Falling in Love + other Conditions of Living

Chapter 21

© kelliekook

Sunday morning was usually a breezy time for Nathan. A time to sleep till noon, ease out of bed and have a cuppa, or maybe head to the gym for some wake-up adrenalin.

Today, unfortunately, there wasn't any time for that.

"Have you got the cake Nate? Whatever you do, do not drop it! Madison would have my head!"

Tony flew around the kitchen muttering to himself and looking remarkably similar to the chickens Nathan used to spook as a kid.

Nathan rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide the self-satisfaction he felt at watching his best friend dither. "Calm down grandma, it's sitting right in front of me." He gestured to the large box on the table. "What type of cake is it anyway?" He lifted the lid cautiously.

"Er, I think Maddy said chocolate fudge, vanilla buttercream frosting...some other...stuff." Came Tony's vague reply from the bathroom.

Nathan had to refrain from swiping his finger along the rim of iced cake, maybe he should tag along to more of these things with Tony.

He closed the lid and adjusted his tie, he had gone with his blue one this morning on account of comfort. His white, button-up shirt was all pressed and neat along with his black trousers, and he'd even bothered to shine his shoes.

Nathan wasn't the type to go out looking scruffy.

Sighing to himself, he glanced around the table and spotted the Sunday paper. Picking it up he flicked through the pages and did a double take.

There, on page five, under the black, bold heading was a picture of Rachel.

Nathan nearly choked on his tongue. He looked at the title.

Who says a girl can't chase her Mr. Right?

What the? Well, this certainly wasn't what he was expecting. Not from the Rachel he'd come to know, at least, he smiled slightly and, bemused, began to read:

A few weeks ago I set out to discover whether it was possible for a woman to find the man of her dreams purely by seeking him out herself. What I discovered was something entirely different.

Nathan frowned; completely and utterly bemused as he continued to read on. Every line was as confusing as the next, the situations she described, oh so similar to what had happened between them and by the end of the two page article, Nathan had a whole new perspective;

As I said earlier, before this article I'd had little romantic experience myself, now, well, in many ways I'm still in the same place. I met the one man who could possibly be my 'Mr. Right' and in my, albeit virtually non-existent, pursuit of him I forgot the one thing that mattered most. Attraction. Because in the end, who's chasing who is irrelevant, all that matters is you're both interested. Unfortunately I learnt that the hard way.

Nathan put the paper down and blinked.

Could it be that he, Nathan Wyatt, was the 'Mr Right' Rachel was talking about?

***

Early Sunday morning Rachel was woken by a positively ecstatic Madison, forced into a robe and driven to De Toute's bridal suite where they were greeted by a band of equally excited women.

A glass of pink champagne was thrust into her hand and she was plonked into a seat where for the next couple of hours a team of stylists plucked, polished and painted her face under the instructions of the bride.

When they were finished, all three bridesmaids were spun around and put on display for the bridal party to ooh and ahh at.

"Maybe I should've chosen some uglier people to be my bridesmaids." Brianna grinned at her friends who sat smiling in their seats. "Oh well, too late now, time for the hair! Anyone care for some more champagne?"