Lingering Kiss

Chapter 23

The following days leading to the wedding were pretty packed for the ladies, with final decisions and the wedding planner checking to confirm with everything again. Andre and Fred pretty much sat back and let things happen, only when they were needed did they help out.

It was the day before the wedding and Fred was supposed to meet everyone else at the venue for the rehearsal. He walked out of his car which was parked where everyone else's were. He got out and walked towards the building, just as he was about to climb up the stairs, the door burst open and as he looked up, he stood frozen.

Mia had forgotten the bouquet in the car and she made her way back out the building to get it. She pushed the door open and walked down the stairs and as she looked up, she froze in her steps.

He was here. Standing in front of her.

After almost two weeks of trying to avoid being put in the same room with him, even though she knew she would have to face him pretty soon, she was finally standing in front of him. Her heart began to hammer in her chest as she stared into those eyes that had haunted her days and nights. He looked different, his hair longer than she remembered but that was not it, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Fred had told her once to find the balance between the two people she always was; the studious Mia and the wild Mia, and he was struck by how just-right she looked standing in front of him. The simple blue dress she wore made her look elegant but yet sexy. Those heels made him swallow as his mind pictured it in different scenarios, most of them without the dress.

Just as he opened her mouth to say her name, her phone rang and broke the eye contact. She looked away from him and down at her phone in her hand. She frowned before answering the call and making her way down the stairs, back to ignoring him.

"Richard, I told you I'm busy." Fred heard before she was out of earshot.

Richard? Who the fuck is Richard?

Fred made his way up the stairs and inside the building.

"There he is. What took you so long?" Andre said from the arc that stood tall at the end of what seemed to be the aisle.

It was going to be an outdoor ceremony and everyone would move inside the big hall for the reception.

"Got caught up at the entrance." He answered truthfully as he made his way down the aisle. Kissed the ladies on the cheek before hugging his best friend.

"I got it." Fred turned when he heard Mia's voice. She walked down the aisle with a smile that hit him in his gut.

"Good. Let's begin." The wedding planner said as she took the flower from Mia and handed it to Izzy. "So, you're coming in with your step-dad." She said to Izzy. "And you're coming down with the best man." She said to Mia.

"Oh no. That's Josie." Mia said.

Josie looked at Mia and frowned before nodding, understanding.
"That's totally me."

Fred looked back and forth from Mia to Josie and back.

"I thought you're the maid-of-honor." The wedding planner said to Mia.

"It's a shared duty." Mia said. "I'm giving the speech, so it's only fair that she walks down the aisle with the best man."

Fred clenched his jaw at the new information but let it go. He was going to talk to her regardless of walking down the aisle with her or not.

The wedding planner nodded.
"Ok. Let's begin."

Andre's mum sat on the right side while Izzy's family sat on the left. Then the rehearsal began with Aubrey walking down the aisle, then Josie and Fred, then Mia and finally Izzy.

Evening came quick and they moved inside to the reception for a family dinner. They all took a seat around the large round table. Andre and Izzy seating together. Mia sat next to Izzy, Josie next to Mia and Brie between Josie and her mum. Ilana – Izzy's mum sat next to Mary as the two women chatted on about their kids wedding just in two days and what either of them had missed out on the planning. Izzy's step dad sat next to Ilana and Fred next to him and Andre giving him a good view of Mia.

"I can't believe it's finally almost here." Izzy beamed at Andre who smiled, content enough that she was happy with everything.

Josie was in conversation with Brie about how her college was going as they hadn't had much time to catch up with the wedding preparations. Josie asked her abouts the boys which made Brie blushed and Josie was pretty sure there was a guy the younger woman fancied. Josie snuck a quick glance at everyone at the table and caught sight of Fred staring at her best friend. Josie glanced at Mia who seemed very interested in the table cloth and the napkin beneath the cutleries.

Jabbing her elbow slightly into her friend's which made her snap out of her reverie.
"You ok?" Josie asked Mia.

Mia nodded.
"Yea."

"You know, someone can't stop looking at you." Josie smiled.

Mia didn't say anything to that because she already knew. Since they all took their seats at the table, she had felt her body tingle and immediately figured out why without having to inspect everyone at the table.

"Dinner's here." Izzy said as the waiters and waitresses walked in with dished of food all stopping behind each of them at the table before they all placed the dished on the table at the same time and took off the lid.

"Wow." The mothers of the bride and groom exclaimed at the dish in front of them.

"Are you sure we're supposed to eat this?" Brie asked as she looked closer at her dish. "It looks too pretty to eat."

Izzy, Mia and Josie smiled at that because they had said the same thing when they went for the tasting which Brie had skipped for a tour with her mum and Ilana.

Soon everyone dug into their food and the conversations floated from one topic to another as everyone talked, laughed and just had fun.

"So, Mia, I heard you got your dream job back in Chicago." Ilana said with a smile and pride in her eyes.

Everyone's gaze turned and focused on her.
"I wouldn't say my dream job but yea, it's close enough."

"Are you planning on settling down there or are you thinking of coming back to Leicester?"

Mia felt that tingle again and she snuck a glance at Fred who had his gaze locked in on her face and she saw the questioning look in his eyes. She looked back at Ilana and shrugged.
"I haven't thought that far ahead. I'm just enjoying the job and what I have right now."

"That's good as well. Live in the moment." Ilana smiled at her and the conversation went somewhere else and Mia let out a breath before she looked up at Fred again who hadn't taken his eyes off of her. She looked away and reached for her wine draining the glass before swallowing down a mouth full of the cold liquid.

She had to get through this wedding and back to her job in Chicago without getting sidetracked by her feelings for Fred. She had let things go south once; she wasn't about to let things go that way again. She couldn't afford to lose herself like she had before, not when she was much closer than before to achieving her dream.

She was working at Specter Litt Wheeler Williams which had a branch in Chicago with the HQ at New York where she wanted to end up working on pro bono cases as planned. She would have loved to settle anywhere and start her firm but it was easier said than done. So, now she was focusing all her energy on getting as far as she can at SLWW before she requested for a transfer to the HQ.

She was slowly reaching her goal and she couldn't be more excited and it was because of that she couldn't let what happened last time repeat itself. She had almost lost her chance to becoming a practicing lawyer. She wasn't going to lose sight of what was important again.