The Wedding Planner (Open Novella Contest)

Chapter 2

"I don't know!" Brian sighed, leaning back on the sofa.

"How can you not know what your girlfriends favourite band is?" Rachel snapped. "If you want this to work Brian, you're going to have to find out some interests. Her favourite band, her favourite city, does she prefer a beach to a church? Does she prefer pink or blue? Does she have a favourite flower?" Rachel handed him a checklist detailing everything she had just said, each question had a box for the answer. "Ask her, bring it up casually for example," Rachel cleared her throat. "Brian, yesterday I saw these lovely tulips in the flower shop and I thought maybe I'd buy them, they'd look lovely sitting on the mantelpiece wouldn't they?" Rachel waved her hand, encouraging Brian to actually speak.

"Erm, yes they would." Brian stuttered.

"But I also wanted to get something you'd like, I want to brighten up the house with some flowers, which ones would you prefer?" Rachel smiled, she watched the cogs slowly turning in Brian's brain, it was painful to watch.

"Oh! I get it now!" Brian beamed, he seemed so incredibly proud of himself. He picked up his coffee from the glass side table and sipped the hot black liquid, the bitter taste tantalising his tastebuds, refreshing his senses.

"It's easy. Look, I have another appointment in 10 minutes, so come back this afternoon with the information and I will help you plan the perfect engagement, Okay?" Rachel rose from the leather sofa, grabbing her grey handbag in the process. She glanced around the small coffee shop, it was her favourite place to come and talk to clients. She felt almost at home here, it was cosy, the people were friendly and the constant smell of fresh coffee kept her alert and focused. "Meet you at my office? 5 o'clock?" She smiled.

"Sure." Brian nodded, a realisation hit him. "Wait!" He called out to Rachel who had already begun her exit. She spun around on her heel, annoyance written on her face. Brian was starting to think the annoyance on her face was, well, just her face.

"What?" She hissed, she was going to be late and Rachel was never, ever, late.

"My brother is coming into town today, I'm with him this afternoon." He mumbled, Rachel scared him, he did not want to rile her.

"Bring him along. He can help too!" Rachel smiled brightly, Brian struggled to understand how her emotions switched so quickly. One moment she looked as though she was murderous, the next she looked as though she was the kindest woman to ever walk the Earth.

"Okay..." Brian said, but she had already left the quiet coffee shop, leaving Brian staring at the checklist she gave him.

1. Favourite band/Genre of music
2. Favourite flower
3. Favourite colour
4. Favourite location
5. Beach or City?
6. Favourite food
7. Candle fan?
8. Poetry fan?
9. Favourite drink
10. Romantic speeches?

Brian sighed, he was the least sneaky person he knew, he had a terrible lying face and an even worse confidence issue. He had no idea how he was going to get this information from his lovely girlfriend Annie, she was so kind and romantic, sweet and personable. It almost felt as though, he should know all this already.

He almost felt as though, asking her all these questions once would rouse her suspicion. He wanted her to have the perfect engagement, the kind you read about in romance novels, the kind of proposal that would take her breath away. Brian sighed, leaning back against the warm leather of the sofa. It seemed as though, since he had met the elusive wedding planner Rachel, in the past 24 hours he had sighed more than he had done in his 29 years of life. As he gazed intently at the questions before him, he couldn't help but wonder... Annie and he had been in a relationship for 3 and 1/2 years, how did he not know this already? How did he not know her favourite band? Had he really never bought her flowers? How could he not know if she enjoyed poetry, when he knows she loves her books? Had he really never asked her, her favourite colour? Brian couldn't believe he was even questioning this, he loved Annie with all his heart, with every fibre of his being, he didn't need to know her favourite colour! Her favourite band was something they could discover together! After all, he was going to marry this woman, he was going to marry Annie, the love of his life. They would have an eternity of love and happiness and laughter to get to know each other. This was all trivial! As Annie would say, love conquers all... Right?

"Hey handsome!" Annie beamed, looking up from her book as she watched Brian enter their living room. He manoeuvred his way past the piles of books surrounding Annie, and leaned forward to press his lips against her forehead. She gazed at him lovingly before continuing to read her book.

"Did Liam arrive yet?" He asked as he pulled off his blazer, he flung it over the living room door.

"Move that." She waved at the blazer as she turned another page of her book. "No, he rang the house phone and said his flights been delayed." Annie mumbled, her eyes searching the pages before her.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Brian sat beside Annie on the sofa, she glanced up at his tired face.

"Of course, is something the matter?" She frowned.

"Oh no - everything's fine - it's just, well, I think we should play a game?" Brian asked, he could see the amusement on Annie's face.

"Okay, what game?" She closed her book and turned her body towards Brian.

"I'll ask you a question, you ask me a question, okay?" Brian fiddled with his hands, this could easily backfire. What if she thought that he wasn't paying attention for this whole 3 1/2 years?

"Okay!" Annie smiled, she was rather curious to see where Brian was going with this.

"Favourite colour?" Brian asked, Annie smiled mysteriously.

"I like nude colours like pale orange and peaches and pinks." Annie said. "Come to think of it, we've never spoken about that."  He watched the expression change on Annie's face, he gulped. As he saw her expression change from excited and happy, too thoughtful and pensive, his stomach churned nervously. She glanced at him, her eyes gazing into his. He watched the bright blue eyes that he looked into every single day, begin to dull ever so slightly. " I - I don't even know your favourite colour, I don't even know where you grew up..." she looked down, her eyes began to glaze over. "Does this mean, weve spent this long together and haven't even bothered to get to know each other?" Her voice wavered, it was clear she was fighting back tears. Brian's heart sunk. This was not what he wanted, he only wanted to get to know his girlfriend but instead, he had this unwavering feeling of sadness, deep in the pit of his stomach.

"No it doesn't mean that, it just means we can have even more fun exploring each other and our interests!" Brian grabbed Annie's small hands in his, he watched her smile appear, that smile, the one he fell in love with.

"Yeah, I like the sound of that!" Annie smiled softly, leaning forward to press her soft lips against his.

Brian smiled, holding Annie's head in his chest. Smelling her hair, the lavender from her shampoo soothed him. Everything would be fine, he'd propose, they'd marry and spend the rest of their lives together. Right?