CHAPTER 2
 
 
Tina opened the door of her fiancée’s office, and watched with amusement the scene unfolding before her.
 
Helena stood with the phone to her ear, talking animately in a language that Tina quickly recognized as Japanese, while her half-sister Carmen fumbled with the zip of her skirt, desperately trying to fasten it up. Attempt proved vain, given the constant pacing of the wearer, passionately involved in the unintelligible but seemingly fundamental business talk. Carmen finally gave up her task with a frustrated groan and noticing Tina at the door, looked at her while shaking her head and raising her hands up in the air. 
 
Carmen had been raised in Mexico, while Helena had always lived with her mother in England, until she decided to pursue her studies in the US. Carmen and Helena had the same father, and the young woman, who had only recently entered her half sister’s existence after Helena found out about her when the old Jose Morales de la Pica died, was a pure joy to be around. She was young, joyful and lived life to the fullest, and Tina had heartedly taken the role of the big sister that Helena, often away, didn’t always assume very well. They got along great, and appart from Alice, Carmen was pretty much the only one who could sheer her up after Helena had to leave for her umpteenth trip.
 
Tina looked at the young woman and gave her a wink. Once again, Helena had let herself be engrossed in one of her business deals and the blonde would be the one to bring her back to the matter at hand.
 
"Helena! I can’t believe you’re not dressed up yet!", She said with a stern tone.
 
The British woman paused her conversation and faced her girlfriend with an innocent face that immediately turned into a guilty one when she noticed the blonde’s frown.
 
"I have to go, Toshiro… Yes, I’ll call you back… Meanwhile, please make sure to send me the final figures… Alright, goodbye." Helena hung up and gave an apologetic smile to the blonde.
 
"Honey, you look absolutely magnificent!"
 
Tina sighed. The two women had been living together for 3 years now, and the whole masquerade of not seing each other before the wedding that tradition entailed annoyed them to the highest degree. It did Helena anyway… So they had opted for an unconventional ceremony with family and friends… and half of the United States’ population of course given the important status of Helena Peabody in the business world. 
 
‘Just a few partners and clients’ she had guarranted Tina when discussing the guests’ list. Considering that Helena was doing business with the major part of the world, Tina had considered herself very lucky with the final guest number.
 
Unlike most weddings, it was planned that they would both go and welcome their guests before the official wedding ritual. Helena had talked her into it, suggesting that it was much more personal and friendly, but Tina was no fool and knew that this was all part of her fiancée’s PR strategy. "Good PR is good business", she always said.
 
Tina didn’t mind. She knew Helena would not change. She had accepted it long ago. She was a great person and it was enough…
 
… Again the intrusive feelings of sadness and uncertainty invaded her thoughts and she tried to chase them away. 
 
Well, of course, had she been asked to speak a true heart, she would have wished for nothing more than a very simple and private wedding. Just the two of them, maybe a few family and friends, and obviously her Pappy…
 
Thinking of her grandfather brought tears to her eyes. Ever since she had told him about her marrying Helena, he had affirmed his disapproval and refused to attend the wedding. It was very hard on Tina. Her grandfather was the most important person in the world for her. He had raised her on his own ever since her parents had died in that terrible plane crash when she was just a little girl, and his approval had always meant so much to her. He had been so great when she came out to him a long time ago. He had smiled and said to her ’I love you my dear child. You’re all that I have left, and wherever your happiness is, I will embrace it because it will be mine’.
 
That is why Tina could not understand why he was so stubborned about Helena. It wasn’t even that he didn’t like her. ‘She is a very decent woman’, were his words, ‘Just not the right one for my Tina’… He had said nothing during the three years that they had lived together, but somehow marrying Helena was a step too far. Tina figured that he had secretly hoped that she would get bored and break up with the business woman. After all, hadn’t he always refused to invite them both in Walheim? Tina never pushed the issue and visited him every time on her own.

Yet, she had deeply hoped that the old Charles Kennard would change his mind about coming to the wedding, but today was the big day, and her Pappy was not there.
 
Tina drew herself out of her sad reverie and smiled at the compliment that her soon-to-be wife had given her moments ago.
 
"The guests are starting to arrive and you’re not even closed to ready." She told her girlfriend, with a raised eyebrow.
 
"I am, Darling! It will just be a matter of seconds… Carm’, sweetheart, would you please finish what you started, instead of just standing there."
 
The young latina was just about to swear her frustration to her sister – probably in Spanish, Tina thought – when Andrew, the majordome, hurried through the door with an obvious panicked look on his face.
 
"Ms Peabody, this is a catastrophy, the guests are here and the main waitress for the pre-ceremony cocktail has not arrived. And we are just about to serve the champagne".
 
"Has she called to say that she would be late?", Tina asked.
 
"No she hasn’t! Her employer has been reached but he said that she left a long time ago. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to worry you, but this is such a… an excruciating occurrence!", the man finished in pure distress now.
 
"Well, Andrew, it’s quite obvious that you don’t want to worry anyone here.", Tina commented, giving a conniving wink to Carmen, who could hardly contain her laugh.
 
"But don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be alright. And in the worst case, I guess you’ll just have to do the service yourself, right?", she went on, patting his back at the last part.
 
The sheer look of horror on the poor fellow’s face before he left the room was hilarious, and Carmen burst out laughing. Helena just looked at Tina with a mix of shock and amusement.
 
"That, my dear, was cruel to this poor Andrew. He’s been working like a mad man for this day. He is precious, you know"
 
"You’re right, I’m sorry. But I just couldn’t resist." The blonde replied with a mischievous smile. "Hurry now, will you? I’m going down there to greet our guests."
 
With that, she left the room and as she headed towards the big staircase, she suddenly felt with absolute certainty that she was heading towards her future.
 

 
TBC…