Spaces in Between

Chapter Eight: Adrianna

I love the fact that you took my advice to spend today with James but get your ass home because you have a bachelorette party and we can’t start this without the bride.

~Lil

I turned to look at James. We were still at the gym and after that revelation about my past, we continued talking to each other about our lives. We were both sprawled on the gym floor, my head on his stomach while he was lying flat on the floor, using the ball as a pillow. I sat up and he immediately did too, concern on his features. I smiled at him reassuringly.

“I have a bachelorette party to get to,” I explained.

He furrowed his eyebrows, glancing at his watch, “It’s only three in the afternoon.”

Then that meant I spent five hours with him talking. I didn’t realize that it had been that long. I shrugged, “Lily has this surprise thing planned. I’m actually scared of what she plans to do.”

His forehead was still creased, “Strippers?”

I giggled and punched him lightly on his shoulder, “My best friend knows me well. I doubt she’ll hire one but with Lily, anything is actually possible but she’ll do it more for herself than for me.”

He pursed his lips but nodded, “I’ll drive you home?”

I shook my head, “I brought my car with me. You just go home and worry about your own party. I’ll see you soon.”

Without thinking, I moved closer to him to kiss his cheek but he turned slightly and our lips brushed each other. I pulled slightly away, surprised and he stared at me. I stood up quickly, “Uhh, yea, I better go. Bye.”

I rushed to my car and once I was settled and the seatbelt was in place, I touched my lips. It had been a long time since I felt someone else’s lips on mine and the last one was from the guy who left me. But that simple brush felt like something else like there was a flash of electric current that flew past us.

It never felt like that with Adam.

Aide, clock’s ticking.

~Lil

On my way home, I couldn’t help but think about that almost kiss with James. I was still feeling sort of lost in my head when I arrived at our apartment and the party poppers snapped me back to reality once I opened the door. I was so surprised to see the people that mattered in the apartment and though it there weren’t so many of them, I knew in my heart that they were the people that stayed through thick and thin.

“Congratulations Adrianna!” They all shouted in unison and at that moment, it didn’t matter that I wasn’t in love with James, that the wedding was arranged, because this moment mattered to me, that they were here because I barely get to see them, that I didn’t have to wait for the day of the wedding to be reunited with my best girlfriends.

I hugged each and everyone, “Oh my gosh, I did not expect my entourage to be here.”

“Well, I know that you would want to see your girls before your big day,” Lily said with a brilliant smile as I tackled her into a hug, “And this is just the beginning. Now, we have to fill our stomach’s up with Greta’s cooking.”

I looked up with wide eyes and rushed to the kitchen to see our old housekeeper, “Greta!”

I hugged her as tightly as I could and she chuckled under my lightweight, patting my back she said, “It’s good to see you too, Aide.”

Pulling away from her, I rushed to the table to see all of my favorite food laid out. I looked at Lily, “Please tell me that we just get to eat and talk and eat all day long.”

Lily tutted, “Don’t eat too much or you won’t fit in your dress for the big day. And this is just the first part, Aide. I have more planned and you are gonna love it!”

“I don’t love anything more than I love food,” I muttered and I heard one of my friends giggle, “Well, you heard boss lady, let’s eat ladies!”

They rounded the table and I took note that my Mom wasn’t present and so was Liz. But I didn’t ask Lily yet; I knew her. She wouldn’t forget to invite the mothers of the bride and the groom and this is just the start of this bachelorette party that she planned.

“So Aide, how’s it like kissing James Parker?” Gwen, one of the few friends I’ve made in my modeling career, asked, “You are so lucky, sweetheart, any girl would go all Hunger Games just to have their claws on that gorgeous piece of meat.”

I would’ve been honest to her and told her that James and I haven’t even kissed, just the usual kiss on the cheeks and forehead but then, before I could, I remembered the soft feel of his lips as it brushed to mine and I couldn’t help myself. My face heated up and I saw Lily’s eyes widen and she slammed her hand on the table.

