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We arrived at the beautiful house just 5 minutes to 3.  I had all ready gotten over the fact that there was only one bed in our hotel suite; now I was getting into “Wedding Mode.”  I began surveying the entire house from the outside, trying to figure out what could make the house look better.  To my horror, their lawn was brown; there were no green blades of grass; there were no flowers in the flower beds.  As I stood out there, wondering why every lawn on the entire street looked just as bad, Linda and Gary emerged from inside the house.  “Anne!  Oh, and Aiden!  It’s so nice to see you.  I hope you had a good flight,” Linda greeted happily.  I turned to Aiden at the mention of our flight and began to snicker.  Aiden gave me an evil look.  “It was fine…” Aiden replied as he looked around the house and pulled out his palm pilot.  “Linda, I do have to ask…  What’s with the brown lawn?” I asked as I bent down to touch the grass.  “Oh…  That would be because of the drought,” she answered.  “Drought?” Aiden remarked.  Gary nodded.  “Apparently, it hasn’t rained here for over 10 months.  It’s been almost a year since the ground had any precipitation,” he explained.

I struggled to find a way to make the lawn look beautiful for the wedding without tearing it all out.  “But why didn’t you just turn on the sprinklers?” I asked as I stood up, feeling the heat getting to me.  “The city isn’t allowed to water their lawns anymore.  We’re only allowed to use water at a certain time in the day; it’s supposed to conserve the water supply,” Linda answered.  What would a wedding be like without a few obstacles to hurdle in between?  “That’s why we want to have the wedding outside in our backyard; it’s been a dream of mine since I was little.  I want my wedding outside,” Linda explained as she took a hold of Gary’s arm.  I shook my head, struggling to figure out why on earth they would want their wedding in this heat.  I was beginning to get a headache as sweat started to pour down my head.  “Well, let’s see the backyard then,” Aiden suggested.  Linda nodded and led us to the back where there was just as much green grass as there was in the front yard.  There was a beautiful little gazebo that I could work with…  “I was hoping you could figure out how to make the backyard look gorgeous…  I’ve seen you do some great work,” Linda stated as her parents made an appearance.  “You must be the wedding planners,” stated Linda’s mother, Carol.  I nodded and shook her hand as Aiden followed suit.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Warren,” I greeted politely.

“We are so sorry about the way our lawn looks, but we were hoping you could figure out a way to make it look ‘wedding ready,’” replied Carol as she patted her daughter’s hand.  “We just want Linda’s wedding to be special,” she added.  We had one week to plan a gorgeous wedding in a backyard that was hideous.  How was I—how were WE supposed to make this place look gorgeous?  “We’ll try our best, Mr. and Mrs. Warren.  We also want to make sure this wedding is special…. And it will be,” Aiden assured them.  Sure, he can keep them from freaking out with his British accent, but he can’t keep me from having a meltdown…  “I guess we better get to work,” I replied, rubbing my forehead as more sweat poured down.  I’m not going to black out… I’m not going to faint... Suddenly, I started to see little white spots in my vision.  Everyone sounded far away, and I began to feel lightheaded.  “Are you all right?” Aiden asked.  “Maybe you should sit down,” he suggested.  My brain began to go haywire as I struggled to figure out where I was.  Suddenly, I blacked out…

“Anne?  Anne?” I heard off in the distance of my mind.  I slowly opened my eyes and realized I was on the ground.  “She needs some hydration…  I’ll go get her some water,” I heard Gary say as he disappeared from my vision.  I looked up to see Aiden hovering over me, looking very concerned.  “Are you all right?” he asked as he felt my forehead.  At first, I just wanted to lie there and stare into Johnny English’s eyes…  But then I realized I was staring, so I sat up.  “I’m fine,” I replied as I swatted Aiden’s hand away from my face.  Linda helped me get up and sit on the patio furniture just as Gary appeared with a glass of water.  “You’re just a little dehydrated…  This weather doesn’t help,” Linda explained as she handed me the water.  “Thank you,” I replied as I gratefully swigged the water down like air.  I didn’t realize how thirsty I really was.  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Aiden asked with a hint of worry in his voice.  I rolled my eyes.  “I’ll be fine,” I assured him as I set the glass down on the little table.  “I was thinking that we should get rid of the patio furniture for the wedding and put it in the garage,” Linda stated, going back to the task at hand: her wedding.  I nodded in agreement.  “How many people are you intending to invite?” I asked.  Linda turned to Gary and shrugged her shoulders.  “100,” she stated simply.  Does this girl know how to do math?  Doesn’t she know that 100 people will not fit in this little backyard?  “You can’t fit 100 people in here, dear,” Carol stated.

I was lying on the comfortable but controversial bed in our hotel room that afternoon after our not so nice meeting at the Warren’s.  My head was beginning to hurt again, but I wasn’t about to let that get in the way of my job.  I began to search my mind for a solution to the ugly brown lawn.  Aiden entered the room from the bathroom; he took a shower after all that sweating he did since the day started.  As I looked up from my thoughts, I realized that he was only wearing a towel…. And he had some nice abs!  For a moment, I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of their socket.  I certainly hadn’t expected Aiden to have such a built body…  I shook off the thought and went back to thinking about the lawn.  “What do you think?” Aiden asked as he headed back towards the bathroom.  Is he talking about his abs?  “What are you talking about?” I asked nervously.  Aiden looked at me in confusion.  “About the lawn…  How are we going to cover up all the brown spots?” he asked.  Oh… That makes more sense…  I shrugged my shoulders.  “I don’t know, but I have a feeling this wedding is going to be far from easy…” I replied. 

