
Chapter Twenty-One: Falling Back
The next few days were hectic and crazy. I would take about two hundred phone calls a day, all from people I didn't even know, but desperately needed me to pick what damn cheese they needed to use. At least the caterers needed to know that.
My head felt like it was about to explode every night before I would go to bed, and I welcomed sleep as if it were a drug.
Meanwhile, Greta had taken my design and already done a few alterations. She had gone through the fabric I had bought with Joshua in London, and had already started to make a few cuts. She didn't get into the legit stuff, until a few days before the event.
I was panicking, thinking that it wouldn't be done on time, but Greta assured me that everything would work out. She taught me how to thread the machine and how to make straight lines on the fabric.
I was surprised that in no time I was sewing at the same speed and even faster than Greta.
My mouth dropped open in surprise when Greta had spoken to me one night. I felt like my eye lids were being weighed down and my body was about to collapse, but Greta had pulled me aside to have a quick word with me.
I couldn't wait to get to bed and just become a living vegetable on the mattress. I was taken off guard by her smile. Why was she looking so proud of me?
"You're a natural. I want you to know that." Greta smiled and patted my forearm, before making her way to my room with another proud look.
Me? A natural at making a dress? I hadn't really pondered it for too long, I had been in desperate need of rest. All of the work I was putting into my dress and the event, kept my mind incredibly occupied. I didn't even think about Joshua during those days.
Alright, so I'm lying. I did think about him a few times, but only for brief moments and in short spurts. I wasn't even questioning our relationship anymore. Not like we had a relationship to begin with. Well, we might have been friends at some point...I'm going to stop myself now.
That's how it typically went for me. I would think about Joshua, wonder what the hell he was doing, and then someone would call me on the phone and ask me how big I wanted the ice sculptures, what kind of decorations I needed, or some other crap. It was enough to keep him relatively off of my mind.
I had chewed my nails to no avail on the day before. Would everything go well? Or would something terrible happen? Holy shit, what if the fucking building burned down or something? I didn't even know the exit routes! Would it be too much if I included a map of the building at the entrance, with all of the emergency exits labeled?
What if a tsunami hit? Holy crap! Wait, tsunamis didn't happen in New York...right? All of my science and geography lessons fell out of the window, because of how stressed I was. Fuck, what if someone fell out of a window?
It became a huge concern, all for five minutes, until I remembered that there was only one story. But then I asked myself "Could they still get hurt if they fell out of a one story window?", and thus my list of disastrous scenarios began all over again.
As you can tell, I was losing my shit.
At least all of the major and minor details were taken care of the night before. By midnight, the caterers knew what time they needed to be there, the decorators had already jazzed the venue up, and the R.S.V.Ps had already been accounted for.
I semi-fainted when Justin Timberlake R.S.V.P'd. The only thing that I wasn't sure of was my dress. I focused my stress on whether or not my dress was finished, while I climbed the stairs to my apartment. I was going home after visiting the flower shop that would be decorating the center pieces.
"Greta, I'm back." I yelled into the apartment, turning my back to lock the door. I started to panic a little, when I didn't get a response. Had something happened to Greta? What if she fell and broke her hip? Old people sometimes took falls and ended up with broken bones, right?
It wasn't like her not to say 'hello'. I scanned the living room and walked briskly to her room. The light was flowing from under the door, momentarily giving me a sense of relief. At least she was here and I wasn't hearing any sounds of pain.
I pushed the door open after a swift knock.
Holy Shit.
My dress lay on the bed. The lamp light illuminated the purple lace from where it rested. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I had never felt more connected to a piece of clothing then at that moment.
The dress was my creation. Maybe, that's why I felt so proud of it, so connected to it. It was something that had been stuck in my head, yet turned into something real.
For once, my thoughts and idea's didn't serve to just give people the impression they existed, they actually came to life. My idea was now a real, touchable, object. I couldn't believe it.
I scanned the room, looking for Greta. The room was pretty damn small, it wasn't a long search. I knew for a fact that the rest of the apartment was black, the only light that had been on, belonged to this room. Where was Greta? I saw the corner of some sort of object, peeking out from under the dress.
On closure inspection, I realized that it was the corner of an envelope. I swiftly pulled it out from under the purple lace, running my fingers on the smooth surface. I turned the envelope around and pulled out the flap, pulling out a folded sheet of paper right after.
I read, re-read, and then I read it one more time. My brain had suddenly turned off, as the words became a tight blur on the page. Tears filled my eyes, something that rarely happened. I hadn't cried in a long time, but this time I let the water flow from my eyes. I let myself feel the pain and the regret, as I read the letter once again.
