Brooklyn

Chapter Sixteen - Jaxon

Arielle spent the next day booking a DJ, booking cars for the wedding and buying decorations. Jaxon opened the store again. At lunch, he got the forms for Arielle's passport. He was lucky, he had contacts that could process the passport quickly. He filled it all out for her as best as she could and called Zac about the stag do. It would be him, Zac, his brother Neil and maybe his dad.

"Strip club." Zac said straight away.

"My God. No."

"Well I don't fancy going to the Nightclub Bubbles." Zac grumbled.

"We can't..." Jaxon told him as he rested his feet on Arielle's glass top desk. "I'm sending the girls there for their hen do."

"Okay.... Well there's the other nightclub but it's a bit further out..."

"What's it called?"

"Brooklyn Dream."

"We'll go there. It's good enough."

"Great. There it is!"Jaxon said goodbye to Zac and then started ringing around. He made a booking at a local spa for Thursday and another one for the next week on Monday.

The next day, Arielle and Jaxon went out. Arielle had her passport photo taken and she and Jaxon looked at rings. They bought their wedding rings and they then took a taxi to Cheryl's where Zac was given the rings. Cheryl gave them a lift back home so Jaxon could take his and Zac's suits back to the apartment where they would be getting ready on the day. Arielle would be getting ready at Cheryl's house which was considerably bigger.

The suits went up in the wardrobe so they were safe. Jaxon then left to meet up with his friend so he could post the passport form and Arielle cleaned up the apartment, making it look presentable.

Jaxon was back before lunch but neither of them could eat. They waited and waited and eventually, the apartment buzzed at one in the afternoon.

"Oh God they're here." Arielle bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, anxiously as Jaxon buzzed them in. He opened the door and let them in. The first in was the dad, Shaun. Shaun Cole was a tall man. His hair was brown and thinning and he looked around fifty odd. He was wearing a suit and looked important. He drew himself up straight when he saw Jaxon. Before either of them could say anything, Arielle hugged her dad.

"Dad... I've missed you so much." Shaun patted his daughter's back.

"I've missed you too."A woman followed Shaun into the room. Arielle's mother, Margaret was blonde and looked a copy of Arielle with her hair and eyes... She was around the same height as Arielle too but was chubbier than Arielle. She was examining Jaxon in curiosity.

"Mom." Arielle's voice was full of love as she turned to her mother and hugged her too. Jaxon held out his hand to Shaun.

"Sir... It's a pleasure to meet you." Shaun hesitated then shook hands with Jaxon.

"Jackson?"

"Yes, sir." Arielle turned, her arm still around her mum.

"This is Jaxon, Dad, Mom. It's spelt J-a-x-o-n."

"How unique." Margaret said. Jaxon let go of Shaun's hand and bowed politely to Margaret.

"Ma'am. Lovely to meet you." Arielle rolled her eyes at him and Jaxon smiled back.

"You too, Jaxon."

"Let's sit down." Arielle said. They all sat down on the sofa and in the armchairs while Arielle went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

"You're English?"Shaun asked Jaxon.

"Yes, sir."

"How did you meet my daughter?"

"In a bar. I was on business and she was having a night out with her ladies."

"Business? What business was this? What career do you have?"

"I'm part of the military, sir. I'm a paramedic slash infantry soldier." Arielle came back in with a teapot, cups, sugar and milk. Jaxon saw that Shaun was trying not to look impressed at this information.

"You're English but you're part of the American military?"

"Yes, sir... It was a transfer that my father made."

"Your father is also part of the military?"

"Yes, sir.... Most of my family has been." Shaun was definitely impressed by this.

"That is... Very impressive."

"Thank you, sir."Arielle poured them all a cup of tea and handed each person one before sitting down on the sofa next to Jaxon.

"Do you have any siblings?" Margaret asked.

"Yes I have an older brother who is a General Practitioner in England."

"Have they met Arielle yet?" Shaun asked.

"No not yet. I've booked us all in a meal so that everyone can meet. It's at the same place that our wedding reception will be at."

"You've already started planning?" This question was from Margaret and aimed at Arielle.

"We had to Mom, there was a lot to do."

"Well we got your invitation through yesterday evening. It was very beautiful."

"Thank you." Arielle smiled to herself.

"What have you still got to do?" While Margaret and Arielle discussed wedding plans, Shaun continued to interrogate Jaxon.

"I was actually wondering sir if you would like to spend time with me? I've booked the girls to go to a spa on Thursday if you would like to go fishing? There's a good lake nearby, we could try there?" Shaun nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

After a couple of hours, Margaret and Shaun left again. Jaxon agreed to meet Shaun at their hotel on Thursday and Margaret would come to the apartment tomorrow so she could visit Arielle's shop and so they could shop for wedding accessories. They then left Arielle and Jaxon alone.

"That was stressful." Jaxon murmured as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Tell me about it." Arielle murmured back as she washed the cups. Jaxon started to cook dinner while Arielle dried the cups and put them away.

"They seemed to like you though." She said as she watched him cook a chicken casserole.

"You think?" He asked, smiling.

"Definitely. What was that about a spa trip with my mom?"

"I've booked you to go to the spa on Thursday and again for a bridal package with your girls on Monday. You'll be all pampered for Wednesday."

"When are we planning for our stag and hen dos?" Arielle asked, sitting down at the table.

"Yours will be Saturday night and mine will be Monday. On Monday, I suggest you stay at Kirsten's flat or something so you don't have to deal with a drunk me." Arielle smiled.

"I don't mind."

"I will. Stay at Kirsten's or Cheryl's. Have a sleepover. Honestly. It'll be good for you to spend some girl time." Arielle rolled her eyes.

 "Okay."