Tessa's POV:
A day after that...
"So... guys." Stepping out from my room with a small notepad and a pen in hand I meet the soon-to-be-wed couple in the living room. "Have you decided the wedding date and the budget, as I told you yesterday to do?" I ask.
Walking over to them I sit down on my bended knees on the carpet with the teapoy in front of me so I could write down easily into the notepad as the small table could support it. I place the open notepad on the wooden teapoy with pen on top of it, and lifting my arms up I put my elbows on it's edge and look up at the couple whose sitting on the couch behind the other side of the teapoy.
"Yeah." Nora nods with a nervous smile.
"Then, when is the date?" I question both of them.
"October second." Landon revels. What?
"It's so soon!" I exclaim widening my eyes. It's only twenty days of gap from today, how could a whole wedding would be arranged in that short amount of time. It's impossible to happen, really. "And you'll miss yours so many classes." I inform him. He's on his junior year and I know he would never miss a single class as he is so nerdily serious about attending his school so it's revere to see that he's ready to skip three whole worth weeks of classes.
"Yeah, we fixed a date that's really very near because we thought the sooner is better and my fiancee is getting old in here faster than me, so...," he adds, teasingly and Nora elbow him on his stomach, gently.
"I'm just twenty-seven." She huffs. "No fucking way I'm near getting old faster than you. You just happened to be five years younger than me so zip your young mouth, young man." Playfully she scolds him and he laughs at her humorous scolding.
"Okay, I will then." He promises to her and turns his head to me afterwards. "And of course if I've to marry her I had to lose something and missing classes are the least thing I could do for her." He shifts his body more closer to her and wraps his left arm around her waist from her behind.
She gives him a smirk that he didn't notice and I just nod looking at both of them.
"And also I don't want to be that guy, those stereotypical man who only sits and do nothing but nod at everything his partner says weather it's right or wrong." He explains by pulling her more close to him and she lets him. "My involvement would be as much as her in our wedding, no more, no less, only equally." Turning his head to her, he gives a smile with his puppy glowing eyes looking into hers.
Ah, love birds.
"That's absolutely fine to me if it's to you both." I muster but no one heard me. "And what's the budget?" I ask, breaking their heavy gawking and gazing at each other intensely, that made me so uncomfortable for keep looking at both and sitting with them.
They turn their heads to me when I ask and Landon takes the notepad and the pen from the small table in front of me. Writing down the amount across the paper he places the open notepad in front of me. It's quite big big amount, when I look down at the figure they both chose.
"We want this wedding to be small and simple, even though it's Ken's money we won't be spending this lum sum amount into some dumb and stupid things." Nora tells me. "We want to use his finance wisely and use it where it'd be really needed."
"Okay, I get it. I'm sure everything will fit into this budget." I promise, though I don't have any-not even a smudge of clue about how to plan a small and simple wedding and fit into the budget, but I have to do it now.
I'll do it. I can do it, right?
"So here is the list of things we have to do first," grabbing the notepad from the teapoy and opening the page of the checklist I made yesterday of how to and what to do to arrange a wedding from the internet. "Firstly the venues. So do you guys wants it in New York or in Washington?"
"New York." They both says in unison, instantly.
New York, then it will be expressive, won't it? Of course it will be.
"There is a small church I have in my mind and you know what?" Nora pauses for me to say something, so I just raise my brow for her to continue. "I did a little inquiry and ask them if they have any events in that date or not and they say no. They don't have any occasion on that day, so it is the perfect venue I've decided to taken place this wedding." She says clapping her hands.
"Okay, that's good. Then we'll go there tomorrow and book the place before somebody else would." I tell and they both nod at my words. "So what about the reception venue? Only if you guys want a party after the wedding of course." I ask the couple.
"Are you kidding? Of course we want a fucking wedding after party, or my bitchy sister will taunt me for the rest of my life about not having a reception shit." She explains with her hands flying and moving in the air. "Not that I'm doing this only for her to shut up, but I'm also doing this for me. I love parties and I want my, our reception too." She takes her fiance's hand in hers and smiles.
"Okay, so you've to help me selecting a venue near by that church." I say and they nod looking at each other, not at me. "So what about the guest list? Have you decide that yet?"
"Yeah, we did compiled some guests that we want no matter what and the first person who's invited in our wedding is... you." She revels the obvious and I act like I'm surprise by her news.
"Thanks for inviting me guys, I'm so happy." I overly act by placing my palms on my heart and she sniffles a chuckle seeing my dramatic actions.
"And of course your whole family, Carol-David-Heather all of them are invited. Plus Landon's whole family and mine too, even though I don't want my family to get their any filthy involvement in my wedding, but I have to." She explains with a frustrated sigh.
