Ghosted: Wicked Wedding Planners Series

by Alyssa Parsons

And just like that Timothy walks out of my office. I hate that man, what a pig! I am flabbergasted but realise that I need to look after Jasmine right now. The poor girl is just sitting there in total shock, staring out into space. She isn’t taking in anything I am saying. Not that I could blame her.

  I did the only thing I thought would help in this situation. I call her mother and briefly explain what had just happened. Everyone needs their mother when something this awful happens. I sit with Jasmine until her mum arrives.

  ‘You know Jasmine, you’ve dodged a bullet there,’ I start babbling not knowing what to say or do.

  She says nothing.

  ‘I mean you certainly wouldn’t have wanted to go through with this wedding. He is a mean nasty horrible man and you got out before he trapped you.’

  Poor Jasmine just sits there, nodding. Finally after what seems like an eternity, her mother comes to collect her. She thanks me for getting in touch. I fill her in on what happened with Timothy. She goes over to Jasmine. She is still in so much shock that she barely reacts to anything her mother says. She eventually stands up after her mother spends a few minutes trying to console her. Jasmine’s mother thanks me again and they leave.

  ‘You won’t believe what just happened.’ I rush into Nic’s office. ‘That jerk Timothy just cancelled his wedding with Jasmine, right in front of me, in my office!’

  ‘You are joking.’ Nic looks up from her laptop

  ‘That guy is a total prick. I am fuming at how he humiliated that poor girl.’ I feel livid on behalf of Jasmine.

  ‘Why did he cancel the wedding?’ Nic asks as she straightens out a pile of leaflets on her desk.

  ‘Apparently she doesn’t fit into his life plans and he thinks she has emotional instability,’ I mock Timothy’s boring monotone voice.

  ‘You mean he’s been banging someone else and he thinks he can do better,’ Nic says sarcastically.

  ‘Do you think?’ I snort with laughter, ‘He is the most unattractive, boring man I have ever seen. I can’t imagine him having an affair.’

  ‘You’d be surprised.’ Nic brushes back her hair. ‘Those quiet boring types are the biggest players.’

  ‘Well he struck gold with Jasmine. I think he’ll be hard pushed to find someone as pretty as Jasmine who would go for him, unless he became a multi-millionaire.’

  ‘I feel sorry for Jasmine, imagine the humiliation of having to tell all your family and friends that the wedding is cancelled,’ Nic ponders that thought for a minute.

  ‘She’s such a nice person, Timothy is such a jerk. I mean he almost makes Caspar look like a saint.’

  Nic looks at me. ‘Really,’ she says completely unimpressed.

  ‘I said almost.’ We both burst out laughing.

  By the time the day has ended, I am ready to get back home. I am mentally drained and my head is all over the place. Luckily, the dramas at work have distracted me from my own issues. But as soon as I pull into my drive, the knotting sensation in my stomach returns.

  I let myself in. This time I switch off my phone and double lock my doors. I don’t want any interruptions. I go up to my bedroom. The blue diary is still lying open on my bed where I had left it yesterday.

  So where did we get to? Oh yes, Caspar had just introduced himself to me and I was on cloud nine. I flick through a few more pages. Stars are becoming more regular in my diary entries since we talked for the first time at the gym.

  The next time after we first spoke was three days later at the gym.

  October 21st

  So I saw Caspar at the gym today. He came over to the treadmill to say hi and ask how I was. He is so sweet. I can’t stop staring at him while he is training. He did look up at me a few times and caught me looking at him. I hope he doesn’t think I am some kind of psycho stalker. I know he would never really fancy me but maybe we will end up being friends. He is such lovely guy.

  I flick through to the next entry.

  October 30th

  I was doing some upper body weights today and Caspar comes over to me. He’s just realised we are next door neighbours. He asked me if I lived on William Drive and I said yes. He said he thought he saw me the other morning when I was leaving for college. He asked me what I did and I told him I was doing a business degree. He told me he is saving up some money to go travelling which is why he is coaching tennis at the club. That’s so cool. I’d love to go travelling with him.

