"Preston, I can't breathe."
"Oh, sorry," the cocoa-skinned man apologized as he released her from his tight hug. "I'm just so glad that you and John are moving forward with the wedding. It's an honor for me to plan this."
Jessica smiled at him and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Thank you. Trust me, I'm happy to be moving forward too. What's on the list for today?"
Preston flipped through a few pages in his planner and finally came to the date. "Well, we have two stops today. We've got an appointment with Sylvia Weinstock at one and then we're off to Oheka. Will John be joining us?"
"He will be," she nodded as he walked away from his desk. "John has an appearance at a Gold's Gym until noon, but he wants to come to all of the appointments that don't involve dresses. He wants to meet us there," she added with a smile.
Preston glanced at his watch and replied, "Well, it's only nine. We can take a look at some bridesmaid dresses in the meantime. I'll check to see if any of the designers have an opening this morning."
Jessica nodded eagerly. "That'd be great."
"Alright," the planner began, taking a seat at his desk. "I'm going to go through my rolodex," he decided and pressed a button on his phone. "Stella, get us some mimosas. We're going to be here a little while."
The blonde bride-to-be placed her newly empty champagne glass next to the one she had cleared before. It was bad enough that she had drank two, but John would be pissed that she'd consumed alcohol so early in the morning.
After all, she would most likely have done the same to him.
Jessica heard the phone click and Preston hopped to his feet. "Got one!"
"Which one?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
Preston began to gather his things, including his coat and his binder. "Bill Levkoff, let's get moving. He had a cancellation at ten and will meet with us for as long as we need, as he only has one appointment per day."
"Preston, it's nine-thirty."
"I know," he answered her and stopped at the door. "Move your ass."
"Jessica!" the designer greeted her brightly as his secretary escorted her into his office. "It's fantastic to finally meet you!"
"Thank you," she responded politely as he kissed her cheek. "It's great to meet you, too. I'm glad Preston managed to get a hold of you."
He adjusted his black horn-rimmed glasses and laughed. "Well, Preston is a miracle worker."
"Well, I'm a little behind in my wedding planning, so hopefully, you can be a miracle worker, as well," she joked, adjusting her purse on her shoulder.
"I will do my best. Did you have anything in mind?" Bill asked, leading her to the table and chairs set up in the front of the room. "Color? Style? Length?"
Both she and Preston sat down in chairs, side-by-side. "I know I want something in the red family, definitely long."
"Okay…" he trailed off with a nod and flipped open his sketch pad. "Something red and long. Do you want it very detailed?"
The blonde chewed on her lower lip and thought. "I want it clean and simple, nothing too flashy. I don't want them to get lost in the ceremony, but I don't want it to be too over-the-top."
"Strapless with an even hem?" he offered, starting to sketch out a silhouette.
She attempted to hold on her laughter. "My sister will love that."
"Do you want all of the dresses to be the same or do you want each one to have little differences?"
"I'd rather have uniformity than warring bridesmaids," Jessica snorted as he finished some minor details on the sketch. "And trust me, my sister will start the war."
"How many are there going to be?" the designer asked curiously, glancing up at her for a brief moment.
"Well, there's my sister, Stephanie, my sister-in-law, Marissa, John's sister-in-law, Jamie," she began, counting them off on her fingers. "My co-workers, Amy and Trish, and Samantha, the fiancée of my other coworker, Randy."
Bill placed his pencil down on the table. "Six dresses then?"
She sighed. "Yep. Six dresses."
He turned the pad around towards her and Preston. "Pretty simple, basic strapless neckline, a little rouching around the midsection, and floor-length. Very clean, but very elegant."
She tapped a pink-manicured fingernail against her chin. "Something is missing. Something to complete it… it just seems a little…"
"Bare?" Preston interred.
"Yes!" she replied exasperatedly.
The older designer tapped his chin. "Let's try this…"
A few moments later, the sketched bridesmaid was outfitted with a wrap.
A slow smile spread across Jessica's face. "Perfect!"
"Excellent!" He grinned as he stood up and walked over to the double doors that were made of frosted glass, pushing them open.
Beyond the doors rested ceiling to floor shelving, organized in aisles as if they were in a grocery store. The shelves were stacked to the brim with fabric rolls in all different colors, prints, and types.
"Now… let's pick a fabric!"
John Cena was absolutely exhausted.
In order to make sure that he could accommodate all of the fans who walked into the gym, John had to wake up at seven in the morning.
He was not a morning person, no matter how much he loved/needed his coffee. Sometimes, he even found himself shaking when he didn't consume any at the beginning of his day.
And while he thoroughly enjoyed talking with his fans and signing whatever they wanted, he was tired and anxious to be with his fiancée.
She would kick his ass for being a zombie, but when they drove over, he'd sleep in the car while Jessica and Preston talked.
