Wedding Haters (Event to Remember Series-Book 2)

by Melissa Baldwin

  “What are you doing?” Sienna yells.

  “I just tripped, damn it. That’s what I get for packing.” I really should just hire movers to pack up my crap.

  “Anyway, I just remembered something.” I sit down on the floor and rub my knee, which I can already tell will be nice and bruised. “I forgot to tell you that Ace was with some woman from Scotland when we ran into him. I can’t remember her name though.”

  “Was it Allyson?” she interrupts with an eye roll. Hmmm . . . that’s not good; she has obviously had the pleasure of meeting her.

  “Yes! I take it you’ve met her.” I can read Sienna like a book; she has met her, and as I told Cole that night, she also thinks that Allyson is trouble.

  “Yep. Apparently she’s brilliant and will be a smashing addition to the team here.” I laugh at Sienna’s imitation of Ace. I’m assuming they’ve had some discussion regarding her.

  “Don’t get me wrong, she’s been extremely nice to me, but I don’t know. There’s just something,” she continues and I can see she’s worried.

  “I’ll tell you exactly what it is. She’s a woman with a pulse, and he’s the boss who happens to be the ultimate package. She knows exactly what she’s doing. Of course she’s going to be super nice to his girlfriend.” She raises her hand to protest. “Oh stop! You’re his girlfriend, so get over it. Anyway, just keep an eye on her.” I finish telling her all about the night I met her and how she stared me down when I was talking to Ace. On a side note, this may be just the thing she needs to give her that push to letting her guard down with him.

  Sienna looks amazing as always when she leaves for her date. The very brilliant Allyson doesn’t stand a chance.

  The next few days seem like a whirlwind. I have my final dress fitting. Have I mentioned I love my dress? And I mean LOVE! I already have plans to wear it all the time after the wedding is over. I will be like Monica and Phoebe in that episode of Friends when they are sitting around in wedding dresses drinking beer and eating popcorn. That will totally be me.

  With a little over two weeks until the wedding, I’m finally getting serious about packing, and everything else seems to be falling into place perfectly. Even things with my cousins have calmed down, other than a ridiculous phone call from Stephy yesterday. She called to tell me that she and Grandmother discussed the wedding hair for both the bridesmaids and me. I (nicely) told her that I appreciated her suggestions, but they needed to leave the hair to me. I’m not sure if that will be enough or if I will hear more on that subject later.

  This morning Bev called with a few cookie orders. Luckily, I don’t have any more clients, so I head home early to get started on the cookies. When I get home, I find Sienna sitting in on the floor with piles of papers around her. She’s frantically looking through files; whatever is going on has her completely flustered.

  “Hey, are you OK?” I say, and she jumps straight into the air.

  “Madie, you scared the shit out of me,” she yells. “I didn’t expect you home so early.”

  “I’m sorry. I have some cookie orders to work on.” I put my stuff down on the couch. “Are you OK?” I ask again because I can tell she’s not OK.

  “I just have to find something. I never lose things. I can’t believe this,” she rambles on under her breath.

  “I can help you; what are you looking for?” I sit down on the floor and grab a stack of files.

  “This is crazy! How could I do this?” she yells and puts her face in her hands and starts to cry. Sienna hardly ever cries.

  “Oh no, don’t cry. What’s wrong? What did you lose?” I scoot over on the carpet and put my arms around her. I can’t remember the last time I saw her this distraught. In between sobs, she starts to talk.

  “I (sob) lost (sob) a (sob) very important document.”

  “OK, I can hardly understand you. Take a deep breath and try to calm down.” I bring her some tissues, and she settles down a little.

  “Apparently, I didn’t turn in an amendment to a contract for an event. I swear that I did, now the venue is telling me that the event was canceled, but I never received notification of it. Craig and I completely tore apart the office today. This is a lot of my stuff from my office when I left Carrie’s.” She points to the huge mess on the floor.

  “OK, so what should I be looking for?”

