Three Thousand Miles - Forever, (book #3 of Three Thousand Miles, Series)

by Deila Longford

  “Until next time baby,” The three hour car ride to the East Hamptons seems to take forever and I am exhausted and bored to tears when I finally arriveat my parents’ house. The car pulls into the driveway and I am surprised when I see that the driveway is full of cars, vans and pick-up trucks. Just for a second I try to rack my brain for an answer to what is going on and then it hits me, my wedding. When the car comes to a halting stop I immediately open the doorand rush out into the oversized driveway. It feels so good to stretch my legs and now that I am here, I can’t wait to see my family. I alert the driver to give me my bags from the trunk and I watch as my bodyguard carries my bags from the car into the house. When I enter I am stunned at how gorgeous the house looks. The black and white décor is even more stunning as the hallway is filled with towering flower displays. Above the staircase is a new chandelier which is shining brightly throughout the oversized entrance. Huge paintings of Adrian and I hang from the walls and I am stunned at how beautiful they are. My mom had asked me for a recent picture of Adrian and me together and when I gave her the photos, I had no idea that she was going to make them into paintings. I walk further into the hallway and as I walk into the kitchen, I am greeted by Penelope who runs towards me.

  “Lanna,” she says as she grips onto me. I gently hold her as I stroke her long, blonde curls. Penelope leads me further into the kitchen and I cannot believe the amount of food and bottles of champagne that fill the kitchen counters. I am gobsmacked as I scan the crowed room. The room is filled with people of all descriptions and they all arranging some type of wedding favours. I don’t know why I feel so awkward about seeing the preparation for our wedding. Why am I feeling this way and what was I expecting? I march around the house with Penelope by my side. I am searching for my momas I need to alert her that I am here. I reach the lounge and I have a quick glance in through the doors. The entire floor area of the sitting room iscovered in black and white goodie bags. To my despair my mom is nowhere to be found.

  “Penelope, where was the last place that you saw, Mom?” Penelope scratches her small forehead as she thinks.

  “The garden,” she says as she pulls me out into the back garden of the large house. I am speechless when I see my mom arranging flowers along the newly constructed aisle. The walkway has been created using white pillars and flowers. At the end of the aisle there is an archway, that’s tied neatly with spinning black ribbons and pure white roses. I makemy way up the aisle; I get halfway as my mom rushes to meet me in the middle.

  “Alanna, I wasn’t expecting you so soon!” She says as she huddles me into her chest. I break free from my mom’s tight embrace. “Really, it seemed as if it took me forever to get here.” I say as I again glance at the surroundings. My mom notices me staring and she quickly asks for my approval.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She beams as her words pass from her lips.

  “Yes, it’s stunning.” My mom walks us back into house and she ushers us into the kitchen. I take a seat at the breakfast bar and Penelope rushes up the stairs to her room – no doubt. My mom begins to rearrange the food platters that lie on the counter so that she has enough space to make some coffee. I hear my phone buzzing from inside my jacket pocket. I quickly take it out as I hear a gentle knock on the entrance wall to the kitchen.

  “Miss, I will be just outside if you need me.” My bodyguard says as he pokes his head around the doorframe. I smile at him as he waits for my reply. “No problem,” I say quietly. He nods again and then he is out of sight. My mom walks over to me and hands me a cup of coffee. I can tell that she isn’t impressed by the fact that I have my brought security with me. However, my mom doesn’t mention it to me as she knows that I can’t fight Adrian on my safety. My phone buzzes again and I instantly read my messages.

  Alanna, have you arrived safely?

  Alanna, please don’t keep waiting. I need to know that you are safe.

  I quickly compose a message back to Adrian.

  Sorry I was distracted. I have just arrived and yes I am safe. I hit send and I place my phone down onto the kitchen counter. I take a sip of my strong coffee as I take in everything that’s going on. I am amazed at how much time and effort goes into planning a wedding and I am again very glad that I have my mom and Amelia to help. If I had to plan the wedding alone, then I am sure that there would no wedding at all. My phone buzzes again.