"What about Amir?" Landon asks. "You've to invite him too."
"My paralyzed ex-husband?" She raises her brow at him with a very small smile.
"Don't talk about my friend like that. He's very nice to me unlike you." He acts fake offended and removes his arm from around his fiancee's waist. "I'm inviting him, no excuse." He stands his ground with his stern tone.
"Okay, okay. I'll get that arrange." She hits her shoulder at him. "Then I should invite you ex too." She teases.
Dakota? Hmm
"If you don't have any problem with her then that's fine, you can invite her." He plays along.
"Ohhhh, okay. You're teasing me with her now. Well I'm not going to invite her even though I've a friendly relationship with her. I'm fucking not." She declares with a glare.
Thank God. If his ex came into their wedding, then that would be really awkward to everyone, especially to them.
"I knew it." He musters under his breathe. "Well I'm going ask my mom who to invite, she might know some relatives from her and Ken's side. Also I've some friends from my work place like Posey and her sister, Lila." He adds.
Posey, his very good friend. She works at the Grind, the coffee shop where Landon is manager at. I know her, I've met her few times and she's very nice to me and her six years old sister is just so adorable.
"I've to invite Kelsey, Robert, some other friends from the restaurant and other relatives too." Nora continues. "We'll finalize the guest list until tomorrow, don't worry about that." She adds.
"So the next topic in the checklist is that, what type of cake? It's flavor and how many tire?" I ask.
"There you go. My Favorite topic. Cake." She smiles brightly showing his all teeth to me when I ask her. "I'm not going to buy or order the wedding cake from any company. I'm going to bake my own wedding cake and Landon and I will choose the flavours by the end of this week. So the cake topic is under my control so don't worry about that too." She confidently says.
I like her confidence, it gives me a little boost that this wedding planning would be get going smoothly.
"Okay. This is the most most important subject next." I say looking down at the checklist.
"What is it?" she asks, nervously.
"Wedding dress." I revel. "We've to buy you a wedding dress and suit to you, Landon." Telling I look at both of them.
"Oh God." She gapes.
"Well, I'm sorted." He shrugs. "As a guy I can walk into the store and buy any suit in merely half an hour." He beams, proudly.
"Fuck you." She smack her palm on his thigh. "I know some readymade wedding gown store. Tessa and I will go tomorrow after booking the date at the church." She declares, calming her and me both down.
"What about your honeymoon?" I smirk at them after I read the next thing on the checklist.
"My the most loved thing in this wedding planning." The horny spirit of Nora says.
"We'll talk about that later, babe. So not now." Landon brushes her, politely.
I continue with my rambling the checklist and they answers all thing like book officiant, hire photographer videographer, caterer, dj, finding hotels for guest, wedding card invitation design and at last the decor.
"I guess we are done with the list now." I close the notepad and stand on my feet from the floor.
"Wait," Nora stops. "We didn't even choose the wedding party."
"What?"
"Wedding party; the maid of honor, best man, bridesmaids, groomsmen, and flower girl or ring bearer, etcetera shits." She explains.
"Oh." I literally forget about that, because of the hundreds of other things I've to write down and arrange and discuss, I just overlooked that thing.
"Did you decided who would be your best man?" She asks to Landon raising her brows.
"Yeah, I've a person in my mind." He nods, smiling at me.
Who?
Who would that be?
•••
Hardin's POV:
"We're the generation of people who have dreams, ambitions and we all are very good at actions, so fight with me to rid of this addictions you've. Nobody is going to judge you, at least not me and I'll help you and guide you to the road of self-recovery from your addictions and don't hesitate to ask me if you want any type of help. I'll understand your situation and I will support you, still you recovered. And at last thank you guys for coming here and listening to my story. Thank you."
I blurt the infamous outro again to my another audiences group of fifty peoples, who are now applauding and of course except some people at the back and in some middle are didn't. As fucking usual to me.
I hand the microphone to the announcer and make my way down the podium. "You've to talk to some people." My personal manager says when I step down from the small platform.
"I know that, don't I?" I roll my eyes at the annoying pain in my ass manager. She states the obvious shits that I already know.
I'm doing this activism events quite frequently, so she doesn't have to always say shits to remind me like I'm a child who forgot things often. These events are now routine for me so I know what I've to do but she nags and annoys me anyway by saying, 'do this-do that' like a controlling mother.
Neglecting her I move to the side where a herd of people are waiting. After talking some bullshits with their personal questions of me throwing to me, some peoples do talked about important things related to the books or the speech I gave them but mostly talked bullshits and other took some photos or autograph. Simple Seattle people.
