By The Sea

Part 1: The Honeymoon

Chapter 1

Francine was letting her hairdresser work her magic. She'd hired the woman on a whim, but also because a friend of hers used the woman for her wedding and her hair looked like something out of a fairytale. She needed no instruction other than her style needed to accommodate her veil, which the woman said she could do in a very thick accent before getting to work. Francine watched in the mirror as her hair transformed, at least until the woman turned her chair.

She was facing the window now, looking down on the grounds of the lavish mansion. It belonged to her future husband's aunt, a woman who was wealthy beyond belief. She also happened to be a friend of Muffy's, but that just made it easier to tell her friend that she was getting married and all was well. Muffy was living overseas, so she offered to host their honeymoon on her island.

"Your own private island?" Francine had gasped.

Muffy scoffed, "Of course it is, but it's where I built the Crosswire Family Resorts. I mean, we do cater for families, but our honeymoon packages are divine. I'll hook you up!"

And that she did. After the wedding reception, Francine would be boarding a private jet with her new husband and heading to the island, which was somewhere in the Pacific. Her new passport was coming in handy for the trip, she decided as she looked out over the grounds. The lawn was in immaculate condition, and now it was done up for the wedding. The lawn was in its best possible shape, its bright green shining over the white chairs and white wedding arch set up for the ceremony.

Francine sighed as her maid of honor entered the room, a devilish look on her face, "In an hour, you're going to be Mrs. Jack Robinson! I'm SO happy for you!"

Her maid of honor was her best friend from college. They both studied history together, and now Francine was stuck trying to decide if she wanted to pursue her studies further or stick with the bachelor's degree and hope a good job came along, not that it would matter. Jack was rich beyond words, and while she did have to sign a prenup, he was going to give her the world. He promised as much, and Francine believed him.

"He's almost too good to be true. Are we sure no movies are missing their prince?" Francine asked.

Her maid of honor laughed, "Oh come on, Francine, just admit you're lucky! I can barely get a date, and here you are snagging a husband. I just can't believe it."

"How did you meet him again?" Catherine asked from behind her, her tone bored as she stared at her phone. Catherine wasn't upset about not being the maid of honor, but she was irritated that her baby sister was getting married first to the hunk of a man that was Jack Robinson. Jealousy showed itself as boredom—she'd surely be complaining for years.

Francine sighed, "Well, I was doing an internship at the city's archives in Metropolis, and he came in with his mother to look through some genealogy files. I was assigned to the case, helping him see who had land in the area first, his great-great-great grandfather or his great-great-great-great uncle. It took a while to figure out the mystery because they both seemed to have the same name. As it turns out, the uncle had everything, not the grandfather, so the argument was settled.

"But we kept seeing each other. He invited me out for dinner a few times, and I thought he was just trying to thank me until he asked me out to a play. He had a private booth, and I honestly can't remember the play. As soon as the house lights went down, he started kissing me like the world was ending—"

"And you haven't come up for air since," Catherine interrupted, rolling her eyes as a knock sounded at the door. The maid of honor stood, opening the door and being pulled out into the hallway by whoever was on the other side.

Francine looked over the lawn and noticed people were milling about far more than they were before. The official ceremony was over an hour away, so people were supposed to be downstairs enjoying the pre-wedding reception, something she insisted on because of Muffy. Her childhood friend had seen hundreds of weddings between her family, friends, and resort patrons, and she convinced Francine this was the best thing to do for guests who could be waiting hours if anything went wrong.

Except now they were on the lawn instead of inside. Francine wondered if there was a gas leak or something else that would cause them to evacuate the building. She was still in the grips of the hairdresser, so she sent Catherine outside to see what was happening. Her other bridesmaids, both of them Jack's cousins, joined her outside.

Whispers grew fierce until finally the door was shoved open. The maid of honor asked the hairdresser to leave. When the woman refused, the maid of honor threatened to hurl her out the window.

Francine went pale, "This is serious, isn't it? Has Jack's grandmother fallen ill?" she asked.

