Thanks for the reviews guys! It makes me smile every time I read one, please keep them coming!
Anyway, on with the next chapter ...
xx
I woke that morning to sunlight streaming through my blind. I walked over to my window and lifted the blind so I could see out. To my pleasure there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I smiled and looked at my clock, noticing it was after nine already. I quickly got washed and dressed and phoned Chad to make sure he hadn't forgotten about the wedding planning.
"Hello," Chad spoke from the other end of the phone. It sounded like he'd just woken up.
"Hey Chad. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten about the wedding planning we're doing today."
"Don't worry I didn't forget. Was everyone going to go to your apartment?"
"That was the plan. Why?"
"Well it's such a beautiful day I thought maybe people could come to my house. The garden's pretty big so we could do the work outside. I'll even make lunch and if you'd like. We could make a day of it."
"Oh Chad that sounds wonderful! You're the best," I smiled.
"I know," Chad chuckled.
"Okay I have to phone Tawni to let her know we've changed locations. Are we still meeting at eleven?"
"If that's okay with you."
"Yup, eleven's good. Okay I'll see you later, bye."
"Bye."
I ended the call and dialled Tawni's number.
"Hello." Tawni answered sounding even less awake than Chad had.
"Hey Tawni, sorry it's late notice but do you want to help plan some stuff for my wedding today?"
"You bet!" Tawni immediately brightened up.
"Well we're meeting at eleven at Chad's house."
"Okay I might be a little late; I need to pick some stuff up first."
"Not sure I like the sound of that but never mind. I'll see you later."
"Bye"
I hung up the phone again and went through to the kitchen to make myself breakfast. My mum was already sat eating cereal when I walked in.
"Hey mum," I greeted her.
"Morning sweetheart. How did you sleep?"
"Like a baby. Are you still up for wedding planning today?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world honey."
"Good. By the way we've decided to do it at Chad's house instead. It's such a nice day it would be a shame to waste it inside."
"I completely agree."
We finished breakfast before starting the half hour drive to Chad's house which was in Santa Cruz, right on the coast.
When we arrived I heard my mum gasp. Chad's house was beautiful. A typical Californian home. I parked the car on the drive and we made our way to the door. I rang the doorbell and waited for Chad to answer.
Eventually the door opened.
"Sorry, I was in the garden sorting out the furniture, do come in."
I walked inside and looked around, imagining what this house looked like to my mum who'd never seen it before.
It had a huge foyer with a living room to the left and a dining room to the right. Straight ahead was another sitting area situated in front of a huge glass wall which opened straight into the garden. The downstairs of the house was very open plan with large archways which led through to each room instead of doors. The whole place had a modern feel to it which was topped off by the grand piano which sat in the middle of the foyer. My fingers itched to play it but I managed to resist.
"Chad this house is beautiful," My mum finally spoke.
"Thank you. It belongs to my parents but they let me live here while they're away," Chad smiled.
"You have very generous parents."
"Indeed I do. Shall we go through to the garden?"
I nodded and Chad led us through the house. We walked straight through the house and into the garden through the large glass doors. Once again my mother's breath was taken away as we entered the garden.
The part of the garden closest to the house was grass with stone stepping stones which formed a winding path to the infinity pool and Jacuzzi which looked out over the ocean. There were beautiful plants and fountains dotted around the garden but they were hardly noticeable when there was a view such as that.
Chad led us to the glass table and chairs to the right of the pool where we made ourselves comfortable.
"Would you like iced tea or lemonade?"
"Oh I'd love an iced tea," I answered.
"An iced tea sounds lovely if you don't mind," My mum smiled.
"Not at all. I'll bring out the sandwiches too," Chad started to leave.
"I'll help," I stood quickly. I would be grateful for a few minutes alone with Chad.
As soon as we entered the house Chad held my hand and led me to the kitchen.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to find my way around this house, it's so big!"
"You'll get the hang of it soon," Chad smiled, letting go of my hand as he opened the fridge to get out the iced tea.
I searched through the cupboards for some glasses but only found pans and mugs. I stood and smiled at Chad.
"Well I tried to be useful."
