14

Brian flew back home from San Francisco that weekend. Andrea was watching a marathon of Criminal Minds in one of the private lounges upstairs that had a view of the parking lot. George stepped out of the car and unlocked the door. He stepped outside buttoning his dark jacket and saying something to George. Andrea popped a few M and Ms into her mouth and chewed. They'd texted eachother, he wanted to know how Chad was, and nothing about their previous argument. She looked away when he trailed his eyes up as he strolled towards the house.

A few minutes later, she heard Sylvie talking to him outside the lounge, she had Chad in her arms, Brian had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. He ran his hand over his son's hair with a look of affection and craned his head at Andrea.

Brian walked into the lounge room. "You're not working today?"

"I don't work the weekends," I reminded him, rolling my eyes. "You look like crap, 'Frisco must have had a bad deal."

"Quite the opposite and I'm a little jetlagged," He replied, reaching for a bottle of whisky from the mini bar, poured himself a glass. "I've hired a wedding planner—"

"What?"

"A wedding planner, Thorne. The sooner we get married, the easier it'll be to finish the deal."

"Oh I'm sure you'd be just as glad to get rid of me."

"I didn't ask for this," He spoke and took a sip of the drink. "You'll remember that."

Andrea rolled her eyes.

The wedding planner turned out to be a guy, Drew Wesley who'd worked with Politicians, private companies, including a wedding between an ambassador from a small sovereign European nation and a prominent fashion model as listed on his website.

Nothing about his photo on the page, screamed discounts or cheap. Drew Wesley was well into his late thirties and wore dark rimmed glasses.

Brian and Andrea had our first meeting with him at the estate, in Brian's office. Drew was clad in a grey turtleneck sweater with a black scarf wrapped around, tight pants and loafers. He also held an open MacBook on his thighs.

"Oh I read the article on your engagement, such a lovely photo of you beautiful couple," Drew said with glee. "I'm also glad you called me in, Mr Donnatelli, you made the right decision to choose Drew's Glam Events."

Andrew trailed her eyes at lover boy next to me, tapping away on his Blackberry.

"Yeah," Brian simply replied drily without looking up.

Andrea rolled her eyes with disbelief, "We sure are pretty excited for the next chapter of our lives."

"I can see that," Drew sang through his clenched teeth. "Picture this, it's every couple's best interest to achieve the wedding of their dreams so it's vital we have a lot of communication here and try to avoid complications along the way, everyone excited?"

Andrea forced a smile and nudged Brian's arm. He looked up at Drew.

"Get to the point."

"Right, now what's the timeline for this special occasion exactly?" Drew inquired.

"Two weeks," Brian declared.

I choked on my cup of coffee and looked at him,right at the same time Drew's face fell.  "What?"

Brian shot her a look as if to dare to defy him.

"As I informed you earlier, we want to get this over to begin with, so two weeks it is, right babe?"

Babe?

Two weeks to plan a wedding was insane and besides She could tell Brian would be inviting guests.

Andrea looked at Drew. "Definitely two weeks."

Drew's eyes flickered with interest. "Mr Donnatelli, a proper wedding takes six months of preparation, unless you plan to elope, which although is romantic."

And cheaper too. Andrea thought.

"If we were in the seventeen hundreds." Drew quipped.

Andrea hid a smile.

"I mean, Vegas is only a state away." Andrea teased Brian. He shot her a look.

"We're not going to Vegas, Andrea," He spoke dismissively and turned to Drew. "This is specifically why the expert was called in and if it would be a problem, I'm sure I can take my check somewhere else."

Drew squinted. "Not so about the check, but if you agree on the two weeks duration then so be it."

Drew's hands flew to the MacBook keys and typed.

"This is gonna require an ample amount of dedication from your bridesmaids, the groomsmen and both sides of the family." Drew counted his fingers.

Andrea felt a pang in her heart, her side of the family consisted of Chad only, Eve was her very good friend, no doubt that part of the aisle would be empty.

"Of course." Brian said.

"Not to mention the catering, music, Andrea's wedding gown, the reception dinner, the actual wedding and not to forget the honeymoon package," Drew winked at them.

Andrea's cheeks flushed, Brian wasn't really going to plan a honeymoon gateway was he? She glanced at him, his blank expression revealed nothing.

"All under a budget," Drew continued.

Translation, her 'fiancé' would be picking the tab. She felt like a fraud, Drew had obviously assessed the situation, that Andrea was in it for the money.

★ ★ ★

"Now I get to play bridesmaid for a woman I barely know?" Belinda spoke as Gwen drove her silver Buick for a bridal store, Drew had recommended in Oakwood avenue, one of the poshest districts in Henderson. Andrea rolled her eyes, if she had a dollar for every time her future sister-in-law grumbled about this, she'd be a millionaire.

"Look, no one said you had to tag along, you had a choice to decline." Andrea spoke.

"And you had a choice not to wrap my brother around your fingertips," Linda retorted.

"Why you little—"

Gwen groaned from the driver's seat, glancing up at the rearview mirror. She had dark sunglasses on. "Come on ladies, let's just get past this, I mean, it's shopping, the perfect activity for females to bond since the dawn of time."

Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Too bad it's not under the right circumstances," Eve muttered. "You'd make a beautiful bride."

Andrea shot her a friend a smile. "Thanks."

Linda scoffed with disagreement.

After Gwen pulled over at the parking lot, they all stepped out Eve slid her hand under Andrea's arm.

"Listen is the College princess gonna be a problem? I mean talk about the attitude." Eve muttered.

"She thinks I want a piece of the dough," Andrea replied.

"Would she think the same if you weren't a mom and loaded?" Eve asked.

"I don't even wanna know." Andrea said.

"What are you two whispering about?" Gwen asked as we strolled for the front door.

"Politics," Eve blurted.

Gwen lifted a brow, but didn't press further.

The owner was a slender blond with a hundred dollar haircut, who'd been expecting them. Surprise, surprise. The door was a wonder, had lots of wedding gowns display in mannequins worth a fortune, they were, bridesmaids dresses of different colors and brands. It was a mystery how many women would go to the ends of the earth for one day.

"Welcome to Kelly's, Miss Thorne, I see you brought your beautiful bridesmaids." The blond woman smiled at Gwen.

Andrea pressed her lips together. Eve chuckled.

"No, no, this is Andrea," Eve nudged me forward. Kelly's eyes flickered with surprise.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I—" Kelly said quickly with an apologetic smile.

"It's fine," Andrea responded sheepishly, she was clad in blue shirt tucked in denims and boots, in contrast to Eve's red dress.

Linda snorted and hid a laugh. I shot her quick glare. What a brat.

"Right this way, is our Belle's collection," Kelly waved her hand at a section of white gowns varying shades and styles.

"Whoa," My jaw dropped.

"Omigod, you have to try them on!" Gwen wheezed.

I went through six gowns in an hour, Eve fawned over them, Linda kept her distance and Gwen offered words of encouragement.

The last dress however caused their jaws to drop.

I glanced down at the strapless gown with folds at the skirt, adorned with pearls. "I think this is the one."

"Oh yes, it really brings out your skin," Kelly spoke. "His breath would be taken away the moment you walk down that aisle."

"If there's one thing about Brian, nothing ever takes him off guard." Linda chimed.

Except his son, I wanted to say out loud.

I checked the price tag and widened my eyes at the zeroes. All of that for this?!

I caught Gwen watching me, she flashed a smile.

"What's a couple of zeroes to him anyway?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."