  I am glad that you’re safe. Now please spend time with your family. I will call you later, I love you…

  I smile at his words and my mom notices my emotions.

  “What is he saying to you?” I blush. “Um, just that he wants me to spend time with my family and that he loves me.” I am blushing at my words but at the same time, I feel amazing saying them.

  “He is perfect in every way, Alanna.”

  “I know,” I agree.

  “Now, tonight is your bachelorette party.” I feel a sudden pang of fear.

  “Mom, please tell me that it’s going to be a quiet night?” My mom chuckles and that alerts me that it will be far from quiet. “We are having dinner at the Stone Creek Inn and then I think that your friends have arranged for us to go to a club or something. I can’t say that I am looking forward to that part of the evening, but if things get to wild then I will be leaving you girls to it.”

  “Mom things won’t get that wild, will they?” I really hope that they don’t. I want to spend my last nights as single girl having a nice, quiet time with my friends and family. Not wasting time with male strippers and drunks.

  “Sophie has told me to except a few surprises.” I roll my eyes as I don’t like the sound of this. “Alanna, I have been meaning to ask you how your dinner went with Adrian’s mom.” I take a sip of my coffee as I begin tell my mom about our dinner.

  “Well I guess that things went well then?” My mom says as soon as I finish explaining.

  “Yeah, don’t get me wrong things are far from healed between them, but I think that in time, they can have a relationship.”

  “And she is coming to the wedding?” My mom says as she picks at the food that lies onto the counter. “I think so, to be honest Mom, I don’t know how Mr and Mrs Jenkins will react to Alice to being here. When I told Michael that Adrian and I were going to have dinner with her, he flipped out. I am terrified that something will happen to ruin our wedding.” My mom moves closer to me as she takes my hand in hers.

  “Sweetie, don’t worry everything will be fine. Now go and get ready for you night out, the girls will be here soon.” I smile at my mom as I jump up from the seat. I make my way into the hallway and I lift my bags from the floor. I slowly climb the stairs taking in the beauty as I pass. When I reach the top, I stop to look down on the house. I smile as I bask in the beauty.

  Later that night as I prepare myself for tonight I decided to give Adrian a call. I haven’t filled him in on the fact that tonight is my bachelorette party and I know that he will want to know what I am getting up to. I start to apply some make-up as I hold my phone to my ear. Adrian quickly answers.

  “Hello,” he says in a scattered voice.

  “Hey, what’s up?” “Nothing, is there something wrong, Alanna?” Adrian’s voice is shallow and he seems as if he is out of breath. My mind starts towonder about what he is doing.

  “Nothing is wrong, you seem out of breath is everything okay?” Adrian laughs at my question and I slowly begin to ease my worry.

  “I am at the airport and I was running to catch up with Michael.” Why are Adrian and Michael at the airport?

  “Airport?” “Michael and I are collecting Charles and Tabatha, remember?” Of course I remember - now that you mention it to me - for the first time. I gently roll my eyes as I reply.

  “Of course, anyway I need to tell you something.”

  “I am listening.”

  “Tonight is my bachelorette party.” The phone is silent and my heart begins to race. What will Adrian say?

  “I see,”

  “Is that all that yo
u have to say?” The phone is silent again and now my palms are beginning to sweat.

  “What do you want me to say? If I asked you not to go, would you do it?”

  “No,” Adrian laughs. “Well then all I can say is please be safe, stay away from pervy blokes and call me regularly so that I don’t worry. Is that understood?” I laugh as this is more like Adrian.

  “I understand and I love you, Adrian.” I have changed into my pink, Nina Ricci dress and my white Jimmy Choos. I have decided to wear my hair up tonight as Adrian is nowhere in sight, to pull out my hair tie. I apply a final touch of bronzer and then I make my way down into the crowed lounge. As I enter the room I am stunned and happy to see all of my friends. Sophie, Emma, Katharine, Portia and who is that? I walk further into the room and sitting on the large, brown leather sofa is, Jessica. I run over to her and give her a massive hug. I am so surprised to see her. I had called her several times and invited her to the wedding, but every time I asked her she had always said that she was too busy with work andcollege. I wrap my arms around her again and then I pull back.

