This Heart of Mine

Ch. 10: Wedding Chaos

Gigi sighed and rubbed her nose. They weren't getting anywhere with Nic's mom, who had put her foot down.

"I just want my baby boy to have the best wedding," Penny whined. Naina hadn't heard a voice like that since high school; it was the fake young girl sound, too high pitched and whiny. Their mom looked the part too: tiny clothes that looked expensive, Oompa Loompa colored skin, and the brightest, most platinum blonde hair Naina had ever seen. She had to blink her eyes to get the spots out.

"I understand that Penny. But I can't have doves flown in for their wedding. The animal rights groups will have my—they'll be very angry," Gigi quickly said, correcting herself. "Did Lauren or Dominic ask for this?"

Two tiny blotches of red appeared on Penny's cheeks, deeply obscured by make-up. "Well, no. But I had it happen at Vince's and my wedding."

Judging from her age, it must've happened decades ago, when that kind of practice was still okay. The wrinkles in her face moved the makeup around, still half melted from the heat.

"I'll check with them and let you know what they say. Again, I can't have meetings with you unless one of them is present," Gigi said, sounding annoyed.

Penelope Mariani had forced her way in, saying she'd been Gigi's in-law and wanted to meet with her. Since Gigi didn't want to make a fuss or scene, she'd agreed to meet with her.

"Who's this?" Penny asked, making a sour face towards Naina.

"She's the planner handling my niece's and your son's wedding. This is Naina Reddy."

Penny looked her up and down before asking, "Can't we get someone better?"

Ouch.

Naina's smile faltered a bit. It looked like Lauren wouldn't have any trouble getting along with her mother-in-law. The grimace and contempt on the old hag's face rivaled that of her future daughter-in-law.

"I can assure you," Gigi said, with a warning tone. "She is the best. I've worked with her for years and she is amazing."

The meeting went downhill after that, with Penny insisting she should get 'someone better' and trying to force a bunch of ideas since 'Gigi wasn't the one paying for it anyway'.

Naina took off earlier and went straight to Deme's restaurant.

She shrugged off her suit jacket and asked Deme for a soda. "Just something that'll wake me up."

"Hoe-Hoe's wedding stuff?" Deme asked. She didn't like Lauren either, but it was because Lauren had tried to convince her not to talk to Naina.

"Yeah."

Deme nodded and moved away, shaking a few things and dribbling colored syrup. "This'll be good for you," she said, pushing a glass to Naina.

The pretty pink and purple colors swirled around. "There's no alcohol in this right?"

"No, love."

Naina took a sip. Flavors of strawberry and raspberry exploded in her mouth, while lemony soda fizzled away. She groaned appreciatively. "Oh, this is the best."

"Glad you enjoy it." Deme winked. "Oh! I have to tell you about the date now that I've gotten ahold of you in person."

Naina resisted spitting out the soda mixture, and forced it down her throat, tearing it apart with carbonation. "Oh—ack—how'd it go?"

She'd completely forgotten about it. The past couple of weeks had been a whirlwind for her, dealing with Lauren, Nic, Gigi and Penny had left her memory shot.

Deme's face lit up. "Oh it was so amazing! He took me to this little restaurant..." She went on about the cute, Latino place they'd gone to, how he'd payed attention to her and not stared at his phone. He'd even dressed up a little. "You should've seen him Naina; he was so handsome. He even shaved his beard."

Naina tried imagining it but couldn't see it. "You have a picture of him?"

"No but—haven't you seen him lately?"

She hadn't. Marriage season had hit her like an eighteen wheeled truck, leaving her out of touch with pretty much everyone. "No, not really."

"Oh, well, you'll see," Deme said, before talking about how they'd walked around, and how much they'd hit off.

Dammit. Now she really wanted to see him. What did Oscar the Grouch look like without his characteristic beard?

"But there was also a part of me that felt like, well, his heart wasn't in it completely. Just a hunch you know?" Deme mumbled. "There were times he'd stare off or a couple of times or he'd lose track of what he was talking. Not that I minded you know, he's got an amazing voice."

"Really? It seemed pretty good to me, from what you said."

Deme shrugged, before moving to another customer.

From what she heard, Naina was pretty sure there would be a second date.

Her heart didn't like the sound of it. It was thumping like crazy, and squeezing painfully, so much so that she felt it in her fingertips. She wiggled her digits, trying to rid of the feeling that a snake had passed through her blood vessels.

Deme laid down a plate with one of her specialty burritos. "As thanks for setting me up on a date. Even if it doesn't work out, I had serious fun with the guy."

"How far did you guys go?" Naina asked; she half wanted to hear the answer and half didn't.

Her friend stuck out her lip for a moment before responding. "Oh, there wasn't any of that. He picked me up; he dropped me off. No frisky stuff."

"You sound disappointed," Naina teased.

"Of course I am! Have you seen that man's body? God, he's so gorgeous and yummy looking."

Of course Naina had noticed how his biceps filled his sleeves when he flexed, or how interesting his tattoos were, wrapped around his arms.

She was dense, but she wasn't blind.

The burrito was filled with refried beans, Spanish spicy rice, lettuce, purple onions, chipotle sauce and the house made guac. It was as wide as her hand, and spanned a good six to eight inches in length. The large corn tortilla strained, bulging as it tried to hold onto everything.

"You don't need to spoil me with food." Naina took a huge bite of the burrito and savored the smooth taste of guac and the spicy rice.

"I don't mind it hon."

"At least let me pay—"

"None of that," Deme stated, in a 'don't talk anymore tone'. "Just eat and enjoy. You deserve it anyway, having to put up with Lauren and that wedding planning."

"Fanks mama."

As she took another mouthful, a cutting voice crossed through her ears.

"Wow, now that's what I call a bite."

~~~

Sorry for the late update! Trying to put it up whenever I'm free (and when a certain pair of nosy eyes aren't around).

As always, if you notice anything off or have any feedback, let me know. I'm all ears. :D