Chapter 6: Genna

When I woke up the sun was up. I shot up out of bed and ran down stairs to find a clock. I found it in the kitchen.

7:30 am. Phew still a lot of time before the dress fitting.

"Good morning sunshine," a voice said behind me. I went red. Turning around I saw Crew and Elijah sitting and drinking coffee, along with work on their laptops. Crew was smiling, ear to ear. Elijah was red as he buried his hand in his hands. I looked down at what I was wearing.

Shit!! I was wearing really short shorts. That my butt was hanging out of, and a see through shirt. At least I remembered to wear a bra.

"I will be right back," I said while making a mad run for my room.

I went to bed so late last night. I just grabbed the first thing I found in the dresser and put it on. My face was so red when I got to my room I felt heat radiating off of it. Changing my shirt and putting some sweatpants on. I walk back down stairs. Without saying a word I walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"So how did you sleep?," I heard Crew ask from behind me. I did not turn around.

"Good. what about you?," I asked back.

"Good," he responded.

"You two seem to be getting along well," I heard Elijah mumble. I whipped around and glared at him. He glared back. "What?,"

"If you tried you and Arianna would be getting along," I snapped at him. He just sighed and rolled his eyes. Then going back to work on his laptop. "Speaking of which. Where is she?,"

"I saw her head down to the lake," Elijah said, not looking up. I turned back around and grabbed a container of strawberries out of the fridge. Walked over to the sink, rinsed them out and headed down to the lake.

Down at the lake Arianna was sitting at the end of the dock again. Her feet in the water. I walked up to her and sat down crossing my legs next to her. I handed her the container of strawberries and she started to eat them. Throwing the stems in the water. I ate a few as well.

"What do you think it would be like to be able to breathe underwater?," she asked me. Without looking at me.

"I don't know. I think it would be fun," I responded. We sat there in silence for a little while. "What on your mind?,"

"For a man whole does not seem to give one shit about me. He sure seemed to care when I had a nightmare last night," I looked at her with confusion.

"Go on," I said. She looked at me.

"Last night I had a nightmare, and he woke me up from it," she told me.

"And?," I asked.

"When I started crying he sat next to me and held me close. He also whispered 'everything is going to be fine,' until I stopped crying. When I stopped he just stood up and left the room, and did not return until after I fell asleep again," she said, confusion flowing with every word.

"Hm,"

"Then this morning when he got up and I was up to, he said nothing about it," confusion still weighing on her voice.

"I don't know what to think about that," I told her.

"If he doesn't want anything to do with me or this marriage. Why comfort me?,"

"I don't know," we sat in silence munching on strawberries until an hour later. When Crew came and told us the tailor was here. So we headed back to the house.

We stood in the main living area, where a very snooty man kept shoving dresses at us. Telling us to try them on. We want back and forth between the bathroom and the living room trying on dresses. We both finally settled on a wedding dress. My dress was an A-line dress covered in tulle, with a medium size train. The tulle had clusters of lace flowers embroidered on the bottom, that lessened the further up the dress you looked. It also had little sparkly bits glue on to resemble dew on the flowers. The sparkly bits sparkled in the light.

Arianna's dress was beautiful. It was a trumpet dress made out of flower lace. It had a small train off the main dress. Although attached at the back of the dress was a lace train that expanded just past mine. Her train had embroidered flowers that match the lace on the main dress, and the flowers fanned out in a similar fashion as mine. The main dress had a mesh backing. The center of the back where the train connected was pure mess and all around it the farther you looked out the more embroidered flowers you could. Until it eventually blended in with the normal lace.

Our veils were the exact same. They were both small tiaras with pearls and other jewels on them. The tiaras connected to simple mesh fabric that trailed to the middle of our backs. Once we took off our wedding dresses and veils, it was time to find dresses for the wedding banquet tonight.

For the banquet we wanted to go with something appropriate because Crew's and Elijah's parents would be there. After trying on a few dresses I finally decided on one. The dress I chose was a lace mint green cocktail dress. It had a v-neck line that was covered with lace ruffles. Arianna decided on an off the shoulder dress, with a sweet-heart neckline. The corset part of the dress was made of black velvet. The skirt at the top was black and as the skirt continued down the dress it faded into a warm white color. I was surprised Arianna chose that one because she hates the feeling of velvet. Before the tailor left he gave us a bag full of makeup for tonight and tomorrow. We had to leave for the banquet in six hours. I took my dress off and brought both dresses upstairs and hung them in the closet. Then I went looking for Crew.

I found him down at the lake. He was standing at the end of the dock. He did not hear that I was behind him. He was on the phone with someone. I stayed behind him and listened.

"I am trying. He is being stubborn," Crew said to the person on the other side. I heard some on the other side but I could not make out what they were saying. "I am doing all that I can,'' I heard the other person yell "DO WHATEVER IT TAKES,". Crew responded with "I am not going to hurt her in any way to get him to love her,". I took another step forward to hear better. CREAK…

Shit… he definitely heard me.

"I have to go," he said. He turned around and glared at me.

Run… my mind shouted at me.

I took off running, but he was not far behind. I ran up the hill as fast as I could and then veered into the woods hoping to lose him. No luck, he was right behind me. He grabbed my hand, spinning me around. I fell back falling to the ground. Crew landed on top of me, pinning my hands down. His face inches from mine. I felt my heart speed up and beat viciously, as if it was going to burst through my chest.

"Whatever you heard back there, it's not what you think," he said softly and quietly.

"Bullshit," I said.

"It's true. Elijah's dad wants me to get Elijah to fall in love with Arianna. Even if that means hurting," he said looking me straight in the eyes. His eyes glittered in the sparse lighting of the forest.

"And are you?," I asked.

"Would never," he spat at me. We sat there staring at each other, sharing the same breath. I wanted him to get up but at the same time I did not. Then he closed his eyes and leaned in closer. His mouth was millimeters from mine. My breath hitched in my throat. He heard it smirk opening his eyes and pulled away. Standing up he reached a hand out to help me. I took it and stood up.

"It's on your terms," he said smirking and put his hand in his pockets, while walking away.

What the hell was that!!!

I followed after him.

We walked back down to the lake and sat down staring at the water for a few hours. We did talk but not much. I sat mostly thinking in silence.

What is Crew going to do to get Elijah to like Arianna? What does this entail for Arianna? What was last night about with Elijah and why did his feelings flip like a coin toward Arianna? Would those be considered feelings? Should I tell Crew about it? I probably shouldn't.

"What are you thinking about?," Crew asked me.

How did he know I was thinking about stuff?

"Nothing," I responded.

"That's Bullshit," he said with a chuckle. I rolled my eyes and stood up walking to the end of the dock. Watching the lake was calming. Crew came up and stood next to me. "Fine you won't tell me. Then I will guess,". I smiled.

"This will be fun," I said sarcastically.

"You were thinking about the phone call," my face went back to being serious when he said those words. "I knew it," he said with a grin. Taking my hand in his he pulled me into a tight hug. Pressing my head against his chest. Resting his chin on top of my head he said "I will never hurt you or Arianna foras long as I live,". I leaned into him.

"I trust you," I let go of him and sat down on the end of the dock. Crew sat next to me.

"What time is it?," I asked. Crew pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on.

"It is one o'clock," he said. We had to leave for the banquet in three hours.