And then he'd be ready to go.
"Come on, John…" one of the regular gym rats tried to coerce him. "Just fifteen minutes."
"Nah, man. I can't. Any other day, I would," John assured the man who was about his size.
"Bro, you sure?" the owner of that particular gym asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
The wrestler nodded. "My girl will kill me if I'm late. We're going to the place we're having our wedding reception in June. I can't miss it. I don't want to miss it."
The weightlifter dropped the barbell to the ground and stared at him. "The wedding's still on?"
To: Jessica McMahon
From: John Cena
You can consider the beans officially spilled. My bad.
To: John Cena
From: Jessica McMahon
I give the tabloids an hour. You want under or over?
To: Jessica McMahon
From: John Cena
Over.
BEST NEWS… EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR!
It's back on! The wedding of Jessica McMahon and John Cena is back on! They've patched up their relationship and are continuing down the path to the altar.
The wedding is scheduled for June.
Thank God!
People Exclusive: McCena back on!
John Cena appeared at a Gold's Gym promotional event in New York City this morning and left around 11am. In order to excuse him from staying later than scheduled, John told the crowd that if he didn't leave on time, "my girl will kill me."
And that sentence was followed by "We're going to the place we're having our wedding reception in June. "
To: John Cena
From: Jessica McMahon
You lose.
To: Jessica McMahon
From: John Cena
Wait… what? How do you know?
To: John Cena
From: Jessica McMahon
I do have people who work for me, remember? And where are you? Preston and I are waiting!
To: Jessica McMahon
From: John Cena
I forget that I'm marrying an Executive Vice President sometimes.
I'm a block away.
The drive over to Oheka was relatively easy with the exception of a small amount of traffic on the way out of the city. To make matters less difficult, Vince had made sure that one of the corporate drivers was at their disposal for the duration of the wedding planning.
And making Jessica's life the least stressful possible, John was sound asleep on one of the benches in the limousine.
"Is he okay?" Preston asked curiously, leaning in towards Jessica.
"He's fine," she laughed lightly and stuffed her Blackberry back into her purse. "If he starts snoring though, I'll have to wake him."
The wedding planner suddenly grew nervous. "Why?"
"Because he's loud as hell."
"Oh."
After the last turn off of the main road, Jessica and Preston watched as lush green grass past by them with no end in sight. The edgings between the paved road and the grass were lined with beautiful flowers of every color, shape, and size.
Jessica scooted to the end of her seat and placed a hand on her fiance's shoulder, gently shaking him awake. "John, wake up…"
He groaned and stretched out his arms and legs. "Are we there?"
"I think so, look outside," she instructed him and pointed to the window.
His cerulean eyes followed her hand and gazed out of the window. "What is this?"
The blonde stood up and took a few steps towards him, then sat down next to his large body. "This is what our guests are going to see on the way to our wedding."
Her hazel eyes studied his face as a slow smile spread, orbs still fixed outside the window, and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Six months seems like a long time," she sighed, nuzzling his warm skin.
John wrapped his left arm around her and pressed his lips to her temple. "I've waited twenty-one years for you. What's another six months?"
Suddenly, the overwhelming castle appeared in the distance and slowly, grew larger.
Jessica's breath caught in her throat and John vocalized her reaction. "Wow. It's…"
"Perfect."
Jessica tugged on the bottom of her shirt, straightening out any wrinkles as the three waited for a representative from Oheka to greet them.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, a dark-haired man in an expensive suit turned the corner and headed straight for them.
They rose to their feet as he greeted them. "Preston, it's great to see you again! Ms. McMahon! Mr. Cena! It's truly a pleasure…"
They both nodded and stood up to shake his hand, with John remarking, "Please, Jessica and John."
"My name is Rick and I'll be handling everything regarding your wedding here at Oheka," he explained politely. "I have your binder with me in my hands," he added, patting the dark blue plastic for effect. "You don't have to make all of your decisions today and you can always get back to me on anything later. I understand this is a lot to process, but if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask."
"Believe me," John replied with a laugh. "She'll ask."
"Excellent," Rick smiled. "We're going to do a full walkthrough today of the property and the grounds. Were you planning on having the ceremony here?"
Jessica nodded. "Yes. Neither of us have a particular affiliations with any local churches, but we were hoping to have the priest from our hometown come down to marry us. He knows us both very well."
"That's not an uncommon decision amongst couples. Preston, if you could send me his contact information, I'll get in touch with him to workout the logistics."
Preston quickly pulled a piece of paper out of his own binder and handed it to Rick. "Here you go."
"Thank you. Now, were you interested in an outdoor ceremony or an indoor one?" he asked.
"I think we wanted something outdoors, but were a little wary about it," Jessica admitted, looking towards her fiancé.
