Bright and early, on a Sunday morning.
That was Nicole's version of hell. Yet, she was having to live it because of Sebastian.
He had messaged her to meet him at a location, that he texted after. It seemed too secretive, which was intriguing to her, and that's the only reason why she had gotten up, on a Sunday.
It also helped that Chloe had also been summoned to this mysterious meeting.
Instructions were strict, Mia was not meant to know about this. Which was stupid, because Mia would immediately become suspicious if she knew that Nicole was going to wake up early on a weekend.
That never happened.
Luckily, Mia wasn't even in the flat this morning. She had her own duties to complete before Melissa's wedding, and being the perfectionist that she was, Mia was off getting a head start on it.
From what Nicole had noticed, being a maid of honour sucked. It was just a lot of work. Luckily, Nicole didn't have to think about all of that, well, not until Mia was getting married.
The girls had each decided that they were going to be each other's maid of honour.
Nicole would be Mia's, Chloe would be Nicole's, and then Mia would be Chloe's. It worked perfectly.
"Come on. We can't be late," Chloe told Nicole, trying to make her walk faster.
"I'm not walking faster than this, on a Sunday morning. Sebastian can wait," Nicole groaned.
"Stop moaning, and come on," Chloe tugged at Nicole's arm.
In this moment, Nicole was even less of fan of Sebastian's.
***
Chloe and Nicole reached the location that Sebastian has sent them, and they were so incredibly confused.
The building looked weird to them on the outside, run down and almost derelict. Ivy vines were growing on the bricks, almost reaching the whole length of it. The door looked liked it'd break down, if someone were to just gently knock on it.
Both Chloe and Nicole looked at each other, and then back to the building.
After calling Sebastian and confirming if they were in fact in the right place, which they were, the girls stepped inside.
Inside the building, was a completing different story. It was very modern, with flooring, painted walls, decorations and all. It was the opposite to what the outside showed.
As Nicole and Chloe walked further in, a very built man in a suit, was standing in front of them, a tablet in his hands.
He looked like a bouncer, and Nicole was so confused on what the hell Sebastian had planned.
"ID, please?" The man asked the two of them.
"For real?" Nicole asked him, an eyebrow raised, whilst Chloe was already digging through her purse looking for hers.
"For real," the man repeated her question as an answer, a blank expression on his face as he did so. He clearly wasn't messing around.
Chloe was showing her ID, and nudged Nicole to do as well.
With a loud and audible sigh, Nicole brought out her ID and showed it to the man as well.
He checked on his tablet, looking back at both their faces carefully, and with a nod, he stretched out his arm, gesturing towards a staircase for them to walk up.
This is so much effort, Nicole thought to herself, as she trailed behind a very nervous looking Chloe.
As they got to the top of the stairs and walked a little further, there was a large room in front of them, a wide space, and then they noticed they weren't alone.
Nicole's bored expression, morphed into one of pure annoyance when she spotted one particular face.
"Ugh, you," were the first words out of Nicole's mouth.
Stood in front of her was a smugly grinning Blake.
Nicole realised it wasn't just Chloe and her that had been called to this 'over the top' secret meeting. Blake, Diana, Roman, Mason and Aaron were there too.
Now all she wanted to know right now, was what this was all about. Plus, she also wanted to know why she was being subjected to viewing Blake's face, this early in the morning.
It had been about a year since that awful blind date that Mia had set the two up on, and ever since then, Nicole had avoided Blake like the plague.
Seeing him irked her, but it clearly had the opposite effect on him.
Blake was always excited to see Nicole. He loved to mess with her and flirt a little. She always got so riled up and he would always get some kind of reaction from her, usually in a more negative manner, but he found it hilarious.
The only time they really came into each other's presence, was due to group meetings, that mostly Mia would organise.
She refused to leave either of them out, and so forced them to be in one another's company.
It was only for a little bit, but it was much to Blake's delight and Nicole's chagrin.
He was also quite confused with Sebastian's message in the morning. The first thing he did, was message Roman and Diana, and whilst they confirmed that they got the text, they didn't know what it was about either.
When they all got to the large, empty room, the group found Aaron and Mason already there, equally confused.
He was beginning to get bored, but now that Nicole was here, he was quite happy to have some fun.
"Well, aren't you a delight in the mornings?" Blake asked her rhetorically, noticing her irritated expression.
Nicole scowled at him. "I'm cheerful as fuck-"
"Clearly," Blake interrupted her.