Lilly,
Dear, I cannot begin to express my gratitude. You became a beaming light, belonging to my otherwise dark world. I have lived many years, wandering, and I could never express how special it was to me that you could open up your home and give me a second chance.
I want you to realize what a talented and special girl you are. You don't notice half of the time, you're too busy under-estimating yourself.
In all of my years, I have never seen a natural talent such as yours. I didn't want to frighten you, but when I first saw your sketch, I was blown away. You have an amazing gift.
I have been sick for some time. It's not a new thing, and I've already come to terms with my fate. I want you to know what an impact you have made in my life, giving this old bag of bones a second chance has really been the best ending I could have had.
I don't have long now, and I know that. I don't want you to have to face something like this. You have a longer life to live, filled with many wonderful things that you deserve.
I know that your event will be a success. I have seen how hard you've worked. So, I leave you this dress, in hopes that you think of my as your 'Fairy God-Mother'.
Hopefully, you will get your prince charming at your event. Don't think that I haven't noticed. You, my dear Lilly, are in love. One more thing that you can add to the list of things you have not yet realized.
Goodbye, Lilly. Again, thank you for everything you have done.
And remember to let yourself dream. Most likely, you can do everything you dream of, if you only realize it.
-Greta
I finished reading the letter for the last time. I thought of looking for Greta. Maybe, I could get her help. If only she had told me earlier about her illness! What hadn't she let me help her? We could have done something about it. We could have gone to doctors, gotten tests done, found out more information.
I shut my eyes, as the tears threatened to flow even more from my eyes. I felt weird, having made such an impact in someone's life. I hadn't even known. She hadn't been gone from my life for more than twenty four hours, but I knew that she would be gone for much longer than that. Greta was gone forever.
Even if I did go out and find her, I probably wouldn't be with her for too long. Also, I knew that she didn't want me to go after her. This was one thing that I knew Greta would deny me, and wouldn't change her mind about. I decided to respect her wishes, yet it still hurt. I would never see her, never hear her advice, again.
I grasped her last gift in my fingers, the dress fabric bunching up in my fist. In a way, Greta had been just like a second mother to me. She had left her mark on me by teaching me something. Because of her, I now had something amazing. My own creation and idea, was real. I now had the power to make the designs and pictures in my head, actual objects.
I tried to take in everything that was in the letter. From the things that I supposedly didn't realize, to Greta's last goodbye. I had learned so much about myself through one letter. That was Greta, a woman who could make a huge impact without even trying. Maybe, in a way, we were alike. I could only wish.
I pondered over the last part of the letter. Was I in love? Had Greta been correct? You couldn't fall in love with someone like Joshua Lachowski. Greta didn't know about who he was. She had no idea that he was obviously much too cocky and attractive to fall for me. She didn't know him. Would she have said the same thing if she had known that he would only break me?
Obviously, Joshua didn't have the capacity to love someone. Or did he? The bad part was, I had already begun to believe in what Greta had told me. Maybe I did under-estimate myself, and maybe, just maybe, I was in love with Joshua.
I, Lilly Fenster, just might be in love with Joshua Lachowski.
The realization hit me and left me stunned. I hadn't even noticed. I used to think that to fall in love with someone, you had to be sure that they loved you back. Now I realized that the theory was too selfish. If things were really that way, I wouldn't be in love with the last person who could love me back.
I cried for a long time after that. I cried from the confusion, the loneliness, and the uncertainty of what was happening to me. After a while, I remembered that I had a lot ahead of me. I was going to make Greta and Lanning proud.
That event would be a success and when I would see Joshua, I wouldn't let him know how I felt. I needed more time to think. I wasn't going to let the way that I felt for him make me lose control. I just needed a plan of action. I just needed time to figure out that plan.
My heart beat frantically as I lay down and thought about seeing Joshua tomorrow. What would I say? What would he say? Where was Greta? Was she warm? Was she safe? I didn't know anything and that pissed me off.
I honestly expected a lot more to happen in this chapter, but then so much happened at one moment without me being able to stop it! You guys...I actually started to get watery eyes as I was writing this. I. AM. SUCH. A. FREAK. Lol I was all, "YOLY RELAX." But yeah, holy bananas I got almost 50 votes on the last chapter! I saw it and was all "I should write a new chapter!" even though I wasn't planning to do so for a couple of days. So, what will happen at the company event? What will Lilly do when she sees Joshua? Will it be a success!...or a complete mess? :) !
Thank you guys so much for reading! Your votes and comments make my day! Thank you guys for supporting Sugar Babe and for reading this far, it means so much! You guys are the bees knees :3
Finally, I'm working on a book trailer for Sugar Babe! The picture on the side is part of the video. The book trailor is on the side. Please let me know what you think!
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro