AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Another quick call to my source in Daily Times magazine provided the campaign first page feature tomorrow evening. About time these rags were useful for something. I called up a few and they were willing to push it on their paper for an exclusive with me. I sat down and examined the evening's work with a grim satisfied smile. Sophie didn’t know what was about to hit her.
* * *
The next morning,I taped the edges of the last invitation of those I’d started sending a day before. A total of one hundred and fifty guests were expected to be at the event I would be hosting tomorrow. A lot had gone into the preparations. Getting the perfect venue, setting it up, and sieving through the invite list to know who to invite. It was mentally exhausting and when I saw that it was taking it’s toll on me, I’d flown Cat over to Malibu to assist me a day before. Together we examined every detail down to the choice of outfits and the color of the event. I wanted to make it a costumed-themed party but Cat had argued that it will defeat the whole purpose of the engagement party and I saw reason in it.
The social media campaign was a raging success. Everywhere, it was the most talked about topic. I couldn’t believe the reach, our analytics were off the charts. We had started trending since 8pm, the night before and now we occupied the top three trends on Twitter. Seeing it made me so happy, everything was falling into place and there was just one more box to tick before we were set. Sophie’s parents had been issued a personal invitation to my inlet which is where I intended to host them for the night before the main event.
My nerves were deeply frayed, I badly wanted to impress them. I normally do not meet my guests on the tarmac, but for Mr. and Mrs. Adams, I’d make an exception.
I’d personally made the phone call to Mr. Adams, half expecting him to turn my invitation down or worse, call me a fraud.
I’d been wrong.
In fact, Mr. Adams had not only been very warm and genial on the phone but had accepted my invitation refusing my offer to fly them in my private jet. Everything had been set up in anticipation of their arrival. The guest rooms in the inlet thoroughly cleaned out and beds remade. I’d also ordered a selection of food as I wasn’t sure of what their choice would be. Everything was prepared already, all that remained was their arrival.
Their plane had been scheduled to arrive by 9am this morning, but it was ten thirty already and they weren’t here yet. Between the wind blowing off the sea and the speed that my driver managed on the narrow road, the beach sand flew up clouding my vision. I rolled up the windows sharply.
A long cascade of trees lined the road. It opened to a small airstrip where only private jets and the occasional aircraft would land. I lifted the left corner of my mouth glancing to the sky when I heard the impending noise.
The aircraft carrying my guests descended on the island on a rapid approach. The runway was short, not giving the pilot much time to bring the plane down. The landing gear hit the tarmac, the engines screamed as the pilot reversed the engine thrust. I smoothed my shorts subconsciously as the plane came to a complete stop taxiing into position while an attendant secured the wheels. The airport employees scrambled to assist the onboard flight crew as they opened the hatch and lowered the stairway.
I tapped my index finger along my thigh and lifted my chin.
My gaze fell on the heeled foot of the female passenger and slowly made its way up causing me to draw in a sharp breath. It’s hard to imagine that this woman birthed Sophie, yet it’s not so difficult to point out the obvious facial features they share.
She was dressed in a flowery sundress, styled appropriately in a cut that suited her. Her hair was donned in a pixie cut, framed by a face that appeared so young that by all appearances she would be considered thirty. She had a slim curvy build, long shapely legs, and a beguiling smile. It was not hard to imagine what Sophie would look like in a few years from now, the thought brought a goofy smile to my face.
I looked past her appealing features to the man who placed his hand on her waist and helped her from the plane. He was slightly built with strong arms. He was also tall with a friendly face that had laugh lines around his eyes. Dressed in clothes that complemented his wife’s, they descended from the plane and walked towards my direction after I gave a short wave.
I lifted my hands to Mr. Adams first. “Mr. Adams, welcome to Malibu.”
He brought his on instinct, shaking mine firmly. His grip was strong and his smile a bit wary but welcoming. “Please, call me James.”
I returned his smile with a warm one of my own then turned to the beautiful woman by his side.
“Pleased to finally meet you, Mrs. Adams,” I said stooping to lift her fingers to my lips. She preened under my attention responding with a voice and energy that bore an uncanny resemblance to Sophie’s.
“Oh please,” She waved away with a slightly embarrassed air. “Just call me Hannah. The pleasure is all ours, Mr.?”
“Tucker. Raymond Tucker.”
In a few minutes, I led them to the ride, encouraging them to take the backseat, and we were soon driving off to the inlet as the driver pulled away from the airstrip.
“The journey was not exhausting I hope, I noticed that your plane took longer than the scheduled time of arrival.”
“Oh, don’t mind the blasted airlines,” James said with irritation clouding his features.
“They kept us waiting in the terminal for two hours because of some technical issues. That delayed our flight.”
“Oh well, I thought as much.”
The car slowed to a stop in front of my private inlet. “Here we are,” I said.
Massive hibiscus plants of all colors bloomed along the path leading to the front door. Palms and ferns filled the space between the larger trees. I knew the landscape well having picked the inlet because of the wide variety of plant species littered around the house. I wanted tranquillity, to smell the fragrance in the air and camouflage the other villas nearby.
“This is so beautiful,” Hannah said under her breath.
“Thank you, Mrs. Adams.”
