I Do

Chapter 21

Dedicated to @EmanTheAwesomeOne because I loved her last comment. Like, I just loved it.

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Chapter 21 *Wedding in: 9m 5d*

-Hallie-

   The hairs on my arms prickle and I shiver, goosebumps dotting my skin. I whirl around, vaguely expecting a strange figure to be watching me from the doorway, but it's empty. My fear is just a combination of listening to The A Team and being all alone.

   "It's too co-o-old outside," Ed Sheeran sings, his beautiful, crystal-clear voice causing a new batch of chills to erupt. "For angels to fly."

   I shake my head and skip to the next song in the hopes that it will be somewhat cheerful. Give Your Heart A Break. I shrug carelessly, and flip through my minimal wedding work. The binder is, other than hundreds of blank sheets of paper, more or less empty. Honestly, Arabella's going to regret the day she ever begged me into her wedding designer.

   Actually, she probably already regrets it. The wedding has been a source of constant tension between us, particularly after the Black-Ops day. The day that everything started going downhill.

   The moment Ara had emerged from their large master bedroom, wearing freshly dried clothes and wringing out her hair, she'd beckoned for me to follow her into the office.

   "Have you been doing what I think you've been doing all day?" she hissed venomously after firmly closing the door behind her, sneaking a glance to make sure Harry wasn't eavesdropping. She fixed me with a livid stare, her teeth clenched and body stiff with anger.

   "Harry wandered in and started talking to me," I explained defensively. "So I agreed to spend some quality time with him."

   The time I spent with Harry was amazing and, try as she might, nothing Ara does could possible ruin it. After teaching me the basics of Black-Ops, like what button to press in order to shoot, he prepared us delicious sandwiches for lunch. We watched a few trashy reality television programs and then he challenged me to go against him in Black-Ops. Predictably, I suffered a humiliating loss, but even my competitive side didn't mind, simply because Harry was within inches of me.

   "Quality time?" she seethed. "Quality time? You need to be spending 'quality time' with the wedding plans! I asked you to, and you disobeyed, for God's sakes. Don't you care about my happiness at all? But wait, everything is about Hallie, isn't it?"

    "One day isn't going to throw everything off, Ar," I argued, rolling my eyes at her strict, mum-like behavior. "We've got loads of time. And, I guarantee you, everything isn't about me." I fixed my eyes on the light flurries of rain sprinkling to the pavement outside the window in an effort to distract myself. Sometimes, I swear, that girl just made my blood boil.

    "You know what I've noticed about you, Hal? You've become lazy and irresponsible. I'm counting on you right now, and you're not being productive whatsoever. You've got to fix that, or I'll have to hire a new planner. And I really don't want to have to do that." She pursed her lips in a pleased smirk, apparently assuming that stupid little threat would change my attitude. And in the past, it probably would have.

   But no. I'd become insanely tired of being treated like a servant, an emotionless robot who was only around to follow her orders. "Go ahead, then," I declared defiantly. "All this planning is much too stressful. Get another wedding planner. Sarah Haywood is supposed to be excellent." I paused, widening my eyes dramatically. "Oh, wait. Harry thinks you're doing the work. I nearly for---."

    Steam was practically pouring from her nostrils as she glowered directly at me. She appeared to be slightly astonished that I actually called her bluff. "Just. Work. Harder," she snapped, cutting me off.