Okay, so let me just explain a few things. I got the idea for this story while watching The Wedding Planner so if you see any similarities that is why. Another thing, this is the first story I've ever written in first person, so I'm still getting the hang of it! I'm extremely excited for this story, I love the plot idea and I only see good things coming from this! Also, I will be switching it up every couple of chapters who this story is told by. My OC's Miyuki and Jennifer, so it'll all be switched up every other chapter or so.
In Fate's Hands
The Clients
I'm not one to believe in love at first sight. That's something that belongs in storybooks along with dragons and princesses. People who believe in that and get married usually only last 3 months, tops. And that's being generous. I can estimate to the week how long a couple will be together after the big day. It's kind of a gift that I have, but then again, we all have some sort of special talent, right?
I guess I should start off by explaining who I am. My name is Miyuki Li, New York's most sought after wedding planner. Ha, who are we kidding? I'm the most sought after wedding planner in America. You know that cardinal rule of wedding planners; never fall in love with the groom? Well, never had I thought that I would ever break that rule. That is, until that fateful day when my whole life changed forever.
It was a bright and early Friday morning, about 6:30 AM to be exact. My phone was ringing, and would not stop. I kid you not. I let it go straight to voicemail at LEAST seven times. Alright, someone clearly needed me, and who was I to ignore them? I sleepily reached over to my nightstand and grabbed my phone, swiping across the screen to answer the call. This had better be important.
"Hello?" I answered groggily, rubbing my light brown eyes to rid their heaviness and sleepiness.
"MIYUKI LI! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE MY CALLS! I HAVE SOME EXTREMELY IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO TELL YOU!" I winced and I had to remove the phone from my ear and cover the speaker, my boss, Clara Ringsler was chewing me out endlessly on the other end. Sighing, and sparing my hearing, I kept the phone away from my ear until I concluded she was done screeching.
"What is it Clara?" I yawn sitting up in my bed.
"I cannot tell you over the phone you silly girl! You need to get to the office ASAP. Emphasis on the S! Or else..." I snort hearing her empty threat.
"Or else what, Clara?"
"I will demote you to assistant planner!"
"Ooookay, and you'd end up losing thousands of dollars. Don't forget, Mrs. Ringsler, I'm your head planner for a reason. I bring in more revenue than all your other planners combined. See you at the office." I click the end button on the screen of my iPhone just as I hear her about to start yelling again and my face sleepily falls back into my pillow. I have to fight myself from going back to sleep, and I press the button to the side of my bed on the wall causing the blinds to rise, letting the sunlight seep in. Good morning New York City.
I hop in the shower, getting ready for the day, sliding into a lavender dress shirt and some black dress pants after finishing. I decided to leave my long light brown hair down today, straightening it. I lined my light brown eyes with black liner, (which almost makes them look yellow, it's pretty cool!) brightened my face with some peach blush, and finally I curled my eye lashes and put on some mascara. Feeling satisfied with my look, I grabbed my keys and my Louis Vuitton handbag, and ran out the door. I'd never heard Clara so excited about a client before, so it must be someone big. Maybe I'll be planning Jennifer Aniston's wedding! My eye's shined with hope as I hurried to the elevator and went down to the bottom floor and into the streets of the big apple. I looked around and decided to stop by Starbucks across the street, and made my way as the "WALK" sign flashed and the bunches of people crossed with me.
I haven't always lived in New York, I was born in Beijing, and my family moved to Japan when I was 6 years old. After I graduated high school, I moved here. It's always been my dream to live in New York. My parents and I used to always visit seeing as how my aunt, uncle and cousin Jennifer live here. And now I'm 24 years old (well almost, my birthday's in like a week and a half) and honestly, ever since I moved here, I haven't been happier.
I walk into Starbucks and groan at the sight of the line. Of course it's gonna take like 30 minutes, but I go to the back of the line, deciding to wait my turn.
"Hey Miyuki!" I take my phone out of my bag and look up at Evan, my favorite barista, holding up my hot venti mocha and a smile pops up on my face. I drop my phone back in my purse and hurry over to him. I hear people in line complain and groan but I ignore them and continue up to him. I know I know, karma's a bitch.
"Evan you have literally saved my ass, you are such a godsend!" I whisper kissing his cheek in gratitude.
"No prob, you owe me though." Evan winked back at me and I smiled turning around. "Oh Miyu, watch out!" I didn't hear his warning in time, as I was too busy concentrating on my yummy drink. Everything next sort of happened in slow motion. I ran into one of the most handsome men I have ever seen and my coffee flew from my hand into the air. The top must not have been on tight enough because mocha flew everywhere. All over me, all over him, and all over the floor. I clearly wore the wrong day to wear my new Gucci heels, because I started slipping and falling all over the floor, and I felt myself falling backwards. I clenched my eyes shut and felt my arms flailing around, and as I expected to hit the hard ground, I felt a pair of strong arms catch my fall and I look up to see the most beautiful piercing golden eyes I've ever seen in my life. And I realize that the person I ran into and the person who's holding me is Ray Kon. Yes, THE Ray Kon from the BladeBreakers. When I realize I've been staring my face almost instantly turns a bright red.