  She starts to cry again. “It’s the contract for your wedding. I . . . I’m so sorry, Madie, but as of right now, your wedding is canceled.”

  Chapter 8

  What was that? I feel like I’m hallucinating. I’m sitting on the living room floor with Sienna who is still sobbing. I think she said my wedding has been canceled. My wedding that is supposed to take place in two weeks. My wedding that will have guests from around the world in attendance. My wedding that is supposed to be the most perfect day of my life. I can see it now: Ellie and Stephy laughing at me, my grandmother asking how I could let this happen.

  “W-What? But, we were just there a few weeks ago? How is this possible?” I literally can’t move.

  “I’m not sure,” she says, wiping away her tears. “Apparently there has been several changes made to their event staff and my contact is no longer there. I have talked to about five different people over the last month or so.” I start to frantically look through the files on the floor. Sienna gets up and goes to the bathroom. She comes out a few minutes later, and I can see she has a plan.

  “Don’t worry, Madie. I’m going to fix this, I promise.” She grabs her bag and runs to the door. She leaves me still sitting on floor. I’m not sure what to do, so I literally look through every single piece of paper for anything with my name on it. There is nothing here. I start to think of every scenario that could happen. What if this doesn’t get fixed? Will we be able to find another venue with this short of time? What about the guests who have already purchased their plane tickets? Oh. My. Gosh. I need Cole.

  After I get off the phone with Cole, I feel a tiny bit better. He assured me that we would get this all worked out, and if not, we could always elope in Hawaii. I yelled at him for that, even though I know he was just trying to make me feel better. I don’t know what it is though; something isn’t adding up with all of this. Sienna booked the venue months ago, and she would never make this kind of mistake. The only thing I can think of is when I got engaged, she was in the middle of relationship hell. So, I guess it’s possible for an error to be made. But the strangest part is that we have been there multiple times since then. We have taken a tour of our ballroom and sampled food. So, why all of a sudden is something from the contract missing? I’m starting to think that someone has done this on purpose, someone is trying to sabotage my wedding, or maybe I’m just paranoid.

  I feel like hours have gone by. I have tried calling Sienna multiple times. I even call Craig.

  “Hi. It’s Madison, has Sienna called you?”

  “No, why?” he says cautiously.

  “I know what’s going on, Craig.” I roll my eyes. I could tell that he wasn’t sure if I knew or not.

  “Oh good.” He sounds relieved. “I really didn’t want to pretend like the shit hasn’t hit the fan. Don’t worry though; Sienna has us working on everything. We are prepared to contact every guest on the RSVP list as well as contacting a few new venues. You know . . . just in case.”

  My heart completely sinks. What if this doesn’t get fixed? I feel sick to my stomach, so I quickly get off the phone. There is nothing else for me to do but wait. I flip through the channels and find Dirty Dancing. I’m starting to feel so hopeless that not even Patrick Swayze’s dancing is cheering me up. Sienna finally comes home. She has definitely calmed down, but I can already tell that she doesn’t have great news for me.

  “Well?”

  “It’s being investigated further. I made them show me the file and, sure enough, some documents are missing.”

  “So, do you think someone could have done this on purpose?” I ask her. I can almost see the wheels turning in her he
ad.

  “I . . . I don’t know? I didn’t even think about that. I can’t imagine who would do that or why?” Ugh, she has a point, and as usual, she always has to be so practical. It really is annoying.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” We both sit there quietly. The only sound in the room is coming from Dirty Dancing, and I hear “Nobody puts baby in the corner.” Sienna is right, who would care about ruining my wedding enough to go to these lengths?

  “Ellie!” I shout suddenly. “It has to be her!”

  “What?” Sienna asks. I can tell by the look that she’s giving me that she thinks I’m losing it.

  “Madie, I know you have your issues with your cousins, but I seriously doubt that Ellie would go to the trouble of getting the wedding canceled. How would she do it? She would have to have a contact there, and it would have to be someone willing to risk his or her job. It just doesn’t make sense.”

