Chapter 178
Chapter 178
Mimi’s POV
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Mimi had imagined her wedding day approximately zero times in her life. She’d been too busy surviving. with college, dealing with Nigerian men that had shown her premium pepper, building a career, dealing with Marcus’s corporate drama.
Romance had always felt like something other people got to have while she handled the practical stuff.
Then Dante Williams had walked into her life looking like sex in a suit and completely ruined her for every other man on the planet.
“Stop fidgeting,” Elara said, swatting Mimi’s hand away from the sample invitation she’d been folding and unfolding. “You’re going to crease it.”
They were sitting in a wedding planning studio in Midtown surrounded by fabric swatches and flower arrangements and entirely too many decisions for one person to make.
“I don’t know why we need embossed lettering versus regular print,” Mimi said. “Nobody actually cares about the invitations.”
“You care. That’s why you’ve been staring at these samples for twenty minutes.”
“I care about marrying Dante. The rest of this is just expensive nonsense.”
Elara laughed and picked up a champagne-colored invitation with delicate gold foil. “This one. It’s elegant without being stuffy. Very you and Dante.”
Mimi looked at it and had to admit Elara was right. “Okay fine. That one. Decision made. Can we be done now?”
“We still need to pick flowers, finalize the menu, choose your dress…”
“Oh my God, I’m eloping. Dante and I are flying to Vegas tonight and getting married by an Elvis impersonator.”
“You are not eloping. You’ve been planning this wedding for two months and you’re seeing it through” Elara pulled out her tablet where she’d been keeping obsessive lists. “Besides, you already asked me to be your maid of honor. You can’t take that back now.”
Mimi felt her chest warm at the memory. She’d asked Elara over wine and Thai food three weeks ago, both of them slightly drunk and laughing about how far they’d come from that first day when Elara had shown up at Thorne Dynamics looking terrified.
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” Mimi had said. “Of course I want you standing next to me when I marry the love of my life.””
Elara had cried. Mimi had pretended she wasn’t also crying. They’d hugged and finished the wine and spent the rest of the night planning what would apparently be the most complicated event of Mumi’s entire existence.
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Chapter 178
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The wedding planner appeared with more samples and Mimi suppressed a groan. “How do people do this? How does anyone survive wedding planning without losing their mind?”
“Most people hire someone to handle the details.”
“We did hire someone. She keeps asking me questions I don’t know how to answer.”
“That’s because you’re avoiding making decisions. Pick something, anything, and move forward.”
Mimi looked at the array of choices in front of her and felt overwhelmed. Roses or peonies. Champagne or blush. String quartet or jazz trio. Every decision felt momentous and completely insignificant at the same time.
“I just want to marry Dante,” she said quietly. “I don’t care about the rest of it.”
Elara’s expression softened. “Then let’s make this easy. Close your eyes.”
“What?”
“Close your eyes and picture your perfect wedding day. Not the Pinterest version or what you think you’re supposed to want. Just what would make you happiest.”
Mimi closed her eyes and let herself imagine it. Small ceremony, just close friends and family. Outdoor venue, maybe a garden. Simple white dress, nothing too formal. Dante in a suit looking at her like she was the only person in the world.
“I want it small,” Mimi said, opening her eyes. “Intimate. Just the people who actually matter celebrating with
us.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do. Forget the country club and the two hundred person guest list. We’ll find a garden venue and keep it to fifty people max.”
Mimi felt relief flood through her. “Really? You don’t think that’s too casual?”
“I think it’s perfect. This is your wedding, not anyone else’s. Plan it the way you want.”
They spent the next hour scaling everything down. Smaller venue, shorter guest list, simpler flowers. Each decision made Mimi feel lighter until she was actually excited about the planning instead of dreading it.
“So peonies?” the wedding planner asked.
“Peonies,” Mimi confirmed. “White and blush, nothing too structured.”
“And for the reception dinner?”
“Family style. I want everyone at long tables actually talking to each other instead of sitting at separate rounds pretending to enjoy rubber chicken.”
The planner made notes without judgment. If she thought Mimi’s choices were unconventional she didn’t say
So.
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Chapter 178
By the time they left three hours later, Mimi had made more progress than in the previous eight weeks combined. She had a venue, a florist, a photographer, and an actual plan that didn’t make her want to fake her own death.
“Thank you,” she said to Elara as they walked to the parking garage. “For keeping me sane through all this
“That’s what maids of honor are for. That and making sure you don’t trip walking down the aisle
“If I trip Dante will catch me. That man would set himself on fire if I asked him to.”
“You two are disgusting. I love it.”
Mimi’s phone buzzed with a text from Dante.
Dante: How’s the planning going love? Do I need to stage an intervention?
Mimi: All done. Turns out weddings are easy when you stop caring what other people think.
Dante: That’s my girl. Dinner tonight? I’m buying.
Mimi: You’re always buying. But yes.
They met at a small Italian restaurant in the Village, the kind of place with checkered tablecloths and waiters who’d been there for thirty years. Dante was already seated when Mimi arrived, looking unfairly good in jeans and a sweater.
“You made decisions,” he said when she sat down. “I can tell by your face.”
“What does my face look like when I make decisions?”
“Relieved. Like you’ve been holding your breath and finally remembered to exhale.”
Mimi reached across the table and took his hand. “I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Soon. Then you’re stuck with me forever.”
“Good. I’ve gotten used to having you around.”
They ordered too much food and talked about everything except the wedding. Work drama, Marcus’s kids normal couple stuff that Mimi had never thought she’d get to have.
Halfway through dessert Dante’s expression turned serious.
“I need to tell you something,” he said. “About the wedding.”
Mimi’s stomach dropped. “Please don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet because I will literally kill you
“No cold feet. But my mother called. She wants to come.”
Dante’s relationship with his mother was complicated. She’d left when he was twelve, moved across the country, and started a new family. They talked maybe twice a year, always awkward conversations that went
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Chapter 178
nowhere
“Do you want her there?” Mimi asked carefully.
គ
“I don’t know Part of me thinks she gave up the right to be involved in my life when she left. But part of me thinks maybe this is a chance to rebuild something.”
“Then invite her. Worst case scenario she doesn’t show up and we have an extra seat at dinner. Best case you get some closure.”
Dante squeezed her hand. “Have I mentioned that I love you?”
“Not in the last hour. You’re slacking, pick up pace man.”
The next few weeks passed in a blur of final preparations and last-minute adjustments. Mimi found a dress that was simple and elegant without making her feel like she was playing dress-up.
Marcus agreed to walk Mimi down the aisle since her own father had died years ago.
And then suddenly it was the morning of the wedding and Mimi was standing in a hotel suite surrounded by flowers and champagne and her closest friends while someone did her makeup.
“How are you feeling?” Elara asked.
“Terrified. Excited. Like I might throw up.”
“All normal wedding day emotions. Just breathe.”
Mimi looked at herself in the mirror and barely recognized the woman staring back. Hair swept up in an elegant twist, makeup highlighting features she usually ignored, the dress fitting perfectly.
She looked like someone who was about to get married.
She looked happy.
“It’s time,” the wedding coordinator said from the doorway. “Everyone’s seated and waiting
Mimi took one last deep breath and smiled.
“Let’s do this.”
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