I'm in Seattle right now and I'm impressed by the crowd here today. Out of all the cities I had my activism events, Seattle had more people. And I'm guessing this place have more addicted people than the other places. Junkie's heaven- Seattle, I should call.
"I've a question for you." A girl says when all of the other peoples left from around us, leaving both of us alone at the side.
"Sure." I utter.
"It's a very personal question." She musters in the most sultry voice I've ever heard from someone.
"That's alright. Ask me." I tell her and keep my mind in the alert mode.
"Is sex addiction is bad?" She blurts the unimaginable question openly to me. What the hell? "You said by yourself that all addictions are bad and you'll help to get rid of any addiction we have." She continues. "So will you sleep- I mean help me?" She corrects herself.
What the fuck? Is she think I'm some stupid dumb fuck writer who'd just sleep with her? No fucking shit I'll do that.
"Answer me Mr. Scott. Will you help me?" She asks in her sultry voice again.
I can't fucking keep listening to cracky-flirty voice.
"I can't help you with that type of addiction, though I can give you some tips so you might not have any...sexual intercourse with you partners." I begin. "Don't let them come near you. Simple. If they won't touch you, you'll soon get rid of your addiction." I give my make-no-sense advise her and she smirks.
I know she's making fun of me by asking this non-sense type shit questions but I won't get angry at anyone, because it's my fucking job. To guide this people, some peoples who needs genuinely my help and these type of bullshit peoples, who are just here to talk shit to me.
That girl slides to the side when two other people come over to me and starts asking their sensible shit. Thank lord.
"Hardin!" A familiar and a thick accented voice calls me from my behind as I finished talking with the last person in front of me.
I know who the fuck is that.
"How are you?" My real sperm donor asks when I turn my whole body to look at him.
"Good, until you came." I snarl and he chuckles while patting my left shoulder.
Get your filthy hands of off me, bastard!
I still loathe him after what he did to me, revealed to me the fucking truth of my existence in a fucked up way, two years ago. No way I'm going forgive him that easily, would I?
"What are you doing in here? And how did you even know I'd be here?" I ask him, crossing my arms against my chest.
"Well I've my own ways to know where are you at." He says with a little shrug.
"Your own stalking ways." I mummer with narrowing my eyes and he just laughs to that showing his upper row of teeth, which I want to knock down to his throat.
Fucking bastard.
"If you're here to convince me just like your fiancee did, about to give my books contract to Vance publishing then I'll repeat what I said to her." I growl. "I am not giving your stupid publishing house any of my shits to publish." I declare clearly, emphasizing in every single words.
"Nice to hear that but I'm not here for that." He shakes her head. "I just wanted to hear your talks as an activist, nothing else."
Liar.
"Bullshit." I call him out.
"No, really, I just wanted to meet you and have a good dinner with you." He says and I scoff.
"I'm not having any fucking dinner shits with you." Shaking my head I tell him.
"Oh please. Come on, I promised Smith that you'll be there and have a dinner with him." He reasoning using his own kid as a pawn to me.
Fucking prick.
"You shouldn't have promised him then without talking to me first." I snarl.
"I know but when I told him you're here, in Seattle. He pleaded me to get you there, he wanted to see you." He conveys.
I fucking doubt it. Smith pleading him? I don't see that brainiac kid pleading to this man. He's probably over-exaggerating shits to convince me so he could spend some with me and develop some father-son relationship shit that I wanted from the start.
Or maybe that little kid really want to meet me. But why?
"Why?"
"Because you're his brother and he sees you as his role model. Basically he missed you." He explains.
Role model? I am that brainiac kid's role model?
That kid surely has lost his damn mind for sure if he sees me, me, as a person to look after. A fucked up person to look after, if I say. He should be my role model, not the other way around.
"Come on Hardin. Just one dinner." Piece-of-shit requests me.
"It's better if I go back to Pullman. Karen said she's making a good meal and I want to see my little step-sister too." I tell him the valid reason.
I haven't seen the little human yet and I want to see her because Tessa likes everything about her, Karen told me that, obviously. Tessa FaceTime with my step-sister when she would play, so that's the only chance I've to see Tessa's face while she talks and plays with the little human. And I'll be hearing her voice and looking at her face from the corner when she would talk and play with Abby, so she can't see me over her photo screen.
I'm fucking dieing to hear her sweet and soothing voice.
"It's like three fucking hours drive, you should just stay the night in my mansion." He suggests.
Fucking no.
"Nope. Nah. No. Absolutely not." I shake my head, furiously.
"For Smith come on. He'll be heartbroken if you won't meet him at least." He uses his son again as his pawn. Fucker. "Please Hardin. For your little brother. For Smith." He says.