  She’s right; I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

  “So, I will follow up again tomorrow. Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine.” She gives me a nervous smile.

  I want to tell her that I talked to Craig and that he told me about contacting the other venues. I decide to wait until tomorrow; I’m still hoping and praying that something will magically happen and my wedding will go as planned.

  When I finally get to bed, I lay there for what seems like forever. How am I going to explain all of this to Grandmother? She’ll be completely devastated, and once again, I’ll be the biggest disappointment in her life. I’m still not convinced this is Sienna’s error. There’s more to it, and I’m going to find out what it is.

  What a horrible night’s sleep. I guess technically you can’t even call it that. I tossed and turned most of the night. After I drag myself out of bed, I find Sienna’s room empty. Her bed is so perfectly made that it looks like she didn’t even sleep in it last night. Sienna sends me a text that she is working on everything. On my way to work, I start to feel really guilty. I should be helping her with all of this; after all, it’s my wedding. I send her a text.

  Want me to come meet you? I should be helping.

  A few minutes later, she responds.

  Of course not! I got this.

  I knew she wouldn’t let me help. I guess there is nothing else I can do except wait.

  My phone starts to ring. I see Cole is calling.

  “Hello,” I answer.

  “Hey, girl. So, are we still getting married? Just tell me if I need to show up and what I need to wear.”

  I smile to myself, even though the thought of this whole disaster still makes me sick. Cole somehow manages to make me feel better about it.

  “I have no idea. Maybe we should get married on the beach in Hawaii?” It’s not like that would be a bad thing, and then I won’t have to worry about my family.

  “Really? I have been waiting months for you to say that. Let’s go tomorrow!” he says eagerly.

  “I know,” I hesitate. “Sienna is working on it today. Let’s just see what she has to say, and then we can make the decision.”

  After I hang up, I’m even more frustrated. I know that Cole has never wanted the big fancy wedding, but it’s almost as if he’s happy that our wedding is falling apart. Sienna is my only hope at this point. I’m starting to think that no one else even cares. When I get to work it seems like everyone has only one thing on his or her mind, and that’s my wedding day.

  “So, I was looking on your wedding registry the other day and all of the less expensive things are already purchased, do you care if I don’t buy from there?” Caycee asks. “I mean, I’m not trying to be cheap, but I can’t exactly afford some of that stuff on the list.”

  “Of course you don’t have to buy from there,” I insist. “I’m not a fan of registries, but Sienna insisted it was necessary because some people prefer to have a list to buy from.”

  After I manage to slip away from Caycee, two other co-workers ask me about the wedding. Oh my gosh, I’m really starting to panic.

  I manage to get through my morning without destroying anyone’s hair. I don’t have any clients this afternoon and still haven’t heard back from Sienna. I think it’s time that I do something about this, so I leave work and head straight for the Four Seasons.

  When I arrive, I immediately get choked up as I walk through the exquisite lobby. I can’t believe this is happening; a few weeks ago, I was here planning the perfect day. I take my sunglasses off the top of my head and put them on. I don’t want anyone to see my face because the ugly cry could start at any second. I head to the event office, which is located near the back on the second floor. There’s a smaller lobby right outside the office. I can hear talking and laughing as I walk down the corridor. As soon as I turn the corner I see her sitting in one of the large leather chairs, and she’s laughing. It’s Ellie. I knew it! She did this; there is no other possible explanation. I know it could be a coincidence, blah blah, but really? I quickly turn around and duck into a small hallway. OK, Madison, how are you going to handle this? I ask myself. A few different ideas come to my mind:

  #1. I could leave and call Sienna. She would definitely know what to do

  #2. I could approach her, act surprised, and find out why she is here.

  #3. I could punch her.

  #4. I could confront her and completely go off on her making a huge scene.

