Anchor ⚓︎ Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

⚓︎ chapter fourteen ⚓︎

"That insufferable bitch," Torie spat, "if she ever shows her face around here, I will end her."

Eleanor chuckled.  "Don't worry, I think Jake's family has had her shunned in the community down there."

They had been home from the funeral for just a week.  After Riley had said what she said, Jake proceeded to pull her aside and to put it lightly, rip her a new one that left her in tears.  She left the funeral shortly after that. Eleanor also explained to the family what happened and they didn't question why she slapped Riley.

"Still, I love Jesus and even if he said turn the other cheek, I will slap a hoe," Torie told her, causing Eleanor laugh loudly.  She always knew how to bring a smile out of Eleanor.

"I believe you, V."

Torie looked up from her plate of food to examine her best friend.  Though she was smiling, Torie could see the same sadness still there behind her eyes.  They weren't as bright as they used to be and she couldn't help but offer a small smile.

"Other than what that bitch said, how are you doing?  Really?" Torie asked.

Eleanor only shrugged.  "As can be expected," she answered, "I miss Nana so much and I miss the baby so much even if I was pregnant that long and it still hurts a lot but life isn't going to stop just because I'm sad."

"But no one would blame you for taking some time for yourself, Ellie," Torie told her, "like some time to really heal, both you and Jake."

"I know," she responded, "we just can't right now because he's trying to not take anymore leave since he has been quite a bit lately with everything that has happened."

Torie sighed.  "Well, until you can take a break, we have things to discuss," she began, pulling out a big binder filled to the brim with pieces of fabric, as well as different pages and it categorized. "We need to start thinking about your wedding."

Eleanor laughed as she took the binder and flipped through it.  There were different wedding themes, color palettes, dress designs, cake flavors, bridesmaids dresses, invitations pamphlets, and so many other things that went with planning a wedding.

"When did you do this?" She asked with a laugh.

"I've been making this since we graduated high school," Torie responded her like it was a common fact.

"You know there's such a thing as being overly prepared," Eleanor teased.

"Not when it comes to my best friends wedding," Torie told her.

⚓︎

Later that night, after grabbing all the wedding magazines she and Torie could find, Eleanor sat on the couch, flipping through the magazines, cutting out pictures, and putting them on her vision board.  Torie had given her the assignment to do and to have it ready for the next time they hung out.

A few minutes later, Jake walked in to find Eleanor hard at work and smiled softly.  His heart broke because he knew what he was about to tell her was going to break her heart.

"Hi," he greeted, setting his bag down and claiming the spot on the couch in front of her, "what's all this?"

"My assignment from Torie," she responded, "she wanted me to update my vision board since some of the ideas were out of date, which I didn't disagree and that brings us here."

He smiled before grabbing her hand and causing her to look at him with a questioning look.  "Is everything okay?" She asked, quick to note the sadness behind his eyes.

"I leave on deployment next month," he told her, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Eleanor nodded, knowing what this meant.  "How long?"