"Hey, be careful there. We don't want a pretty girl like you to get hurt." He has that kind of smile that can melt your heart, and I swear he has the softest but most masculine yet soothing voice I've ever had the grace of hearing. How would you like waking up next to that in the morning?
"T-thanks..." I muttered softly, realizing his shirt is almost completely destroyed by my coffee and my eyes widen at the sight, so I rush over to the napkins and get him a couple, and of course on the way back over my feet slip again and I fall straight into him. This really just is not my day. And since when have I ever been such a klutz? I hear him laughing, I'm SO glad he thinks this is funny. Sarcasm.
"Be more careful! I might not be there to catch you next time." I see him grin, and I catch sight of those fangs. Damn..he is beautiful. Not to mention I can feel his muscles under this shirt.
"I am so sorry!" I stammered, straightening myself up with whatever dignity I have left and bow my head in shame. But he shakes his head.
"Don't worry about it." I swear, he has got to be the sweetest celebrity I've ever met. Then all of a sudden I hear my phone go off and look up at the clock on the wall. It's already 8?!
"Shit!" I dart toward the door.
"Wait, Miyuki!" I hear Evan call but I'm already out the door and hurrying to my office, as fast as one can run in four inch heels.
"Miyuki, there you are!" Jennifer called out to me as I walked into the building, she must have been waiting for me by the door. Jenn and I go way back... well, obviously since we're cousins. But anyways, she's a pretty blonde girl (her hair's almost a white color, really..) she's shorter than me by about two inches, and she's also younger than me by almost two years. She's also half friench (I'm half Japanese and Chinese) which is where I think her blonde hair comes from. "Clara has been looking-... oh my lanta! What happened to your shirt?!"
"You'll never guess.." I sighed as I pressed the button on the elevator to go to the top floor.
"Oh no..what happened?" Her light brown eyes peered into mine as I avoided eye contact with her.
"I spilled coffee all over Ray Kon." Jenn stared at me for a second and then her eyes widened realizing who I was talking about. I really just wanted to bash my head into a wall and never show my face in New York City again.
"You mean...the guy who you had a huge crush on from the BladeBreakers like 7 years ago?"
"Yes!" I screeched as we both hurried down the hall to Clara's office. "We'll talk after this meeting. Pray for me." I sighed as I faked a smile and opened the door.
"Ah, there you are Ms. Li, it's about time you decided to show...good God Miyuki, what happened to your shirt...?" Clara asked me lowering her glasses on the bridge of her nose. She's an older woman, about mid 50's with chin length blonde hair, but it looks amazing on her. She's very high class and you can tell she's been well off probably since she was born.
"Long story.. Now what is it that you so urgently needed me here for?" I asked crossing my arms and placing my Louis on her desk. She tossed a folder that landed in front of me, and I looked at her while I opened it. I could see traces of a smirk on her face. "What is this? ...New York style wedding... Doves... Sakura blossoms.. Well they certainly know what they want." I flipped to the back page. Wong...why does that last name sound so familiar to me?
"Mariah Wong. Of the White Tigers from that sport beyblading you love so much."
"Used to love." I reminded her, continuing to flip through the pages.
"She asked me directly for you... It seems you've made a name for yourself. As usual, I expect nothing but perfection from this wedding."
"Please, you know I will produce nothing less than perfection. The name Miyuki Li doesn't just go on any old wedding. I'm the best of the best for a reason."
"I wonder why all these beybladers are in New York... Doesn't only Max live here?" You know, it really should have clicked with me sooner that Ray and Mariah were getting married, now that I think about it. But as you can probably guess, I was having an off day. That's why you don't wake me up early from my beauty sleep! Jennifer and I had decided to go get lunch at our favorite café, I had decided on a Caesar salad and Jenn got a chicken burger. She's been working for me as my coplanner for a little over 5 years now, and we joined our company about 3 years ago. Jennifer and I used to both go to NYU, she still does for a business major, but I dropped out to pursue wedding planning full time.
"Nope, Max doesn't even live here anymore, oh thank you!" I smiled up to our waiter as he dropped off our food and refilled my tea. "I believe he moved to LA, he works as a sports reporter for the BBA. Tyson coaches with his fiancée Hilary, Kai and Ray work for some multimillion dollar company that Kai's family owned a while back... I think Kai is the CEO. Am I forgetting anyone?" I tapped my chin as I stuffed a piece of lettuce in my mouth.