John agreed with her, "We're not exactly from an area in which the weather is consistently dry for any period of time. June is typically a drier month, but anything can happen."
"We only have one wedding at a time here, so we can plan for an outdoor ceremony. If there is inclement weather the day of, we will move it indoors. The structure of the room we would use inside allows us to use the same configuration of seating, decorations, etcetera… as we would inside."
The blonde was satisfied by his answers. "So then, yes… outdoors."
He nodded and scribbled something in his binder. "Do you have an estimate of how many guests you'll be having?"
Preston stepped in to answer the question. "They invited around three-hundred fifty, but we're figuring around three hundred will attend."
"The Terrace room is where receptions are typically held," Rick explained to them as they started to walk towards the outdoors. "It can hold up to four hundred guests comfortably, but can hold as few as one-hundred and still be a very intimate setting. I will show you that room after we take a look outside…." He trailed off as they approached the French doors. "Shall we?"
Jessica and John turned to look at each other and nodded. With a reassuring smile, her blue-eyed fiancé laced his hands with hers and they stepped forward…
Taking one step closer to the rest of their lives.
A/N: I am posting this chapter today, in honor of my birthday. So what if I'm a little narcissistic today, I deserve to be. Nineteen years old… last year of being a teen. I'm a little floored by that.
In case you guys didn't know via More Than Words or my profile, I've started up a Twitter account that will keep you updated as to my progress on various fictions. In fact, if you would have been subscribed to it already, you would have known a few quotes from this chapter…
AND THE TITLE OF SHE'S A REBEL IV!
Until the end the story, which will be chapter 23, the only way you will find that out is to subscribe to Twitter. Incentive, anyone?!?
Anyhoo… shout-outs:
Dreamin'BIG - That was a fun McCena reunion in the ring, huh? I guess the fans are kind of appeased for now.
Sweetortonlover86 – Thank you! I was a little nervous as to how it'd turn out, but I'm thrilled with the reaction. As for the printer, I think the last thing that John would think is… "She drove 4 hours so that she could pick up my printer?" He probably doesn't even know his own printer model, lol.
Jun6293 – Oh, I'm just glad you're reviewing now! I was at all six games in Miami, 1-6, including David's game-winning hit in game five. I couldn't not go when I was in the area visiting my grandparents. David and I have a good relationship… couldn't not support him there.
Sambolina – Glad you liked it!
CraftyTink529 – THANKS! If I made her just show up and jump his bones, there wouldn't have been much of a chapter and I'm not one for writing sexually explicit chapters, haha. I'm glad you liked the Dave-resolution, but I can't take full credit. I was inspired by a reader!
iNdy MiLk – Thanks, girly! All done for now, but more to come soon. Booooooo to that!
Cena-holic8 – Thanks for the support, girl!
Sideways anger – THANK YOU! I was nervous about this chapter, but now that I see it's enjoyed, I'm so happy. Indeed… priceless is the word.
RatedRCouture – Yes! Tis on!
XxFluTePrinCessX – Thank you!
FrequentlyDazzled619 – I do think that McMahon-Cena has a much better ring to it than McMahon-Johnson. We're going to address that name change next chapter, I believe. You shall see. If you look at Twitter and follow me, you'll find it. And yes, time changes suck. I went from the East Coast to England, then France, then Italy, then Greece in fourteen days two summers ago… and changed time zones four times. Then came back 8 hours to New Jersey when I returned on the 14 hour flight from Greece. Ugh. It was rough! Have fun at Wrestlemania!
Queen Chaos-Hardy - Well, this time it actually came! And I was thrilled! It was such a great birthday present and I can't wait to see how it ends. And I will tell you the color the next time that you're online. Umm… PS: You need to tell me yours too. Like, for realz. I want to hear all about your plans as I'm now in full wedding-obsession mode!
Hotpocketbandit – Happy endings ARE pretty kick-ass, aren't they?
Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – Come on, Nikki! Did you really think I'd build them… and you all… up for two stories and kick them down? Jess was created in my image (not to make myself omnipotent or anything), so of course she'd be happy with John.
Vjsimpact – Thank you. I'm flattered. Wedding will come in TWO chapters. Just wait until Stephanie goes with Jess to pick out a wedding dress and sees what her dress will look like. Let hell ensue.
Nic-002001 – It was a blastie blast. David Wright is a pretty chill guy and it was nice to see him again. As a baseball lover, it was a fun event to attend.
Chain Gang Princess – What a lovely dancer you are!
Westfan – Yeah, way to go, Kasey! Haha. Just kidding. Two more to go!
So that's really it, sports fans. I hope you all are doing well in school and that everything is well with you.
Well, go check out 12 Rounds… and add me on Twitter.
Oh, and review!
- Danielle
PS: Check out Queen Chaos-Hardy's new story, Something in the Air. It's pairing?
Me/John YAY!