NICKI POV
I had a lunch date with Anita a few days later to aid in the whole 'getting-to-know-eachother' idea. I primped my hair and makeup before leaving the office. I met her at her house where she had prepared chicken alfredo.
"I- didn't know you cooked." I observed as I sat at the table.
"I love cooking actually."
"Really? Me too." I flashed a smile.
"You know.. I have a really good memory." She informed me as she distributed the food.
"Oh?"
"I remember the night you set Lydia and I up." she stated.
"I was simply being a wingwoman." I joked.
"Well it worked." she giggled.
"I'm glad"
"Do you remember how you did it?"
"Not quite-"
FLASH BACK
"Aubrey and I are going to call it night guys, thanks so much for everything." Onika and Aubrey stood to leave. Nic walked over to Anita and whispered in her ear, "I just wanted to thank you personally."
"I would do it a thousand times over.. plus, you guys made my job easier-" Anita replied.
"I see the way you look at Lydia," Nic's hand trailed up and down Anita's inner thigh, " So tell me, an intelligent and extremely sexy woman like you... wouldn't happen to be available would she?"
"Well, yes." Anita's breathing became short as Nic's roaming hand began to turn her on.
"If you're up to it.. I think you would make a perfect partner for Lydia." Nic kissed her neck gently.
"Really?"
"But promise to play nice.. she's still my heart." Nic pulled away and stared into Anita's eyes.
"I will." Anita nodded.
"Good, have fun." Nic winked before walking away.
"Hmm.. you do have a good memory." I finished my plate.
"Why'd you do it like that?" she asked.
"I mean, I was a little drunk-"
"You flirted." she cut me off.
"So?"
"But you're engaged."
"I flirted.. I didn't sleep with you." I defended.
"You can't just-"
"Aubrey was perfectly fine with it. Its not like I did it as an advance on you, I was helping bring you and Lydia together- As I explained to Aubrey.. he seemed to understand that perfectly fine, why can't you?" I argued.
"What you're saying is, I'm not good enough to be perceived as a threat?" She cocked an eyebrow at me.
"Wha-"
"I'm kidding." she giggled as she stood and began clearing the table. The room was still so tense, that I could tell she wasn't kidding.
"Thats not what I meant." I shook my head.
"What did you mean?" she folded her arms.
"Why does all of this matter? You're dating my best friend, and I am happily engaged." I questioned.
She exhaled, "Because, if you two are so much alike.. its unsettling to know how intimate your flirtations can be and not mean anything at all, because who's to say Lydia isn't doing the same?"
"I pity you for your insecurities." I rested my chin in my palms, "But there's really nothing you need to worry about."
"Right, just what I needed. Your pity." She scoffed.
"What is it that you want to hear?"
"I don't know.. is there like any chance you meant any of that?" she turned to put the dishes in the sink, "Or like.. are you straight now or something? Is that it?"
I approached her and put my hands on her waist, "I did.. of course I meant what I said. If I didn't mean it I would have never suggested you to be with Lydia, I told you.. she's my heart, therefore she only deserves the best."
"Yo-you think I'm the best?" she turned slowly to face me.
"Its not that you're not good enough to be perceived as a threat... but we both have so much more to lose, that it wouldn't be worth pursuing." I explained, "Which is why I pray that you'll see it the same way when it comes to Lydia and I."
"I feel like- you just gave me your blessing." she bit her lip.
"I did." I nodded.
She squealed and hugged me tight, "I'm sorry, if I made our lunch weird.."
"Intimate? Yes. Weird? No." I assured her. "I'm glad we talked though, I do have to run back to work now.. but don't hesitate to text me so we can find another time to meet."
"Thanks for coming." she hugged me again.
Back at the office, Lydia greeted me when I got off the elevator. She had been talking to Vanessa before I arrived.
"Hey, how was lunch?" she asked
"It was.. interesting." I nodded slowly.
"Interesting good, or interesting bad?"
"Interesting.... neutral."
"Well, did you accomplish anything?"
"We'll talk.." I patted her shoulder, "Where's my fiancé? I haven't seen him all day."
"In his office." she replied.
