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“I can only imagine how much goes into planning a wedding, but that’s all you, girlfriend.” If I were in her shoes, I would’ve hired someone to help me handle it. There’s no way in hell I’d ever want to experience the stressors of planning my own wedding.
“You never know. One day you might be planning your own to Lom,” Amelia raises her brows and shoots me a playful look.
“Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I try to dismiss her, but she doesn’t give up one bit.
“I know enough from the way he looks at you when we’re in the same room. That man has feelings for you, and they’re strong as fuck. So, what are you going to do about it?” Amelia is totally team Lom, and I know it. Our relationship is so new that I didn’t want to tell Amelia about it yet, just in case it doesn’t work out. I don’t want to get her hopes up that Lom and I are going to live happily ever after in Grozny with them… because we could break up. I just don’t know yet.
“Lom and I actually agreed to give this a go… but it’s new, so I didn’t want to tell you just yet.”
Amelia claps her hands together very quickly. “Yes! I was praying you two would eventually become an item. I haveto admit, I wasn’t overly hopeful because of Lom’s previous playboy habits, though. Let me ask you this. Are you happy with Lom?”
I nod without one ounce of hesitation. “Yes, I’m so happy. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy with a boyfriend before. He… he treats me like I’m the best thing that walks the planet like I can walk on water. You know?”
“I do know. I know exactly what you’re talking about.” Amelia’s smile grows larger, and it feels so nice to finally share with her that Loam and I are an item. I was afraid to, but I think it’s for the best. If Lom and I eventually break up, it just means that we weren’t meant to be.
“I’m elated for you, really, so don’t think I’m being insensitive… but girl, I could eat a whole cow. Are you hungry?”
Finally, my stomach’s about to start sounding like what whales sound like at sea. “Yes, I’m starved.”
“Okay, so how about we get dolled up and go out to dinner? I can invite Eset, too, if you don’t mind. She doesn’t get a lot of girl time, and it would be good for the three of us to hang out, I think.”
“That sounds good. Are we going to be chaperoned?” I’m going to naturally assume Ludvik will be coming with us, but for all I know, it could be Ruslan’s right-hand man.
“Probably, but if Eset goes with us, I’ll put money on the fact they’ll send Goran and probably Danill as well.”
“Who’s Goran?”
“Oh, that’s Eset’s bodyguard and right-hand man. Everyone in the family has one.”
“Oh, okay. How long until we need to leave?”
“Let me call Eset, but I’d say within the hour. Is that enough time?” Amelia asks.
“Um, yeah. I’m not super high maintenance.” I stick my tongue out at my cousin, and she throws her head back in laughter.
It feels amazing to be near her again, and I can’t wait to go out on the town and shoot the shit with her. If Eset comes, that’ll be cool, especially since I don’t know her too well. It’ll give me an opportunity to spend some time with her. Who knows, maybe one day, Eset and I can be as close as Amelia and I are.
Chapter Ten
Lom
Today is my older brother’s big day. It’s the day when he marries the woman of his dreams. The two of them chose to have the ceremony in a place where a lot of people have weddings, but it’s somewhere that Amelia loves. I believe my brother took her there on one of their dates, so there’s some sentimental value about it all. The location is none other than Tsvetochnyy Park, right in the center of Grozny.
The park is very well known for its various sculptures and botanical gardens. A lot of the time, tourists have this park on their “must stop at” list. My brother rented the entire park for the whole day, so no one will come onto the premises who hasn’t actually been invited.
Ruslan and Amelia have used the heart sculptures as their aisle, and seating is placed on either side of the heart. You can’t get the best view of the two of them, but if it’s what they wanted, that’s all that matters.
My brother’s wearing a suit for the wedding, something like he wears every single day, but this suit is a bit more spruced up. Meanwhile, Amelia completely shocked my family by wearing a traditional Chechen wedding gown. The only thing she isn’t wearing is a hijab, but I would never expect her to since she wasn’t raised in the same cultural climate as the rest of us.
She has a sort of delicate pearl string wrapped around her head, with crystals or diamonds on top of it. Meanwhile, her veil starts from the back of her head and flows down against the train of her gown. She looks so simple, but you can tell everything she’s wearing has been very thought out.
Her hair is pulled back against her head, and then a long braid starts. As I said, very simple.
She’s in the purest white, and the gown covers up everything. There isn’t one bit of cleavage showing. In gowns like this, it isn’t necessary to show off what you have lying underneath it. The details alone accentuate the woman. You can only slightly see her collar bones on each side sticking out from her slightly scooped neckline.
It looks like this dress could’ve been planned to have a deep V-line, but there’s cloth running through that area and some sort of design the seamstresses must have put in. It matches her crystal or diamond belt that wraps around her torso, and then it fans out into a massive train.
I do notice Amelia has some sort of deep blue-colored earrings in her ears, and while Emily sits beside me and we watch the wedding take place, I nudge her with my elbow. “What’s with the blue?” I whisper it so lowly that no one else can hear us, and Emily smirks back at me.
