Chapter 99
Lily rubbed her tired eyes as she made her way out of the male surgical ward very early on Monday. She’d a long exhausting shift. The early morning sun was just peeking through the clouds.
As she walked out of the ward’s main doors, she couldn’t help but think about the long day ahead. She needed to go grocery shopping, do some laundry, and catch up on some much-needed sleep. And have lunch with Becky, after which they would go to the wedding planner’s office for the last meeting before the wedding. However, she wasn’t expected to be back at the hospital until Tuesday for the afternoon shift.
She quickly walked to her car. She was wearing her seatbelt when her phone rang. She reached over to the passenger’s seat where her bag was to bring out her phone. It was Ludolf, her ex-husband calling. She scrolled up her face and picked up the call.
“Hey Lily, good morning,” Ludolf said in his usual smooth voice.
Lily couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the familiar tone. “What do you want?” she asked, her voice laced with indifference.
“I just want to inform you that I’m arriving in New York next week,” he said.
“It’s okay,” she took a deep breath. “Is that all, I’m just getting off duty. I need to go home and sleep.”
“Oh, okay,” she heard him swallow hard. “I’ll talk to you later, then.”
“Later,” she said and quickly disconnected the line.
Ludolf had reached out to her shortly before the end of summer telling her how sorry he was about what he had put her and Alesha through. He said he wanted a reconciliation, so he arrived at her doorstep two days after the phone call to see her and their daughter. As expected, Alesha was over the moon to see her father.
To show his commitment, he decided to return to America and even got a new job with a new private university as the pioneer Dean of their faculty of Sciences.
Lily on the other hand had been reluctant to open up to him. She was just so confused; she didn’t know whether she wanted a reconciliation with Ludolf or not. But she had decided to do what everyone, her family members and friends advised; give him time to prove himself.
She got home in no time and made herself a quick breakfast, then she crawled under the sheets and set her alarm to wake her up three hours later.
She was just about to drift off to sleep when her phone rang again. She groaned, thinking it was Ludolf, but it was her friend, Becky.
“Hey Lily, I just wanted to ask if you remember we are meeting for lunch and going to see Mia, later.”
“Yes, I do,” Lily chuckled. “I just want to catch up on some sleep now. I will see you later.”
“Oh fantastic,” Becky chuckled too. “I need to sleep too. So we will see later then?”
“Yeah, later,” Lily said and they hung up.
Hours later, Becky opened her eyes wide and laughed silently looking around her bedroom. She had been drifting in and out of sleep for over two hours since she called her friend. Now fully awake, she smiled broadly again. She couldn’t believe that she was finally getting married in the next few days to the most wonderful and loving of all men, Colin Blake. It was so exhilarating that the day she had been dreaming of since she was a little girl was finally here.
“You don’t have anything to worry about,” Lily squeezed her friend’s hand as they sat down for lunch later at their favorite restaurant. Becky could see the concern in Lily’s eyes.
She nodded and smiled into her friend’s face.
Amidst the flurry of preparations, Becky couldn’t escape the nagging feeling of anxiety. As much as she had planned and organized, Becky just couldn’t stop worrying especially because of what had happened to her in the past.
Becky let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know, Lily. With a few days left, I feel … ” She sighed again, “what if something goes wrong?” I know everything is under control concerning the preparations. But what if Colin says….”
“No, no stop it,” Lily put her hand over Becky’s and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, my dear. Colin is not like that. He loves you like his own life, he’s nothing like your ex.”
“I know Colin is an honorable man,” Becky released the breath she was not even aware she was holding and managed to laugh at herself. “I’m just paranoid, right?”
“It’s okay,” Lily cleaned her mouth with the napkin.”You know what? We’re going to the beach after the meeting with your planner. I know the effects the beach usually has on you.”
Becky agreed, they finished their lunch and the two friends made their way to the wedding planner’s office which was just a stone’s throw from where they had their lunch. They were warmly welcomed by the wedding planner, Mia, as they entered the elegantly decorated office.
“Good afternoon, ladies. I’m so glad you could make it today,” Mia said in a calm and professional tone.
Becky and Lily sat and began discussing the final details of the wedding. Mia listened carefully to their requests and notes, and then went over them one by one, making sure everything was in place. As they crossed off each task from their list, a sense of relief washed over Becky seeing that everything had been covered already.
As they were wrapping up the meeting, Mia turned to Becky and said, “I just wanted to say that it has been an absolute pleasure working with you, Becky. Your wedding is going to be beautiful, and I am honored to be a part of it.”
“Thank you so much, Mia. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Becky couldn’t help but smile at Mia’s kind words.
As they left the meeting, Lily put her arm around Becky and said, “See, I told you everything would be fine. You have nothing to worry about.”
And she was right. Becky felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She could now look forward to her wedding day with excitement and joy, knowing that everything was taken care of.
“We are still going to the beach, Mrs. Blake,” Lily teased her as they made their way to the car.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
“Sure, I need it,” Becky agreed and they both burst into laughter.