"Great, and we're all set to start the new project?" I asked.
"Just about, we have a meeting in 15mins to finalize." she informed me.
"Right.. Right, I don't know why I thought it was at 3." I nodded.
"Nope, 1" Lydia stapled some papers together, "I think this will be so fun."
"I know right! I'm really excited to do it." I smiled.
"Its gonna be super time consuming." She warned.
"But all worth while." I added as I entered Aubrey's office.
"Hey." he looked up from his desk.
"Hey babe." I walked behind his chair and ran my fingers through his hair.
"How was lunch?"
"I'm gonna give you the details tonight. But I have some exciting news." I kissed his cheek.
"What is it?" He spun around to face me, "Are you pregnant?"
"What? God no. We're good on that for a little while now." I declined.
"Sorry.. uh, what is it?" He blushed.
I sat in his lap to ease his nerves, "Remember when you were asking me about our wedding... and I told you about my idea of helping some other brides out first to help me prepare to coordinate ours?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, in about 10mins we're having a meeting to finalize everything and hopefully in about a week.. that project will officially begin!" I squealed.
"That's great."
"If you want, we can start brainstorming little things for ours.. so that we have SOME ideas when we do decide to officially start." I offered.
"I'd love that." he couldn't hide his excitement.
The meeting went by smoothly. We had a survey for the potential brides to fill out to be considered for the program, there were actually already some early applicants which Lydia and I spent most of our afternoon selecting and contacting.
Marissa was the last applicant that I ended up calling for the day.
O: Hello, is this Ms. Marissa Clayton?
M: Hello? Yes who's speaking?
O: Okay great! This is Onika Maraj from the Maraj Collection. I'm calling regarding your application to take part in our "Bride-To-Be" Project.
There was a pause before she returned squealing.
M: Oh my goshh!! I didn't think I would get in! Please tell me this isn't a prank or something!
I couldn't help but giggle a bit.
O: Upon reviewing your application, you have been chosen for the first stage of the project. I will be emailing you a full description of the program and there will be an area for you to sign electronically. But you must understand that this program is binding, meaning.. once you sign this form, you MUST carry on, follow all guidelines, and meet all requirements up until your wedding day. So I encourage you to read the material very carefully to be sure you really want to take part.
M: Okay.. Thank you SO much for this opportunity!
O: The pleasure is all mine! Okay, I'm gonna email you right now, and you can feel free to shoot me an email about any questions or concerns. Alright?
M: Okay.
O: Okay, Enjoy the rest of your evening.
M: Thank you! I will!
I hung up and pulled up my email to send her the information as promised.
I buzzed Lydia's office on my desk phone,
"Alright, I'm sending Marissa's now. Should I come to you, or you to me? Unless you want to leave now and work from either of our houses."
"Come in here, we'll finish fairly quickly and that way we can just be done." She replied.
"Okay.. I'm on my way." I sent the email, logged out of my computer and grabbed my laptop and phone before heading to her office.
"Good, you have your laptop.. I hate setting up the profiles on that program thing, so YOU can handle that part and I can do the document version so we can have hard copies of files." she sat me on the couch in her office.
"You're lucky I love you." I rolled my eyes as I opened my laptop, "But you owe me."
"Mhmm okay." she handed me a cup of coffee she had made in the Keurig.
"Thanks." I flashed a smile as she went to make herself a cup.
"This should take about an hour, so we should be done by 5 todayyyyy." she estimated.
QOTD: So, I think wattpad has been my most successful platform as far as doing something I love and being able to produce it in a way for others to enjoy. And even though I feel like that success is fading, I will continue to do it. BUT, I think with graduating/turning 18/going to college, I really wanna take on something else. I just know I have so much more to offer the world than fanfiction. I was thinking of publishing a book one day, in real life.. probably not a best seller or anything. Also, blogging/vlogging? Idk, I just loved that Wattpad carried me through highschool because it gave me something to focus on and care about because I knew you guys cared about it. My music wasn't really giving me that tbh. And I'm not really sure where to go from here. SO PLEASE COMMENT SOME IDEAS!! (dont do what yall usually do and ignore this portion omg).