The woman was ancient, older than anyone else in either of their families, and no one was sure how the woman, who had been smoking daily since she was twelve and was now nearing a hundred, was still alive. She was certain the woman would die at her wedding, just fall out during the vows and turning into a poof of dust, but this clearly wasn't the answer.

Francine cocked her head, "Just say it. Please, don't torture me like this," she whispered as the hairdresser finally left the room. She must've been in the middle of a braid, Francine thought, because she could feel her hair falling as the woman ranted in a foreign language in the hallway.

"Francine, I'm so, so sorry," the maid of honor whispered.

"Sorry for what?" Francine demanded.

"It's Jack," she said, handing her a letter. It was addressed to Francine in Jack's hand, but Francine couldn't possibly predict what was inside. She accepted it and looked up to her maid of honor, who shook her head, "I'm sorry. He's left."

"He's left me at the altar?" Francine murmured.

Her maid of honor nodded as the tears flowed. The maid of honor was clearly out of her element and helped take down her hair. The hairdresser returned for her supplies and helped to rip everything out, snatching up every bobby pin and throwing them into her bag.

The other bridesmaids didn't return, but for that Francine was grateful. Now that her fairytale husband was just that, an urban legend, Catherine would hold it over her head for ages. She always had to be better than Francine, so she'd probably pull her gorgeous fairytale fiancé out at any time to one-up the jilted lover. It was too much to take in.

Soon the hairdresser was gone, so Francine asked the maid of honor to wait downstairs for her. Francine pulled out her travel bag and changed into the outfit she'd picked for the trip to the airport. She put on the shirt, which had BRIDE written in large curling letters over the front of it, inside out so no one could see. Then she took off her makeup and picked up her cellphone. She texted Muffy the horrible news and turned off her phone, stomping downstairs.

"Did you get the letter?" the maid of honor asked meekly.

"I left it. Whatever he has to say, I don't need to know. Go get it yourself if it's so important," Francine fired back, getting into the back of the car and putting on her dark sunglasses. She'd packed them for the trip, not for her journey to the airport. Her plane wouldn't leave until that night, but sitting around at the airport was better than being in a house that probably never wanted to see the likes of her again.

The maid of honor disappeared into the house, so Francine gave her directions to the driver. As they pulled away, they passed people mingling on the lawn. Everyone looked like they were enjoying the party, their glasses overflowing with expensive wines and champagne. It was as if they couldn't be bothered to care that a relationship had just ended, that a girl's heart had been shattered by a letter. I mean, there was booze, so why not have a big, grand party at someone else's expense?

Francine looked away, staring out the front of the windshield as they made the hour-long journey to the airport. Once there, she let the officials know she was there, expecting to grab a few magazines and bury herself in airport life for the next seven hours.

"Your plane is waiting for you, Miss Frensky," the attendant smiled, pointing to a small private jet sitting on the runway. A pilot was climbing inside, his dark blue uniform a contrast to the plane's shining white hull.

"Miss Frensky?" Francine whispered.

"That is you, isn't it?" the woman asked, looking down to her notes, "Your friend was very specific that we call you that or Francine."

Francine somehow managed a smile, "Yes, Miss Frensky is fine. Have a nice day," she said, strutting towards the plane. She boarded and listened to the pre-flight instructions from the stewardess, whom she dismissed as soon as they were airborne.

Then, and only then, she let the tears come, sobbing into the empty seat beside her as she wondered where it all went wrong.

A/N: Welcome to my first longer Summer of Love piece. Yes, this is still going to be a romance despite poor Francine being left by her lover on what was supposed to be their wedding day. I'm not sure where this is going, so I'm going to rate it T just in case, M if I need to but I'll probably stick to T. I don't know how long this will be either, but I need a million words this year, so I'm hoping this goes on for quite a while. I also hope you guys enjoy it. I know I am so far.

Edit: This piece did end up very long. I hope you guys are in for a good ride because I can't wait to share this with you guys.