Em-958: The exact date of the wedding is Februrary 19th, which in Australia would be summer. However, as the fic is set in L.A, it means that it will be a winter wedding. (I couldn't help but laugh at you saying that you hated the snow...I would love to see snow. I'm going to Europe next January and cannot wait to experience snow for the first time!)
"What do you mean she's refusing to celebrate?" Sydney asked Will over the phone Monday lunchtime. She should have been planning her classes for that afternoon, but at this moment Francie's birthday was more important.
"Exactly that." Will answered. "I called her this morning to wish her a happy birthday and asked her around to my place for birthday drinks. She said that there was no way she could leave the restaurant."
"Well, then we'll have to go to her," Sydney said. "There is no way that Francie is not going to get a birthday celebration."
When Francie walked into the restaurant's kitchen later that night she got quite a shock. Sydney and Will were both standing in there, a chocolate cake in Will's hands.
"What are you doing here?" she blurted out.
"Oh come on, Fran." Sydney smiled. "Did you really think that you would get through today without celebrating your birthday at all?"
"Guys, this is really sweet," Francie said, her face apologetic. "But I have to get out there."
"Stop right there." Will demanded. "We spoke with the maitre' d and he is covering everything."
"So you are going to sit down with your best friends and have a damn piece of cake," Sydney added.
The phone calls started late Thursday evening. Sydney didn't even remember giving Carrie her mobile number, but there she was, her voice on the other end of the line, rabbiting on about lighting cues and final set constructions.
They continued throughout Friday and over the weekend. The list of problems that Carrie was consulting her about continued to grow and grow. At one point Sydney suggested that Carrie speak to the assistant directors, but Carrie brushed it off. Apparently they had enough to worry about. Sydney, obviously, did not.
Sydney was dreading going to school on Monday morning. Carrie had been bad enough over the phone- what was she going to be like face to face? Thankfully, the production was opening that Thursday. By Sunday it would be over and Sydney would be free to focus on the wedding, which was approaching at a rapid pace.
When Sydney got to her office, she could hear her mobile ringing in her bag. Fumbling, she managed to pull it out.
"Hello."
"Hi, is this Miss Bristow?"
"Yes."
"This is Tim, from All Occasion Caterers. I'm afraid I have some bad news."
Sydney's heart skipped a beat. "What?"
"You had us booked for a wedding on the 19th of February. Correct?"
"Yes."
"Unfortunately, we are no longer in business. The owner declared bankruptcy yesterday."
Sydney slumped down in to her desk chair. "Bankrupt?"
"Yes, and due to that status, we are unable to return your deposit."
"Uh, ok." Sydney was too stunned to even argue that fact.
"We send our deepest apologies."
"Ok." Sydney whispered and then snapped her phone shut. This was unbelievable. She knew that she should have never got out of bed that day.
"Sydney!" Carrie was standing in her doorway, her voice way too chipper for a Monday morning. "How was your weekend?"
"Fine," Sydney replied, her voice monotone.
"Ok, well I'll see you at lunch. There have been a few changes to the lighting designs and you really should be up to date."
With a smile, Carrie turned and walked off as Dixon entered the office. Seeing the expression on Sydney's face, Dixon gave her a wry smile.
"What's Carrie asking for now? Your first born child?"
Sydney shook her head. "I just got a call from the caterer's."
"Oh oh. That cannot be good."
Sydney went to answer but was cut off by her mobile ringing. The caller ID said it was a private number and she answered with trepidation. "Hello…" She relaxed, letting out a deep breath. "Oh hey dad. What's up?"
"Sydney, I just heard from your aunts."
"Really?"
"I'm afraid that they are not going to be able to come to the wedding."
"Oh." Sydney couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice. It had been a real want of hers to have her mother's sisters present at the ceremony. It would have been like having her mother there…sort of.
"Honey, I'm sorry. I know how much this meant to you." Jack was saying.
"No, no. That's ok." Sydney said, her voice falsely bright. "Thanks for letting me know."
After shutting her phone once again, Sydney looked over towards Dixon. He rose his eyebrows.
"One of those days, hey?"
Sydney nodded and rubbed her eyes.
At lunchtime, Sydney tried unsuccessfully to get hold of Vaughn. Frustrated she slammed down the phone. Her bad mood from the morning had carried into the classroom and she had been playing the role of tyrant teacher all morning. And her students were not in the slightest bit appreciative.
"Hey Syd," Dixon walked in and shut the door behind him. "I just spoke to Carrie- she seems to be on a bit of a rampage."
Sydney closed her eyes briefly. She had forgotten about meeting up with Carrie.
"Oh well," she shrugged. "Let her rampage. I have more important things to worry about."
At that point her mobile started to ring. Sydney just looked at it.
"Uh, Syd," Dixon piped up. "Are you going to answer that?"
"No," she said. Dixon bit his lip to hide a smile and Sydney realized how childlike she must have looked. With a sigh, she flipped open the phone.
"Hello."
"Hi. Is this Sydney Bristow?"
"This is she."
"Hi. My name is Zack Whitefield. I'm a member of Masquerade. You have us booked to play at a wedding reception on the 19th February."
"Yes," Sydney sighed in response, running a hand through her hair.
"Unfortunately our singer has just been diagnosed with throat nodules and will be unable to perform for a considerable amount of time."
"So you can't play at the wedding?"
"Well, we will be auditioning new singers, but we may not be able to find one in time so we are just letting all our clients know so that they have time to consider other music avenues."
"Ok," Sydney hung up the phone and blew a strand of hair out of her face. She turned to Dixon. "If anybody asks, I'm hiding under a rock waiting for today to end, ok?"
