Before me were three tables, all round, set with mocked-up table setting samples for the wedding. My wedding would be put together quickly, but that definitely didn’t mean it wouldn’t be elegant. Jaxxon was a popular professional football player. Photographs of our big day would eventually end up on social media. I wanted the wedding to match Jaxxon’s fly, both professionally and personally. I was proud to be his fiancée andwould be proud to be his wife. I wanted us to have a wedding that we would be proud of.
I had given British Goode, the event designer, very few directives, but one thing I had stressed was that the wedding would be elegant. Small, but cosmopolitan and classy.
The venue had been secured. It was a mansion on the water, just north of the city. Chicago in the summertime was a beautiful thing. The vibe was filled with happy feelings. The weather was gorgeous. The days were hot, and the sun was bright, but the late afternoons and evenings were perfect. And I knew there would be a breeze off the lake.
Jaxxon and I would both have three attendants, and less than one hundred guests would receive an invitation to the exclusive event. Top Flight Limited, Genesis Cole-Upton’s company, had been secured to do the food. Brooklyn Waverly-Field, the seamstress extraordinaire, was custom making my dress. Neo-soul songstress Allura was serenading me down the aisle. We hired widely sought-after photographer Aaron Shields, to capture the moments, and my future father-in-law, Malcolm McKissick Senior, would facilitate the nuptials. The big things had been taken care of; it was the small but important details that we needed to handle.
“Why are you so tired?” Kelcie questioned me in a whisper.
“I’ll tell you later.” I yawned again and pointed to the setting on the table in the middle. “I know I told British that my taste leans toward all white, but now that I see it in person . . .” I let my thoughts trail off.
“It’s pretty but kinda boring.”
“Yeah. So that one’s a no.”
British Goode flitted into the conference room in her facility, which had been turned into a setup of my future wedding.
We exchanged hugs, and I introduced her to Kelcie, who was my matron-of-honor.
“Okay, the bakery has been secured. You’re going with K Sweet Bakery by Kyndall Hill. She will do the wedding cake, the groom’s cake, and all of the baked treats for your sweet table.”
I nodded. “Great. Thank you. Kelcie and I were just looking at the mock-ups for the table settings.” I sighed. “I know I said I wanted all white, but now that I see it laid out like this . . .” I didn’t even bother to finish, because the knowing smile British gave me meant she was already picking up what I was putting down.
“An overabundance of white can come off as stark, cold, and sterile,” she told me while gently patting my shoulder. “Not only that, sometimes the way we envision things in our minds doesn’t match up with the reality. Which is why I always have my team do three mock-up versions. What’s your take on the other tables?”
“Uhm.” I yawned again.
British looked down at her phone. “I’m sorry. Can you please excuse me for a minute?”
Kelcie turned to me the second British was out of earshot. “Were you and Jaxxon up all night reenacting the scenes we saw at the sex club yesterday?”
“We didn’t get to that,” I confessed. “We spent one hundred hours going over the rules and regulations. I thought the only rules was . . . bite it until I cum. Apparently not.”
She cracked up. “That was not the experience I had with Trav last night. As soon as I finished debriefing him on the stuff we saw, he told me to grab my sleep mask, the whipped cream, and his longest tie. I was subdued, blindfolded, and eaten off the bone.”
“Shut up.” I gave her a not-so-gentle push on the forearm.
I stomped into Jaxxon’s house later that night. I planned to read him the riot act because I spent the night in a lecture, while Kelsie spent it with Travis giving her practical application. I felt cheated.
“Jay!” I yelled from the foyer, as I slid the shoes from my feet.
No answer.
I started down the hallway toward the kitchen. “Jay!”
My phone vibrated inside my purse. I stopped at the island and dug it out.
Jay:
I’m going to give you a set of directions. You will need to follow them to the letter.
“Oh, okay.” I mumbled to myself with a smirk.
Jay:
Stop yelling through the house. From this moment on, I want you to be silent, unless I ask you to speak. Any and all disobedience will be met with punishment.
“We’re starting,” I whispered as the biggest, cheesiest grin cracked my face.