  Reading through my diary now as a more mature 29 year woman, I can see that there is not as much depth to these interactions with Caspar as I had always thought. But what does remain with me, even to this day, is the intense feeling of happiness that being in Caspar’s company gave me.

  Moving on to November 4th, things start to get a bit more interesting. Fiona had hired some builders to turn an old unused room at the club into a Health Suite as she liked to call it. The builders knocked a whole wall out to give the space more of an open plan look. The health suite was going to have a Jacuzzi and a steam room. It became a massive hit with the club members.

  November 4th

  I went to the gym on my own today. I have started going up to 4 times a week because Caspar is there practically all the time and I really want to see him. Leanna’s stopped going as much so I braved it alone today. I was just warming up on the bike, when he walked in. He looked especially fit in a really nice blue t-shirt.

  He smiled at me and joined his group of mates on the bench press. I finished my workout but Caspar is still busy training. I really wanted to speak to him so I had to spend about 20 minutes stretching. I pretended that I normally spend this long on stretches when I usually only stretch for about 2 minutes after my workout.

  He finally comes over to the mats and basically he asks me if I knew that the hot tub was ready to use. Of course I acted dumb and said I hadn’t realised. He winks at me and says that Leanna and I should bring our swimming costumes next time. I told him that was a good idea and he says that hopefully he would see me in there.

  Wow- Caspar Danes has just said that he wants to hang out with me in the hot tub. At least I think that’s what he meant. Maybe he was just being polite. I rung Leanna straight away and told her she had to come into the hot tub with me. She thinks that Caspar probably does like me and it’s his way of chatting me up. I am so excited.

  I remember spending ages trying to find the right swimming costume to wear in the hot tub. I needed to look hot but not in a slutty way. Leanna and I went shopping in Sheridan’s and I picked out this really nice turquoise tankini.

  November 7th

  I was at the club playing in the tennis league. I was quite good today. There is this weird guy called Scott who has just joined. I keep beating him in league games and he can’t handle it. He keeps wanting to play more games against me so he can beat me. It’s so pathetic. Anyway Leanna came to the gym with me today.

  We have our swimming costumes with us. I have been so stressed out because I realised that if I go into the hot tub, Caspar will see me in not a lot of clothing. I am not sure I am hot enough to pull off a bikini. I settled on this turquoise tankini style. It’s a 2 piece but makes my tummy looks flat. It does looks pretty good on me.

  So we head off to the gym after tennis but Caspar isn’t there. He is almost always there on league afternoons because he coaches the little kids. Why isn’t he here today? I was really disappointed that he wasn’t going to be here today after all the effort in getting my hot tub outfit ready.

  Anyway we are halfway through our workout when he walks in. He comes over and says he hopes to see us in the hot tub later. Leanna groans because she knows he trains for about an hour and we will have to wait around. She hisses at me that she doesn’t want to spend the entire afternoon here. I beg her to stay and she finally agrees.

  We stretch out our routine for a bit longer and head off to get changed for the hot tub. We were in the hot tub for 20 min before Caspar comes in with his friend Mike. The hot tub isn’t busy and soon it’s just the fou
r of us in it. We had such a good laugh in there. Caspar has a great sense of humour and his friend Mike is alright too. The banter was amazing. I am falling in love.

  I was so innocent back then. I smile thinking back at the simplicity of this relationship and how much it meant to me. Over the next couple of months, our hot tub sessions would happen at least once if not twice a week. Leanna had started dating a guy from college so she wasn’t coming to the gym as often.

  Kent was old news now and she had moved on much to his sorrow. At this point, I had become comfortable going to the gym and hot tub by myself. I actually preferred being on my own and most of the time Caspar would come in to the hot tub without Mike. It kind of became our thing. The hot tub was never really busy until later in the evening so we would often have the tub to ourselves.

