They entered the building with cautious optimism, wanting to have fun but also not sure if they’d be caught right away. Nikki and Luke clasped tightly onto each other’s hand, as if they were each other’s only life raft in this new experience. But neither of them backed down, taking the challenge on with energy.
“I’ve been to so many weddings before. So, why am I still nervous?” Nikki quietly whispered to Luke as they rounded the doors and entered the event hall.
“For what it’s worth, I’m feeling the exact same way.”
They stepped into the hall and just stood there, looking around as if it was their first time ever being at a wedding, even though they’d both catered countless weddings before. They heard music ring through the hall, coming from a DJ booth just at the edge of the dance floor. A large line of people stood in the welcoming line to greet the newlywed couple, and an even larger line stood about the tables with the catered desserts.
“Which line do you want?” Nikki asked, hoping that he’d pick the food line. She’d planned the idea of crashing a wedding, but hadn’t really given any thought about what to do once they actually got here.
Luke nodded over to the line to greet the newlyweds, sending Nikki’s heartbeat racing. But she wasn’t going to back down and allow it to look like she didn’t have the confidence Luke did.
“That’s what I was thinking, too,” she said, the tone in her voice obviously giving away the fact that it wasn’t really what she was thinking.
Luke chuckled. “You sure?”
“Let’s do it!” Nikki got up the courage needed and pulled him over to the end of the reception line. “I have an idea,” she continued, “let’s come up with fake names and a fake story about us.”
“Challenge accepted!” Luke agreed, before muttering under his breath, “I can’t believe we’re really doing this.”
Nikki held even tighter to his arm in both nervousness and excitement. “I know! Me neither. Okay, so what’s our story?”
“Let’s pick out each other’s fake names. Sound good?” Luke suggested.
“I love the idea! You’ll be … Chris Avary!”
“What, like the famous musician?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”
“Okay, if that’s what we’re going with, then you’re … Delia Gand!”
“Stop it!” Nikki shoved Luke in the arm. But, really, she loved that Luke had the same interests as her and knew the same celebrity chefs as she did.
“You can’t back down now, babe!” Luke said back.
There it was, ‘babe.’ Nikki loved being called that, but loved even more how casually Luke had called her that.
“Okay, fine.” Nikki feigned reluctance. “Know what, though? I’ve actually met Delia.”
“You’re kidding – The Sugar Fairy?”
“Yeah, really!”
“What was she like? I always imagined she’d have a giant ego, only because she’s one of the top chefs in the wedding industry.”
“I know, right? But get this – she didn’t. At all. In fact, she’s got to have been the most down to earth celebrity chef that there is.”
“Wow, that’s refreshing to hear. I guess that shows it’s possible to be great in this industry and still be a human. Could you imagine what it would be like to work for a top chef who was like that? That’d be like striking oil!”
“No kidding, that’d be a dream.” Nikki paused, initially reluctant to give more details about exactly how she met Delia. She didn’t want to explain that it had been just last night on a date with a different guy. But her excitement at wanting to share how amazing it was to meet her professional idol made Nikki still spill other details about the experience. “And guess what, she actually liked a cake I made so much that she asked to keep it in her shop. Crazy, right?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to see the cake, I guess.”
“What?”
“Well, I’d have to see the cake you made to know if she was crazy for keeping it.”
In response to Luke’s playful challenge, Nikki pulled out her phone and showed Luke the picture of last night’s waterfall cake. Luckily, Ryan was not in the picture.
“You made that?”
Nikki nodded. “Yep.”
“And who designed it?”
“I did that, also.”
Luke’s glance shot up and looked at Nikki in the eyes. “Nikki, you’re extremely talented.” Nikki could see Luke’s sincerity in his eyes. “I mean it. You shouldn’t be catering. You should be in the wedding cake and desserts industry. You should be on the cover of a magazine with that Nikki. Nikki, you’re that good.”
Nikki was flattered. She knew that Luke wasn’t just trying to make her happy by complimenting her. She knew that Luke was experienced enough in the industry to know what he was talking about, and she saw his honesty by his reaction to the photo.
When Luke saw Nikki’s cheeks begin to turn red from bashfulness at his compliment, he turned to cracking a joke to make her smile. “But, the real question is, did it taste good?”
Nikki chuckled and shrugged, signaling that she didn’t know.
“Wait!” Luke continued with his joking, “You mean you never tasted it? You could have fed The Sugar Fairy something that tasted like … I don’t know, flour – instead of an actual cake!”
Luke’s joking made Nikki’s bashfulness dissipate. She turned to look down the line toward the newlywed, only to gasp at what she saw. “Oh no!” She whispered to him. “We’re only a couple people away! What’s our story?”
“Our story?” Luke’s attention quickly turned to the fact they had to think quickly – and in unison. “Our story! Uh… well, Delia. Um … just follow my lead.”
“Okay, sounds great, Chris Avary!”
Their turn quickly approached and the couple went up to shake the newlyweds’ hands.
“Great to see you both!” The wife pretended to know who they were with a smile.
The husband reached out to shake Luke’s hand. “Remind me of your name again?”
“Chris,” Luke responded, intentionally avoiding saying his fake last name.
Devilishly, Nikki wasn’t letting him get away with that. “Avary. He’s Chris Avary.”
“Oh, like the musician?” The wife asked.
“Yeah, just like him …” Luke said. “Only, I’m obviously not him. If I were, our gift card would have been much larger.”
Luke’s joke wasn’t really that funny, but the awkwardness of their meeting the newlyweds in the wedding reception line was enough to make everyone chuckle.
Luke reached over to shake the bride’s hand, but the quick eye contact with the bride sent a shiver of something familiar through his mind. He’d seen those eyes before, but he couldn’t quite place where from. This left him with a startling, uneasy feeling of familiarity that he just couldn’t place.
“Congrats to you both, Cody and Savannah,” he said, as his mind continued to search for answers about where he’d met the wife from.