“Oh you did not tell me that!” she screamed, crumbs falling out of her mouth and her standing up and pointing a finger at me. Yep, she still has her dramatic flair.

I rolled my eyes, “It was a simple brush of the lips! Nothing more!”

But still my best friend squealed and I felt all eyes on me. Before Lily could bombard me with questions though, Casey beat her to it, “Babe, let me get this straight, with all this time you’ve been dating, you just kissed now?”

“It wasn’t even a kiss!” I protested, trying to clear it up to them, “It was a simple brush of the lips!”

“But you’ve never had a peck before?” Casey clarified.

I shook my head, “Just on the cheeks and forehead.”

They all squealed this time and Natalie, who was beside me, gripped my shoulders tightly, “Tell me how the hell you’ve managed to snag that kind of guy and if there’s any left! A first kiss on the wedding day is too adorable.”

The conversation was then filled about James, how he looked so handsome and adorable and still damn hot. I’m pretty sure Lily was the one enjoying the conversation since she was the one adding more facts about him, facts that she got from my observation of him and facts that, according to them, made him more absolutely endearing.

“Let’s get going to our next session. Time to burn what we ate away!” Lily said, clapping her hands.

We followed Lily outside of our apartment and she told me to just ride with her. Throughout the car ride, I asked her what we were to do next. She refused to tell me, swearing on some constitution that I’m pretty sure she just made up on the spot. But I knew that no matter how much I prodded her, there was no winning with Lily Wesley.

“We’re here!” she exclaimed grinning and I surveyed our surrounding. A huge goofy smile plastered on my face.

“Paintball?” I asked hopefully.

She grinned, nodding back, “Paintball.”

I hugged her before I got out of the car. The girls were already there and my sister-in-law and Jennifer, Justin’s girlfriend, added to our bunch. I also noticed Claire and Gabriella. I greeted them first, “Hey, it’s nice to see you two here.”

Claire gave me a hug but Gabriella only nodded at me briefly. Claire nudged her little sister but I just shook my head slightly at her. It was obvious that Gabriella hasn’t warmed up to me until now. Turning her attention to me, Claire said, “Well, your best friend invited us and since we can’t go with James’ party, this was our next best shot.”

“And we’d like to get to know you more,” Gabriella added, eyeing me, “Make sure you’re good enough for our brother.”

Before Claire could scold her, I interjected, “It’s okay, Claire. I was the same with Justin and Nick, right girls?”

I turned to Jennifer and Andrea. My sister-in-law giggled and placed her arm around my shoulders, “She was quite tenacious and it took her a while to warm up to me so if there’s anyone who could understand how a little sister is protective of her brother, it’s her.”

Andrea ruffled my hair lightly and then sauntered to some of my friends that she knew, dragging Jen with her. Lily whisked me away from my future in-laws though, rounding all of us, “Everyone, I rented the entire place for Adrianna today.”

I looked at Lily in awe. She knew too well how much I loved paintball fights and had refused to come to play with me each time I suggested at it. Adam never took me out on a date like this despite the numerous hints I gave him. The last time I got to play was when my brothers randomly decided to have a siblings day out.

“But I have specific rules,” Lily stated with a sly grin, “We are all to wear dresses that I have bought courtesy of Collin Stewart and Aide, you have to wear the wedding dress.”

And as if on cue, a group of ladies came in with dresses. One handed me a white dress, and I assumed that it was the wedding gown. I eyed my best friend and then glanced at the dress in distress, “Lily.”

“You’re gonna love me for this,” she said pushing to a corner which I assumed the restroom was, “Now go, go!”

I followed her orders, grumbling while I changed from my casual and comfy clothes and into the dress, she forced me in. The big puffy white wedding gown would be hard to run and to think, to think that we were going to play paintball! I made sure to make the scowl on my face so evident that she would know that I was not happy with this.