"I don't know, you know I don't really keep up with that kind of stuff." Jen laughed sipping on her drink. It's true. Jennifer has never really been big into sports. It was always school and artsy things that she liked. She's a crazy skilled photographer and can write like nobody's business which is why she writes the ads and takes pictures for our website at the weddings we plan.
"Oh that's right, Kenny and Daichi. Kenny's an announcer for the BBA and Daichi took DJ Jazz's job." You could say that I was mildly obsessed with the BladeBreakers when I was 17, but wouldn't you be too if you were a hormonal teenage girl? I mean ninety percent of the beybladers were really fit and not bad to look at, but hey maybe it was just me.
"I swear, you should have been a sports reporter or journalist or something. You have so much knowledge on them!" Jenn laughed and I smiled and heard my phone going off. I reached into my purse and saw that it was an unknown number. Knowing that it could be any of my clients or potential clients, I don't really have the option of ignoring calls.
"This is Miyuki Li speaking."
"Hi Miyuki!" I hear a very high pitched sweet voice on the other end, knowing almost instantly who it is. "This is Mariah Wong, I was wondering if you got my information from your boss."
"Oh yes. Ms. Wong, I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, I've been dealing with a wedding I'm currently planning. Is there anything I can help you out with?"
"I heard from your boss that you would be at a wedding tonight, would you mind if I stopped by to see how it all plays out?" Her voice sounded anxious, which is to be expected.
"Oh no, that's definitely fine! We're going to be at the Hilton in Midtown, I'll be there at 4:30 if you want to drop by. And I'm free any time tomorrow if you want to set up a meeting to discuss plans for your wedding about costs and such information."
"Okay, I'll definitely see you later tonight and we can discuss some things, thank you so much Ms. Li!" I hear the phone click on the other end and I drop my phone back into my purse continuing to munch on my salad.
"Can you believe you're planning such a huge wedding? This is like, the biggest client we've ever had." Jennifer's eyes widened as the reality set in and I laughed.
"Oh Jenn, you know it's nothing I, I mean we, can't handle!" I winked and paid for our food.
"Places everyone. Please tell me that lights are all set up. DJ, give me a thumbs up if you have everything set for pre-reception...okay thank you! Where are my choir girls?" I asked into the walkie as I made my way around the floor, making sure everything was perfect. The most stressful, yet most amazing day of my job is seeing everything I've been working for come together, and see the smile on the brides face. That's what makes my job worth while! "Where the hell is Jenn?"
"She's still not here ma'am." Everyone was in black, I myself had on a skin tight black dress with long sleeves that puffed out and at the cuff around my wrist it was bejeweled with black jewels.
"I'm here I'm here! I'm so sorry, I got held up at my internship." I heard Jennifer's panicked voice over the walkie. That's right, I almost forgot that she was starting her new internship at some big business as her last project for school.
"Okay good, you go find those choir girls and I'm going to go check on the bride!" I ran upstairs to the brides hotel room and knocked on the door.
"Hello Ms. Michel?" I heard sobbing coming from inside and opened the door to see her sitting on the chair. "Ms. Michel, you're going to ruin your make up, what's the matter?" I rushed over to the woman's side and knelt down beside her.
"What if I'm making a big mistake… what if we get divorced? I can't get divorced, my father will kill me!" I can see the fear in her eyes, cold feet.
"Ms. Michel, if I thought that you two weren't madly in love with each other and weren't going to last, I would have never agreed to marry you two."
"Really?" She asked me with hopeful eyes, and I smiled nodding.
"Yes. You know what Roderick told me the other day?" I could see the wonder in her eyes. "He asked me, 'Miyuki, how did I get so lucky to call her my fiancée? How did I get so luck to be able to spend the rest of my life with someone so perfect and beautiful?' You two are going to be fine, don't even worry about it." I patted her on the shoulder, and ran over to my bag that was sitting on the windowsill in her room, got out some powder and my secret make-up spray that makes the make-up last all night.
"Thank you Miyuki, for everything." Ms. Michel grabbed me in a hug and I smiled to her.
"It's been my pleasure."
"Code red! Preacher is missing, no one can find him anywhere." I heard someone call over the walkie. I calmly leave her room, seeing the maid of honor walking down the hall.
"Get back in that room and do not, I repeat do not leave her until it's time to walk. Understand me?" I tell the girl, and I think I frightened her because she stared at me with a terrified look on her face. But hey, if it gets the job done… "Where was the preacher last seen, anyone?" I run down the stairs and see Jennifer talking to some of the bride's family, calming them down.
"Last I saw him, he was in the cafeteria/patio area."
