“Yeah.”
“Alright, I’ll let them know.”
After hanging up, Justin looked at the people in front of him. Rachel, Gloria, Victor, Hernandez, and the kids were present. Only Jolly was still contacting her friends on the balcony about the flowers for the wedding.
“Ryan said he’ll be coming over tomorrow.”
“Isn’t he hospitalized?” The news stumped Rachel. “Yeah.” Gloria was surprised as well. “Why does he want to come?”
“He happened to have learned of our flower crisis and managed to get a guy. The flowers will be delivered tomorrow. He said to consider it as his wedding gift to Gloria.”
Gloria and Victor exchanged glances with each other, unsure what to say. Rachel, on the other hand, felt that something didn’t add up. “How did Ryan learn of this?”
Justin glanced toward the balcony where Jolly was still making her calls.
Clearly, Jolly had called many of her friends, and Ryan knew almost all her friends in Riverdale. As such, it wasn’t surprising if he got word of it. Rachel furrowed her brows, also unsure of what to say for a moment.
After returning from making her calls, Jolly slumped onto the couch and sat next to Gloria. “I can’t believe it! Does no one operate during Springfest?! I’ve already offered triple the price, yet I still can’t find anyone!”
“Actually, it’s not all hopeless.” Rachel hesitated for quite some time. “Ryan called and said he managed to get a guy.”
“He did what?” Jolly was stumped.
“It’s okay, we don’t need his help.” Gloria stepped in at once. ‘It’s just a wedding, and it’s no big deal if we don’t have any flowers. We’ll just use something else to decorate the place.”
While speaking, she gave Victor a nudge with. her elbow, and he got her instantly. “Yeah, we’re not finicky about this.”
“Why should we turn him down?” Jolly glanced. at the soon-to-be-married couple. “We can’t find any on our side, so why say no when it’s being delivered right to our doorstep?! Why are your guys looking at me like that? It’s his wedding. gift to Gloria, so what does it have to do with me? He saved us the trouble by managing to get the flowers, didn’t he?”
Everyone was surprised by Jolly’s indifference except Rachel, who was smiling with her head lowered. Jolly had never been perfunctory when it came to her friends. Yes, she wanted nothing to do with Ryan, but they were in a moment of crisis, weren’t they?
The flowers arrived the next morning along with Ryan, who had lost much weight-probably due to his illness. He even looked somewhat frail under his black coat. After getting down from his car, he greeted Justin and the gang.
Meanwhile, the wedding planning team had arrived as well and were setting up the wedding. venue. More than that, most of Gloria’s orchestra friends from abroad had also arrived and were all staying in the summer villa. It sure was a lively morning.
“Just because you’re gifting Gloria flowers doesn’t mean you have to come yourself.” Jolly treated Ryan in an ungracious manner as soon as she saw him. “Do you think you’re invincible?”
To that, Ryan said, “I’ve come out for some fresh air since it’s a little stuffy in the hospital. Don’t worry, I won’t stay for long.”
“Sure as hell you won’t. Were you planning to only leave after lunch?”
Justin had thought about being polite and asking Ryan to stay for lunch. But now that Jolly had put it that way, he said nothing about it anymore.
Meanwhile, Rachel smoothed things over. “Jolly’s just joking. You have to stay for lunch when you’ve done us a huge favor.”
Jolly didn’t refute, and just as Ryan was about to say yes, the sound of a roaring engine came from the front of the villa. The next second, a white sports car pulled over in front of everyone.
The man who came out of the car was wearing a white sweater, and he removed his sunglasses to reveal a handsome face.
Jolly’s eyes lit up in response. “Leroy!” she exclaimed as she dashed to the man.
The way Leroy spread his arms to catch Jolly was so tenderly affectionate that the girls from the orchestra all watched with envy-even Hernandez got jealous. On the other hand, Ryan’s gaze sharpened.
“Well, that’s basically all the guests for today. Dinner will surely be quite a party,” said Rachel. “If you don’t have any other plans, President Sutton, you should just stay. We’re having a bachelor-bachelorette barbecue party tonight. Who knows, you might meet that someone.”
It probably wouldn’t be easy to convince Ryan to put his feelings for Jolly down, so why not take a different approach? If they were lucky, he might take a fancy to someone else. Most importantly, he probably wouldn’t continue to be so dead-set when he was witnessing Jolly and Leroy’s affections up close.
Just like that, Ryan stayed justifiably. As night fell, the string lights were put up. The barbecue grill was also brought out, lacing the air in the yard with barbecue smoke.
While Leroy was manning the grill, Jolly stood next to him, helping him with the seasoning.
Very quickly, a bunch of girls from the orchestra came to ask for pictures and autographs. “Leroy, we’re fans of yours. Can we get a picture?”
“Sure,” Leroy answered with a smile.
“Jolly, help us take the picture, will you?”
A camera had been shoved into Jolly’s arms before she could even register what was happening. “Hey-”
Meanwhile, the girls lined up to take pictures with Leroy.
It was fine in the beginning, but as Jolly took the pictures, more and more people stood in line-basically all the girls from the orchestra. Thus, the barbecue area became Leroy’s private meet and greet while Jolly became the photographer.
By the time Jolly took about a dozen pictures, she had already cussed Gloria hundreds of times.
Meanwhile, Rachel sat close to the villa as she watched all that was happening. Next to her, the kids were running around and playing with the balloons the wedding planner had given them.
“Why aren’t you joining them?” A crisp voice came from her side, leading her to turn around only to see a warm, thick throw being draped over her shoulder.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Justin pulled the chair aside and sat down. “From what I remember, you can play the piano.”
Rachel followed his line of sight and took a glance afar.
The guys in the orchestra were professionals, so it wasn’t a surprise for them to bring their instruments. Someone started playing their violin, and more of them pulled out their instruments one after another. Just like that, the ordinary bachelor-bachelorette barbecue party turned into an outdoor recital and audio- visual feast.
Rachel chuckled bashfully. “These guys are: professionals while I’m just an amateur. I’ll skip the embarrassment.”
“It’s all just for fun.”
“Have you taken a liking to crowds as well? I remember you used to prefer silence.” “No one wouldn’t want to be in a crowd. It just
feels lonely when the excitement has nothing to do with you.”
The liveliness could always amplify the loneliness. Rachel nodded musingly. She could understand him since she had nothing to do with all the exciting banquets the Hudson Family threw when she was little.
Just then, she spotted a figure far away from the corner of her eyes, and a hint of complication laced them. “Well, someone is pretty lonely tonight.”
Afar, Ryan looked pretty lonely as he stood leaning against the wall with a glass of wine in his hand.
He had been standing there as long as Rachel had been sitting here, fixing his gaze in Leroy and Jolly’s direction. He was practically a statue at this point. Every now and then, girls from the orchestra would approach him, but he would turn all of them down.
“He has too much he wants to hold on to,” Justin commented plainly.
Before Rachel could make out what Justin was implying, Samuel suddenly came running to them and pulled on Rachel.
