Room 702 (25 page)

With the bride moving, Joanne immediately rushes to the phone and calls the front desk.
 
Trying to keep her voice calm, she says, “We have an emergency.”

Susie, pulling up information of who is staying in the room from the front desk, answers calmly, “What is the problem Ms. Delaney?
 
Shall we call for a doctor or ambulance?”

“No, we do not need a doctor.
 
We need a tailor, a seamstress – anyone who can fix a five thousand dollar wedding dress!” Joanne answers in exasperation.

“Can you give us a few minutes?”

“Yes, but please help!
 
We’re on a deadline here!”

The phone rings a few minutes later and Joanne scrambles to pick the device up, answering breathlessly, “Hello?
 
Please tell us you have someone coming over soon.”

“We sure do,” Susie says. “His name is Mario and he’ll be at your room in fifteen minutes.
 
Please do not worry; he is the best of the best.
 
He does onsite tailoring at one of the nearby luxury boutiques.”

“If you’re sure…”
 

“The Winchester knows how important a wedding day is and we’ll ensure Ms. Delaney’s dress is perfectly repaired.”

“Thank you,” Joanne hangs up the phone and announces, “Mario will be here soon.
 
Apparently, he’s their go to tailor.”

In the bedroom, Maria, now sitting in a hotel robe, forces herself to breathe in and out slowly.
 
Throughout the build up to the wedding, she has prided herself on not being a bridezilla, but this delay will throw the entire timeline of the day completely off.
 
Holding herself together, Maria tries to remind herself that at the end of the day, she’ll be marrying her best friend and the love of her life.
 
In twenty years, they’ll be telling their children of how Mommy’s wedding dress was ripped and how funny it was.
 
Now, however, the Vera Wang she saved months for, and has dieted since her engagement to get into and has been dreaming about wearing, has a hole in it.
 
She sits back and finishes her glass of champagne while Joanne and the other bridesmaids wrack their heads to come up with solutions to the delay.
 
Perhaps emboldened by the liquid courage, she pulls the sash around her tightly and walks up to her friends.
 
Putting her manicured hand on Jo’s shoulder, she delegates, “Can you let the guys know we’re going to be a little late for the first look?”

“On it!”
 
Maria’s mom tops off her glass of champagne and, patting her daughter’s hand, tells her everything will be okay.
 
“Are you sure?”
 
Maria’s mother, Estelle, answers, “Diego is the man you were meant to be with.”
 
“Thanks, Mama.”
 
Maria isn’t surprised when her phone, especially programmed today with ‘Here Comes the Bride’ ringtone, rings and she sees her fiancé’s face on the ID.
 
Ducking into the bathroom, she hears a familiar voice ask, “Honey?” Unable to remain still, Maria walks through the chaos of the suite outside to the small porch and answers, “You didn’t have to call.”

“Of course I did.”
 
Diego has been with his wife-to-be for two years and knows she is highly Type A.
 
This change in her schedule will be completely messing with her sanity.
 
“Now, tell me what happened.”

“I put my dress on…and it broke.”

“Aww,
querida
.” Diego tries unsuccessfully to smother a laugh.
 
“What is so funny?”
 
“You, my darling clumsy girl.”
 
“It’s not funny!”
 
“Of course not.
 
Just like the time you didn’t throw the car keys away, or the time you didn’t drop your phone in the bathtub.
 
And you know you don’t have the best track record with clothes, either.”

“Maybe I should’ve just worn a sack.”
 
“You will look beautiful no matter what.”
 
“You think I should walk down the aisle in this robe?”
 
“Is that all you’re wearing right now?
 
Or do you have some of that special lingerie you haven’t let me see yet?”
 
“Only you would get horny in my most dire of bridal emergencies.”
 
“Can you blame me?
 
I’m marrying the most gorgeous girl in Los Angeles today.”
 
“Flattery will get you everywhere.”
 
“Okay, so, there’s something wrong with your dress?”

“But we’re going to fix it.”

“That’s great!”

“But the schedule is ruined.”

“No, it’s not.
 
I’m sure we can make it work.”

Maria says nothing, as she is trying not to cry and avoid wrecking her professionally applied make up.

“Baby?”

“Yes?” There is a slight waver in her voice.

“You know it’s going to be fine, right?”

“But my dress…”

“Listen to me, I’m sure the Winchester is going to send the best person possible.”

“So, it’s going to be okay?”

“Of course it is.
 
Today I’m going to marry the most amazing woman in the world.
 
Nothing can change that.”

 
“I love you.”
 
“
Te amo
.”
 
As Maria hangs up the phone, the doorbell to the suite chimes and Joanne welcomes an older man, carrying what appears to be a tackle box.
 
A measuring tape hangs gently around his neck.
 
Wordlessly, the entire group follows him in to where the dress hangs on the door.
 
He looks thoroughly over the garment, assessing the rip, the fabric and then says, “It can be saved.”
 
In response, the girls squeal in delight.
   

 
Within a very short time span, the delicate fabric is repaired and Maria steps ever so carefully into the dress.
 
Everyone in the room holds their breath as she’s zipped in and the mended portion holds.

 
A collective cheer goes up around the room.

 
Maria breathes a deep sigh of relief and says, “Alright girls, grab your bouquets and let’s get going!”

With a giant smile on his face, Diego carries Maria into the room.
 
They are both exhausted, but radiant.

 
“We’re married,” Diego announces.
 
“We are.”
 
“So, Mrs. Delgado, what do you want to do?”
 
Maria looks lovingly at her new husband, then says without hesitation, “Order room service and watch WWE.”
 
“I knew I married the right girl.”
 
He places her down gently on the ground and she begins removing some of the many pins from her intricate hair arrangement and asks, “You’re not mad?
 
