Wedding Haters (Event to Remember Series-Book 2) (12 page)

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 head.

“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.

“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.