  A few times, I would finish my training earlier than him and end up sitting in the hot tub for 30 minutes before he came in but I always waited for him. God, I cringe when I think about it … that’s such a desperado move. I’d never do anything like that now. Caspar and I were never short of conversation and apart from bantering we would have quite deep conversations about politics, news stories and just life itself. I flip forward a couple of months ahead in my diary.

  January 12th

  I actually think that Caspar likes me more than just as a friend. So that guy Scott, the weird one who keeps trying to beat me in tennis………….Well he actually rung my landline at home to ask me out!!! Super cringe … It caught me completely off guard. I kept making excuses that I was busy but the guy could not take a hint so I ended up having to tell him I wasn’t interested.

  Fiona from the gym had given him my number. What a traitor. I found out because when I went to the gym today she kept grinning at me. She asked if I had received any interesting calls lately. When I asked how she knew about it, she told me she had given Scott my number. I told her that she shouldn’t have and that my number was personal. She did point out that all league player numbers are on the bulletin board so we can ring each other to organise games. She had merely pointed Scott in the right direction, apparently. I told her not to encourage him as I had no feelings whatsoever for him.

  Later in the hot tub, I was telling Caspar and Mike about Scott. Caspar got all protective and said that if I got any more trouble off him, I should let him know and he would go and sort Scott out. He seemed bothered about the fact that another guy was cracking on to me. Mind you not that he would ever have to worry as a) Scott is not attractive and b) Scott has no personality. I phoned Leanna up and she thinks that it’s a sign that Caspar does fancy me.

  I turned the pages of the diary until I found the page I wanted to see. Here it is - March 3rd. I can still feel the tingles of joy and ecstasy I felt on that day. If only I could have that day back just one more time.

  This entry is crammed full of stars and happy faces and exclamation marks.

  March 3rd

  He kissed me – I kissed Caspar Danes. We kissed. I am so ecstatically happy right now. In fact I don’t think there is a word good enough to describe the sheer level of happiness that I feel. Here’s what happened. I went into the gym today and Caspar was already there with Mike. Mike nudged Caspar when he saw me come in and they both smiled. As usual I had been in the hot tub for ages before Caspar came in.

  Bonus 1 – Mike had to leave the hot tub early today.

  Bonus 2 –No one else was in the hot tub today.

  We chatted for ages and had such a good laugh. We got out of the hot tub and headed over to the changing rooms together. Suddenly Caspar pulled me into the storage cupboard on the way to the changing rooms and kissed me. It was so passionate. He is the best kisser ever. It was amazing. I can’t believe it - he must actually like me. I can’t believe he actually likes me. We kissed for about 5 minutes.

  He waited for me to get changed and we walked home together. He gave me a little wink when he got to his house. I am in such a daze. I can’t wait to see him again. I just can’t believe this is real. But it is !!!!! Does this mean he wants to be my boyfriend? I really want to be his girlfriend.

  After the day we had our first kiss, we would walk home from the club together. Often we would stop to snog in the park on the way back. At this most perfect time in my life, there resided one fly in the ointment…….my parents. Well it was more my mother but she had managed to convince my dad to follow suit. She wasn’t particularly fond of Caspar. Okay, she really disliked him.

  He would often have a group of his mates round his house. They liked to hang out in the back garden where he had this man shed type of thing and they would drink beer and listen to music. Now this shouldn’t really be a problem but they would play music on a fairly loud level. I can admit now that the music was way too loud but back then I blamed my mother completely for being intolerant.

  Even now I cringe at the mortifyingly embarrassing scene she created one Saturday afternoon in April. My mum was in the garden engaging in another one of her marathon gardening sessions that usually lasted all day.

  Around 3 pm Caspar and his friends started hanging out in the back garden. I was sitting on my window ledge spying on them. I just couldn’t resist looking at him at every opportunity. I made sure I was carefully hidden by my curtains so I wouldn’t be seen if Caspar happened to look up. Could you imagine if he saw me? He would think I was a right pyscho stalker.

