Anchor ⚓︎ Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

⚓︎ chapter sixteen ⚓︎

Three Months Later

California turned out better than Eleanor thought. Her client list when it came to photography had nearly doubled upon moving there, especially when she got to meeting other local photographers and networking with them. She had a wedding almost every weekend but she didn't mind, it kept her busy and bringing in money for her and Jake's future.

She hung out with Natasha regularly, especially since Jake had been on deployment for the past month and a half. Slowly but surely, she had begun to plan the wedding with daily Zoom calls with Torie and Natasha when she was able to be around.

Torie was Eleanor's maid of honor, obviously, and Natasha was her second in command.  They still had yet to choose a date but they were in the beginning of deciding the basic things, like a bachelorette party, when to hold the bridal shower, and research different themes for the wedding.

Eleanor had been on a walk with Lucy and Milo when she came back to the house.  Staying active helped her to keep her mind elsewhere instead of dwelling on what had happened.  Even though it had been over a year since they lost the baby, that didn't mean it didn't still hurt the both of them.

She let the dogs back inside before checking the mail and then heading into the house herself.  Another photographer she became friends with had reached out to her that was in her area and asked if she would model for her in these flower fields nearby as they were beginning to bloom and she would take photos of her in return, just a fun little shoot to update in both of their portfolios.

She opted to wear an off-the-shoulder summer flowy dress. Her hair was curled and she did some minimal make-up, finishing with her signature red lipstick. After that, she left to meet up with her friend.

⚓︎

"Girl, you're literally stunning!" Eleanor gushed as she finished her friend, Ally's portion of the photoshoot.

"You're too sweet," Ally said walking over to her camera bag, "now it's your turn to model."

Eleanor put her camera away and began to pose for her friend, just trying to be funny so she'd have some cute photos to send to Jake. Ally kept telling Eleanor how beautiful she looked and Eleanor kept laughing.

"Alright, give me a twirl," Ally told her.

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Ally stated with a laugh.

Eleanor laughed as well before twirling and immediately spotting a familiar face standing right behind her with a bouquet of flowers in his formal dress wear.

"Jake!" She exclaimed, jumping right into his arms with a squeal.

Jake laughed but held her there, just hugging her as Ally got pictures of the moment. Eleanor pulled away and looked at him, making sure she wasn't dreaming and that he was actually there.

"You're not supposed to be home for another month and a half, what are you doing home?" She asked, looking him over to make sure she saw no signs of injuries.

"I'm okay," he reassured her, "and I will explain, but I just wanted to surprise you."

"Well, I'm certainly surprised," she told him before kissing him firmly.

"You guys are so cute, it's gross," Ally teased, still snapping photos.

Jake and Eleanor laughed before they all decided to head somewhere to get something to eat since it was close to dinner time.  After grabbing a burger with Ally, the couple made their way back home, Eleanor holding Jake's hand the entire way home.

As they got closer, she could see that something was on Jake's mind because he had been biting the inside of his cheek for the past few minutes.  He usually did that when he was nervous.