"-Just not around you," Nicole carried on to say, giving Blake an annoyed glare for interrupting her.
Stepping closer to her, Blake bent down a little, closer to Nicole's height.
"Why? Are you that effected by my presence?" He whispered lowly, and ended up laughing when Nicole instantly shoved him away.
She scoffed. "You wish," she muttered and walked off towards Chloe, who was standing with Mason and the others.
Just as the group was talking amongst themselves, discussing all the reasons that they could've been called together, Sebastian then walked into the room.
"Great, you're all here," Sebastian smiled, rubbing his hands together as if they were about to get to work.
He was dressed casually in simple blue jeans and a white shirt, different to his usual formal attire.
Whilst he was smiling, everyone else shared a look of confusion.
"Seb, you want to tell us why we're all here?" Diana asked him, raising her brows slightly.
She was standing next to Roman, as he had an arm wrapped around her waist, and Diana leant her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah, what have you done?" Roman asked him, narrowing his eyes.
He, like a few of the others, had assumed he must of royally fucked up somehow, and now needed their help to get out of it.
Nicole then crossed her arms, a scowl coming over her face. "If you've hurt Mia, I have her permission to kill you," she stated.
It was back during that prank-gone-wrong incident, that Nicole first wanted to kill Sebastian. At the time Mia told her she couldn't, because whether she liked it or not, Sebastian did save her life.
However, Mia promised her after, that if Sebastian were to do something stupid like that again, Nicole could kill him if she wanted and Mia wouldn't even say anything.
This was a fact that even Sebastian was aware of.
Blake glanced over at Nicole, seeing her serious expression, and smirked.
"I'd love to die by your hands," he turned towards her, and Nicole looked over at him with a disgusted expression. "Do me a favour and make it slow. Painfully slow," he then stretched out the words.
Nicole scoffed at him, rolling her eyes.
Aaron's eyes then widened, and he stepped forward, pointing a menacing finger at Sebastian.
"If Mia's pregnant, I swear to-" he began to say, and squeezed his hand into a fist, clenching it until it turned his knuckles white.
Sebastian stepped back, holding his hands up in surrender, with a panicked look on his face.
"What? No! She's not pregnant," he told Aaron, who seemed to calm down at his words.
'At least I hope not', Sebastian thought to himself. Not because he wouldn't be happy, he'd actually be ecstatic, it was more because he was sure Mia's Dad and Aaron would kill him, and he'd rather avoid that.
The topic of pregnancy seem to have got everyone talking, and they started asking Aaron about baby Alissa.
Sebastian let out a groan. This was not how he was expecting things to go.
He got his phone out, and searched for a siren sound. Raising the volume to the highest it could go, he then pressed play to get everyone's attention.
It worked.
Everyone covered their ears and looked to him angrily.
"Ow, Seb. What the fuck?" Roman cursed, as did everyone else.
Sebastian smiled, stopping the sound and put his phone back into his pocket.
"Now, will you all listen? I have something to say," he asked everyone.
"Well, fucking say it already," Blake sighed, feeling impatient, now this was all being dragged out.
Sebastian looked to everyone's faced, who were just waiting for him to get on with it, and he took a deep breath before talking.
"I'm planning on proposing to Mia," he revealed.
The reaction that he had hoped for, was for everyone to cheer, look happy for him, and congratulate him on his decision.
That didn't exactly happen.
They all just had this collective look of relief on their faces.
Chloe let out a squeal, clapping her hands together, whilst Mason, who was stood next to her looked pleased too.
"Finally!" Diana shouted, a smile on her face.
"It's about time," Roman nodded at him.
"I'd rather you not," Aaron grumbled, a disgruntled look on his face.
"Are you asking for permission then?" Blake grinned. He was very pleased for Sebastian, and Mia too.
To him, it wasn't that big of a surprise, since anyone that knew the couple, knew that this was basically inevitable.
He also knew that Sebastian was so whipped by Mia. The only thing that really amazed Blake, was that he had waited this long to propose.
Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Does it have to be an unanimous decision? What happens if I say no?" She asked, pondering over Blake's words.
Sebastian looked towards Nicole, with a determined expression.
"I'm marrying her," he stated. "The only person's refusal that matters, is Mia's, and I'm about ninety-eight percent sure, she won't."
"Ninety-eight?" Roman asked, wondering what was up with the figure, he expected a hundred percent.
"I can't be completely sure. Plus, Mia might want to wait or something," Sebastian said.
