Pretty in White

That night Ryan and Marissa were in the pool house talking about their days.

"Do you find that everybody's acting a bit strange?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah. I walked into the kitchen and Seth and Summer were talking about pools and patios, but stopped as soon as they saw me." Ryan told her.

"Well whatever they're doing, I hope they tell us soon. I hate surprises." Marissa said. The only surprise she ever liked was when Ryan proposed. "I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow." She said getting up.

"Curfew?" He asked, and then kissed her.

"No. My parents decided that I was too old to have a curfew. But they lock the door at midnight, even if I'm not home." Marissa told him.

"Ok. Do you want to have lunch together tomorrow?"

"Sure!" Marissa answered. "I'll meet you at your office at 12."

"Ok."

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"Mr. Atwood," Mrs. Deacon, the secretary called, "I sent Ms. Cooper up to your office."

"Ok. Thanks Diane." Ryan called into the speaker that went to the secretary office.

Marissa came into the office a couple of minutes later. "Hey!" She said going over to Ryan and hugging him.

"Hey." He said, giving her a kiss.

"Ready to go?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah. Where are we going?"

"There's a nice little teahouse we could try." Marissa suggested.

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "I am not going to a teahouse. That's more like Cohen's idea of a good time." He said.

Marissa laughed and said, "Then how about The Overview?"

"Ok." Ryan said as he opened the door, "Sounds good."

Ten minutes later they arrived at the restaurant. It was a beautiful place built on a cliff that over looked the ocean. There was a window that took up one whole wall, from the top to the bottom. Ryan and Marissa were seated at a table in front of it so they could have a good look at the water.

"I love this place!" Marissa exclaimed, looking all around the restaurant.

"I hear they have a famous chef here." Ryan said, picking up a menu.

"Yeah. Giovanni something." Marissa said, looking at her menu. "Hey, we should have him for our wedding!"

"Can we at least try the food first?" Ryan asked laughing.

"Of course. What are you having?" Marissa asked.

"Do you want to share a seafood plate? It serves 2." Ryan asked.

"Sure. Hey, for our wedding, since it's on the beach, do you want to have seafood for dinner?" Marissa asked. She had been thinking about what they could have and it made sense to serve seafood at a beach wedding.

"Ok. Let's see how good this food is before we decide to have him cook." Ryan said, taking a sip of water.

A young brunette woman came up to their table to take their order.

"Hello. Are you ready to order?" She asked.

"Yes. We'll have the seafood plate and two white wines please." Ryan told her. Marissa handed her the menus and the waitress left.

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"That food was delicious!" Marissa told Ryan as they drove to Marissa's house.

"I know. Good enough for our wedding?" Ryan asked.

"Definitely. Do you want it?" Marissa loved it, but she wanted to make sure Ryan wanted it for the wedding.

"Yeah. But it will cost a lot." Ryan said.

Marissa turned to him and smiled. "We can thank my parents for that. We still have quite a bit of money left over from the check."

"Ok." Ryan said as they pulled up to Marissa's house. "I guess I'll see you later." He told her.

"I don't want to go." Marissa pouted as she undid her seatbelt.

"I know." Ryan said. He leaned over and kissed her. "I'll come over after work."

"Ok." Marissa said, as she got out of the car. "Love you."

"Love you too." Ryan told her. He drove off and could see Marissa waving to him in the rearview mirror.

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Later that day Marissa was in her bedroom reading a magazine when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" She called out, and Ryan came into her room.

"Hey." Marissa said as she sat up.

"Hey. How was your day?" Ryan asked as he sat down beside Marissa on the bed.

"Good." She said kissing Ryan. "The radio station called me." She said, trying to keep a straight face.

"And?" Ryan asked.

"I got the job!" Marissa shrieked.

"That's great!" Ryan said, hugging Marissa.

"Yeah. I start on Monday." She told him. "Oh," Marissa said quickly. "We need to go pick out stationary for the invitations tomorrow, because I want to get the invitations out by next week. You don't work tomorrow right?"

"No. And picking out stationary Marissa? I mean, that's a bit to girly for me." Ryan admitted.

Marissa smiled at Ryan. She had been waiting all afternoon to see the look on his face when she mentioned stationary. "Come on! It's your wedding too."

"Fine, I'll go." Ryan gave in, and Marissa smiled. "But no flowers."

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"This one's pretty." Marissa said. She showed Ryan a piece of pink paper with leis on it.

"No." Ryan said immediately. "I said no flowers, or girl colors."

Marissa rolled her eyes and picked up another paper sample. It was blue with a green border. "This one?"

"No. The bold colors distract you from the writing." Ryan said, and Marissa laughed. "What?" He asked, looking at Marissa.

"Since when did you become Martha Stuart?" Marissa asked, still laughing.

Ryan stuck his tongue out at Marissa. "You're so funny." He said sarcastically.

"I like this one." She said, handing a sheet of yellow parchment to Ryan. It was kind rough around the edge and looked very beachy.

"This is good." Ryan said.

"Yeah, we could roll it up and put string around it and tie a starfish or shell on it." Marissa suggested.

"Sure. How many do we need?" Ryan asked.

"Well we have 238 people, and some of those are families," Marissa said looking at the guest list she brought with her, "124 invitations."

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"Oh my god Coop!" Summer cried as she saw Marissa in her finished wedding gown. "You look so beautiful!"

Marissa's dress was made from a light cotton material and silk. The skirt was made from the cotton and had many layers. The top part was made out of silk and fit tightly around Marissa's upper body. Tied around her stomach there was a piece of the same cotton as the skirt. The back of the dress revealed her whole back. The sleeves were thin and made from the cotton in a wavy pattern. Her veil was made from the same cotton as the dress and with two clips fastened to the back of her head.

"It turned out better than I imagined." Marissa said.

"I can't believe you're getting married." Summer said, slightly crying.

Marissa noticed her friend crying. "Don't cry Summer!" Marissa said, going over to hug Summer.

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"Ok. I'm coming down now." Marissa called to her parents. She was at her house, and was about to model the dress for her parents. She walked down the stairs were her parents were waiting.

"Wow kiddo, you look beautiful!" Jimmy said, holding Marissa's hands and looking at her.

"You look amazing!" Julie said through tears. Jimmy moved aside and she hugged Marissa tightly.