Chapter 778 - Wedding day (J&J) (7)

~ Golden Ocean Resort ~

In the two bedroom suite on the third floor…

Harriet is sitting on the sofa chair and sipping coffee with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan.

"Your dress is impeccable, and it complements your figure well. I love your hair and makeup it's all very sophisticated. I'm sure you will leave a good impression.", Mrs. Morgan said.

Harriet responded with a small forced smile.

Her father noticed that she is not very excited about this.

"What's with the attitude?", Mr. Morgan grumbled. "He is getting married, but he is not dead. He will see your qualities and the mistake he is making. From five years old you are taking etiquette lessons, riding lessons, ballet, signing, painting, piano, and everything else that is required from a proper young lady. There is no way that she is better than you."

"How do you know that him marrying that woman is a mistake?", Harriet asked her father.

"She probably does not have a good background. How else would you explain the fact that they are hiding her?" Mr. Morgan responded. "It's just a fling, and she used some skills to get his parents to accept her. But it will not last long... You just make sure he notices you, but be discrete. Don't allow him to put you in the same category as all those other bed climbers. You don't want to be his mistress, you want to be his wife. Understood?"

"Yes, daddy.", Harriet obediently responded.

"Good girl.", Mr. Morgan patted her head. "Keep in mind that you getting together with Jeffrey will benefit the whole family. You can't be selfish about it."

"We should get ready and go out.", Mrs. Morgan suggested. "The groom will not show up before the ceremony, but we don't want to be seen as someone who came only because of him. We need to be there earlier and show our faces."

"Yes.", Mr. Morgan agreed and turned to Harriet. "Everyone should see who the best candidate for Madam White is, regardless who that moron selected."

Harriet frowned. "Dad! Why are you calling him a moron if you want me to marry him?"

Mr. Morgan's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Defending him? Good, good… you will be a good wife. Finish that coffee and start getting ready. You usually take the longest."

Harriet kept her cup on the table and excused herself. She got inside her bedroom, closed the door and exhaled.

Her parents are brainwashing her with Jeffrey White for such a long time that she eventually started believing that he is the only man for her. But he is getting married, to another woman. Does she want to go and fight for a man who is already taken? There are so many other women who are more than willing to ignore the fact that he is going to be married by end of the day, and maybe if she is in love in that expressionless ice block of a man, she would fight for him as well. But Harriet does not have any feelings for him. Actually, few times Jeffrey White invoked some feelings in her, and it was fear. Yes, when he looked at her with his signature almost-frown, she was afraid. Why would she fight to be with him?

On the other hand, last night, she experienced that there is someone else who can give her pleasure in life. Harriet must acknowledge that she is intrigued. If she was indifferent toward this whole situation with Jeffrey, last night tipped the scales for her and now she has something else she craves for in life. Something that her parents are not pushing her towards. 

Harriet sat on the bed and she is not sure how long she stared at her purse which is on her bedside table. After some internal conflict, she reached for the purse and took a business card out of it…

"Benjamin Casano, senior data analyst…", she mumbled.

Harriet got her laptop and searched social media, she found his profile quickly… '46 years old… divorced… has a 11 year old daughter…' Based on the photo captions, she can see that he gave his daughter a nickname: cupcake. Harriet looked at his profile photo and smirked. She does not remember if she was ever this excited.

A knock on her door startled her.

"Harriet, sweetheart, are you ready?", her mother called.

"Not yet, mom! I need more time! Can you go ahead without me? I will join you when I'm ready!"

After some silence, her mom spoke again from other side of the door. "OK, sweetie. Just hurry up! We will see you down at the party!"

Harriet looked at the door and blinked. She could not believe that they will leave without her.

A minute later, she heard the suite door close. They left!

Her attention went back to the laptop screen which showed profile of Benjamin Casano.

In less than a minute, Harriet booked a room in one hotel close to downtown Los Angeles, and she was on the phone…

"Mr. Casano?"

"Yes?", man's voice responded.

"I know what you did last night… and unless you want your 11 year old cupcake to find out, you better do what I say…"

…

In the temporary design studio…

JoAnna and Ellie are behind a large curtain which provides privacy. Two of them are keeping the wedding dress a secret from everyone until the ceremony.

Emma, Brian, Tom and two assistant designers are listening to JoAnna and Ellie talk.

"Right now, you are the grumpiest bride I've ever seen.", Ellie told JoAnna while trying to get her to stay still. "If you keep on moving, I will poke you with this needle! By accident, of course."

"Hmph! Grumpy? You don't know what is grumpy!", JoAnna fumed. "Sarah disappeared with her dress, and Sophia went down to mingle! Ah! And the wedding is almost here!"

Ellie hid her laughter behind a cough. "Calm down… There is plenty of time. And I need only two minutes to finish putting this on your dress… but if you keep moving, the whole day will not be enough."

"What is Sarah thinking? Leaving her phone behind…" JoAnna looked at her phone which showed Aiden's and Sarah's locations based on GPS tracking in their rings. "…and I can see that she is with Aiden. Jeff said that two of them left the suite where guys are and went to their room… and that five minutes later only their clothes returned! Why are they acting like teenagers? Why can't they wait for after the ceremony?"

Emma burst into giggles. "Teenagers? Considering where they are, I'm guessing that what they are doing is not rated as teen-approved."

JoAnna poked her head from the curtain and glared at Emma. "You are not helping!"

"Hey… you really need to calm down!" Ellie was losing her patience. "What is the worst that can happen? Two of them don't show up in time for the ceremony? In that case, there will be one less couple to walk toward your altar, right? Punish them by not taking photos with them."

"But I want them in the photos…", JoAnna sulked.

Emma decided to offer a solution: "How about this? At 2:45 PM if Sarah is still not here, I will go and get her. OK?"

Only then JoAnna relaxed a bit and nodded before her head went back behind the curtain.

"I will come with you!", Brian told Emma and then awkwardly cleared his throat. "There is a lot of people, you never know... A lady should not be unaccompanied."

Emma blushed and Tom rolled his eyes dramatically. 

Tom patted Brian's shoulder and spoke quietly, only for Brian to hear: "You don't need an excuse to go with her. You are her date for today."

Brian nodded happily. Yes, he is Emma's date for today. And if he wants to be Emma's date going forward... he has the rest of the day to make that happen.