Page 95 of When Annika Met Thom

Cassie had put Kyle to work, unfurling a long silver carpet that extended from one entrance to the rock wall, and was lining its length with large bouquets of blue irises, pink roses and baby’s breath. The partners were all in attendance, all in black tie. Meesha was wearing a black tuxedo jacket with a signature pink bow tie. Her black pants had a line of pink satin that matched her tie and her shoes perfectly, and there were pink sparkles in her eye make-up and nail polish. Cassie was working a similar suit, although she’d gone with accents of deep purple blue. There was an iris in her corsage and a pink rose in Meesha’s. Kyle and Ty were in black and white, with pink roses, and Thom looked amazing in his new tux. The rose in his corsage was a paler shade of pink, presumably to match Annika’s dress, and there was a blue iris with it, too. He’d shaved his beard for the photo shoot the week before and looked even hotter without it.

He was also utterly photogenic. The camera loved him, and Meesha kept one feed locked on the groom. She had a team of camera people working with her, and the video team they’d used for the holiday pop-ups was editing a feed in real time. They had a lot of prepared videos either scheduled into the broadcast or available to be dropped into the feed at a moment’s notice. There were also promotional sequences, one showing the amenities of the club, another with classes, and yet another that was Meesha’s favorite—it showed a rapid sequence of faces of people at the club, most of them smiling or laughing. The broadcast of the official re-opening of the club, including the wedding, was on the club’s social media but also playing simultaneously on the big screens over the registration desk. To Meesha’s delight, there had been such a steady line of people wanting to buy memberships that they’d called in a second person to work on the desk with Raylene.

Club members were starting to gather, some drawn by curiosity and others having been invited to the service. The lobby was crowded, filled with the bustle that Meesha loved best, and she almost missed the arrival of the musicians. They’d come to the side door, instead of the one she’d asked them to use, but it was fine. Cassie waved and two volunteers helped them unpack and set up. Reid appeared at the door of the bodega and Meesha went to talk to him.

“All systems are go,” he said to her with a smile. “We’re setting up the buffet in 5B, right?”

“Right. The tables are already set up and draped and the flowers have been delivered.”

“No kidding.”

“We set up the big tables end-to-end for serving, and ten round tables for guests to sit and eat. There’s room in one corner for the musicians to move up there after the service.”

“Got it.”

“I’m with Reid, owner of the bodega and catering service here at the club, who’s planned lunch for the wedding,” Meesha said, filming the convoy headed for the elevator. “What’s for lunch today, Reid? It smells great.”

“The bride requested Italian. We’re starting with asparagus soup. That’s going to be served with fresh bread, then the pasta course is agnolotti in a butter sauce with fresh chanterelle mushrooms.” Reid watched as cases of Prosecco and trays of glasses were moved toward the elevators, then nodded as they reached their destination without incident. He smiled at Meesha. “We’ll have broiled fish with roasted vegetables. It’s branzino, and we have a lemon and caper sauce for it.”

“Yum,” Meesha said.

“That’s followed by an arugula salad, then grilled lamb chops with risotto with asparagus and peas. There’s a vegetarian option of stuffed and grilled portobello mushrooms.”

“No one’s going home hungry.”

“Not a chance.” He smiled. “Dessert is a surprise.”

“There has to be cake.”

“There will be cake, but something else, too.”

“I’m hungry already.”

“Good.” Reid pointed after his crew. “I’ll see you upstairs in about an hour.”

“I’ll be there!” Meesha sent the short video to the editing crew, then turned to the guests. She’d already filmed short interviews with Ty and Cassie, but Theo was just stepping out of a cab with Lyssa and their son Logan. Theo and Logan wore tuxes, and it was amazing how tall Logan had become in the past year. Lyssa was dressed in a swingy dress in a turquoise floral print and looked fabulous, as always. Meesha had to believe she was raiding her collection of designer clothes or still had connections from her modeling days. Theo was carrying their sleeping year-old daughter, Louisa, dressed in pink with a floral headband.

Another cab pulled up behind the one that had brought Theo and Lyssa, and they turned to greet Shannyn, Ty’s wife. Theo gave Louisa to Lyssa, then helped Shannyn unload kids from the cab. Francis was just four months old and fussing, even as four-year old Michael was impatient to get into the club and find his dad. Joshua was almost two and on the move: Meesha had visions of him vanishing into the crowd. Ty appeared then, scooping up his younger son on the sidewalk, stopping the second with a word, then offering Shannyn his hand.

It was kind of amazing to Meesha how much stuff people with kids carried along. There were diaper bags to be hauled and strollers to be unfolded, and the entire exercise seemed so complicated that if she had kids, she might have been tempted to stay home.

Not that she was having kids, ever.

Both partners and their families stepped back into the club together and Meesha had to scramble to intersect Theo.

“Theo Tremblay, one of the five partners of Flatiron Five Fitness,” she said.

“That would be me,” Theo replied in his gorgeous British accent.

“Any comments on today’s festivities?”

His smile flashed. “Just that I’m glad Thom and Annika found each other. We’re honored that they’ve chosen to celebrate their marriage here at the club, and share this day with all of us.”

“The story that started it all.”

“That’s it, exactly.”

“And your partnership is another example of the romantic power of F5F.”

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