  He was looking especially fit …. yet again in a tight fitting white t-shirt and faded blue jeans. Ok I know I always seem to be describing Caspar in tight fitting t-shirts. But back in the day that seemed to be the main staple in his wardrobe. I was in the middle of a daydream involving Caspar and I going on holiday to this beautiful tropical island. We were just about to kiss in the warm turquoise sea when I was abruptly snapped out of dream by the sounds of my Mum shouting.

  ‘Turn it down!!!’ I could hear her screech.

  I looked out the window to see my mother standing on an old wooden crate, looking over our garden fence at Caspar and his mates.

  Oh no, this cannot be happening, my stomach tightened as my Mum carried on.

  ‘I am fed up with the constant noise coming from your house.’ Mum was literally in her soap box.

  ‘I have put up with it but enough is enough,’ she started waving her hands.

  Caspar was trying to get a word in and trying to calm her down. But there was no reasoning with Mum when she got like this.

  My mother continued rambling on about how people should be able to relax in their gardens without being subjected to a banging loud racket.

  God can’t she stop, I willed to the universe above to hear me and put an end to my mom’s tirade. I couldn’t hear what Caspar was saying but his friends were trying hard to cover their laughter. I was horrified.

  My mother had just put the complete brakes on anything happening between Caspar and I. Surely he would have nothing to do with me now. I couldn’t believe it. Hot tears started streaming down my face. I phoned Leanna in a hysterical state.

  Leanna did her best trying to put a positive spin on things saying that things could be worse and that Caspar would understand that her behaviour had nothing to do with me. By now the music outside had been turned off and Caspar and his friends had left his garden. I would never be able to see him again. It was all too embarrassing and I didn’t know if I could ever face him again,

  I blanked my mum for the entire weekend. She was not impressed when I finally told her why I was angry with her. Well I only told her we were friends at the club. I was 18 and technically an adult but she did not approved of me hanging out with a 24 year old guy. She actually had the nerve to forbid me from seeing him.

  ‘You are only 18. He is too old for you and I don’t like the type of people he hangs around with,’ Mum shouted at me.

  ‘You can’t stop me from hanging out with who I want,’ I screamed at her. ‘I am 18 years old.’

  ‘He is a lay about and he hangs around with a dodgy lot of guys.’ Mum was not letti
ng this drop. ‘I don’t want you caught up in all of that.’

  ‘I’m not an idiot’, I shouted back at her.

  ‘You have a bright future ahead of you and he is not the kind of guy you need distracting you from getting your degree.’

  I remember stomping up the stairs and locking myself in my room for hours after that. It took about a week before I started talking to her again. I still cringe today at the memory of the argument between my mother and Caspar. I’ve had enough of rehashing past memories for today. I leave my diary and head off to have a bath so I can clear my head.

  Chapter 4

  I t’s Friday morning and for once I am going to be able to join in with ‘Friday feeling’ today. Working as a wedding planner means that most Saturdays are work days. A Saturday off for me is a rarity. The only good thing about the dreary winter months of January and February is that not many weddings are booked in. So I get the occasional weekend off as was the case with this weekend.

  I arrive at the office and check through my appointments. Amelie and pushy mother were coming in today so we could look at some venues. Fun Fun Fun! I hope that Linda was going to let Amelie pick what she wanted.

  Nic and I were still reeling from the horrible Timothy. I still felt devastated for Jasmine. Her poor little face. She looked so crushed and frail when he said he was cancelling the wedding.

  Nic and I meet in her office for our weekly catch up meetings. Her office reflects her personality. Minimalistic, efficient and organised. I sit in the sleek black leather chair opposite her highly polished dark brown walnut coloured desk. Nic has a neat pile of cream folders stacked on her desk.

  ‘Things ok, hun?’ she looks at me with concern. ‘You’ve got dark circles under your eyes.’

  ‘Well I haven’t been able to sleep very well, surprisingly.’ I take a sip from my steaming hot cup of Pure Double Mint tea.

  ‘Have you heard from Jasmine?’ Nic enquires as she fires up her laptop.