There were just three days before the d-day – the wedding day and Emerald had to admit this month had been the busiest month of her life. It seemed as though it had turned her life totally upside down.
Her usual commute from home to work and from work back home again had been completely ruptured and the unbelievable thought that had been consistent in her mind had been ‘Why didn’t I purchase a vehicle of my own?’
Her brain kept reminding her of Oriana’s annoying words that had always prodded her into getting her own car but she had found no reasonable use for it since the only places she ever had to drive to were her workplace and her home.
But since the past weeks had been very busy and hectic for her, since she had been making several stops at different stores and shops and had been having to travel to and from Boston every weekend to get things done over there as well, she couldn’t help but regret not listening to her friend for once. Her words had begun to make sense to Emerald now.
“Sis? Are you sure you’re ok?” Armani asked as the walkman signal turned green and they began to cross the road amongst other people. “You look thin and pale.”
Emerald could hear the concern in her voice but she didn’t want to give her sister a cause for worry. For the past month, she had barely had full five hours of sleep, having to leave the house really early to make pre-orders on the way, so she could arrive at work early.
And then, she had to spend extra hours sorting things out after closing from work. Not wanting to stress her mother, who was pregnant and her sister, who was busy with college duties, she and Luca had decided to take care of things, although, she had taken it upon herself to cover more grounds than him, so he could have enough time to look after his fiancee.
They could’ve just hired a professional wedding planner but the couple wanted a small and cozy wedding where only a few people, probably a maximum of one hundred, would attend. And they wanted things done quickly so as to not stress out the pregnant bride. Now, you could imagine how stressful the whole thing was.
Therefore, Emerald had assumed the role of the wedding planner of the family. “I’m ok, Armi. Just been really stressed out with all the work I’ve had to do,” she tried to balance the shopping bags properly on her arm.
Armani noticed and quickly but softly pried the bags off her arm before adding it to the number already hanging off her arms as well. Emerald complied, feeling as though her shoulders would come unhinged any second.
They had gone shopping for the major and minor wedding materials like the table tops decorations, coloured ribbons and other ornaments. The petty objects had been purchased immediately while the much heavier ones had been ordered to be delivered on the morrow.
“I’m so sorry I’ve not been able to help you, Mera,” Armani apologised, her expression utterly solemn. “It’s just these stupid school projects and the likes of it. I’m even lucky I got a few days off to help in preparations for the wedding.”
“How so?”
“We have this field work project to do. The teacher had allocated the entire class into groups of four students each. According to how professor Ham had explained it-”
“Ham?” Emerald interrupted, confused.
“Short for Hamilton,” Armani explained.
“Ah, perfectly understandable,” the two beautiful sisters laughed together, attracting the attentions of the male passersby who couldn’t help but gape at the goddesses walking underneath the gentle sun of the late afternoon in Back Bay, their loose hairs swaying proudly in the air.
Emerald had let her hair down today to relieve her tensed scalp of the month’s endless stress. “He’s a new one, I’m guessing?” she asked. She couldn’t remember there being any Professor Hamilton during her time.
“Yep,’ Armani nodded, popping the ‘p’. “Our class would be the first set he would teach, which explains the uniqueness of this project. Since he’s new, he decided he didn’t want to go by the same old project system the last lecturer had used, so he brought in some contemporary ideas,” she groaned.
“There, there,” Emerald gave her a comforting side hug. “I may have zilch idea of these architectural stuff, but I am of the contemporary world. That counts, right?” she joked, earning a laughter from Armani.
“If the idea was to measure how many acres of abundant skin your beautiful, curvaceous body houses, then I suppose I would ace this project in a breeze,” she smiled.
“But unfortunately, it’s not. You are of the contemporary world but do you happen to have a wide expanse of land for maybe the construction of an industry, company or any building whatsoever?” Emerald shook her head in negation.
“Exactly. The whole idea of the field project is to find a business man or woman who has the intention of constructing a new company or building, maybe even a restaurant. Then, we’ll have to know the exact measurements of the land expanse and together, come up with a building plan for the construction site.”
“Oh, I see now,” Emerald’s face fell when she heard her sister’s explanations.
“I have no one to meet for that, unless mom and dad plan to maybe build another restaurant branch within the span of three weeks. The case is the same with my teammates and it worries me because the other teams have started on something while we have nothing.
And this project gets to determine if I pass this course and get to move on to the next class or not.”
Truthfully, Emerald could hear the worry in her sister’s voice and it crushed her to know that there was nothing she could do to help her. Even if she had the money to get some acres of land, what would she construct on the site.
She was a therapist with her own building and her own house. She didn’t need another house or office branch, yet she knew how important this course was to Armani. What could she do to help her?
“Sis?” Armani called, snapping her out of her thoughts. “You have that dazed look in your eyes and those beautiful yet unwanted frown lines etched on your forehead,” she tried to lighten the mood but Emerald’s face still remained serious.
“Hey big sis, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll figure things out. I always do,” Emerald couldn’t argue because it was a hundred percent true, her sister was a fighter and a conquerer, unlike her. “If I had known this would add to your worries, I wouldn’t have said anything,” Armani pouted apologetically.
“No, Armi. You’re not adding to anything and I’m glad you told me. I’ll do everything I can to help you, ok?”
Armani nodded enthusiastically. “Now gimme that infamous killer smile of yours, big sis,” she grinned, watching as Emerald rolled her eyes before her lips spread into the aforementioned killer smile.
“Now, let’s not keep mom waiting.”
They held each other’s hands-as best they could-as they made their way into the boutique where their mother was busy trying on different wedding dresses.
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