It took the rest of the morning to plan out the main concept of both weddings. They were careful to make sure that the weddings were completely different. When they were finished they walked down the hallway to Rogers’s desk.
“Roger? You can definitely book the ballroom.” Sam said smiling
“It has already been done. Mr. Ames informed me as he was escorting his secretary out of the building.
“Ok, Thank you.” Sam said knowing he had fired the vile woman. The valet pulled her car up around the bend. Before she could get into her car, George’s voice stopped her.
“Wait up!” He yelled out of breath.
“George?” Sam said giving him a weirded out kind of look.
“Miss Lee, Will you go on a date with me?”
“Yes” Sam said trying to hide how ecstatic she was “When?”
“Well it is only 12:30. How about now?” He asked hopefully.
“Well, I would but what about Liz?”
“Give me your keys. I know how to drive a stick remember? You taught me.” Liz answered her. “Go have fun.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am sure.”
“Ok,” Sam said suspiciously “Don’t you dare strip my gears or drop my transmission though.”
“Ye have little faith.” Liz said. “Your Lamborghini will arrive home safe and sound. I will wait there for you and hang out with Pepper.” Sam handed Liz the keys and watched her drive away.
“Where are we going?” Sam turned to George.
“You’ll see.” He said as he opened the limo door. They drove about an hour, when they stopped at their destination.
“6 flags?” Sam said excitedly.
“Are you ready to have some fun?”
They spent the rest of the day riding on rollercoasters and eating junk food. Sam laughed so hard she almost peed her pants. When it was almost sunset, George rushed them to the middle of the park where they got onto the Ferris wheel.
“Look at that sunset, it is beautiful.”
“You are beautiful.” George said making Sam blush.
“I have had an amazing time today.”
“Me too.” He smiled “Will you be my date to the weddings?”
“I would love too.” Sam said cuddling closer to him.
They spent the rest of the date holding hands and acting like high school lovers. She leaned into him when they got back into the limo. Sam, as usual, fell asleep. This time he thought she looked peaceful. He woke her up a few minutes before they arrived in front of her house.
“I am sorry that I fell asleep again.”
“It is ok. I even dozed for a bit.” George opened the door to help her out when they pulled up to her house.
“Thank you.” Sam said taking his hand “Will you come in?”
“Not tonight. I will see you soon.” George said and then walked away awkwardly. Sam felt crushed. The sexual tension was thick between them. She couldn’t help but to wonder why he kept running away from it. She slowly turned and walked into her house.
“Hello?” Sam called. No one answered her but she heard a hint of laughter in the air. She walked into her kitchen to see what was going on.
“Sam!” Liz said stumbling toward her.
“Are you two drunk?”
“Just a little” Liz answered.
“I will call TJ. You sleep here tonight.” Sam said with a sigh.
“Thank you but we have already called him. How was your date?”
“Amazing. I am going to bed. Goodnight.”
When Sam woke up the next morning she was still somewhat upset about last night’s events. She went for a run to clear her head. When that didn’t work, she decided to get to the bottom of the problem. Sam grabbed her cell phone and called George.
“Good morning Sammy.” George answered.
“Morning. I have a serious question to ask you.” She said.
“OK”
“Why do you always make sure there is no way for us to be..” She paused struggling to find the right word “intimate.”
“I respect you too much. I know we have in the past but I am really trying to do things differently this time around and wait until we are married.” He said confidently.
“Even in this day and age? We are grown adults. Do you really think this will change anything from the past?”
“I know it won’t change the past. I am hoping it will change the future. I am willing to find out are you?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Is this a shock to you?”
“Yes it is. I am ok with your decision. It is just going to take some time to wrap my head around.
“I understand that. I have to go though, I have a meeting. Are we ok?”
“Yea, we are ok. Have a good meeting.”
“Bye honey.”
“Bye.” Sam said hanging up.
Sam, Liz, Pepper and the 7 ladies of the design team spent the next 5 ½ weeks getting the weddings together. Kylee and Charlee had been involved minimally, only given small details of the other ones wedding. The invitations had been sent and all of the R.S.V.P.’s returned. It was finally almost time for the Weddings.
.
CHAPTER 8: THE REVEAL
With the final day before the big event here, Sam and Liz were busier than ever. They had put Kylee and Charlee in charge of their stores to keep them at bay until tomorrow night. Sam was working the kinks out of Kylee’s wedding and Liz was doing the same for Charlee’s wedding. At the moment they were taking a short break. They were waiting for Max, Dillon, and the jeweler Ricky to show up to make the final decisions on the rings.
“You are sure the rings are going to fit them?” Liz said nervously.
“Yes. Ricky is bringing rings only in the sizes that Max and Dillon gave to him 2 weeks ago,” Sam said reassuring her.
“He better.” Max said as he walked into the room.
“Hello.” Dillon said following him in.
“Hey guys, are you excited yet?” Sam asked.
“I am.” Max said.
“Me too. I don’t even have cold feet.” Dillon added.
