Gliding the deep black frames up her nose, Brie wiggled her nose as her eyes adjusted to the clarity in her vision. She hated wearing her glasses, but it was the only way she could see anything in front of her hands.

The fluorescent lights above her caused her headache to grow worse as she flipped through the pages of her portfolio. She'd finally got around to adding the edited pictures from Eva's wedding to the book, which in her opinion was her best work to date. The floral arrangement, venue, catering, seating, and music were the perfect mixture of glamor and casual for which she prided herself in being able to pull off.

The images brought a small smile onto the woman's exhausted face. She was up nearly all night finishing her portfolio for the various meetings she'd already had that morning with potential clients and all she had left on her list was a young woman who was bringing her fiancé with her for a consultation.

"Don't tell me you forgot about our lunch plans."

Brie's head shot up from her book and met her sister's identical set of pupils. "Nicole...of course I didn't forget."

Nicole smiled and dropped a paper bag on the table before seating herself across from her twin. "It's all vegan, don't worry. But I didn't get those chips you showed me at the store last week so you'll have to live without them for one day."

With her own smile, Brie pulled the box containing a salad and trail mix. "Vegan," she slurred. She hated when her sister pulled sarcastic attempts at jokes like that. She had already taught the woman numerous recipes for vegan lasagna, burgers, chicken salad, hell even donuts. "I can sense your anti-vegan sentiment is growing."

"What? It's a salad, is it not?" Nicole smiled before taking a large bite from her own salad: a version with grilled chicken dispersed throughout. "I did my best, okay? Now, tell me about your day."

"I've already met with three potential clients."

"Only three? I thought your list was way bigger than that."

Brie swallowed her salad and washed it down with a sip of water before continuing. "I managed to move some of my meetings to tomorrow so I wouldn't be too swamped today."

"You know," Nicole began, "I understand why so many people want you to plan their weddings. Everything you touch turns to gold! You have respectable taste and flexible hours, but don't you think it's time you take a step back from planning other people's big days and start planning your own?"

Brie rolled her eyes. They had this conversation at least twice a month, and three times depending on how steady things were going between Nicole and her boyfriend, John. If things were hard as a rock, Nicole took it upon herself to spread that happiness over to Brie. And, if things weren't looking so well, Nicole utilized her sister's connections as a single woman to drink her "pain" away.

"I would need someone to plan that day with, Nicole."

Nodding, Nicole chuckled. "So, why don't you come out with me and some of the girls this weekend? We're going to hit the town and cause some trouble."

"I can't," she muttered quickly.

"I just want you to be happy," Nicole repeated for the second time that month.

"Who said I was unhappy?" Brie retorted before shoveling a forkful of salad into her mouth.

Nicole sat back in her chair. "Brie...it's been what - two years - since you and Roman broke up? Don't you think it's time for you to start putting yourself back out there?"

Hearing the man's name caused Brie's throat to close up and her heart to gain twenty pounds, plummeting itself into her stomach. "One year and six months," she corrected her twin. "And, I've been on dates."

"Like, one? Maybe? And did you even stay for the whole thing?"

"I've been on two dates, and I stayed for both of them until dessert came, thank you very much." Brie sighed and placed her for down. Her eyes closed out of habit: it was something she did every time she became overwhelmed. "Dating isn't easy for me. I'm very particular."

"Which means that the longer you wait, the harder it will become for you to find someone that doesn't irk you in every way possible."

The pressure became too much for the older twin, and she had to stand up. Her legs shot straight and she forced her eyes open. "I'll meet somebody when I meet somebody, alright? I just have a lot going on with work, and I have a list of couples who are counting on me to make their special days as special as possible. I don't have time to date."

"I didn't mean to press any buttons, sis."

"Didn't you?" Brie sighed and stuffed the bag full of her unfinished lunch and slid it across the table back to her sister. "I love you and everything, and I'm thankful for the lunch, but I don't have a lot of time to be messing around. I need to finish some work."

Nicole didn't argue and took her things and left. She knew her sister better than anybody in the world, but that meant she also knew that she had the power to make everything that much more complicated for her as well. She cared for Brie, deeply, and the thought of Brie never finding someone to settle down with gave her blistering anxiety.

Brie watched as her sister piled her things into her expensive car and drove away. The room shifted and the pressure of time was lifted from her shoulders.


Nearly two hours passed before the front door of her small office space opened and the bell above it rang for Brie to hear. Adjusting her top and checking her teeth for lettuce, she hurried up to the front desk to greet the visitor.

A young woman, probably barely denting her thirties, appeared in the doorway. She was alone, but the gigantic rock on her left hand assured any witnesses that she didn't walk through life alone.

