The Wedding Plan

Chapter 4

The day started of quite normal. Just another regular work day, but Eleanor couldn't have possibly been prepared for what the day would have in store for her, nor could she have guessed what would be asked of her later that day. Who could have known that the great Sebastian Crain would need such a favor? She certainly wasn't expecting it, and yet she agreed to help him. What was she thinking when she said yes? But more importantly. What was he thinking when he asked her, a stranger, for such a thing. Even though she said yes, part of her was worried about what it could mean for her job if things didn't go according to plan. This job was her chance to prove that she was worth something, that all her hard work paid off. She would not lose that; she could not afford to lose that.

The day went as follows...

Earlier that day, Eleanor arrived at her desk exactly on time, as per usual, nine a.m., a few more seconds and she would have been late; and yet, her boss as per usual arrived a lot later than everyone else, but no one seemed to care.

That was the advantage of being the CEO of a big company such as Crain Enterprises; an investment management company that was branching out into other markets, such as technology and biomedical engineering. Sebastian was also one of the most eligible bachelors in the city. He had a free pass to do whatever he wanted to do.

Eleanor pressed the power button on her computer and placed her black leather bag on the chair, along with her coat. Afterwards ran to the restroom to analyze if the race to get there on time had ruined the outfit that she put so much effort into.

She had just accomplished what she had set her mind to. It had been a month since she had started her internship at Crain, and a permanent position seemed to be at arm's reach.

Standing in front of the mirror, she combed her hair with her slim fingers, shook off imaginary dust from her dark red dress, and made sure her clothes didn't have any stains from breakfast.

Almost there. She said to herself and went back to the open space office where some of her co-workers were starting to arrive, including her superior, Miss Clark. Her boss immediately gave Eleanor an enormous pile of documents to attend to and a to-do list, although it resembled more a book and not so much a list.

At the end of the corridor, the elevator door opened and the fashionably late CEO, Sebastian Crain, fast passed towards his office with a furious look on his face.

Sebastian had just turned twenty-six and scandals about his love life keep sprouting almost every week. As far as Eleanor knew, he didn't even remember her; he probably hadn't even seen her since she started working there.

During the day he never left his office, and even when he did, he didn't bother to look around.

Maybe Sebastian Crain is just the egocentric and self-absorbed billionaire everyone thinks he is and not the man I met four months ago. Eleanor thought as she followed him with her eyes while he walked by without looking at anyone. He seemed like an extremely different person when they bumped into each other. Was he pretending to be nice? Eleanor sighed and shook her head, trying to drive away such thoughts. Instead of watching Sebastian walk towards his office, she needed to focus on her work

Sebastian sat on his chair and threw the white and gold envelope that had the wedding invitation to the side as he waited for the call he was dreading. His phone buzzed immediately, as he predicted.

'Lina, how are you?' he asked in a monotone voice.

'Is that the way to talk to your big sister? I thought that you'd be happier. We haven't spoken in so long.'

'I'm a busy person. What do you want?'

'Did you get it?' As she squealed with excitement, Sebastian moved the phone away from his ear. 'It should've arrived by now.'

'Yes, I did, but I don't know why. I'm your brother. And the best man. I'm obviously going to your wedding. This was just pointless and a waste of paper.'

'Why are you always like this? You could be a little more excited about your big sister's wedding.' For a few seconds, she was silent, and Sebastian could hear her sighing. 'Anyway, I was just calling because I want to know who you are bringing as your plus one.'

'I was not aware that it was mandatory to bring a plus one.'

Lina screamed on the other side of the phone, 'Of course, it is!'

'No, Lina. Not this again. Why is it so important to you?'

'I don't want some girl on the wedding photos who's name I won't even remember after it because she'll just disappear from your life in a couple of days.'

'Then I won't take someone. Problem solved.'

'But you have to,' she whined.

'Then I can bring whoever I want, and she won't be in the photos.'

'That's rude.'

'You are so infuriating, Lina. I don't understand how Ian puts up with you. Are you sure that he doesn't have cold feet yet?'

'Don't even joke about it. I might be difficult, but he doesn't care about it. You might understand it one day.'

'I doubt it.'