Marriage wasn't something that Sebastian and Mia discussed seriously. They'd make a comment about it, or the future in general, but the words, 'I want to marry you', had never been said by either one of them.
Sebastian wasn't even entirely sure if Mia ever wanted to get married, but hoped that she did.
"Or, she might just not want to marry you," Blake then commented.
Blake knew that some women, or men, just didn't believe in the institution of marriage, which was fair enough. He, himself, didn't have much of an opinion on it either.
"She wants to...I think. I'm pretty sure," Sebastian then said, rather unconvincingly.
"Just not hundred percent," Blake added on with a grin on his face, knowing this was riling him up.
"Fuck off," Sebastian glared at him.
Thinking about it, he didn't really know what Mia felt about marriage. She didn't really talk about it and he never asked. Now, he was kind of regretting that.
He'd get some phone calls and voice notes from Mia, ranting about weddings in general, but he assumed that was just frustration from helping Melissa in her wedding preparations. He didn't think that was truly how she felt.
However, Sebastian knew how he felt. He didn't exactly need a piece of paper to tell him what Mia was to him. He knew that even if marriage was not for Mia, he'd be with her till the end of his days. He just needed her in his life, nothing more.
Whilst Sebastian was spiralling in his thoughts, Nicole was plotting his murder.
She was still very annoyed by this all. Not because Sebastian planned to propose, that she was happy about, but more so because she was exhausted and wanted sleep.
"If that's all you called us for, I'll kill you," she then said in all seriousness, causing Sebastian to look at her with wide eyes.
It troubled him, that it sounded more like a promise than a threat.
Blake glanced at Nicole, and looked on amusedly. He could see her brows knitted together and nose wrinkled up in anger. It was adorable to him.
Sebastian then cleared his throat. "No, actually," he began to say. "I've called you here, because I wanted to ask for your help."
He was pausing for dramatic effect, but the others just wanted him to get on with it.
"Well?" Diana asked him.
"So, Mia's been through a lot because of me," he said and everyone nodded, knowing it to be true. "I once humiliated her in public, and I want to go through the same for her, in a way..."
"That's an odd way to propose," Blake said, not too sure about whatever Sebastian was planning.
Sebastian smiled. "No, it's not part of my proposal. I've got another idea for that. However, I want to put together a special dance for her at the wedding. Well, for her and also for Melissa.
"The fuck? Why the hell are you dancing for my soon-to-be wife?" Aaron questioned him.
"That's a bold move," Mason the blurted out.
"No, I'm not dancing for Melissa. Don't be ridiculous," Sebastian said, wondering why they would even think that. 'That would just be weird.'
"Just explain yourself, Seb." Diana then asked him, hoping he would just clarify the whole situation.
Sebastian took a deep breath. "Mia's been through a lot because of me. This dance, it's just this gesture from me, to kind of show we're equals. She doesn't always have to be one get the short end of the stick. Our relationship is balanced, well actually, she's far more perfect than I'll ever be. I want her to know that."
"That's an awful lot to say through dance. Is it contemporary?" Blake commented, with an amused smile.
Ignoring Blake's words, Sebastian continued. "I thought it would be nice for us to do one of those dances at the wedding reception," he said, before looking towards Aaron. "It can also be something that you do for Melissa. I don't plan on stealing your thunder or anything, you can do it for your bride."
In preparation for his proposal, Sebastian had been scouring the internet for ideas, when he came across videos on the groom-side performing a dance for the bride. He never thought about doing it, but then realised it could be a way for him to show Mia, that he'd be a complete fool for her.
"I'll do it," Aaron then said, and then others looked to him in surprise.
"Really?" Sebastian asked.
"Melissa loved those kind of videos on the internet and always tears up. I hate that you thought of it before, but yeah, I'll do it for her." He nodded.
Sebastian smiled. "Great."
"Plus, if this is going to be embarrassing for you, then it's all the more better," Aaron grinned.
"Of course," Sebastian sighed, knowing that there would be something else to his agreement. "Will you guys join in?" He then asked the others.
"I'll do it," Blake then said.
"Really?" Sebastian questioned him.
Blake nodded. "Yeah, you look so fucking desperate, and I guess I've been really unkind to Mia in the past too. So if a cheesy, humiliating wedding dance will make her laugh at least, I'll do it."
He always looked for a way to be able to make it up to Mia, for being a dick to her in the past. This was a better chance than any.
"Thanks man," Sebastian smiled at him gratefully.
