hey guys!

thanks for the great reviews:)

soccerfreeek234 Yep it's posted at Sd-1 and AllAlias

katejones2005 I've never actually seen the wedding planner so i'm not sure! lol but there are some twists coming up... :P

Chapter 2

Sydney continued to stare at her while a million thoughts ran through her head. Lauren watched her curiously, wondering what had caused her reaction.

"Do you know him?" She asked; it was the only possible reason that she could think of. People usually didn't react the way Sydney had when they found out who Lauren was marrying.

Sydney quickly regained her composure and shook her head. "Er… no. The name just sounded a little familiar, that's all." She lied, feeling guilty the minute that she'd finished speaking.

"Oh ok." Lauren seemed to buy her lie. She retook her seat, and smiled slightly.

"Could you just excuse me for a minute?" Lauren nodded and Sydney walked out of the office and towards the bathroom. She splashed cold water onto her face and looked into the mirror, her hands resting on the side of the sink.

"I can do this… I'm a professional." She stared at her reflection. Taking a few deep breaths, she smoothed down her skirt and walked back towards her office.

"Sorry about that." She apologised, as she sat back down.

Lauren smiled. "It's ok. Listen Sydney… I can call you Sydney right?" She nodded. "Before we start arranging anything, I just want to make something clear." She paused, making sure that she had Sydney's full attention. "Money is not an issue with this wedding. I only plan on getting married once, and I want everything to be perfect, regardless of the cost."

"I understand."

"Great. Is it also possible for me to pay you up front? I'd rather pay you now and then I can use the rest of our money for the actual wedding." Lauren started to look in her bag for her chequebook.

During her career as a wedding planner, Sydney had never had a client who had hired her so quickly. Usually she met a couple of times with both partners and talked over a few ideas before any money was paid. Sydney had to admit that there was something about Lauren that was slightly off. Sure, she seemed like a nice enough woman, but there was something in the way that she hired Sydney straight away that amazed her. Before Sydney could voice any of her concerns, Lauren placed a cheque on her desk.

Sydney picked it up and was ready to hand it back to her when she noticed the figure in the corner of the cheque. She had to look twice to make sure that she wasn't seeing things, but no matter how many times she looked at it, the number remained the same.

"Miss Reed…"

"Lauren." She corrected her; her smile still etched on her face.

"Lauren, this is a cheque for 15.000…" Surely there is some kinda of mistake here…

"Yes I know." Lauren replied confidently, as if there was nothing strange about what she had just done.

Sydney cleared her throat, her eyes moving from the piece of paper back to Lauren. "This is five times more than what I usually ask for."

Lauren stood up and walked back over to the window. She would never have thought that someone would even think of turning down such a large sum of money and she could tell that if she was going to get Sydney t o do this job, she would have to persuade her further.

"Sydney, I've worked for one of the biggest advertising firms in the city for over 10 years." She remained facing the window, her eyes scanning across the view infront of her. "And if there's one thing that I've learnt doing my job, is that money has an influence on people. The more you pay somebody to do something; the better they do it." Sydney sat silently at her desk, thinking about what she had just heard. What Lauren was saying did make sense to her, but it didn't take away the uncomfortable feeling that had settled at the bottom of Sydney's stomach. "I realise that you may not feel right taking my money, but as I mentioned before, this will be my only wedding, and I want it to be like I always dreamed."

She walked back over to the desk and stood infront of Sydney, her eyes pleading with her. "I've seen your work and I know that you can give me my perfect wedding. So please, will you do this?"

Sydney's eyes fell onto the cheque once again. She knew that she should probably say to no to her, especially considering who the groom is. Bust as she held onto the piece of paper, she found it increasing hard to say no. It was a lot of money to throw away over something that happened in the past.

"Ok, you got yourself a wedding planner."

An hour later, Sydney found herself in Lauren's car, driving towards her home. The home she shared with Michael. After Sydney had agreed to plan the wedding, Lauren had insisted that she meet Michael, and then they could arrange the first few things. Seeing as Sydney had nothing else planned, she had agreed to the meeting. But as she was sitting beside Lauren in the car, her stomach would drop everytime the car slowed down, as she feared that they were at their destination.

Finally Lauren pulled into a driveway. Sydney climbed out of the car and stared at the house. It was a large, 2-storey building, just outside of New York City. There was a swing on the porch, which looked over the front lawn. Sydney was too amazed by the house that she didn't hear Lauren calling her. Lauren called her again, snapping Sydney out of her gaze.

"His car's here, so he should be home." Lauren informed her as they walked towards the front door.

Sydney's heart started racing as she thought about what she was about to face on the other side of the door. She knew that it was too late to turn back now, as she anxiously watched Lauren put the key in the lock.

"Michael?" She called as she walked into the house, motioning for Sydney to follow her.

Sydney took a deep breath and stepped inside. Well here goes nothing…

hehe sorry for the mean cliffhanger :) But they're just too fun! lol please review and let me know what you think:)