Tired, weary eyes confirmed that, ‘OPERATION BRIDEZILLA’ was in full swing as my eyes batted away much needed sleep. I drove up to the mansion to plan the remaining elements of this, ‘extravagant, glitzy wedding’ with a heavy heart.
You see, being a Wedding Planner and single was like being on a diet and planning a ‘Bake Off’.
You sit their listening to all these fantastic ideas about how they want to indulge their sugary fantasies, all the while knowing you want to do the same but you can’t because you’re on a diet…or in my case, missing the vital piece of the puzzle…a groom!
From the shy, quiet brides, who just want a demure ceremony to the ones who know exactly what they want (usually something they’ve seen in a celebrity magazine!) and are not afraid to tell you that you better provide it.
The latter bride always makes me wonder how she ever got to this stage in the first place, until I eventually meet the timid groom-to-be, who, from just one look from his roaring bride, knows its safer to just be seen and not heard!
My little Fiesta combated the corners of the country lane under protest, as I knocked back the steaming hot coffee, I purchased from a tiny, garage on the main road.
My eyes began to get heavy as the mansion grew larger in my windscreen.
A lorry distracted my gaze and with a swoop the hot coffee slipped out of my hand and all over my new white suit.
The car swerved left and right as I negotiated the bends, in the narrow road, and then there was nothing, except a soft feeling on my face, ‘PHOEBE! PHOEBE! Are you OK?’ someone shouted as I opened my eyes and jumped back.
A tall, stocky man in a black suit, complete with a black and white masquerade mask, held out his hand to escort me out of the car, ‘we’ve been waiting for you’ he continued as I accepted his hand and followed him inside.
White feathers softly danced around my feet, moving clouds decorated the walls and stars sparkled as they radiated the ceiling, as he led me into the ballroom and quietly left me to try to figure out what happened to my design idea for this room.
The room was full of dancing guests, all unaware of my existence and as I tried to take in the new décor (wondering if my assistant went behind my back and listened to the groom instead of sticking with the bride’s design idea), I was grabbed from behind.
The new suited figure twirled me around as the other guests made space for us.
The room swirled with a purple haze, bouncing off each masked guest as they watched, clapping and applauding with each spin.
The feathers rose from the ground and covered every inch of the walls, and ceiling, as this mysterious stranger intoxicated me with his motion, ‘who are you?’ I muttered, slowly slipping in and out of consciousness.
The man stopped and the whole room froze.
The deadly silence echoed through my dizzy mind as he whispered, ‘B…’ and I fell to the ground in a heap.
The soft feeling returned to my face, ‘PHOEBE! WAKE UP’ a familiar voice shouted.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw the groom- to-be’s brother crouched down at my car door.
Lifting my head from the air bag, I looked around in embarrassment, ‘what happened?’ I asked as I observed the growing crowd, ‘you had a little accident. It’s not too bad but we might need to get this thing to the garage’ he replied as he helped me out the car to show me the damage.
He ushered the crowd away and called for a tow truck as I looked on in confusion, ‘I will go with her’ he shouted to the groom as he came back to check if I had any injuries, ‘sorry, I didn’t get to introduce myself the other day, I’m Benedict’ he said, as a smile automatically appeared on my face, ‘hi, I’m Phoebe’ I replied knowing he knew exactly who I was.
There was a pause between us before he concluded, ‘I wanted to ask you this the other day but I had to get back to the hospital but I’d love it if I could take you out to dinner next week?’ I smiled and nodded at his invitation and secretly wondered if I did indeed dream that strange wedding or was it a premonition of something to come…
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