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"Let's hope so." The waiters came around to our table with the plates of burgers, fries, onion rings and a generous portion of salad. It was a wonderful meal, and Reyna was right. It loosened everyone up and created a super fun atmosphere. People were more willing to get up and dance, spend a little extra money, and enjoy their fries. Even if they did eat them with a fork.
We danced the night away in between meeting and greeting the guests. At one point, I saw my mom and dad speaking with Reyna. They both gave her a big hug.
Just like me, Reyna had won them over, too.
Chapter 29
Reyna
Istillhadn'tcomedown from planning Zoogala. It was a wonderful time and we raised over two million dollars for some great causes. The next project was to divvy up the funds and get the money to where it was really needed.
But the fun wasn't over yet.
I was feeling a mix of emotions as the bachelorette party was just around the corner. On one hand, I was excited to celebrate such an important milestone in my life with my closest friends. On the other, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. When you took a step back, Bryce and I had only been together for a few months, and this was our first real step toward marriage. It felt overwhelming and a little too real. Even though this started as a PR stunt, were we really going to be able to go through with this?
What made things even more complicated was the fact that my family had recently found out about my engagement. I had decided to keep things quiet until I was ready to make the official announcement to them, and unfortunately, they had found out about it from the tabloids. Needless to say, they weren’t very pleased.
So here I was, preparing for my last few weeks as a single woman, and I was feeling a little overwhelmed. I knew my mom was going to be at the bachelorette party, and I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious about how it was going to be when I saw her in the flesh. I tried to push those thoughts out of my head and focus on the excitement of the day, but it was hard not to feel a bit of trepidation.
I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders, determined to make this night one to remember. My nerves were giving me a hard time. This was one of those days I should have been feeling excited and happy, but the truth is I was feeling anything but. My friends did their best to make sure I was okay. Even Joanne was very kind and supportive.
Our relationship had blossomed into a rather beautiful if unexpected one. The success of the Zoogala seemed to give me a lot of credibility in their eyes and had made us grow even closer.
“Are you okay?” asked Joanne, as she watched me bite my nails.
“Yes, I’m okay,” I responded with a reassuring smile that was barely reassuring.
"You need a drink,” she said, signaling Nia to join us. Nia rushed to my side with excitement. She was trying to keep everything upbeat. She was doing a great job even though everything felt off to me.
Maybe my body was trying to warn me not to go through with the wedding. I was desperate to find something that could serve as a good omen. Nia shoved a drink in front of me.
“Come on. Drink up,” she said, almost bringing the champagne flute to my mouth. The smell of the champagne wasn’t as inviting as it used to be. In fact, I felt nauseous as the whiff of alcohol touched my nose.
“Oh my, no, that doesn’t smell nice at all,” I complained with a grimace.
“Wha…girl this is Delarosa. I had to fly this in all the way from Italy, so how dare you,” said Nia, jokingly offended.
“I’m sorry. I think I’m just going to skip the drinking. I don’t feel too good,” I apologized. I kept looking at the door, wondering when my mom was going to walk in. Nia and Joanne gave me a hug.
“It’s okay. Today is all about you and your engagement,” Nia said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to the door. I opened it and there was my mom with a huge bouquet of roses and a big smile on her face. It was the best thing that happened to me that day. Mom hugged me tightly and kissed me on my forehead.
She handed me the flowers and said, “These are for you, sweetheart. Congratulations on your engagement!”
Tears of joy welled in my eyes as I embraced her. That simple gesture of love made everything suddenly feel so right. I hugged her and said, “Thank you, Mom. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“By the way, Mom, you remember Nia?” I started the introductions.
“Of course, I do. How can I ever forget?” she responded as she extended a hug toward Nia.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Miller,” she said as the two exchanged a warm embrace. “It’s lovely to see you too, my dear, and please, it’s Andrea,” my mom responded as they let go of each other.
“And this is Joanne Taylor, Bryce’s mom,” I introduced Joanne. “Joanne, this is my mom, Andrea,” I added. My mom pulled Joanne in for a hug, and I cringed, hoping this would go well. They shared a short laughter, and both looked at each other brightly.
“It’s really a pleasure to meet you, Joanne,” said my mother.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Andrea. You have a very lovely daughter,” Joanne complimented me and I felt special. I was realizing more and more that she was a toothless bulldog and liked to maintain the façade that she was tough. When in reality, she was one of the sweetest people I had ever met.
“We’re just going to let the two of you catch up while we get the party started,” said Joanne, as she and Nia left me and my mom alone to talk. I escorted my mom to the balcony, where we could have some privacy from everyone else. The nerves kicked in again, knowing that she had a lot to say to me. As we settled on the balcony overlooking the busy streets of Atlanta, I didn’t know how to start and it seemed like my mom didn’t know either.
