Jennie
Mina's energy is infectious, and the next couple of hours happen in a flurry. We take Bambam's big pickup truck, which lugs down the street and clanks and clatters over potholes. First stop, the airport to pick up the sorority sisters. Tzuyu and Momo are beautiful, long-limbed women, dressed to the nines. A white Prada dress, a Ralph Lauren pantsuit. The two women sit on either side of me in the back of the car, dwarfing me, and only briefly acknowledge my presence before chattering back and forth with Mina. Small mirrors pop out of their designer purses as they begin reapplying their makeup in the bumpy car.
"The little airport was positively darling."
"Oh, but the cosmos at the bar were dreadful. The service was worse than in Busan."
"But we're so glad to be here, precious."
"Bambam, you are adorable. Is that hat real?"
"Where is the nearest Starbucks?"
Momo lets out a shrill cry, and immediately, Bambam lays into the brakes. "Everyone okay?" he says urgently, while twisting his neck around.
Momo has her head tilting upward, blinking, and I half expect to see her eyeball punctured at the edge of her eyeliner pencil. Instead, she says, "Jennah, do you see anything in my eye?"
Jennah. That's me, I think. I lean in and gently pluck a fake eyelash out from the corner of her eye.
"It was an eyelash." I say, while holding it at the pad of my finger.
"Make a wish, dear." Tzuyu chimes in.
Momo thinks for a long, hard moment before she blows on my finger.
Bambam forces out a chuckle, though I can hear the strain in his laugh. He remains mostly silent for the rest of the drive, not that he could get in a word edgewise. We pass through swaths of low-hanging maple trees until we get to Audrant Bakery, the bakery that we've chosen to build their wedding cake.
"Audrant Bakery..." Tzuyu says, while sounding out the words as though she's learning how to read as we exit the truck and approach the store. She clicks her tongue. "I've never heard of them."
"They have a store in Seoul." I inform her quickly. "We've worked with them before. They're the best in the business, plus, they're the only bakery that can turn around a cake like this on such a short notice."
For a price, I almost add, but money doesn't seem to be an object in this crowd.
Tzuyu hums thoughtfully at that. Bambam is the first to the door and holds it open to let the ladies pass through first. The store is pastel pink and stuffed to the brim with displays, large layered wedding cakes, elaborately frosted cupcakes, sugar buttons, and rings of lollipops.
"You must be the Bhuwakul party." a baker greets us with a warm smile. She's in a white apron, her red hair tied back in a ponytail, and she gestures us to an open-space room in the back. "The rest of your party is in the back..."
"Irene?"
When Bambam sees the baker, he stops short. She bursts into a big smile, runs up to him, and tosses her arms around him. He nearly lifts her off the ground with a hug before he sets her down.
"Heck, girl, I didn't know you'd be here!"
The baker, apparently known as Irene, gives him a half shrug. "Of course I am! Word got around that you were getting married, I knew I had to be involved."
I smell trouble and size up Irene. She is Bambam in female form, burly and noisy, with a hell of a laugh and a familial way about her that makes you feel like you've been friends forever.
"Hi!" Mina steps forward with a smile that clearly means introduce me, please.
Bambam (smart man) distances himself from Irene and hooks his arm around Mina. "Mina, this is Irene. We practically grew up together. Irene, this here is my bride-to-be."
"Aren't you a lucky lady?" Irene says and gives Mina a quick hug.
"I know you're on the clock. We won't keep you." I interrupt quickly. Time to diffuse this Irene situation fast.
"Nonsense. Why don't you sit down with us?" Mina says. "We'd love to have you. You can tell us all about your cakes."
Now I can see the Manoban family resemblance. Mina, for all her poise and pretty smiles, is a very smart girl. She's wearing one of Lisa's shark grins. Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, I suppose.
