Marlowe
Reid's centerpiece suggestions turned out to be, as Cricket had promised, spectacularly uninspired — a single, unadorned candle in a plain glass jar, repeated across every single table with no variation whatsoever.
"It's clean," Reid said, defensive, when both Cricket and I stared at his mockup with matching unimpressed expressions. "Elegant. Understated."
"It's boring," Cricket said. "Nova wants something that actually looks like effort went into it, not something you'd find at a diner."
"I resent that comparison."
"You should, because it's accurate." Cricket pulled out his own considerably more elaborate sketch, involving wildflowers and small, hand-carved wooden accents that actually looked genuinely lovely once I studied it properly. "This is what a centerpiece should look