"Don't worry about it," Chad smiled reaching over me to a cupboard above my head. I felt his breath moving my hair as he reached across me. I looked up into his eyes and stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. It started off gentle but got more passionate and heated. His hands worked their way into my hair and mine started running up and down his back.
We jumped apart when the doorbell rang.
"That'll be Tawni," I half whispered.
"Yeah I should probably go answer that," Chad went to leave.
"Wait a minute," I said pulling him back, "You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards," I began to flatten his hair and straighten his shirt.
"You don't look too great either," Chad chuckled, stoking my hair back into place. It felt so good I almost pounced on him again.
"Chad, answer the door before I get carried away again," I said pushing him towards the door.
Chad laughed but went to answer the door as I grabbed the iced tea, four glasses and the sandwiches and made my way to the garden where my mum was waiting.
"You took your time," My mum said pouring herself a glass of iced tea.
I just smiled. Thankfully Tawni came into the garden at that point so I didn't have to explain myself any further.
"Sorry I'm late, I had to stop at a few places on the way," Tawni smiled dumping an armful of wedding brochures on the table.
"Wow Tawni, you certainly don't do things by halves," I muttered.
"Shall we get started?" Tawni continued, choosing to ignore my last comment.
I sat at the table opposite my mum and next to Chad. Tawni sat next to my mum.
We spent a few hours looking through the brochures Tawni brought and managed to choose a few possible destinations. Finding the destination was quite difficult on such short notice but thankfully The London West Hollywood had a cancellation which we managed to book. However, the only area they had available was the rooftop pool. But Tawni managed to pull a few strings so we were able to get married on the rooftop then have some photos taken in the grounds while the area was being set up for us to dine.
We also decided that the theme should be modern with a vintage feel. We chose a lot of off white rather than brilliant white and picked some creamy coloured roses for decorations.
After a while deciding on colours and themes Tawni decided it was time I looked for a dress. She took me inside to the living room as she was a believer that it was bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding.
We got comfortable and started flicking through the brochures. After half an hour of seeing the same or very similar wedding gowns I came across a beautiful selection by the designer Elie Saab. There was one dress in particular which was absolutely breathtaking. It was quite low cut but had small sleeves which just covered the shoulders. It had a detailed lace bodice and long flowing skirts of layered silk organza. There was lace detailing down the skirts and, my favourite part, an off white ribbon around the waist (AN: the link to the dress is on my profile page along with some other links). I showed the picture to Tawni.
"Wow. Sonny, that's the dress. I'll arrange a fitting," Tawni said pulling out her phone and dialling the number from the brochure.
I sat staring at the dress, trying to imagine what I would look like wearing it, while Tawni arranged the fitting.
"Okay that's arranged for tomorrow afternoon," Tawni pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Tomorrow? They have appointments so soon?"
"Sonny, Sonny, Sonny. Never underestimate the power of Tawni," She shook her head and tutted at me. I couldn't hold back my laughter.
"Just go back outside and send Chad in, I need to talk to him," Tawni scowled at me.
I continued laughing as I left to get Chad.
"Chad, Tawni wants to see you inside."
"Me? Why?"
"She didn't say."
"Huh, weird," Chad said as he stood from the table.
I sat back at the table opposite my mum where we continued to look through the brochures.
Eventually Chad and Tawni came outside and Chad came and sat next to me. As he sat down he put his hand on my knee.
"So what was that about?" I asked them.
"You'll find out soon enough," Tawni smirked.
I turned to Chad and gave him my puppy dog eyes.
"I can't tell you, Tawni will kill me. But you will find out soon. Patience is a virtue my dear," Chad smiled at me.
"Patience is a virtue which I do not possess!" I exclaimed and everyone laughed at me.
We spent a few more hours planning for the wedding until all of us, apart from Tawni, got bored and Chad and I ended up in the pool. The afternoon was spent lazing about in the garden and Chad set up the barbeque for dinner. We watched the sunset from the pool and headed home after a beautiful day.
I know this is short but it's been a while since I updated so I thought I'd give you guys a little snippet. Exams are over (Yay!) so I'll hopefully be able to update more often.
xx