could compare and discuss later with Josh at dinner. He would have a say, since he was paying for it. He insisted on paying for everything and I didn't argue, considering his wealth. My parents were well-off in an upper middle-class kind of way, but if we really were going to fly to California and have the ceremony at David's mansion in the Hollywood Hills, I figured Josh could foot the bill.
Still, I tried to keep it in the not-insane realm, and so we avoided some of the higher-end designer boutiques and shopped instead at what we both considered middle-of-the-road stores in terms of prices.
"White or ivory?" Steph asked, and held up the dress skirt of one dress against my face. "I think you're better with ivory than pure white. It goes better with your coloring."
"Ivory it is," I said, not being up on all the issues with coloring the way Steph was. I had light red hair, which some called auburn, and greenish hazel eyes and a healthy dose of freckles to go along with both. "Now, the question is, should I go modern or traditional?"
"You're getting married at David Macintyre's mansion so modern would be appropriate, if you like modern. But do what you want. If you want a more traditional gown, go for it."
I shrugged. I didn't know what I preferred. The only thing I knew was that I didn't suit something princess-like because of my height.
"I want something sleek, to make me look and feel taller. No puffy skirts or flouncy sleeves, as much as I love the princess look."
