One Day || book two.

19 ~ Lord of the Rings

Chapter 19.

Stef’s POV

“Jorjia and Emma aren’t here!” I shrieked, stomping through the house, throwing open the door to the living room to find Sarah, Wardy, Izzy, Cassie, Jorjia and Emma. “Oh. Good morning.” 

“The boys left an hour ago. Your dress is in the other room. Breakfast is on the table. We have to be on the beach at two fifty on the dot otherwise we’ll miss our queue. Bridesmaids are due down the aisle at three o’clock, no exceptions,” Sarah gave us a run down of the day quickly. “Any questions?”

“Make up?” I questioned.

“Make up, shoes and dress start at one forty five. Bridesmaids need to be finished at quarter past two so that we can prep Stef,” At this she broke out into a huge smile and looked around at all of us sitting in the living room. “Anything else?”

“Ah yes,” Emma piped up. “When do the bridesmaid start shoes, dressing up and that? And what do we do for the rest of the day?”

“Bridesmaids start their preparation at one thirty. And we only have to be ready... to be ready at one. Everyone. Ok. That’s about it.” Sarah finished with a smile on her face. “Now, breakfast.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t make it?” I asked, looking over the rather good selection of food.

Sarah made a face and laughed. “No way. This was everybody but me, but we had a mutual agreement that I do the planner and timetable if they did food.” I nodded and took a seat and we all ate the food. It was great.

Half way through breakfast, it dawned o me that Jorjia and Emma weren’t here last night. “What time did you guys get here?” I asked.

“Early. Too early for my liking.” Emma groaned.

Not a split second after Emma had finished speaking, Sarah’s phone starts ringing. “Hey, what’s up? ... Slow down, tell me again. ... You’ve got to be shitting yourself right now. ... Well where are they? ... I understand that you wouldn’t be calling me if you didn’t know, but you must have some idea.” She was screaming into her phone now, beyond mad. “No of course I care, that’s why I’m yelling. ... Where and when were the last times and places you had them? ... No, not there, I’ve checked. ... I don’t know you check. ... You better. See you at the wedding, bye.” She hung up with a smile that looked beyond fake, plastered onto her face.

“Who was that and what did they want?” Wardy asked bluntly.

“No one in particular. Excuse me a minute while I go and save someone’s ass.” Sarah groaned, heading in the direction of the bedrooms. Of course I let my curiosity get the better of me and followed her. “Bloody hell. On the wedding day too. Could they not have lost them yesterday? No, of course not.” Sarah argued as she made her way into my room. Why would she be going in there?

“Who lost what?” I asked coming up behind her.

She stopped short, looking at me surprised. “Hello Stef.”

“Stuff the formalities Sarah. Who, lost, what?” I asked much more sternly.

She pretty much crumpled. “This isn’t even my wedding, but he... he, lost...” I couldn’t tell if she was sobbing or just unable to tell me because of guilt. “The rings.”

It took me a good moment to understand what she meant before the realisation dawned on me. I must have stared her out of pure bewilderment for a long while, while she stood nervously, waiting for me to react. “Umm... Stef?” She slowly waved a hand in my face, trying to get me back to reality.

“Who lost the rings?” I asked pointedly.

Sarah sighed and shook her head. “Louis.” She stated lowly.

If I wasn’t... stressed before, then I was stressed now. A pang of anger, bemusement, sadness and nervousness went through me. “And they haven’t found them yet?”

Sarah shook her head again and sat down on the edge of the bed. “You also weren’t supposed to find that out as he’d planned this whole scheme of how - when or if I found them - I’d get them to him. And it was foolproof. And then I told you.” She reluctantly explained.

“Not so foolproof.” I mumbled smiling. “Well?” I asked, completely changing my attitude.

“Well what?” She looked at me frowning.

“Are you going to help me find them or not? Otherwise his sorry ass won’t be walking down that aisle.” I grumbled, starting to search through his bedside table, taking out the book he was currently reading: Lord of the Rings (worst pun ever) the second book and then rummaging through the rest of the drawer, only to come out empty handed.

“Is his sorry ass walking down that aisle yet?” Sarah called with her head in the wardrobe, turning out all the pockets of all of his clothes.

“No.” I replied, moving to under the bed, looking into the darkness, past the dozen or so pairs of shoes, again finding nothing. As I backed out, Sarah made a noise, I flinched and hit my head on the underside of the bed. “Ouch!” I winced, pressing my hand to the back of my head.

“Is this it?” She nearly screamed, she was so enthused. In the palm of her hand a small, blue velvet box sat, it was exactly like the one I’d seen when he proposed to me. “Open it.” She gestured.

I nervously shook my head and clenched my hands. “No. What if it’s not in there?”

She smiled softly at me, draping her arm across my shoulders. “Let’s try not to jump to conclusions, but if you insist.” She removed her arm and stood opposite me. Slowly, squinting, too scared to look for herself, she opened the velvet box. The look on her face was priceless as she sighed.

Author's note: Not the wedding. Don't kill me. Next chapter.