I tried to think of other weddings where this problem may have occurred.  I shook my head, knowing full well that this was the first.  What could cover up all that brown?  We don’t have time to put in new grass…  Flowers?  Wait… Flowers…  “Flowers,” I stated out loud.  Aiden popped his head out of the bathroom.  “Sorry?” he asked, trying to figure out what I said.  “Flowers… We can order lots and lots of flowers to cover up the brown spots on the lawn… Well, not all of it.  We can make a pathway for Linda to walk down; that part doesn’t have to be covered with flowers…” I replied, spouting out ideas.  Aiden thought for a moment.  “That actually sounds like a good idea,” he stated.  “What, you’re surprised I have good ideas?  I am one of the best wedding planners in Chicago,” I stated defensively.  (I am.)  Aiden grinned as he went back into the bathroom.  “I know you’re one of the best…  It’s a great idea,” he replied from the bathroom.  I nodded with pride as I pulled out my phone to make a few calls.  We were going to need LOTS of flowers…  I was thinking they could be white orchids…

Suddenly, the bed was shaking.   I opened my eyes to realize I had fallen asleep and Aiden was sitting on the edge of the bed watching some television.  I turned to the clock on the nightstand to see that it was all ready 10pm.  I must have been sleeping for four hours!  “Ah, Sleeping Beauty decided to wake up,” replied Aiden.  I sat up in bed and looked out the window.  The view was beautiful.  I should have been happy, but this view seemed to be made for couples…  Suddenly my phone began to vibrate.  I turned to grab it and saw the name and number…  It was my boyfriend, Vince.  I had been with Vince for two years; I was actually hoping he was going to propose one day soon.  Vince was a great guy; he was very good looking and very smart.  He was a lawyer, and my mother was never happier than when she found out I was with him.  I smiled as I answered.  “Hey there…  I haven’t heard from you in a while,” I greeted happily.  Vince was working in a downtown office in Chicago.  It had been a few weeks since we talked.  Our relationship was… complicated.

“Yeah… How are you?”  Vince answered.  He sounded like he was upset.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine; look, we need to talk.”

“Okay… What do you want to talk about?”

“What about us?”

“Anne, it’s just not working.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately…  And spending this time apart from you has made me see…  I just don’t think that we’re good for each other.  I met this girl a while ago… Her name is Sadie.  She’s great, and I think I’m in love with her.  I’m sorry, Anne…  Please don’t hate me…  I think we should break up.”

“Oh… I see…  Vince, don’t do this.  I care about you…  Maybe we just need to…”

“Anne, it just isn’t working.  I’m sorry,” Vince replied as he hung up.  I sat there in shock.  I really hadn’t expected it, thought I don’t know why.  It was going to happen sooner or later.  I was just trying to hold onto a relationship that wasn’t real…  “Is everything okay?” Aiden asked as he turned towards me and put the television on mute.  Don’t cry; don’t you dare shed a tear in front of the Englishman…  “Yeah; everything is fine,” I assured him as I went towards the balcony and opened the sliding glass door.  Maybe some fresh air will help…  I got outside into the night air and looked up into the night sky.  There were millions of stars out, and it was beautiful to look at.  I let out a sigh as a tear slowly slid down my cheek.   “I guess that’s the end of that chapter,” I muttered to myself.  “What happened?” I heard Aiden ask as he stood in the doorway.  I turned to him and quickly wiped the tear that was on my cheek.  “I’m fine, okay?” I stated, annoyed with how concerned Aiden seemed to be about me; he didn’t even know me that well.

“I think it’s time you stop saying that word; it’s begun to lose all meaning,” Aiden replied as he sat down on the patio chair.  I shook my head.  “It’s nothing; I don’t want to bore you with my problems,” I stated, turning back to the night sky.  “It’s the least I could do; you helped me with my phobia of flying…” Aiden urged.  I shrugged my shoulders and leaned on the railing.  “My boyfriend of two years just broke up with me,” I finally admitted.  Aiden was silent for a moment.  “I’m sorry…  This must be hard for you…” he replied.  I shook my head and turned back to him.  “That’s the problem.  I’ve been with Vince for two years, and in those whole two years, I saw him maybe twice a week.  That wasn’t really a relationship; I didn’t realize it until it was too late…” I stated.  Aiden nodded his head in understanding.  “Maybe it’s for the best… “He replied.  I shrugged my shoulders and walked back into the room.  “I really am a mess…  I’m a wedding planner because I know I’ll never get married,” I stated with some anger in my voice; it was anger that I had towards myself.  “Well, I have to tell you, marriage isn’t all that glamorous,” Aiden confessed.

I turned back to him as he closed the sliding door.  “What are you talking about?  Are you saying…?” I started, trying to figure out what Aiden meant by his last statement.  “I was married once…  Then I got divorced …” he explained.  I was in shock.  I guess that answers my question on whether or not he’s gay… 

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