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“Good to know.” Jessica was still lost in thoughts. She wasn’t completely present as Matt went on about his arrangements in excitement. She felt like she was in a trance, doing one thing at a time, taking one step at a time. This whole day felt foreign to her.
When they reached her room, she expected it to be empty like she left it, but the door was unlocked, and inside there on the ornamented couch, sat a strikingly beautiful young lady. Jessica was confused because she had locked the room on her way out. Was it already booked for another guest since she was in debt to the hotel?
“Annabeth! You’re here,” exclaimed Matt, as the woman jumped up from the couch and hopped over to them.
“Brother!” she said and was enveloped in a big hug from Matt. Jessica didn’t have time to react when Annabeth came over to her and gave her a squeeze as well.
“Oh, uh, okay,” Jessica said as she hugged the woman back.
“You must be Jessica. I’ve been dying to meet you,” said Annabeth. Her voice was like a bird’s chirp. Springy like her steps and melodious. She seemed like a very jolly kind of personanda hugger. Jessica smiled at her, unsure of what to say.
“Don’t worry. Matt has already told me about you, and I wasted not a second driving here. You’re so pretty!” Annabeth exclaimed.
“Thank you. Uh, you too!” Jessica managed. She was feeling overwhelmed meeting someone this beautiful without notice and getting compliments from them. She was sure she did not look pretty, with her disheveled looks and messed-up hair.
“Beth, Jessica hasn’t had breakfast yet. Could you order some room service? I’m gonna have to leave you, girls, to yourselves now. Got a lot of arrangements to make.” Matt exited the room with a wave of his hand.
Jessica was surprised that Matt had noticed it. She herself had forgotten that she didn’t get the chance to eat anything since last night. Annabeth quickly made a call to the reception and ordered some food for Jessica, and then she made her sit on the bed while she sat on the other end and started talking.
“So, are you excited?” she asked with a spark in her eyes.
“Umm, I don’t know. You know the whole situation is so…unusual,” replied Jessica.
“I know. It’s okay though. There’s nothing to worry about. Matt has already taken care of most of the ugly work. By that, I mean the legal arrangements, you know? You already have a marriage license and the chapel where the ceremony will take place is being set up as we speak. It’s tonight! So much to work on, OMG! I looked over the floral choices first thing when I got here. You do like peonies, right? I mean who doesn’t like peonies? You would look so good with a bouquet of peonies in your hand, and about the main course, I was going to select prawns, but then I didn’t know if you liked seafood, so I went with chicken instead, just to be safe. Wait, I can still alter the menu. Do you want me to call them and change the main course to prawn?” Annabeth asked.
“Oh, it’s no problem. I like both. Chicken is fine with me,” Jessica replied. Annabeth went on and on about every detail of the decorations, but Jessica didn’t care much for such things with the situation being as unusual as it was. She was wondering how on earth Matt had managed all that within a day. It was clear to her that he had already known what her answer would be before she even agreed to it. That fact annoyed her, but she was already starting to get used to it by now. Matt had his way with everything, but getting the marriage license on such short notice was no big deal. Usually, it took weeks for it to get approved. She wondered what kind of power such an influential family’s heir had to be able to manage this feat. She guessed that when you had enough money, you could get anything you wanted, and Matt had lots of it.
“You can call some of your family to come over. Matt told me to fix the guest list with you. Since it’s on short notice, I figured a small wedding would be ideal. Maybe you can invite your parents and some close relatives and friends. It’s totally your choice though. Oh, and I guess you gotta decide on a witness. Matt already booked me as his. I was so-” Annabeth was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. She went to the door and opened it to let in the hotel staff pushing in a tray with breakfast. It was filled to the last corner with different kinds of food. Jessica stared at it dumbfounded.
“I didn’t know what you would prefer so I ordered a few different types of cuisines. Pick what you like and dig in!” Annabeth said as she poured herself a cup of coffee from the little French press.
Jessica could make out food for almost a dozen people laid out. There was toast, raw bread, butter, 2 choices of margarine, 3 choices of cheese, baguette, naan, tortillas, 2 choices of curry, and a rice dish that Jessica had no idea about. One plate at the side held freshly cut fruits. Beside it sat a dish with croissants. A French press held steaming coffee and another Turkish teapot contained tea. The table was a mix and match of food from so many different cuisines that Jessica felt her nostrils being assaulted with all these different flavors. Jessica gingerly took a knife, buttered a piece of toast, and bit into it. Annabeth offered her a cup of coffee, which she took gratefully. She had forgotten how hungry she was, but after having some food and coffee, she felt much better, and her hangover was starting to break. Now that her head’s beginning to clear, she guessed that she really had to face the situation head-on.
14
Matt’s room was on the top floor of the hotel. It was a premium suite that was not for guest bookings. Whenever he came to the hotel to look over things, or just to spend some days here, he stayed in that suite. After dropping Jessica off in her room in the care of his sister, he went to his suite and called his friends. He was elated when he told them about the big news, and they all seemed overjoyed for him. While they were on their way, Matt decided to take a quick shower.
Today is a long day ahead. I can’t wait to meet my friends and get some good boys’ time before the wedding.
He put on a pair of slacks and a white shirt and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was early in the morning. He had already texted his friends about the wedding. Though he wasn’t certain Jessica would agree, he had told them to come over just in case, so they should be arriving sometime that afternoon. He was looking forward to meeting them, and it was all good that things worked out with Jessica saying yes.
Matt spent the morning going through some pressing matters at his office, making the last-minute wedding preparations, and going over all the necessary documents for the wedding. It was well past noon when he heard the buzzer to his suite ring.
“That must be the guys,” he said and headed over to the door. Sure enough, it was Henry and Blake. They rushed in like boys excited to get the party started and took him into their arms and hollered in excitement.
“Where’s Greg?” asked Matt while being squeezed under the weight of Blake’s biceps.
“He was running late at work. I called him to ask if we should pick him up, but he said he was coming over on his own. He must be on his way now,” answered Henry.
Henry, Blake, and Gregory were his three best dudes. The four of them had been close ever since they were young. Besides Matt, who came from one of the most reputed families in the community, Blake and Gregory also came from old money. Their parents were in the business together and have been acquainted for a long time. Henry was a self-made man who came from a normal family but made it big pretty early in his career. Matt had met him on a business trip to Bali, where the other man was on vacation with his girlfriend. Now, the four of them were inseparable. Matt had called them to be present at the wedding, which was planned on a very small scale. Only those important to the bride and groom were invited. Blake and Gregory were regulars in the club. Henry also visited it pretty frequently, so they spent a lot of time together in the hotel and in Matt’s suite.
“You finally getting hitched man! Who’s the lucky lady?” yelled Henry.
“You’ll see her soon enough,” laughed Matt.
The three of them talked over some of the details over some drinks. Sometime later, Gregory also arrived. They played music and had a small bachelor party of sorts before Matt had to get ready for the wedding. His tuxedo arrived an hour after his friends did, and they left him in the room to try it on. It was perfectly tailored to his fit. He had already bought the ring earlier that morning, with an adjustable back so that it would fit Jessica’s finger. Gregory had brought with him a red corsage to go with the tux, which he pinned on Matt’s chest. When he was all ready as the groom, he took all of them down to the club.
The casino was filled with guests and gamblers as usual. Matt and his buddies went over there to play some poker while they waited. The four of them were exceptionally good at it. They had a specific room equipped with a casino of its own, a personal bar, and a pool table. They usually spent a lot of time in this room. Today, they all drank to Matt’s new start of a married life. Matt ordered drinks for all the guys. He was in a very good mood. He couldn’t explain why, but he was looking forward to it.
