6th August 2016: 7 days until the wedding

Sophia Mariah Mckenzie

It was a roasting Summers morning. Sophia awoke in the bed next to her best friend. She slid out from her 4 poster California King Bed. She stretched before heading into the shower. She could already hear the hussle and bustle in the house. It was now only 7 days until the wedding. 7 days left until she married her fiancé. 7 days until all the planning came to light. She smiled as she showered thinking about what they day ahead would have in store. She was going for a dress fitting, sorting the flowers and then spending the rest of her day on the beach. The beach was the very place that she would be marrying the love of her life. She couldn't help but shake off the feeling of nerves and butterflies though. Her life was going to change forever.

Amelia showered before changing into a loose white summery dress and white wedge sandals. Her hair was dried and curled and her makeup perfect. She headed downstairs talking to Nancy; The family's chef. She was busy preparing breakfast for the busy family. The downstairs of the house smelt of cinnamon from the pancakes and blueberry from the muffins raising in the oven.

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Quinn Mckenzie lay face down on her bed, her breathing deep and even. There was a gentle snuffling of air through her nose, but gradually as she rose from the nightmare and awareness grabbed hold of the consciousness, it became a wheezing and whining sound interspersed with violent trembling of her body. The tone of her breathing deepened but took on a rasping, scraping, spluttering and ragged tortured noise, shallow and rapid, lips trembling with each outlet of air, the intake fluttering as it struggled to infiltrate her constricted throat and feed the heaving lungs and palpitating heart. With a dropped jaw, buggy eyes, and sweaty palms, Quinn's hot, salty head popped up from the warm pillow in a heart-pounding state of emergency. After a split second of massively intense panic, it suddenly dawned on her.

It was all just a nightmare.

There she lay, face down on her royal blue bed sheets, fully clothed and body reeking; It was a pungent mix of Vodka, Hennessy, Tequila, and pure body odor. She'd attended a party the night before - a wild, yet terrifically enjoyable party - right after basketball practice. She'd only had a couple of drinks, less than usual; the odor had come from many drunk and clumsy teenagers, spilling their drinks all over Quinn's jeans. The spills were accidental, of course. She'd been so drained from partying and playing basketball that upon entering the house at four o'clock, she'd gone straight to bed. Her extremely tight skinny jeans and tank top made sleeping a bit uncomfortable, but not unbearable. When she finally sat up straight in bed, though, she noticed that her once bright and clean white jeans were now covered in stains.

Sun rays beaming in through the window was reflecting off the white walls, making her want to close her eyes again. She'd only gotten a few hours of sleep, but she knew that if she wasn't ready in time for the dress fitting. After a few minutes of absently staring at the wooden floors, Quinn finally stood up, yawning and stretching her arms above her head. Her muscles ached, and her legs were stiff, but she'd somehow made it all the way to her bathroom. She took a ten minute shower, the water slowly warming her body, soothing the ache that clawed at her limbs. The steam from the scorching hot water was thick and filled the air as the Quinn washed her body, hair, and face, slowly starting to come back to life. When she got out of the shower, she decided to blow dry her hair so that she wouldn't have to flat iron it later on. By the time she'd finished her morning routine and gotten dressed, it was nine o'clock, and the pleasant smell of cinnamon and blueberry filled her bedroom.

There were now seven days until the wedding; there were seven days before she'd have to put on a fancy dress and heels, wear makeup, curl her hair, and stand in the same spot for almost twenty minutes. Just thinking about it made her feet throb. She was excited, nonetheless, to see her big sister marry the guy of her dreams. She loved her sister very much, and would go to hell and back to see her happy. Quinn headed downstairs, her cell phone in hand and a smile on her face. She knew that Nancy was cooking up something good, just by the smell. When she got to the kitchen, she saw that her sister, Sophia was already awake. She was conversing with Nancy as she cooked. Quinn took a seat at the kitchen table, letting out one last final yawn.

"Good morning, Soph, Nancy." She tapped her fingernails on the table as she spoke, and let out a chuckle when her stomach let out a loud growl.

"Somethin' smells really good!"