"Hello," Brie said with a gleaming smile. "How may I help you?"

The blonde matched Brie's warm smile, blinding the wedding planner with the bleached pearls in her delicately lined lips. "I'm here for a wedding consultation. My name is Summer Moinet."

Brie checked her planner and nodded in confirmation. "You're right on time. Will it just be the two of us?"

"My boyfriend, er...fiancé will be coming in shortly. I will never get used to saying that!"

"As soon as it rolls off your tongue easily, you'll have to call him your husband."

Summer giggled and flipped her expensive hair over her tanned shoulder. "I'm beyond excited for that, though."

"How long have you two been together?" Brie was always this personal with clients. She felt it was best to know intimate details, without intruding their respected privacy of course, so that she could put together a wedding that comforted all guests. Who wants to attend a wedding with a suffocating atmosphere created by an insensitive stranger?

The blonde shook her head in disbelief. "Barely a year. But, it was love at first sight for me. And, hopefully for him." She chuckled and glanced down at the ring on her finger with her piercingly blue eyes. "We went to visit my parents in North Carolina a few weekends back and one day, out of the blue, he pulled my dad aside and asked for his permission to marry me. And then the next say we were engaged."

"That's beautiful. He sounds like a lovely man," she added. After her conversation with Nicole, she felt almost forced to say nice things about this upcoming wedding. Of course she wanted to get married someday. But, it didn't feel right to her to spontaneously combust onto the dating scene and scoop up the first nice man she encounters.

Hopeless romance was her style. All she needed was someone to meet her halfway.

"Why don't I take you to the back room and show you some photos while we wait for your fiancé?" Brie suggested.

Summer smiled and pulled out her phone. "I'll let him know where to meet us."

The two women walked side-by-side to the back room where Brie and Nicole had eaten their lunch earlier, and set up camp. Brie laid out her portfolio and various bridal magazines that she always presented for clients.

"How many weddings have you done?"

"I've been in the wedding planning business professionally for three years, and before that I was chosen by friends and family to plan their special days because I'm a bit of a detail-freak. Just this past year I've completed eleven weddings, four of which were on the luxurious side and the rest were mix of big and laidback."

The blonde nodded as she eyed through the extensive portfolio. "I love these floral arrangements. I was looking at some peachy tones online and I can honestly say that I'm in love."

"Pinker tones have been in this season, I must say. Personally I'm a sucker for traditional purple hues, but that doesn't prohibit me for branching out for my clients." Brie paused while the woman continued flipping through the book. She couldn't help but notice the perfect manicure and the false lashes that she paraded so effortlessly. An eye for vivid detail was often a curse, if she couldn't control the urge to question each and every finite inch. "Have you searched for venues or dates yet?"

"No," she stated simply. "We've been trying to work around my fiancé's mother's schedule but it's nearly impossible. We were hoping that a wedding planner would be able to connect us to some local and out of town locations that could help us with that sort of thing."

"If you do choose me to be your planner then I will provide you with absolutely anything and everything that you need."

Summer smiled brightly before closing the portfolio. "I know that my fiancé still needs to meet you, but I really like you so far."

The smile was matched with Brie's own. "That's great to hear."

Just as the blonde was about to say something more, the bell from the front door sounded. They both knew it was the groom-to-be, so Brie stood up. "I can go get him and bring him back here, if you'd like. What does he look like?"

"He's tall, very tan, has long, dark hair. His eyes are absolutely gorgeous, so if you think the man is a model then it's definitely my fiancé."

Brie chuckled and began walking out to the front of her office. Just as she made her way around the front desk, the brunette woman slid her frames up her nose so she could see but stopped dead in her tracks.

No...There's no way.

"Brie?"

Even his voice still sounded the same. Brie couldn't breathe so she didn't. She stood there, dumbfounded and speechless. The passing silence prompted Summer to make her way to the front as well, which she used as an opportunity to shower her fiancé with affection.

"Baby!" She hurried over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek, which forced a broken Brie to rip the glasses off of her face so she couldn't see. Turning to face the woman, Summer smiled. "Brie, I'd like you to meet my future husband. His name is Roman. Roman Reigns."


Author's note: I bet that you didn't think I would come out of nowhere with a new story and couple...WELL I'M JUST FULL OF SURPRISES! I'm honestly very excited for this story because it's very different from anything else I've written, as it's completely based in an alternate universe. That's right - nobody is a wrestler in this story... It will allow me to toy around with the characters and their backstories with so much ease. GAH, I am so excited!

I hope that you all enjoyed this fairly short introduction chapter. I just wanted to set the story up and provide for future chapters without setting any limits early on.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Should I continue? Or should I just get back to working on my other story, haha. Let me know!

With love. :)