“That is always a good thing.” Sam started. “Hello Ricky.” She said as she pointed herself toward the jeweler walking into the room.
“Miss Samantha, Miss Elizabeth, How lovely to see you again.” Ricky said. Ricky was the best jeweler in town. “Are you ready to make your selections? “Ricky placed two briefcases he had on the table, then motioned for Dillon and Max to sit. All eyes were on the briefcases as Ricky opened them. It took Max a total of three seconds to pick his set out. Dillon on the other hand took more than a minute.
Max chose a 2 ½ karat diamond studded silver band with an oval centerpiece for Charlee and an etched silver band for himself. Dillon chose something a bit more traditional. He chose a sliver banded solitaire cut diamond for Kylee with another band attached to it. The second band was just diamonds if you looked at it head on, if you looked at it sideways, though, it looked like linking bass clefs. For himself he chose a silver band with a gold inlay. Ricky took their choices to Georges vault. He wanted to be sure that they stayed safe and that they were kept secret.
“We need to decide two final things before we can pull this off.” Sam said.
“What would that be?” Max asked putting his hands behind his head.
“Who gets married first?”
“That is an easy one. Max does.” Dillon answered.
“Why?” Max said stunned that Dillon didn’t want to go first.
“Because my tux for your wedding is the same as the one for my wedding with subtle changes. Quicker turnover.”
“Oh. See I would have said you go first. That way, it made sense to see you in the same tux. Plus, you have been engaged longer.
“See this is why we talk it out. I never would have thought of it that way. Ok, I am up first.” Dillon said making it sound as if he was batting first at a baseball game.
“Ok, now that that is
settled, How do we tell them tonight?” Sam said
“I have an idea.” Liz said sheepishly.
“Let’s hear it.” Sam said.
“I don’t know it is a long shot.” Liz answered.
“Well we need ideas. No idea will be considered stupid at the moment.” Max said.
“Ok. Well they are both coming here for what they think is their bachelorette parties. What if when they walk into the room we are all behind the guys who are down on one knee? Then the guys can tell them themselves. When they are done the men can go with George and us girls can party?” Liz finished with a wince.
“That is a brilliant idea!” Sam said.
“But there is one problem.” Max said..
“What is that?” Sam said.
“Sam, it was your idea. You made all this happen. You should be the one to tell them.”
“No. I am willing to let you two take the credit.”
“Thanks Sam.” They said in unison.
“You need to get going. It is time to get ready. You guys only have two hours until they get here.” Sam said as Max and Dillon left the room.
Sam and Liz headed to the ballroom to check on progress. When they saw how well things were going, they were pleasantly surprised and grateful that there had been no problems thus far. After last minute checks, they went to get ready. The theme was ‘fun in paradise’. They had booked limos to meet them downstairs at 9 and Tj’s theater for the night.
Everyone arrived precisely half an hour earlier than the special guests as instructed. Sam was running around trying to greet Kylee and Charlee’s families. As she knew a good hostess should. The men were running obscenely late, which annoyed Sam. Five minutes before Kylee and Charlee showed up, the men finally came walking through the door of the Hamilton Suite.
The Hamilton Suite was a party suite. The reason it was called a party suite, Roger had told her, was because there was a fully stocked and staffed bar in the room as well as enough room to seat 50 people, and three two king bed rooms equipped with their own bathrooms. Sam had picked this room so that they could use it as a bridal suite as well, when the guests left. Sam had made sure that the bar was fully stocked with alcohol, as well as a number of hangover remedies for the morning.
“It is time everyone!” Sam said after Roger called to let her know that they were on their way up. “Ladies and those of you men who are not Max and Dillon, please gather by the bar. Max and Dillon stand here.” Sam said deciding that if they were on one knee it would look too tacky. She turned off the lights and waited. The door opened slowly. Sam flicked the lights on again and everyone yelled.
“Surprise!” Everyone sang in unison.
“What is going on here?” Kylee asked both her and Charlee obviously shocked.
“We have something to tell you.” Max said.
“We have been working very hard for 6 weeks to make this happen.” Dillon said.
“Tomorrow, I will be marrying you Charlee.” Max said smiling.
“And, I will be marrying you Kylee.” Dillon added.
“What are you two talking about?”
“Well your best friends carried out a plan to throw you surprise weddings for you both.” Max said.
“Since when?” Charlee asked.
“Since Kylee told Sam about the pastor.” Liz said.
“thanks guys.” Kylee said starting to tear.
“I have a confession to make.” Max said slowly.
“What is it honey?” Charlee asked.
“I can’t take credit for any of this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sam had this idea. Sam got us all to help her. Sam made this whole thing possible and George generously paid for it all.” Max said stepping away from Sam.
“Max!” Sam blushed with embarrassment.
“They deserved to know. I know you said we could take credit but we did not feel right about it. So when we were getting ready we decided we wouldn’t.” Dillon said in Max’s defense.
“Why wouldn’t you want us to know this was all you?” Kylee asked.
“I thought that if you thought they did it would mean more to you.” Sam said tearing up.