"I'll join too," Roman then said, and everyone looked to him in surprise, since this would be the last thing he would ever do.
He just shrugged at their looks. "I wasn't the nicest to Mia in that meeting, when she first came in to be your assistant, and then wasn't so nice when coming to visit you either. Plus, we're bros. I can't let you make a fool of yourself like that," he smirked.
"I'm in too," Diana grinned. "I love Mia, and you're never going to get someone better than her, so I might as well help you make sure she stays with you."
Sebastian laughed at her words, knowing it to be true. He couldn't do better.
"I'm in," Mason smiled. "Mia's always been so kind to me and without her help, I wouldn't of asked Chloe out," he said, pulling Chloe closer him.
He'd befriended Mia whilst working at Carter, and she'd always been so kind and sweet to him. If he hadn't of known her, there was a chance he would never know Chloe. This could be a way to repay her for the matchmaking.
Chloe smiled too. "Mia's one of my best friends. She'd love for you to propose and I'd love to do this for the both of you," she said.
Sebastian and everyone else, then looked at the one person who had yet to answer.
"Nicole?" He asked.
She'd listened to everyone's words, at how they were mostly doing this for Mia, something that she understood completely.
Her answer was yes already, but she couldn't help but tease either.
Keeping a blank expression on her face, Nicole looked towards Sebastian.
"On a scale of one to ten, how humiliating is this for you?" She asked him.
Sebastian sighed. "I'm on the board of directors, of a very well-known company. The last thing I should be doing, is making a fool out of myself in front of other guests, who will undoubtedly post it on social media, and this could be seen by our clients and partners. I'll be a laughing stock in front of them, and there's the chance no one will take me seriously after this."
This was basically his family's reputation he was putting on the line.
"And yet, you still want to do this?" Nicole asked, quirking up a brow at him.
"For Mia? I'd do anything. This doesn't even scratch the surface," Sebastian replied.
In front of her, nothing else seemed to matter.
Nicole paused. She still wasn't exactly Sebastian's greatest fan, but could admit that he loved her a lot, without a doubt. That was enough for her to agree to this ridiculous plan.
She then smiled. "I'm in."
Sebastian sighed in relief.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Roman asked, wondering how they were all going to come up with a coordinated dance, amongst themselves.
"I've got it all sorted," Sebastian grinned.
His words left everyone momentarily confused, before he then started to explain his plan.
Sebastian had it all planned about where, when and how, he was going to propose. There was some months to go till Aaron and Melissa's wedding, so they had the time but for them to pull of the plan, everyone needed to make it to the rehearsals.
He'd already asked a choreographer to help him out with their dance, knowing exactly what song he wanted to choose. Of course, he'd overlooked the fact that the others might mind it, but oh well.
For the dance, Sebastian thought at some point partners would be required. Everyone was already kind of coupled up, except for Blake and Nicole, and so naturally to piss them both off, he paired them together.
Aaron would be presenting the dance to Melissa, so it was fine for him to be without a partner, and Sebastian just hoped the choreographer would have something in mind for him to do on his own.
As the other began to talk about the plan, Blake turned to Nicole and stepped towards her.
"Looks like we're going to be partners," he stated in a smug smile.
He could not help but think about how, for the next months leading up to the wedding, he'd be dancing in close proximity with Nicole. Suddenly, Blake was incredibly glad for Sebastian's relationship with Mia, along with Aaron's relationship with Melissa.
Nicole always seemed to avoid him, but she couldn't during this dance. Not when they were going to be partners.
As she looked towards Blake with a bored expression, Nicole then scoffed. "For three minutes only," she pointed out.
She really wanted to opt out of this dance now, or at least dance with Aaron instead. Just before everyone started discussing the dance, Nicole had tried to ask Sebastian for a change of partners, but he just gave her a lame excuse.
Nicole knew he'd done this on purpose and so went along with it, making a mental note to get him back somehow.
Blake then leaned in closer towards her.
"I'll live my whole life in these three minutes, as if they were my last," he said, leaning back again and putting a hand on his chest.
Giving him a sweet smile, Nicole then stomped on Blake's foot, causing him to grimace.
"They might just be your last," she told him and walked away, with an irritated expression on her face.
Whilst Nicole thought these months were going to be torture, Blake couldn't wait for it.
A wedding dance, suddenly seemed like the best thing ever.
***
Writing about fictional characters is hard, because I end up wanting one.
Anyway...
Hope you liked the read :)