I have lingerie and everything, but I swear, if I have to stand up two seconds longer, my feet are going to cramp and I’ll never be able to walk again.”
 
He leads her over to the bed and says, “Say no more.
 
I need you in prime shape for our honeymoon in Hawaii.”
 
“I completely forgot we were going!
 
I would dance if my feet worked.”
 
Diego loosens his tie and asks, “Did you actually get a chance to eat anything?”
 
“I think I had three pieces of shrimp at some point.”
 
“Wait, what’s this?” Diego walks in from the vestibule to the desk and finds it loaded with food from their reception.
 
In addition to the spread, there is a bottle of Dom Pérignon champagne resting on ice.
 
“Mine!” Maria says, grabbing a miniature egg roll and gladly stuffing it in her mouth.
 

 
“But who did this?
 
Everyone we know is still downstairs partying!”
 
Making quick work of the rest of the tasty treat, Maria looks and finds a hand written note.
 
She reads aloud, ‘Wishing you a lifetime of happiness together, all the staff at the Winchester!
 
Glad things worked out with your dress!’
 
While the content couple feed each other, they reminisce on one of the happiest evenings of their lives.
 
There will be consummation of the wedding in the morning, but for now, this couple has everything they want.

While the bell man puts their bags and luggage away, Joan “Jaye” Felton allows herself to be led into the suite by her good friend and roommate, Caroline Barzan.
 

“How do you feel, Joanie?”

Joan, in the early hours of recovering from a breast enlargement operation that morning, mumbles something incoherent.
 
The pain meds are starting to wear off, leaving her with an intense pain in her chest.
 
“Thank you,” Caroline says and tips the Winchester employee, who leaves them alone. “Okay, let’s get you to under the covers.”
 
With exceeding patience, Caroline slowly and gently helps her friend into the large bed.
 
Fluffing the pillows, tucking Joan in and closing the curtains, she finishes by saying, “I’ll just stay here and make sure you’re okay.”

Joan grumbles and then begins drooling onto her high thread count pillow, breathing deeply.
 
Caroline gives her friend one last look, then closes the French doors and wanders into the lounge.
 
Sitting down on the plush couch, Caroline places her head in her hands.
 
Her world had been upended with a realization.
 
Earlier this morning, when Caroline had to say goodbye to Joan as her friend left for surgery, like a bolt of lightning, she came to the sudden understanding that she was deeply and completely in love with her roommate.

Sighing heavily, she lets her fingers drift over the lovely flower arrangement Henry must have had delivered to the room before their arrival.
 
It takes up half of the desk, but the perfume it creates is heavenly.
 
In addition to daises, Joan’s fiancé also ordered a selection of pastries from Laura’s Sweet Stuff.

Picking up part of a Snickerdoodle, Caroline absentmindedly nibbles, then, finding her friend’s purse, picks up Joan’s phone, lighter and cigarettes, and walks out onto the balcony.
 
Lighting up a Virginia Slim, the young woman sighs again.
 
Her realization couldn’t have come at a worse time.
 
The new boobs Joan is sporting happen to be a gift from her fiancé, Henry Katzman.
 
Apparently he thought his gesture would be a charming and wonderful pre-wedding gift to ‘treat.’
 

“So where is he now?” Caroline asks.

After the surgery had been scheduled and paid for (his gold Amex, no less), Henry had an out of town emergency meeting come up at the last minute.
 
To make up for his absence, Henry had sprung for two nights ‘recovery time’ at the Winchester. ‘Charge anything you want – nothing’s good enough for my Jaye!’ had been Henry’s parting words.

Exhaling smoke, Caroline feels like walking inside and ordering expensive champagne just to fuck with the obnoxious man.
 
When Joan had first started dating Henry, Caroline had regarded him the same as all of Joan’s boyfriends – they were obnoxious assholes not worthy of her friend’s time.
 
Her roommate had the uncanny ability to practically trip over eligible men wherever she went.
 
Joan was what every man seemed to be looking for in this town – blonde haired, blue eyed, and a petite five foot four inches.
 
She had an innocent nature that men seemed to readily respond to.
 
In fact, she and Henry had met while Joan had been vacationing in Vegas.
 
At the pool of the MGM, Joan, wearing impractical three-inch heels, had slipped and Henry had saved her from crashing into the water.
 
That had been six months and a whirlwind relationship ago.

While Caroline had always had a suspicion she preferred women to men, it wasn’t until living with Joan that she had been completely attracted to a woman.
 
The past six weeks had been especially difficult.
 
Joan was prone to walking around the house wearing next to nothing and talking openly about her sex life with Henry.

“What the hell am I supposed to do?” Caroline asks the traffic below.
 
“I can’t continue to feel sorry for myself and I can’t sit by and watch them.”
 

As if on cue, Joan’s phone rings and Caroline answers, “Hello, Henry.”

“How is my precious?”
 

Grimacing, Caroline realizes he hasn’t even said hello, or acknowledged that she’s on the other end of the phone.
 
It’s one of the eight thousand things she can’t stand about him.
 
He has no manners and no excuses to not have them.
 
In her opinion, he thinks money can buy everything.
 
She’s witnessed Henry buy off most of their friends, seen how his open bar engagement party worked, and unfortunately had front row seats to how Joan was slowly worn down on the topic of her recent surgery.

Furthermore, Caroline had seen how Henry had repeatedly tried to overcome her own defenses.
 
He had upgraded a number of items in the apartment she shared with her friend.
 
Somewhat of a traditionalist, Joan insisted they keep separate residences until their nuptials were official.
 
While Joan spent most weekends with Henry in his oh so trendy home in the Hollywood hills, there were occasions where he would be out of town and Caroline would have her friend back.
 
During those times, Henry would often leave money and tell the girls to splurge for home delivery, movies and pedicures.