The Wedding Planner (Open Novella Contest)

Chapter 3

10:55 A.M - Brian was late. Rachel sipped her lukewarm coffee, it was hot when she'd ordered it. She grabbed her notebook and began scribbling inside, not very punctual, is he? He would probably be late to his own wedding. The door to the coffee shop chimed as it opened, Rachel turned towards the door, to see if Brian had finally decided to turn up. A man entered the shop, he looked around for a moment before spotting Rachel, he smiled at her and approached her. She rolled her eyes and forced herself to swallow a sigh as the man stood before her.

"You must be Rachel, I'm Luke, Brian's brother." He offered his hand for Rachel to shake it. Rachel took his hand and shook it firmly.

"Do you know why your brother is late?" She asked, scanning her eyes over Luke. He seemed more organised than Brian, he definitely had better dress sense that's for sure. Luke let out a chuckle as he sat beside Rachel on the worn out leather sofa.

"Brian isn't as - well he isn't athletic in the slightest. We caught the bus, Brian was petrified of being late, he said something about you and how you looked as though a demon had inhabited your soul when you were angry." Luke smiled, Rachel felt her teeth grind against each other in annoyance.

"And yet, he's still late." Rachel frowned, she stood up from the sofa and grabbed her bag, ready to leave the coffee shop. "Tell him, he has half an hour to meet me in my office, otherwise I will not be helping him with his utterly stupid request." And with that, Rachel stomped her way out of the coffee shop leaving Luke with an arrogant smirk on his face as he watched her walk away. It had been a while since somebody hadn't fallen for his charisma. It wasn't every day he met somebody who could look him directly in the eyes and still feel angry or annoyed. Immediately, he was intrigued... this would be fun.

Rachel placed one of the files on her desk in the filing cabinet, she plumped the cushions on her white fabric sofa and sprayed them with a vanilla scent. Walking around the room, looking for anything out of place, Rachel spotted something under her desk.
"How did you get there?" She whispered crouching down and picking the photo up, it was worn out and torn around the edges but there's was no mistaking what it was. Her family. The grainy image sat in her palm, her eyes wandered over the faces, over the setting. This was the last family photo she had, before - no. She did not want to think about the past, she did not want to relieve those memories.

A loud tapping sound from her office door brought Rachel back to the present day. She tucked the photo into her pocket and painted her famous smile back upon her face before opening the door.
"You had one minute left. Luck must be on your side." Rachel gestured for the tired and worn out looking Brian to enter the office, he shuffled his way in, trying to avoid Rachel's stone gaze. Rachel pushed the door shut, but a hand stopped the door from closing. Luke. "Are you accompanying your brother then?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, he needs all the help he can get." Luke pushed his way into the office and slumped onto the white sofa, sinking into the softness of the cushions. "Nice office." He poked at the fluffy scatter cushions that were next to him.

"Thanks." Rachel closed her eyes for a moment, trying to settle the anger that threatened to rise. "Brian." She closed the office door shut with a short, loud slam. "Did you get the answers I wanted?"

"Y-Yes." Brian handed Rachel a crinkled piece of paper, it was stained with some sort of liquid, maybe tea? In all honesty, Rachel really didn't want to delve into the probable liquids it could be.

"Well done, I'm impressed." Rachel smiled warmly at Brian as she examined the answers on the sheet. "You don't look too impressed with yourself?" She sat down on her office chair, giving Brian her best reassuring look, she was hoping it would be enough to get him to open up to her.

"This made me realise that Annie and I, don't know each other as well as I thought. We want to get to know each other again... but I'm afraid." Brian stuttered, Luke placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. Rachel put the piece of paper in her notebook and walked over to the sofa, crouching down to Brian's eye level.

"I come across harsh, I know that. People call me a bitch because I'm so hard on people. But I do it to make sure people are right for each other." Brian looked at Rachel, he was confused as to why her voice was so soft it sounded like an angel was speaking. This wasn't the same Rachel who was berating him yesterday, was it? "The way you spoke about Annie to me, the way your eyes light up when you mention her name, how nervous you were about all this, how you've even reached out to a wedding planner to make sure your proposal is the perfect one for her - you love her. You are a kind man Brian, there's no need to be afraid. It's clear to me, from speaking to you and the emails you sent me last night that you love each other very much." Rachel felt a lump trying to form in her throat. She coughed trying to get rid of it. "It's the kind of love you read about. Don't be afraid Brian, this is the best part. Getting to know the person you love in a whole different light, it'll just make you both fall even deeper in love with each other if that's even possible!" She gave Brian her best convincing grin, she saw Brian's face light up at her words, Luke was surprised. This woman had been so harsh and cold and yet... there was this woman underneath it all. Women surprising Luke, it didn't happen often. They were usually exactly what he first thought. Too vain, too possessive, too clingy. They'd never changed his mind before.

"Thank you, Rachel." Brian stuttered, she smiled as she rose to her feet.

"Well, I have the perfect idea. I'll organise three dates for you, each one a different way to get to know each other all over again and the third date will be the proposal. We have three weeks to pull this off, are you ready Brian?" Rachel offered her hand for him to shake.

A confident smile appeared on Brian's face, it was like a new found confidence had possessed him, ready to go, ready to be with the woman he loved forever.
"I'm ready!"