Wedding (1)

The day before the wedding...

As the wedding was to be held in an isolated resort, all the guests had to arrive in the area one day earlier than the wedding date to save themselves from the hassle on the road.

As Leo's parents had decided to invite everyone from their paternal family side, the family had rented a bus for the entire family. Michael's dad, the family head went house to house to pick each family.

They arrived at the resort safely, but Michael was nowhere to be found. Michelle his sister tried to call him but it all ended up in a 'the number you dialed is not yet in service. Please try to call later' service voice. After hearing this for a couple of times, Michelle stopped calling her brother and sent him a message instead.

Message: IT WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU TRY TO ANSWER MY CALLS! WHERE ARE YOU? DAD IS LOOKING FOR YOU!!!

She sent the message in all caps to her brother because she was very annoyed at him as he was ignoring her calls.

After a few minutes, she then received a reply from him.

Reply: Don't waste your time. I'll be there in the afternoon. I'm going to pick America first before heading there.

She sometimes wonders what kind of a spell did America did on her brother. For Michelle, her Ate Zoey was and will forever be the perfect match to her Kuya. Little did she know that at this wedding she will be reunited with her only reputed sister-in-law?

Her mom sat beside her while she was still daydreaming about her, Ate Zoey. She came back to reality when she heard her mom ask her if she already reached her brother.

"No, he's not answering. But he already replied to my message. He will first pick up America and will be here by afternoon." Michelle reported it to her mom with a disgusted face when she mentioned America's name.

"Michelle observes your face and will you please start calling her your Ate? Remember that she's older than you."

"No, I don't want to." She blurted back to her mom then stood up and went to her room.

--

Zoey and her parents were invited to the wedding. Zoey was invited as the maid of honor while her parents were the primary sponsors of the couple. Zoey packed her things for 3 days' worth of stuff while her parents were just for two. They needed to be back immediately after the wedding. So they just have arranged 2 days' worth of attires.

While waiting for Alfie, who offered to be their driver again, Zoey received another message from Michael.

Message: I can't wait!

Zoey rolled her eyes which her Mom saw and asked about it.

"I don't know what is wrong with Michael. He keeps on messaging me since I got back here."

Of all the people around her, it was only her mom, Alfie and her three other close friends who knew the real reason or reasons why they broke up before and why did she decide to go abroad and live on her own.

Her dad was in partnership with America and Michael's parents, so her mom decided to keep the truth behind their daughter's decision from her husband, to avoid to have a conflict between the business partners.

"Just don't mind him." Her mom comforted her through words and by patting her on her shoulder.

When Alfie reached the Alcantara's residence, he helped Zoey's dad to put their luggage inside the compartment. Zoey sat in the passenger seat while her parents went to the back seats of the car.

After almost three hours' worth of travel with the inclusion of course of the heavy traffic in the metro, Alfie together with the Alcantara family reached the pier where boats were waiting for the resort's guests.

The boat waiting already had one passenger. They decided to ride the said boat and asked the boat driver to start the engine.

--

Leo, the groom, called his best man at two in the afternoon.

He was checking where the hell he was "Nickel have you arrived?"

Nickel has been Leo's best friend since kindergarten. They considered each other as brothers due to the fact that Leo is an only child and Nickel isn't close to his sibling. Leo didn't expect that Nickel would agree to be his best man because he knew that he is a busy man ever since day one. Even though they haven't seen each other for ages, they still casually converse and share stories whenever they're free.

"Leo I think that I'm the one you're about to marry. Stop checking on me from time to time." He was already irritated with his phone calls which were coming ever since the sun rose.

Leo was actually just concerned about his friend because he knew that there was no one here in their country that was closely related to him. All his family members lived abroad. And moreover, he had this feeling that his best man would ditch him. Even though he knew that he won't do it.

After sitting inside the boat for almost fifteen minutes a group of four that includes two elderly couple, a lad and lass entered.

Nickel looked that their faces. When he saw Zoey sitting beside Alfie, he realized that he was the same Alfie whom he met a few days ago.

Alfie first recognized him and called him up. "Hey, dude long time no see." Alfie high-fived Nickel and gave him a bro hug. He also introduced Zoey and her parents to Nickel.

"By the way Zoey, he will be you ceremonial partner tomorrow, he is Leo's best man. Try to get close to him," Alfie whispered the last part to her.

"Why would I need to be close to him? As if we will be acquainted forever." She questioned him back.

After thinking about it, he realized Zoey was right. Why would he say that thing? It was only a one-day ceremony during which they will meet each other. As if he was hitting that they are good together. Hell no! He would not allow that to happen. He needed to secure Zoey for himself alone.