It was early. Far too early. He wondered if Jack was even up yet. Or was he too early? Hell, was he actually invited? Sure, he was family. And his father actually had an invite. But did he get one? Jacob’s dad was kind of vague on the details. The phone call came sudden. For a moment, Jacob wanted to just hang up. But something had compelled him to take the call regardless. He and his father rarely exchanged more than 2 sentences, but this time around all formalities were skipped. His cousin was to marry, and he was the only Darcy presentable enough to go there. After that his dad hung up. Jacob didn’t try to call back.

Back then, he had walked several rounds around the house, smoking half a pack. Nervous as hell. What was he going to say? Maybe he should call Jack? He and Jack hadn’t spoken in over eight years. Jacob never went to family reunions. For hours he stared at his phone. Only to eventually realize that he might as well just go and see what would happen. But of course he had to convince the Board first to let him go. And to his surprise, they did. In fact they allowed him to go for two whole weeks, instead of the 3 days he requested. The paperwork was cleared in an afternoon. Before Jacob fully realized it, he was on a plane heading for LA.

And now he was here, the next day. His BMW i8 was driven over, so at the very least he didn’t have to miss his new, noble steed. An expensive piece of engineering but, more importantly, a gift from the Board after he closed the fiscal year 2015 with a profit in times of financial crisis. Once before the gate, he realized how little he remembered of the familial house. The Darcys have owned the complex for many years. Jacob didn’t miss it. It was far too big for him.

As one big block of nerves he grabbed his phone, checking his e-mails. None. The company seemed to run smoothly without him. At least during the next. But for the first time, Jacob actually got frustrated that nothing went wrong. “C’mon man! It’s just family. Damn I closed deals with god damned idiots from Silicon Valley. I shouldn’t be stressed for this.” In a fit of courage he drove up towards the gate, where the guard stopped him. “Jacob Darcy, checking in.” The guard checked his list and then let the gate open. Jacob let out a sigh of relief. At the very least he was on some list.

Even after six months, big, luxurious beds still made Dominic uncomfortable. It was four in the morning and he still hadn't been able to get more than four hours of sleep. His hands cleared the sleep from his eyes and he gave a resigned sigh to the fact that he might as well get his day started. He rolled out of the bed well before the sun would come up and went to the shower. When he finished, he opened up his suitcase and pulled out fresh clothes. Boxer briefs, running shorts, and a grey ARMY t-shirt. He wrapped his phone case around his bicep and hooked up his headphones before taking a stroll out and to the beach.

He saw Quinn come in - she looked exhausted - and stayed out of her way as she proceeded straight to her room. Once out on the grounds, he went quickly to the beach. The long stretch of sand covered many properties and was easily four miles long. The warm night air and humidity was enough to get him sweating just in his warm up. By the time the sun had come up, he had a familiar path that took him from one end of the beach to the other. His body burned with the run, his knee specifically, but he kept pushing himself until the light filled the sky. He returned to the estate, finding a good spot to sit and watch the sun illuminate the waters as it came up from behind him. The bit of relaxation was welcome.

What a weird few months. he thought. From soldier to prince with the signing of a paper.

He spent some time thinking about the friends he'd made since he came back. He remembered running into Jack again, after all these years. The thought made him laugh. He had caught up with the old family friend over drinks one day, and they kept in touch over social media. Dominic had flown out to L.A. a few times, met Sophia twice before he heard about the Wedding that had been long since planned. He was happy for his friend. All the sappy bullshit about marrying your best friend and true love always made him roll his eyes, but seeing them together made him reconsider. Hell, it's why he was here.

He stood and made his way back into the early morning house. A few folks moved here and there and he gave them a nod as he passed. He was soaked and sweaty, and very much needed a shower. Once he was clean, he found some nice khaki shorts and a loose button down t-shirt to clothe himself with.

He spent some time unpacking, hanging clothes in the closet, filling the dresser he had been provided, then found the book he was reading and went back into it on the small balcony overlooking the ocean. When he smelled food, hours later, he packed the book away and headed downstairs. The kitchen was already full of ladies, to which he waved a hand and moved to an empty spot where the chow was being made.

"Morning ladies..." he said, completely at a loss on normal conversation topics or procedures. Until six months ago, his life involved four people. Superiors, Friendlies, Civilians, and Hostiles. He was pretty positive that telling all of them to get to safety (his normal route with Civilians) wouldn't go over well.

