The Plan Take Two
Five years... Would you believe that it has been five years since I left Marino High to go to Oxford University in England. Five years since Trish and my plan to use him to get Dallas back. Five years since I stepped through the airport gates and never looked back. Five years since I last spoke to him... Austin Monica Moon. And I mean, it's not as if Austin never tried to get a hold of me. He called, messaged, emailed, twittered and facebooked me. He used every single type of social media I had. Constantly. For the first year. I'd give the guy an award for trying, that's for sure. So I did what any other scorned (ex) girlfriend would do: I changed my number and my email address, deleted my old social media accounts and created new old ones under my alias Ashley Darling.
The second I walked through those boarding gates five years ago, I felt like a different person. I had a new life and I was able to start fresh. Without worrying about bumping into Dallas or Austin.
My new life is going perfect so far. At Oxford, I was able to fit right in. Although the rainy weather was something I had to get used to after living in sunny Miami. I majored in Business and Fashion. Then after four years of university, I moved to New York to pursue my dream of becoming a fashion designer. In New York, I got purple ombre tips and a tiny tattoo in the shape of a butterfly with the word "Freedom" in calligraphy on my back in between the two dimples at the bottom of my spine. A bit of a stretch but it's my new life. A new life brings new changes around.
New York is also where I met the Reeves twins: Delancy and Megan. Delancy (Dee) Desiree Reeves is 23. She's tall with long honey blonde hair that has natural beach curls 24/7. She has pink ombre tips, two piercings in her left ear with only one in the right and she even has a subtle lip ring. She's got green eyes and a few freckles lightly dusted on her nose. All in all, it works for her. Megan (Megs) Marie Reeves is 23. She's tall with straight blonde hair that was recently cut into a cute, sleek bob. She has five blue streaks in her hair, six piercings in her right ear and a belly ring. She's got blue eyes and absolutely no freckles. Their mother is Sabrina Lauren. Tall, stunning, raven haired, chocolate coloured eyed, member of the Ralph Lauren family, as well as one of the top 10 fashion designers in the world and business women of all time. And their father, Jonathan Reeves, is the head of Reeves Records.
Sabrina agreed to help me start my business under the conditions that Dee, Megs and I were to be co-partners. I agreed and now we are the proud owners of Threads Of Passion (TOPs) and we're pumping. To have established such a popular business in under a year is quite an accomplishment for us. Apparently by the end of next year, if we are doing as well as we are now, we'll hit the number one spot in the NFST10 (The Newcomers Fashion Studio Top 10). We're really excited about that.
So as you can see, my life is pretty much perfect. Living the dream basically. But then one day, out of the blue, I got a phone call. Then my whole world turned upside down.
It was Tuesday the 6th of October.
I was sitting in my office at TOPs' main showroom/store (a.k.a. TOPs Headquarters) having coffee with Dee and Megs talking about what colours and patterns were in and when Trish's name started flashing on the office phone screen indicating that I has a call coming through.
Dee and Megs, who had met Trish multiple times, pulled out earplugs and I sniggered.
"Hey there chica! Long time no chat!" I said as I put the phone on speaker.
"ALLY! Guess who's getting married in two months!" Came the excited reply.
"Oh no ways Trish! Really?" I asked with a smile as Dee and Megs squealed.
"His name is Dez and he's totally dreamy!" Trish said with a sigh.
"Wow Trish... Where did you meet him? I asked because I don't remember a Dez from school.
"Yeah Trish! We need ALL the details!" shouted Megs.
"Okay well... He's tall, had red hair, the most incredible chocolate coloured eyes and the most amazing smile. He's such a romantic guy and he proposed by taking me to The Script concert where we were invited on stage and then Dez got on one knee while The Script sang The Man Who Can't Be Moved. It was SO romantic." Trish sighed.
Dee, Megs and I swooned...
"So back to the reason why I called... Dee, Megs and Ally, you're all invited to my wedding! And Ally, I'd like you to be my Maid-Of-Honor." Trish squealed.
There was silence on our side as we stared at each other with huge grins.
"Um... guys?" came the confused voice from the phone.
"OMG YES!" we shouted.
"Yay! Since I've already booked flights for you, I'll email you the time, date and the wedding itinerary. See you girls in Florida in two weeks! Bye babes." she said as she put the phone down.
"Bye Trish." we chorused.
"I don't know about you two... But I'm starting to get the wedding festivity vibes." said Megs with a giggle.
"Tell me about it. I'm so excited! It's gonna be awesome!" said Dee as she spun on her chair.
"Yeah! And knowing Trish, there are bound to be many parties and we may even find some guys." I said with a wink.
"Not to be the bearer of bad news... But... I've just realized something." said Dee with a strange look on her face.
"What Dee Dee?' Megs asked.
"Doesn't this mean we'll be going back to Ally's home town?" Dee asked.
"Err... Obviously. Trish hasn't moved. Why?" I said with a ''duh'' look on my face.
"Ohhh..." said Megs as realization dawned on her face.
"What?" I asked getting frustrated.
"Ally... Austin is going to be there. No doubt at the wedding too..." said Dee gently.
I stared at them. And then, much to their surprise, I burst out laughing. In fact, I was laughing so hard that I was doubled over.
"Girls, I am so over him. I was a silly little 18 year old girl. Moving here made me realize that I was being silly and petty so I let it all go. I promise it'll be fine." I said once I caught my breath. I had asked Trish to send me a photograph of Austin a few months ago and I am pleased to say that my heart did not race nor did my palms get sweaty and there was no blushing.
"Good. So when we get there, we'll have tons of fun and nobody is going to bring up down from Cloud 9. We're gonna party, plan a wedding and be the three fabulous fashion designers from New York that we are. Correct?" lectured Megs.
''Correct sis." answered Dee. "Now let's get busy. We still have to plan the new season before we leave for Florida."
As we turned our attention back to the colours, accessories, patterns and fabrics for our Winter Season, I couldn't help but feel like these next few weeks were going to be something to remember.
.