“Sam, I can’t believe that you thought that. This means the world to us.” Kylee said.
“Speaking of this all meaning the world to us.” Max said slowly.
“We got you and Liz something to say that we are grateful and we didn’t know how to repay you, so here.” Dillon said as he and Max pulled long thin boxes out of their pockets.
“What is this?” Sam asked taking the box.
“Just open it.” Max stated.
“I can’t accept this.” Liz said as she saw what was in the box.
“Yes you can.” Max said hugging her.
Sam was baffled by what her friends had done for her. They had pooled their money to buy Liz and herself gorgeous sapphire and emerald bracelets. When all the thank you's had been said, Sam kicked the men out. It was time for the bachelorette party to begin.
The women had a blast together. They were treated to a local singer while they dined and drank at Tj’s. They even had a male stripper, to everyone’s surprise but Liz’s. She had planned it all by herself. It turned out to be a pretty good party in Sam’s opinion.
“Bye.” Sam, Kylee, Liz, Charlee, and Pepper said to their guests as they filed out the door.
“Thank you Sam.” Kylee said.
“You’re Welcome.” Sam smiled.
“We have a question for you both.” Charlee said.
“What?” Liz asked yawning.
“Well the three of us talked and we all think you should be our maid of honors.” Kylee said smiling.
“Huh?” Sam said not expecting what she heard.
“Huh?” Liz mimicked Sam.
“I think you should be my maid of honor Sam.” Kylee said
“I want you to be my maid of honor Liz.” Charlee added.
“I…I…I couldn’t.” Sam stuttered.
“What are you talking about? Yes you can.”
“Your sister is your maid of honor Kylee.”
“I already talked to her about it. She completely agrees with me. She would have said something earlier but she did not want to ruin the surprise. Sam, anyone who goes through this much trouble to make someone’s dreams come true, deserves it.” Kylee said still smiling.
“Ok then, If that is what you really want.” Sam felt like she was intruding somehow.
“It definitely is.” Kylee answered satisfied.
“Now that that is settled. Liz what do you say?” Charlee asked.
“Of course I will.” Liz was excited.
Ok ladies, We need to get a good night’s sleep. We have weddings tomorrow.” Pepper said smiling. The girls went to sleep dreaming of what the next day held.
.
CHAPTER 9: WEDDING BELLS
“Wake up!” The girls were rudely awakened by Pepper hitting a cow bell. “Wedding Time!”
“Could you stop hitting that dang thing! Some of us have hangovers here.” Kylee said holding her head.
“Well, those of you who do have hangovers shouldn’t have drank.” Pepper said cheerily. “I will stop when everyone is out here. Charlee!” The phone started to ring.
“Sam please get the phone” Charlee said yawning as she meandered into the living room.
“Hello?” Sam answered the phone sleepily.
“Good morning Miss Samantha.” Roger said.
“Morning Roger. What is with the wakeup call?” She said as Kylee handed her and Liz Kylee’s Hangover Special, a bagel and a concoction of drinks that she refused to tell anybody.
“The dresses have arrived. The makeup artists and hair dressers are here and almost done being briefed by Shelly. Things are looking good for today. Shall I send the dresses up?”
“Yes, Thank you Roger. Send the others up in 45 minutes please.”
“Sure thing Miss Samantha.” Roger said hanging up. Sam turned to Kylee.
“I really need to know what is in this. It works almost instantly.”
“Never happening.” Sam snickered.
“Yea. Yea. I will get it out of you one day.”
“No you won’t. I am going to take a shower.” She answered.
“You can’t! Not yet anyways.” Sam almost shrieked.
“Why not?” Kylee said as a knock came at the door.
“This is why.” Sam said as she walked over to the door. The dresses for the day were wheeled into the room.
“Is this what I think it is?” Kylee squealed.
“These are the dresses for the day.” Sam said to squealing all around. “Charlee since you’re getting married second you get to see your dress first.”
Sam slowly unzipped the garment bag. Charlee’s dress was a gorgeous ivory dress. There was a hint of lace on the strapless bodice. The train was five feet long and almost fully beaded. There was a slit up the side of the dress that made the whole dress come together perfectly.
“It is amazing! Who made it?” Charlee asked.
“I don’t want to tell you. It will just make you upset.” Sam said slowly.
“Please just tell me. I don’t have my make up on yet so if I get upset it won’t matter.” She pleaded.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes I am sure.” Charlee said anxiously.
“Your grandmother was making it before she died a few years ago. Your mom finished it.”
“Really?” Charlee started to cry.
“”There are pieces borrowed from each of their dresses incorporated. There is a blue daisy sewn into the train.” Sam said giving her friend a hug.
“How did you know about this dress?” Charlee asked in wonder. She had never told anyone about the dress because her grandmother had never finished it.
“I called your mom to see what kind of dress you would like. When she told me about this one I knew you couldn’t get married in anything else.”
“Thank you so much. It means more to me than I could ever tell you.”
“You’re Welcome. Kylee are you ready?”
Finally Getting Love Right Page 11