  So considering my current mental state, which I’m assuming on the whole isn’t great, it’s as if I have an out of body experience. Without thinking things through, I turn around and walk right up to her. I can already tell by my heart racing that I’m unintentionally choosing option #4.

  “Mad Madie, what a surprise. Are you here to do wedding stuff?” she says, giving me an innocent smile.

  “I think you know why I’m here, and I told you to STOP CALLING ME THAT!” My voice gets progressively louder with each word.

  “Why are you yelling? I was joking, just relax,” she says calmly.

  “Stop telling me to relax after what you’ve done. Of course, I’m going to yell. What did you expect I would do?” I say through my gritted teeth.

  “OK, so it’s obvious you’re having a bad day, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She excuses herself from her table and starts to walk away.

  I grab her arm. “Seriously, you’re going to pretend like nothing has happened. Like you haven’t completely ruined my wedding.” I start to raise my voice again and a few people are now watching us.

  “What the hell?” She really has the innocent act down perfectly. ”Ruined your wedding? You can’t be serious?”

  “Whatever, if you didn’t get my wedding canceled, then why are you here? You’ve hated me since we were kids; all of the years of being mean to me, then all of a sudden you’re so interested in being my bridesmaid? I knew you were up to something. How did you do it though? How did you get my wedding canceled?”

  “Canceled? You’ve completely lost your mind!” she exclaims. “And what are you even talking about, me being mean to you? You have always been a spoiled brat!”

  “Forget it, it’s not like you would tell me the truth anyway. I’m done with you forever! I will still marry Cole whether it’s here or not and have a wonderful life, but you will always be a miserable cow.” I turn and walk away. OK, truthfully, I’ve never called anyone a cow before, but it sounded good, or maybe I’ve just read too many chick-lit books. I hear Ellie call my name, but I keep walking. I meant what I said; I’m done.

  On my drive home, I’m still fuming. I realize I never even went to the event office. I hear my phone ringing from my bag. Sienna is calling, finally!

  Chapter 9

  “Madie, what the hell is going on? Ellie just called me and said you’ve completely lost it.”

  Wow, I can’t believe she actually called Sienna; she is so infuriating. I know she is going to continue to deny her involvement in all of this. She’s going to play the victim and make me out to be the bad guy.

&nb
sp; “I haven’t lost it. I just told her I was done with her after what she has done,” I reply very calmly.

  “You did what? Wait a minute, how do you know she’s behind all of this? Did she admit it?”

  I tell Sienna about going to the hotel and seeing Ellie there.

  “Wait. You don’t know for sure that Ellie did this; her being there today really could have been a coincidence. Madie, you don’t have any proof.”

  What’s she saying? Seriously, what are the chances of her being there today, the day after everything has gone down?

  “So, she told you that she didn’t sabotage the wedding. Do you believe her?” I ask sternly.

  “I don’t know what to think. I guess it’s possible she could’ve somehow. I don’t know . . . I have to make a call. I will meet you at home in a bit.”

  As I drive home, I wonder how long it will take for Grandmother and my mom to call me. Whether or not Ellie is behind this, I really should’ve never asked my cousins to be bridesmaids. I should’ve stood my ground and went with my gut feeling. From this moment on, I refuse to let anyone in my family bully me ever again.

  While I’m waiting for Sienna, I call Abby and explain what just happened. I know I can always count on Abby to be supportive.

  “Wow,” she says finally. “That’s awful. Do you really think your cousins would do this? They really seemed so interested in being a part of the wedding . . .” she trails off.

  I sigh. I really hate it when she makes me think about things. Maybe I did overreact and jump to conclusions. The thing is that even though I originally wondered if Ellie was behind this, deep down I really didn’t believe it. At least until I saw her there today, that made me realize that it could be possible, that they really could be that heartless. But, what if it really was just some crazy coincidence?

  “Are you saying you don’t think Ellie did this?” I ask. I have a sinking feeling in my stomach. First Sienna and now Abby, I’m starting to wonder if I’m on my own here.