“How about here?” I move to the left of the stage where I presume a band will be set up. “Everyone will see it, but it’ll be out of the way,” I continue. “And the beautiful fairy light backdrop will show in the photos when you’re cutting it.” I point to where a man is standing on a ladder, draping a waterfall of twinkling lights behind the stage.

Anna nods, pursing her lips as she seems to consider my suggestion, but before she can say anything, her phone begins ringing in her hand. I watch as she looks down at the screen, and a small crease pulls between her brows. A heavy sigh causes her shoulders to fall. “Can you please excuse me, Murph?”

“Yeah, sure.” I shrug, waving her off to answer the call as I turn, taking in the beauty surrounding me.

I walk to the demo table already set up in all its glory, and I trail a finger over the delicate gold flower petals immaculately presented in the centerpiece vase, smiling in wonderment at the sheer magnificence of it all. But then it gets me thinking about my own wedding. I wouldn’t want it in some stuffy country club ballroom. I want to get married outside, maybe by the lake off Old Mill Road, with a reception under the stars. As I touch one of the delicate orchids beautifully arranged within the extravagant vase, my smile falls, because at that moment I realize how unlikely a wedding of my own actually is. The man I always wanted to marry is getting married to someone else, right here in this over-the-top ballroom, to a woman who is everything I’m not, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

“I don’t care!”

I startle, pulled from my thoughts by the shrill voice coming from the other side of the room. I turn to see Anna standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, her hand waving in the air animatedly as she continues her obviously heated discussion over the phone.

“You know what?” she hisses, her voice low but still clear. “Don’t bother!” She ends the call so forcefully, I’m surprised her French tip didn’t smash straight through the screen. Even from across the room I can see she’s upset. She isn’t crying or anything, but she’s shaking her head and glaring down at her cell phone. The air around her is obviously tense, and I don’t know if I should approach her or give her a moment. I decide on the latter and I give her some time as I take a seat at one of tables and begin scrolling through my phone.

“Sorry about that.” Anna approaches me after a few minutes, taking a seat next to me.

“That’s okay.” I smile awkwardly, tucking my phone into the pocket of my pinafore. When I meet her eyes, I notice there’s something there, something unexpected. She’s no longer the confident woman I met that first night. She looks sad, defeated, and maybe even a little broken.