Dixon nodded, a sympathetic smile playing on his lips.
"Oh Michael!" The secretary at Abrams College jumped up as Vaughn walked past the office.
He stopped. "What is it, Clara?"
"Sydney called before."
"Did she leave a message?"
"No.
"So, she didn't ask for me to call her back?"
Clara shook her head.
"Oh ok. Well thanks for letting me know." Vaughn walked off, glancing at his watch. Lunch was almost over and he needed to get the worksheets for his next lesson photocopied. He'd call Sydney when school was over.
Sydney managed to get out of the school that afternoon without running into Carrie. The day had only gotten worse and the afternoon went along, and all she wanted to do was get home and collapse in the bath with a glass of wine.
As she opened her car door, her mobile started to ring once again. Letting out a frustrated yell, she fought the urge to kick her car door and received some curious looks from the few students mingling around as a result.
Flipping the phone open, she barked out. "Hello."
"Sydney Bristow?"
"Yes…unfortunately," she added, getting into the car.
"Uh, excuse me?" The voice on the other end of the line asked.
"I'm sorry. Never mind. Yes, this is Sydney."
"Ok, well I'm calling from Liberty Functions in regards to your booking of our reception room on the 19th February."
"Oh god. What now?" Sydney sighed, as leaned back against the headrest.
"Well, it was just brought to our attention that we seemed to have double booked the venue for that day."
"Are you serious?" Sydney shot back, unable to keep the fury out of her voice.
"Yes, Miss Bristow, but—"
"So what are you saying?" Sydney demanded. "That we cannot use your venue for our wedding?"
"Not at this point. We need to confer with the other party, before determining who has the right to the room."
Sydney exhaled loudly. "Fine. Just let us know as soon as possible."
She sat in the car, her hands on the steering wheel. She couldn't believe that this was happening. The caterers, the band, the reception venue and her aunts. She could only guess what the next phone call would be about.
As if on cue, the mobile started to ring, and Sydney reluctantly answered it. "Hello…no, Carrie I am sorry, but now is not a good time. Good bye."
Throwing her phone down, Sydney started up the car. She had to get out of there.
"Syd?" Vaughn called out when he walked into the house late that afternoon. He'd called her school straight after his last class but was told that she had already left. He'd been surprised by this. Sydney rarely left work early, and so he'd left too, in the concern that something was wrong.
Even though her car wasn't in the driveway, he still looked around the house. But, as he expected, there was no sign of Sydney anywhere. Walking into the kitchen, he picked up the phone and dialled her mobile number.
"Hello." There was something odd about her voice.
"Syd, what's up? The school said you'd left, are you ok?"
"No," she sniffed. "I am not ok and everything else is not ok either!"
"Syd, where are you?"
"I just needed some space. Needed to think. Needed to breathe."
Vaughn knew exactly where she would go to do that. "Syd, are you at the pier?"
She drew in a deep breath. "Yes."
"Just stay there. I'll be there in about fifteen."
Sydney was leaning on the railing, staring down at the water when Vaughn got there. He walked up and stood beside her.
"What happened, Sydney?" he asked.
"What didn't—" She stopped abruptly when her phone started ringing. "No, no, no, no," she muttered as she opened it up. "Hello…no Carrie. I will speak to you tomorrow." She snapped it shut. "I've had it Vaughn."
"Had what?"
"The phone."
"Syd, what has been going on?" he probed gently.
"Well, it started with the call from the caterers. They have gone bankrupt and will not be able to feed the guests at our wedding. And the singer of the band we hired? Well, he's got nodules and can't sing. And my favourite…the reception venue has apparently double booked." She paused, taking in a deep breath. "And my dad called. My aunts are not going to come to the wedding, which means that the only family I am going to have there is my father." He face crumpled.
"Oh Syd," Vaughn sighed.
"Why is everything going wrong?" she choked out as the tears began to fall. "I can't deal with this stuff."
"Come here," Vaughn pulled her tightly into his arms. They stayed like that for a few seconds until Sydney's phone began ringing obnoxiously.
"You have got to be joking," Sydney snapped as she took a look at the caller ID. It was Carrie again. Something inside her cracked at that point and before she realized what she was doing; Sydney launched the phone over the side of the pier.
Vaughn stared down and then looked at Sydney, his expression dumbfounded. "You just threw your mobile into the Pacific."
Sydney let out a short laugh through her tears. "I know."
"Syd," Vaughn stepped back and cupped her face, using the pads of his thumbs to wipe away her tears. "Listen to me. Everything is going to work out, ok. I promise. The caterers, the band, and the reception venue- they can all be sorted out. We have a month. And as for your aunts, your father is not going to be your only family there. All of my relatives see you as one of them. They love you so much. And what about Francie and Will? What about them? How many times have you said that they are family to you? And Weiss and Ainsley, they're a part of that family to. Our family."
Sydney sniffed. "I suppose."
"You know what I think you need…we need?"
Sydney shook her head. "No, what?"
"We need to get away. To just pack up the tent and spend a couple of days in the middle of nowhere." Vaughn said. "What do you say? The weekend after next?"
"I don't know, Vaughn. There is so much to do—"
"And we can do it before or after we get back. Come on, you know we need this."
A small smiled crossed Sydney's face as she nodded. "Yeah, we do. It sounds like a great idea."
Vaughn smiled. "Good. Now, come on," he grabbed her hand and began leading them down the pier.
"Where are we going?" Sydney asked.
"To the shopping centre." Vaughn replied. "We need to get you a new phone."
A/N: Just a note to let you all know that there is only ten more chapters to go in this fic...