  “When did you get here?” I gush. Jessica smiles at me as she gently pushes her hair away from her face. I take in her looks as I wait for her reply. Jessica is stunning in a low cut, black mini dress. Her hair is flowing down her back and her make-up is perfect. I have never seen her look so amazing.

  “I flew in last night, but your mom wanted me to stay a surprise until tonight.” I laugh at her as I gently hug her again. I turn to face the other girls as I begin to greet every one of them. Firstly I make my way overto Sophie, who is dressed to kill. I stare at her confused, isn’t she pregnant?

  “Hey Sophie, nice dress,” I say sarcastically as I look her up and down. She pulls me in closer and whispers. “I wanted to wear this dress as I won’t be able to fit into it for a while.” I give her a soft kiss on her cheek as I realise that she doesn’t want everyone to know about her pregnancy –just yet. I give her a wink as I move away from her. I find Katharine who looks stunning in a floor length, red maxi dress. Her golden hair is pulled high in a tight bun and she has a roman goddess look about her as she shows off her large diamond hoops.

  “How are you?” I ask as I gently hug her. “I’m great, Alanna and congrats on your wedding.” She beams and I make my way over to the last two girls, Emma and Portia. Emma is gorgeous in green and Portia is dressed in a very figure hugging, purple dress.

  “Alanna, you look stunning, girl.” Portia says as she greets me with a kiss on each cheek. “Thanks and you don’t look so bad yourself.” Portia and I laugh and then I turn to face Emma. Her eyes are glowing and she instantly reminds me of Adrian. I rush over to her and I plant a kiss on her cheek.

  “You look amazing, just like your brother.” Emma smiles at me and I cannot help but beam as I look at her beauty. The girls and I arrive at The Stone Creek Inn to showers of champagne and appetizers.

  “Which one of you lovely ladies is the bride to be?” The male server asks once we are settled at our table. I try to make myself invisible as I begin to panic. I don’t have much chance of hiding away as Katharine outs me.

  “The one in the pink dress,” she says as she points me out. I narrow my eyes at her and then I turn to face the man. He is smiling at me as he makes his way over. I start to feel uncomfortable as I don’t know what he is going to do. He reaches me and he kneels down to my level. He begins to rummage in his back pocket and I wait to see what he will reveal. I cannot hold in my laughter as he produces a pair of bunny ears. The girls burst into laughter as they force me to wear them. I reluctantly place them onto my head.

  “Now, what can I get you girls to eat?” The server says as he bounces to his feet.

  Now that our dinner has been brought to our table the conversation begins to flow.

  “So girls, let’s talk about our men!” Katharine says as she sips her champagne. I laugh at her.

  “Only if you go first,” I say sarcastically. “With pleasure,” Katharine rattles on for ages telling us all about her amazing time in London with Jeff. She has told us every single detail of their lives – leaving nothing unsaid. At one point Katharine described a certain situation too accurately, and my mom literally covered her ears so that she couldn’t hear any more. Although Katharine’s brutal honesty is not to everyone’s taste, you can’t deny that she knows exactly what she wants from life. Katharine is the first to admit that she loves a guy with money and that she wants a certain lifestyle and she will stop at nothing to get it. All this being said I truly feel that she does love Jeff. I have never seen her so happyand I am happy for her. Jeff is a nice, loving guy who can provide for her and keep her satisfied.

  “Well what I want to know is how Adrian and Alanna met?” Portia adds. I shyly smile. “We met in London and it wasn’t the most pleasurable – at first.” “Oh do tell more!” Portia squeals. If I am going to explain how Adrian and I met, I need another drink. Therefore, I pour myself another glass of champagne as I talk.