Tessa do love that kid but she loves Abby too. What should I do?
If I say no to Smith and don't meet him, he'll be upset with me and this news might get into Tessa's ears as she do gossips with the big mouth, aka Kimberly, then she will get mad at me or hate me for this.
Argh, this is so frustrating!
Smith or Abby?
I'll choose Tessa though.
And I'm doing this for you, baby. Only for you, Tess.
"Fine," I give in and he smile, widely. "Only because I'm super fucking tired to drive and I don't want to smash a innocent kid's hope due to of his father's stupid promise." I scoff giving him a reason.
"That's fine. Let's go." He begins to walk by grabbing my elbow. Desperate daddy.
"You, go." I pull away my elbow from his grasp. "I've to take my phone from my manager. And I've a car so I'll get to your house by myself." I command.
"Okay." He musters as I make my way to my manager.
"Give me my phone." I demand her when I stand next to her.
"Yeah, here." She pulls out my cellphone from her big ass bag and hand me. "Your publisher called you to tell you that he sent you your third book's early copies at your Chicago apartment." She informs.
"Did anyone else call beside him?" I ask while putting my phone inside my pocket.
"Nope. No one." She mutters.
Hearing that I felt disappointed.
Why?
Because I had a smudge of hope that Tess will call me. But guess not, and I've to live with that.
•••
"Look who's here, finally?" The biggest ballbuster woman greets me as she opens the door to her and Vance's mansion.
"Holy fuck. What is that?" I gape as I look down at her swollen belly.
"It's my baby, you dumbass." She scolds. "I did tell you that I'm pregnant, didn't I?" She reminds me.
"Yeah. But you didn't say you're that much pregnant." Widening my eyes I look at her big watermelon sized belly.
I thought she'd be two or three months prego but look at her stomach, it's look like she'll give birth right here, right now in front of me.
"Oh. Well I'm telling you now I'm more than eight months pregnant, there you go you get the whole news." She tells, sassily.
I roll my eyes at that and get inside the house with my luggage in hand. A wave of nostalgic memories hit me as I stand at the foyer. So many memories good and bad both. Good memories of Tessa running into my arms and hugging me tightly as I first time came in here to visit her, the very wholesome amount of sex we had in here, in this whole mansion than anywhere we had, and her smiles-giggles-laughs are still here like I could literally hear them loud and clear.
The only bad memories I had with her is when I found her passed out by drinking too much wine when she got the news of her infertility.
Beside that, we really spent our good times in here.
"So." Kim's voice breaks through my stance to brings me back to the current-silent house. "You can put your bags down the hallway, where there are two guest rooms as you already know, you can freshen up in there until I call you for the dinner." She adds closing the front door and walks slowly because of her big ass belly to stands next to me.
It's really fucking comical and funny to watch her walk like that.
"If your making the dinner I'm not eating anything." I tease her.
"I'm not making. The cook is." She tells me with a swat of her back-hand on my arm.
"Thanks fucking God." I utter under my breathe.
She just rolls her eyes very waggishly and walks over to the stairs, slowly. I shouldn't make fun of a pregnant woman, especially this women, but her walk is so funny, it's like a pregnant penguin is walking on the ice slate.
Imagining a penguin waddling up in my mind, my mouth leaves uncomfortable laugh, though she didn't hear and keep going up the stairs.
Stop laughing I walk down the hallway there the rooms are, with my black duffle bag in hand. My feets automatically avoid the first door and turn accross the hall to get into that room. Her room, when she stayed here.
As I open the door to that room and step inside, another wave of memories floods into my eyes bringing me to my knees. I don't know if my mind is playing games with me or not, but I could literally see her sauntering around the room, laying on the bed for me to come over there and tease her naked chest or smiling at me as she leans her body to kiss me.
Fuck. My mind is going crazy as shit.
I don't know how I'll keep my composure intact by staying in here, without thinking what I lost. I lost her.
Enough of that, I walk over to the bed and putting my bag onto the mattress, I unpack my few clothing items and go into the bathroom to take a hot shower after the another stressful day I had. After a good shower, I throw the wet towel on the arm of the chair after I rub and dry of my long hair, roughly.
As I was about to pull out my laptop from my bag to check my emails, my phone rings on the nightstand which I put before getting into the bathroom. Grabbing it I lift the phone up to see...
Landon's name flashes across my screen.
__________________________________
Before anyone say that Landon's wedding was in Washington, I'm telling you that I've read the nothing less book (#2 book in Landon series) he clearly said that it was in New York, so don't come at me saying it's a mistake.
And it make more sense if the wedding is in New York, to me at least.
Do it!⭐