Book Series: IRISH BLUE Author: Sheila Willar Copyright: 2022 Sheila Willar ISBN #: 978-0-9867101-4-8 Book Title: THE CHAPEL Chapter #: 08 - THE FLOWERS
BOOK 1 - CHAPTER 8 - THE FLOWERS
Erin arrived at the apartment and walked into a flurry of activity.
The wedding planner had resigned, the venue for the reception had been cancelled, and Maggy’s mother was unconsolable.
“You wouldn’t believe what it was like here today!” whispered Kelly. “My mother fired the wedding planner and then Maggy hired her back again, but then mother complained so the planner quit.”
Erin suddenly remembered the flowers. “Please God let the them be ordered already!”
Maggy’s mother eventually calmed down and with her sisters began to make new plans.
“What do we tell the guests?”
"What will they think?”
“There might not be a wedding at all.”
“Shush!” chided Maggy.
“It’s true.”
“And Kelly’s been no help.”
“All she talks about are horses."
“Horses indeed!”
“Erin’s gone all hours of the day and night.”
“Who knows what she does at Astor’s.”
“Nothing good ever came out of Kinkerry!”
“We’re from Kinkerry.”
“Not that part of Kinkerry!”
Erin sighed and laid down on the blow-up mattress that was her bed. She only meant to close her eyes for a minute, but when she opened them again it was morning, and the apartment was alive with activity.
She dressed quickly and told Maggy that she wouldn’t be back until late which caused many an eyebrow to be raised.
As Erin opened the door to leave, Kelly shouted, “Take me with you! Please! Don’t leave me here alone!”
“You hush! You’re going to help your sister today even if no one else does,” retorted Finola. Then she turned to Erin. “Be off with you now.”
Erin was just about to close the door when one of the aunts handed her a piece of paper with a phone number on it.
“A man called yesterday. His name is Arthur Bloom. I think he wants you to call him back or something. He said it was about an order for Irish Blue.”
Erin sighed with relief and hurried to work so that she could call about the stone. She also planned to contact the ex-wedding planner about the flowers.
She nearly burst into the office where she dialled the phone number, and tapped a dance with her feet in anticipation.
“Arthur Bloom’s,” an anxious voice answered. Erin could hear clamour in the background.
“May I speak with Arthur please?” she asked.
“Just one moment.”
“Arthur here.”
“Hello. My name is Erin McBride, and I understand that Ms. Statton from Mrs. Mancinni’s office, sent you a requisition for some Irish Blue.”
“Yes. One hundred and fifty to be exact. It was no easy task mind you either, though we aim to please,” added Arthur reminding himself that the client was always right.
“Could you have it delivered?” asked Erin.
“Yes, that’s why I called earlier,” said Arthur. “I don’t have an address. Ms. Statton said that you would know what to do with it.”
Erin was ecstatic at the thought of having THEE Irish Blue stone. She wanted to prove to Mrs. Mancinni and Lila and especially Professor Foster, that she could manage her part of the project.
Since it was only a small amount of stone, Erin estimated that there would be no more than a few small boxes in total, and since she didn’t want it to go missing before the wedding, she decided to have it delivered to Maggy’s apartment where she could keep an eye on it. It was too precious to leave laying around the office unattended.
So Erin gave Arthur the address for Maggy’s apartment and had total confidence in her decision.“
“Phew!” sighed Erin, who believed that her Irish Blue troubles were behind her.
In contrast, back at Maggy’s apartment, the turmoil had barely ebbed.
Maggy however, was determined to make the best of it, and said that it was an opportunity to do something different and fun.
“Thank God,” sighed Kelly.
“Have you lost your sanity?” exclaimed her mother.
Finola and her sisters shuddered at the thought of an informal wedding.
“Maybe we could have the reception outdoors by the ocean. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Maggy’s mother wondered if she had raised her girls right? She was just about to protest when the intercom buzzed.
“Delivery! From Arthur Blooms," sang a voice.
“Bring it up,” answered Maggy.
“I wonder what it is?” asked Kelly excitedly.
When the door bell rang Maggy opened it with anticipation.
In front of her stood a man supporting a trolley with five frosted glass pots of beautiful pale blue hydrangeas. She assumed it was a gift from someone and stood back so the man could enter the apartment.
However, as soon as he entered, directly behind him was another man pushing a second trolley with five more pots of flowers, and directly behind him was a third man and so on, until they had delivered all one-hundred and fifty pots of Irish Blue hydrangeas to Maggy’s apartment.
The procession of flowers was unstoppable.
Maggy, Kelly, their mother, and aunts ran about screaming, “Stop! Stop!” but the men ignored them and hummed to the music in their headphones.
They delivered wave after wave of flowers, and put them on tables, countertops, chairs and on the floor.
Maggy screamed, “No! Seriously! Stop!” but none of them would.
When the last of the hydrangeas was set in the last available vacant space, Maggy was handed a piece of paper, and the workers quickly vanished.
Maggy stared at the invoice blankly.
It made no sense at all. There was a Mancinni logo on the top and at the bottom was a change of $15,000.
Maggy put her hand over her mouth in shock … but then she began to giggle.
At first it was a short bubble of a laugh that came in spurts from a state of exhaustion, followed by a high pitch squeak that she could not contain.
Then, a full blown blaze spread across her entire face, and she laughed so loud and hard that she could barely catch her breath.
The others couldn’t help but join in.
Maggy’s laugh was so contagious that soon all five of them were laughing hysterically, sometimes bent over with their hands braced against their knees, saying, “Please!”
They laughed so hard that their stomachs ached and tears streamed down their faces. Eventually, when they were out of breath, they cried and hugged each other in consolation of not knowing what else to do.
Sometimes one of them would start to laugh again, to which the others warned a fierce, “No!” They simply physically could not take it anymore.
Maggy reread the invoice and handed it to her mother who asked, “Are these flowers from Astor Mancinni? How dare she?”
“It appears that way,” sighed Maggy as she let out a hint of a left over giggle. “It must be some kind of mistake.”
Maggy texted Erin, “Could you get back to me as soon as possible. It’s about the flowers.”
When Erin saw the message, her throat tightened because she had forgotten again to call the wedding planner. She found the number and called immediately.
“Hello,” answered a stiff voice.
“Hi. This is Erin McBride calling with regards to Maggy Clancy’s wedding. I was wondering if you’ve ordered the flowers?” asked Erin, holding her breath.
The wedding planner’s last nerve had been rubbed raw by Finola, who had fired her. She assumed that Erin’s call was just more of the same kind of abuse.
“I was told NOT to order the flowers!” she stated emphatically.
Erin swallowed.
“You said that you would do it yourselves!” yelled the planner as she ended the call.
Erin listened to the dial tone and winced at the thought of having to give Maggy the bad news.
Not only was the wedding planner gone, but the flowers were gone too.