Then again, it was a wedding.

Jack Darcy

All Jack could hear was the sounds of a tropical rainforest, with a light rain. He wasn't dreaming, he knew he was asleep and didn't want to wake up. It was peaceful, serene, then the phone rang. Jack opened his eyes wiping away the sleep, he grabbed the remote and turned off the ambience before answering the phone.
"Hello? he said groggily.
"Jack, it's Ryan." The familiar sounds of Jacks best man replied
"What is it man, you woke me up." he said slowly getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom.
"Listen dude i can't make it to your wedding. The wife and I are going to New Zealand for the week." Jack couldn't believe his ears, a mix of anger, hate and sadness rushed all over him.
"What are you on about? The wedding is in seven days. SEVEN DAYS!" His voice getting angrier and angrier "And you decide to go on a f*&king holiday now?" he was expecting some bull excuse but decided he wasn't having it and interuppted before Ryan could reply."You know what? forget it have fun on your holiday." he said hanging up the phone he threw it at the wall so hard not only did the screen shatter it chipped the tile in the wall. He showered and dressed himself in his usual button up shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans and headed downstairs to eat, but not before pulling the sim card out of his shattered phone and putting it in his back up phone. A text from Ryan apologising and explaining why the sudden change of plans but Jack just deleted the message.

He walked into the kitchen where his servant Henry was waiting, having been in the family for over 30 years, Henry was very good at his job and knew exactly what to do when he saw the angry look on Jacks face. He handed Jack a glass of juice and told him breakfast would be in a few minutes. Jack sat at the large table, no one else was there yet.
'I wonder where Dominic is?' He texted Dominic, saying that he had to discuss something with him, deciding that Dominic could be his best man, regardless of the fact that Jack and Dominic had only reconnected three months ago, Jack still considered Dominic to be a really good friend. After he sent the text to Dominic he then sent one to Sophia explaining what was going on, and that he was going to ask Dom instead, he knew this was a big day and to have plans change at the last minute could stress Sophia out but told her not to worry and that he was handling it.

Simone had felt Sophia rise from the bed, but all she had done in reaction was turn over to her other side and fall right back asleep. She couldn't believe the fun night they had encountered previously. Simone had told Sophia she had to come down to The Mermaid with her for a few drinks and dancing, and the two did so for most of the night. It was a bittersweet feeling. On one hand Simone was happy that her best friend was in love and marrying the man of her dreams. On the other hand, she knew she'd be missing the times like the one they had last night. Things would be different after marriage, whether they wanted it to be or not.

Eventually Simone opened her eyes, she didn't feel like getting ready yet so she waltzed downstairs in her pajamas: a pair of shorts and a tank top. Her hair was a messy bun on top of her head, and she hadn't yet to take a shower or anything of the like. These girls were practically her family, so she didn't mind too much. Plus she would have time later to take a shower and get more prepared for the day; after breakfast.

Scratching the back of her head, she looked at some of the people in the kitchen with a smile. "Goood morning" she sung in a playful tone to everyone, a yawn escaping her lips as she placed her hand over her mouth to catch it, or better yet cover her morning breath. She felt a little bit of a hangover but nothing too serious. She definitely was ready to eat some good breakfast food though.

Sophia Mariah Mckenzie

Sophia smiled as her sister entered the kitchen. "Good morning Quinny. How are ya? Rough night?" She asked. She took some blueberry muffins from the tray and sat at the table. "7 days to go and I'm huuuuuuuuungover." She said excitedly. Last night had been wild but she knew she wouldn't have much more of that. Jack would want everything to be more mature and dignified. It may even be the last time she could wear the LBD with the slits at the sides. She loved her best friend and the wild times that they shared together. She sure as hell was going to miss that side of life. Sophia noticed that Dom was in her home. She looked at him with a confused look on her face. "Hey.. Where did you come from?" She asked slightly confused by the male standing in her kitchen. He was part of the Darcy's side not the McKenzies.

Sophia ate her muffins and enjoyed the calm socialising going on in the kitchen. Soon the stress and excitement of the day ahead would commence. Much like the stress that would be ahead of them in the next 7 days. The beach wedding though she knew would be worth it. She knew also that being married to Jack would be worth stressing for.