"Copy." I reply, heading that way. And there he is, waiting by the bathroom. "I'm sorry sir, but you're really going to have to hold it. We're about to start walking, and we can't do this without you." I could see in his face that he really had to go, but I'd be damned if a preacher is going to be the thing that delays my wedding from being perfect. I escort him back up into the main hall and everything is set and perfect. I look at the clock, and everything is right and ready to go. It's time. "Let's get everyone that's in the halls in the reception area, it's time guys. Jenn, you go get the bride and her crew, let's go let's got everyone!" I start to feel the excitement and adrenaline hit me. This is it! I walk back into the lobby, shuffling people inside when I see a familiar looking bubblegum pink head floating around.
"Oh Ms. Miyuki, there you are! I've been looking for you." I see her wave at me, and there she is. Mariah Wong. I bow to her in respect and she does the same back to me.
"Let's go somewhere where you can see the wedding better." I take her to a secret room above the reception area where you can see everything. The bridesmaids start walking down the aisle with their appropriate groomsmen and then finally, the bride walks down to meet her groom. Finally, it is a success. I can breathe.
"This is absolutely superb. I am extremely impressed with your work. I've seen you in many many bridal magazines and just, magazines in general. It's funny, my honey was actually the one to suggest you to me, and after seeing your work, I know he made the right decision." Mariah smiled, piling on compliment after compliment.
"Where is your fiancé by the way?"
"Oh you know men, can't tear them away from their work." She laughed, waving her hand nonchalantly. "He's a very busy man. I can't really hold him against it. I just want you to know, there is no price limit on this wedding. I want it to be absolutely perfect! It is my day after all."
"I can assure you, Ms. Wong. I will dish out nothing less than perfection." I smiled, watching the bride and groom give their vows.
"Please, Miyuki. Call me Mariah."
The next few days passed in a blur. I had met with Mariah twice to try and get her and her mystery fiancé together to get both of their opinions on the wedding, but he never showed. If it hadn't been for the giant rock on her finger (and I'm not even exaggerating, that thing was huge) I would have thought she was making him up! Finally one day though, I got a call. I was in my office, trying to look up locations that would be appropriate for their wedding.
"This is Miyuki."
"Good morning Miyuki, it's Mariah."
"What can I do for you?"
"Is there a good dance studio you recommend to give lessons? I've been trying to find one for me and honey, but nothing is cutting it." I could hear the frustration in her voice.
"Well there is this one place that I usually send my clients. I'll actually be going there tonight if you'd like to meet up with me?" Thank God for earpieces, I was in the zone with my work. And when I'm in the zone, there's no distracting me.
"Perfect! We'll meet you there! Honey is really looking forward to meeting you! See ya Miyuki!"
"As am I…" I whispered. I printed out the list of possible venues and leaned back to crack my back. I really wondered if I was going to be able to meet this man tonight. Only time would tell! I sighed and smiled, picking up my stuff and headed out to go grab some lunch.
"Hey Mariah, I'm here at the studio, where are you?"
"Oh shoot, I'm so sorry Miyuki. I completely forgot to call you! I won't be going to the dance lessons tonight, I got held up with something at home. Honey really needs to go to the lessons though… he has two left feet I swear to you." I heard her laugh to herself. "Do you mind accompanying him?" I felt as though it was a little inappropriate.. but these were my biggest clients that I've ever had, so why not.
"Sure…" And then came the squeal.
"Thank you so much! You're the best Miyuki!" And then she hung up. Who exactly was I supposed to be looking for? I realized that I had no idea what the hell the name of her fiancé even was. So I sighed walking into the dance studio, looking around. There was a big crowd of people, though I wasn't really surprised. This place was the best, and you could tell by how many people were dying to take classes there.
"I'm looking for Miyuki Li…" I heard my name being called from behind me at the front desk. This must be Mr…
"Oh.. my.. God." It was him, the man I had spilled coffee on a few days prior and my teenage celebrity crush. Standing right in front of me. Asking for me. Then it hit me. Ray and Mariah... I'm going to be planning their freaking wedding. The lady at the desk smiled and pointed him in my direction, and he turned to see me, and then a giant smile came onto his face.
"I guess it's a good thing these classes aren't held at a coffee shop, or I would have had to wear a safety suit or something." I heard him laugh, and I was still in so much shock that I couldn't say anything. "You dashed off before I could introduce myself at all the other day, I'm Ray Kon."
"Miyuki...Miyuki Li." I took the hand that he held out to me, and finally managed to put a smile on my face.
"Let's just try and keep coffee from being a beverage choice at our wedding, we don't need any slip-ups." Ray winked at me, and I swear to you, I almost fainted.
Thank you for reading! I sincerely hope you enjoyed, and please review. It helps me strive to update faster and really touches my heart!