  “When I first met him, he was rude and obnoxious and he had a presence that would make anyone feel uneasy. Anyway, I was standing alone at the bar of a very boring party. He came over and ordered some drinks and I couldn’t help but stare at him. He was like no one that I had ever seen before and I was immediately drawn to him.” I trail off mid-sentence as an image of his face flashes into my mind. I try to compose myself as I stare at my friend’s expressions. I hold in my laugh as they look mesmerised by what I am saying. I take another sip of my drink as I notice that they are becoming impatient to hear my next words. It’s as if they are reading an interesting book and cannot wait to find out what happens next. Knowing this, I don’t keep them waiting any longer.

  “Adrian noticed that I was staring at him and he quickly made his feelings clear. He quizzed me on what I was doing there and he used a really rude tone. What surprised me the most about that first meeting was, the way I had acted around him. Usually I would have fought back and made my feelings clear but around him, I was a different person. I had no control over myself and I couldn’t bring myself to quarrel with him. He confused me and he had a way of making me feel uneasy. Adrian knew how he made me feel and he soon apologised for his behaviour. For the rest of my trip I was obsessed with him. I wanted to see him and I couldn’t help but think about him. The next time that I saw him, he was different. He was much nicer and he showed that he was interested in me. I told him all about my time at college and we clicked. But I can assure you that I never thought for one second that he would be interested in me. When I arrived back in New York strange things started to happen.”

  “What happened?” My mom asks.

  “Every day without fail I would be sent a gift.” The girls gasp at my confession; however my mom doesn’t look too impressed. “What type of gifts did you receive?” My mom asks as she sips her cocktail. “Everything from flowers to diamond earrings, at first I thought it was Marco who was sending me the gifts. But I soon changed my mind when I was sent a new blackberry.” The girls seem surprised as I tell them more about my relationship with Adrian. To be honest I am a little shocked at myself. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol that’s making me blurt out our story or if I just want to share it with them. Either way, I am opening up about my secret life with Adrian. I have to be careful though, as I don’t want to share to too much with them.

  “So when did you realise that it was Adrian? It was him, right?” Portia asks. I smile at her. “Of course it was him. He had sent me a letter explaining a little bit more about himself. He told me about his past and about what he went through as a child. I knew then that it was someone that I didn’t know, but I never expected it to be him. He texted me to the blackberry that he had given me and that’s when I found out that my mystery man was Adrian Black.” I watch my friends as they process this new information. Portia and Katharine look as if they are about to cry and Sophie isn’t as surprised as everyone else, after all she did know about the gifts. Emma looks happy as I te
ll her more about her brother and my mom still doesn’t look too impressed.

  “So he stalked you, until he got you?” My mom says rather bitterly. I feel my face heat up and I don’t really know how to respond to her words. I take another sip of my champagne –until it’s all gone. With one swift movement I refill my glass and I begin to sip again. My mom is staring at me as she awaits my response.

  “It wasn’t like that, Adrian and I had a special connection and he didn’t stalk me. We met, he sent me gifts and we fell in love that’s all there is to it.” My mom laughs at my response and I cannot hold back mysmile. Has she gotten over her annoyance towards Adrian already?

  “Okay well who wants dessert?” She says as she signals to the server. He makes his way over and my mom whispers something into his ear. I stare at her as I wonder what she has planned. I smile at her as I don’t want to quarrel with my mom. As I sip again at my drink the girls begin to talk.

  “How are things going with your lovely, British dude?” Sophie asks Emma. She smiles awkwardly as she tries to respond.

  “Fine thanks,” Emma says politely. Sophie snarls at her as that’s not the answer that she wanted.

  “Come on girl share your story with us.” Sophie insists. Emma begins to look very uncomfortable and I feel bad for her, so I jump in. “Sophie, perhaps you should tell us how things are going with James?” Sophie’s smile fades and she narrows her eyes at me. I can tell that she is annoyed with me for bringing up her relationship with James. I try to smile at her as I feel guilty but she narrows her eyes once again. I feel even worse once Portia begins to question Sophie about her love life.

  “Come on Sophie tell us about Dr James.” “There is nothing to tell apart from we are very happy together and that I love him.” The girls seem to accept this as an answer as they begin to talk amongst themselves. I feel super bad and I need to apologise for my actions. I reach over to Sophie who is sitting across from me.