-Chapter One-

:: A Girl Only Gets Married Once ::


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Family. We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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Peyton Keane tinkered around her small apartment, anxiously waiting for her friends to pick her up. She hoped they hadn't gone through too much trouble for her, as she hated being the object of a big fuss. Granted, a girl only got married once and deserved to be pampered.

On second thought, that wasn't even true considering all the marriages that ended in divorce nowadays. Her first, for example. But this one would be different. She planned on staying married to Joseph for the rest of her life.

She glanced out the window of her second story apartment and sighed, wishing her friends would just show up already. In a way, she thought that if she could get the bachelorette party over with, it would mean the wedding was that much closer. God, she'd never been more excited about anything in her life.

She remembered being just a sales girl at a local department store until landing a job as assistant makeup designer for a big movie in Hollywood. That was when she met Joseph Utonium. He was the ultimate spoiler who lavished her with expensive gifts and a luxurious lifestyle that she could only dream of. He was the kindest, most exciting man she'd ever met and she fell in love with him immediately.

The first few months of their relationship had been difficult, mostly because at the time Joseph was still married to his second wife, mega movie star Charlotte Jones. Joseph and Charlotte's marriage had been on the rocks for years, and after meeting Peyton, he finally got the nerve to ask her for a divorce. It hadn't been an easy transition, but finally when his divorce became final Peyton agreed to marry him. Now, it was just two days before their extravagant wedding and she couldn't be happier. She was marrying the most wonderful man in all of L.A., or the world for that matter.

She paced around her small three-room apartment, stopping to fluff a cushion on the worn sofa. Looking around the living room, she suddenly realized that she was going to be moving soon and living in a glamorous mansion in Hollywood. Her quaint, sparse apartment in the suburbs would be a distant memory and the prospect was enough to make her jump with excitement.

A car horn outside the window suddenly caught her attention and, thinking it was her friends finally showing up, she tore across the room to peer outside. The corners of her mouth turned upward into a bright smile when she saw her fiancé standing next to his black Limousine by the curb.

"I missed you!" he called up to her.

"Joseph, the girls will be here any minute!" she replied, leaning out the window and gazing down at him. "It's my bachelorette party tonight, remember?"

"I know, I know," he sighed. "But can you blame me for wanting to see you even for a minute?"

"I'll see you tomorrow at the rehearsal dinner," she said, tossing her silky mane of black hair teasingly over her shoulder.

"Okay, I guess if I have to wait..." Joseph replied with a sly grin. He was a dashing, sexy man of fifty with dark hair and grey eyes, dressed in an expensive all-black Gucci suit. "I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

Peyton smiled, blushing a little as several people jogged by her apartment and did a double take at the fancy car parked by the building. "I love you too!" she called back, deciding to ignore the gawking pedestrians. After all, she was getting married to a rich, successful movie producer and none of these people in the suburbs mattered to her anymore.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jospeh said with a wink before he got into the back of the car.

Peyton waved ecstatically at him as she watched the limo pull away and drive down the street. With a smile, she retreated back into the apartment from the window and joyously danced around the living room. She was on top of the world.

Who wouldn't be thrilled to be marrying a man like Joseph Utonium?

~End Of Chapter~