The Wedding Plan

Chapter 8

The one that got away. Just Eleanor. The girl that didn't call was now in front of him. We can't part ways so soon again. He thought as he glanced at Lina's wedding invitation that was in the middle of the enormous stack of paperwork that he had to deal with.

And then Sebastian had an idea. It was an idiotic idea, but it could work, so why not give it a try? The worst that could happen was that she would say no to him, which was very likely, but he still felt an inexplicable urge to ask. If she said yes, he could spend more time getting to know the clumsy but charming coffee girl.

'Now that is out of the way. Shall we get down to business?'

'Business?' she raised an eyebrow.

He interlaced his fingers, placed his elbows on the desk, and looked directly at her. 'Do you want to go to a wedding with me?' he asked with a straight face despite of his outrageous request.

'What?'

Eleanor laughed hysterically, and all her nervousness flew away, at least for a few seconds. Sebastian was at a lost since no one had ever laughed at him like that; in such a carefree and honest way.

'Sorry. What?' she asked again, trying not to laugh and completely failing at it. 'Please don't fire me, for laughing at you,' she begged, lost between wanting to laugh and still feeling intimidated by him.

His request left Eleanor appalled. He can't be serious, can he? We don't know each other. While the young woman tried to behave in front of the CEO, he stood quietly with a very serious expression as he typed mechanically on his laptop.

'I'm not joking. I need someone to attend a wedding with me. Someone that the guests don't know, especially the bride.'

'Why me?'

'No one will know who you are, and you seem like a decent, hardworking person. Larissa told me you are very enthusiastic about having a secure position here and that in the near future you would like to do a master's degree. What if I told you I could guarantee you a spot here and funding for you to continue your studies?'

This much was true. Eleanor had talked to Larissa about it, and Sebastian squeezed all the information that he could. He wanted to know everything that he could about the coffee girl.

'Are you bribing me?' the sweet Eleanor asked as she tugged her hair behind her ear and smiled nervously.

'It's not a bribe, it's a fair trade. Yes or no?' Sebastian was surprised with his own quick thinking and wittiness. He had no clue about where that idea came from, but he just blurted it out.

'Who's wedding is it?' She wondered why she was even considering saying yes.

Sebastian turned around, his laptop showing what was on the screen to Eleanor. On the screen, beautiful Lina Crain and her fiancé, Ian Evans, looked like the perfect couple.

Lina had the same deep blue eyes and dark hair as her brother. She was stunning. Eleanor was certain that the genes in that family had to be magical. His older sister could easily have become a model. She was very intelligent, a philanthropist and an amazing human being. She was also a fashion icon and had her own clothing brand that was eco-friendly and sustainable.

Ian had light hair, like the color of sand, and burned by the sun as he spent every second he could on a surfboard. His eyes looked like two amber stones. In every picture, his gaze was on Lina. The love he felt for her was more than visible. He was also a business executive, but what brought them together was their need to help others as they met each other in a volunteering mission overseas.

'No way! I can't go to Lina Crain's wedding, she's too perfect, there's no way! No way she would like me,' Eleanor squealed, almost getting up from her seat with excitement.

'Are you fangirling over my sister?'

'Of course.'

'Why does everyone like Lina more than me?', he pouted like a little kid. 'You didn't even flinch when you saw me and yet here you are, reacting like that because of Lina.' He rolled his eyes.

'Her image is flawless, yours's not so much. Who was the model next to you on this month's magazine cover?' Eleanor provoked in a way that, at first glance, didn't suit her sweet face and angelic look.

'I see your point,' he acknowledged. 'So, you do read news about me?' He smirked, happy that maybe she wasn't completely immune to him.

'Actually, no. I was just guessing that has probably happened a few times.' Her answer ended with Sebastian's grin. 'Still, why do you need to take someone?' She was feeling a bit more at ease in his presence and felt more comfortable asking questions.

'That's not important.'

'I have the right to know what I'm getting myself into, don't I?'

'Lina wants me to take someone decent to the wedding. She wants me to settle down and I do not want to be having this discussion with her for the millionth time. I just want her to stop. Which, she probably will. At least for a while.'

'So, you just want to appease your worrying sister's heart?'

'Yes. There is nothing wrong with that.'

'Well—'

'What?'

'Your idea is to appease her by lying to her?'

'Sort of. It's more like deceiving and omitting. Not lying per se. But as of right now, that's not the point. You haven't answered me. Yes or no? The only thing you have to do is go to a wedding. Pretend to like me. And you even get to meet your superhero. It's a win-win situation, and the win on your side is even better that on mine.'

Something about Sebastian Crain's smirk made him irresistible and impossible for Eleanor to say no, and the idea of meeting someone she looked up to was tempting as well. Her lips curved slightly, and her eyes dodge his as he got ready to tell Sebastian her answer.

'Yes.'

Even though she still felt intimidated by him, something in her gut told her that there was more to him than met the eye.

Something told her he wasn't as shallow as everyone made him out to be, otherwise he wouldn't be so worried about this matter. He clearly was too concerned about his sister's request.

And she could not forget that four months earlier he seemed genuinely concerned about her, which meant that he wasn't as bad as everyone portrayed him. She tried to forget that, but it seemed impossible. It almost seemed ridiculous; they had only seen each other once, but they never left each other's thoughts.

Sebastian smiled as he heard Eleanor's answer. This was an unexpected turn of events. The coffee girl that he had failed to find suddenly appeared right in front of him, and it seemed like she wasn't going to disappear again, at least for the time being.