With arms crossed, I stalked out and Lily was decked in a bright pink gown that was for bridesmaids but she obviously did not care. She still had a smug grin on her face, “I know you love this game, Aide, but since this is the first time I’ll play this, at least something has to go my way.”

She handed me my gun, “Okay, you get to play with your families. That means, Justin’s girlfriend, Andrea, Claire, Gabriella and me.”

I rolled my eyes when she just called Jen as Justin’s girlfriend. She emphasizes on the fact that my brother has a girlfriend that’s not her, “Let’s just get this show on the road.”

And for the next hour and a half, we played my favorite game. The dresses that Lily bought was completely trashed and my feet ached with running around on heels so I chucked them away mid-game much to Lily’s dismay. To add more to her disappointment, the two other teams did what I did and the game became a whole lot more real.

We won, by default since I was the one getting married tomorrow. We almost lost though, Lily got all crazy and almost actually started a real war. It was a good thing most of my friends are her friends too so they have an idea about what she’s like.

I was ready to change back into the clothes I had on earlier but Lily handed me a different one. It was a black dress that hugged my curves, a dress that I would wear on a shoot but would never be caught dead outside. I glared at my best friend and she gave me an innocent shrug, “Hurry, your Mom and mother-in-law are already at the restaurant.”

I sighed and then changed into the dress and to the heels that she chucked at me a moment later. When I was fully dressed, I fixed my hair, making it look presentable for the dinner that I assume we are going to have. I tried my very best to look presentable, and I’m pretty sure the other girls are doing so too.

“Aide, let’s go! Time’s ticking!”

I followed Lily to her car and realized that the rest of the girls weren’t there anymore. She drove to the Hamptons and I realized we were having dinner back at our home. When we arrived, I’m pretty sure everyone was already here, “So after this dinner, we get to go home?”

“Uh no, it’s not a bachelorette party if we don’t hit the bar,” she said with a wink, “Clubbing after dinner.”

When we got to the backyard, everyone was seated on the table and talking to each other. I kissed my mom’s cheek and so goes to Liz and Lily’s mom, Gina. I haven’t seen mom in a while since I was juggling work and the wedding preparations. I was looking forward to tomorrow though, no more work to attend since I was on leave for the wedding.

“Sweetheart,” Mom whispered to me, “I have a gift for you. Come upstairs with me.”

We excused ourselves and we headed to the location of my parents’ bedroom, “You didn’t need to give me anything, Mom. The something old, something blue thing would’ve worked on the day.”

She opened their bedroom, headed for their closet and then handed me a small box, “It’s from your father and I. Actually, also from Will and Liz. I was going to bring her along when I give it to you but she said that she wanted this to be a mother-daughter moment. And it’s not only for you, but it’s also for James too.”

I looked at the small box she gave me, wondering what would our parents give us. Mom was smiling at me, the smile that I’ve always loved to look at as I grew up, a smile that reassured me that no matter what happened, I had someone to fall back on, “Go on, Aide, open it.”

I gasped at the key inside the box. I knew that it was a house key. My parents and James’ were giving us a house. So many thoughts were rushing to me. I suddenly felt very afraid of this whole arrangement, the feeling of his hands on me rushing back to me. Mom realized my turmoil, realized where my thoughts were leading me. She placed her hands on my tensed shoulders and her eyes locked on mine.

“He’s not gonna hurt you, Aide,” she said softly, “Your father and I have seen that boy grow up. He’s never done anything bad. He has a good heart. And no, he’s not putting up a front, Adrianna. You’ve spent so much time with him, have you ever seen him do something bad or has he been suspicious to you?”

I shook my head and my mother smiled reassuringly, “Then he won’t hurt you, he won’t lay a finger on you. He was raised to respect other people, and he will respect you. Give him a chance, Adrianna. Give him a chance to patch you up. Let him in your life, Aide, past the broken heart that you have for Adam, and to that broken soul of yours too.”

“Mom.”

She caressed my face and I leaned onto my mother’s touch, “If you don’t, then you will never know the good he can bring to you.”