4.

The sound of birds chirping beautifully serenaded a sleepy Vine from her short nap. She had stayed up all night in a bid to rush through the wedding preparations so she could finally do away with her overbearing boss and her annoyingly rude fiance.

How a couple had so much skill in getting under her skin, she couldn't comprehend. 

Wait a minute… birds are chirping?! What time is it?!

"Holy fuck! It's 10 am!"

She rushed downstairs and saw a note from Tony. He had fixed her a sandwich because she was sleeping in after a long night. 

I hope this helps to reduce your preparation time, sis. You really need to stop pulling up these all-nighters. You'll ruin your pretty skin.

Anyway, I'm off to school now. Milk's in the fridge. I ran to the convenience store really early this morning since we ran out of some yesterday. 

MAKE SURE YOU EAT! Love you!

xoxo.

Tony was such a sweetheart sometimes. Most people had troubling dealing with their teenage brothers but not Vine. She had a little angel in the place of her brother.

"Thanks, Tony! You're the best!"

She was munching, drinking and zipping her pants at the same time. There was no time to waste. Her vile boss was already at the office preparing a load of insults to welcome her with for resuming late. She couldn't afford to add any second to her charge.

Racing through the front door, she only stopped to catch her breath when she got to the garage and realized that she had forgotten to pick her car keys from the dining table on her way out after clearing the table.

Muttering curses under her breath, she braced herself for another race against time. She had to somehow create a miracle of compressing a thirty minute drive into a fifteen minute drive without killing either herself or anyone on the road.

"It won't be easy, but God always makes a way. Right, Vine? Let's do this!"

************

I half-walked, half-ran into my office and prayed that my secretary would give me the good news that Clare was absent from the office for whatever bloody reason she wanted to be out for. I straightened my carton colored pencil skirt and fingered down my breeze-strangled hair. 

"God! I hate my job! I just want to kill that witch sometimes. Geez!"

Cleo took gingered steps into the office as always flashed Vine the brightest smile she had seen in a while. It could mean only one thing– "Clare isn't coming in to work today, is she?!"

The excitement in Vine's voice could not be covered even if a knife had been put to her throat to threaten her. Both women interlocked each other's fingers in a high-five position and giggled like high schoolers at the school prom. It was going to be a good day after all.

"So… how's it going with the wedding planning? Made any progress?" Cleo stared at Vine with questioning eyes. She was a more disciplined woman than Vine and Vine knew it.

Cleo always made sure to complete her tasks before the deadline given to her. She had one of the healthiest work ethics E.T.E had ever seen. Yet, she took no pride in it. From Vine's perspective, Cleo seemed to see it as the barest minimum expected of her as an employee. Everyone loved the woman.

"Would you believe that I legit pulled an all-nighter just so I could finish this annoying task quickly but I couldn't make much progress? It's crazy that people have to go through so much prep work just to have a wedding and divorce three months after. It doesn't even make any sense, honestly!"

Cleo laughed hard. A deep, belly squeezing, heartfelt laughter, and wiped joyful tears away from the corners of her eyes.

"You're definitely right in questioning why people spend more time preparing for their weddings than their marriage, but that doesn't make wedding preparations useless or inconsequential. I'm sure you'll get why when you finally find the right man and fall in love.

"I'm never going to fall in love. There's only space for one, and Tony has that space under lock and key. No man is going to find a place in there, trust me." 

Vine seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Cleo. The latter shrugged and asked to be excused so she could resume work.

"Sure. Take care Cleo. Buzz me when you're going down for punch so we can eat together today. I have enough free time since her royal highness isn't around to choke me with errands."

Cleo laughed once more and shook her head  while at it. She nodded and waved without turning back to face Vine. It was a habit of hers and Vine found it kinda cool. It looked like something a protagonist in an action movie would do before a car crash, followed simultaneously by a dramatic explosion.

"Well then… I guess it's back to work for me too. Let's see… I guess I should reach out to that narcissistic fiance of hers again. Maybe we'll be able to make progress this time. He already sent his business line in that email from before. No way I'm making the same mistake twice of calling his personal cell phone number again. 

Bloody bastard! 

Just wait till I get my hand on that annoying face of yours that I'm yet to see. I'll make sure I claw out your eyes. In my mind, of course. Can't really do that in real life. Tony's still a minor."

Vine adjusted in her seat and put on her reading glasses to prove to herself, and whoever dared try to interrupt her concentration, that she meant business. She went through her emails but there was nothing. She could have sworn she saw and read an email from her boss's fiancé, but it was currently no where to be found.

"Shit! Last night!"

Vine slammed her palm hard into her face and swore profanities that would make any believer or American citizen with a high sense of moral ethics shudder in righteous indignation. 

************

After kissing Troy goodnight Vine took out the bottle of old Scottish rum she bought the previous weekend during a flash sale. She had picked it in an instant but her intuition had never failed her.

"Looks like it won't fail me now either." She smiled as she took a second sip and likes her upper lips as she savored the taste of the vintage drink.

After drinking more cups than necessary, Nate's email came in. 

This is my business number: [phone].

Please refrain from all personal contact henceforth. I do not condone intrusion into my personal space and I will not take it lightly if you repeat again please. Thank you. 

Kind regards,

Nathaniel Ross Jnr.

"Bastard. Bloody bastard. What do I need your contact for anyway? You think I like you? You think I'm crushing on you? Piss off, douchebag! I'm deleting this email right now!"

************

"Holy shit! No! No! No! I did what?!"

Cold sweat dribbled down her temple even though the air conditioning was down to 16⁰. 

Think Vine! Think! 

"Okay what are my options?" She took out a pen and a note pad to document everything she was saying.

"If I decide to ask Clare again, she'll cuss at me and chew me out for losing the number. If I pretend like Mr Ross hasn't sent the number, she might ask me to call him again, then hurl curses at me. 

On the other hand, if I call Mr Ross now, then pretend like I haven't received it, I can make it look like a network connection problem and have him resend it just to be sure. That way, it's a win for me and I don't have to receive andmy insults. Problem solved!"

His attitude is still a problem though. 

"Oh well, since I'm presented with two poisons, I guess I'll just choose the lesser poison. Mr Ross, it is!"

This time around, she decided to make her call through an E.T.E line. Last time, he had asked if it was her private number she used to call him. She wouldn't make the Sam's mistake again.

"He-Hello? Mr Ross? Yes, this is Ms. Clare's personal assistant. The one in charge of planning your forthcoming wedding? Yes. I'm sorry I called your private line again. No. I'm afraid I didn't. I'm yet to receive your mail, sir. Yes. Probably qq you very much. I hope to receive it soon. Good day sir."

And a good day to me!

Vine swirled in her office chair like a preschooler at a playground and giggled mischievously. You could tell that she was feeling particularly proud of herself for managing the situation the way she did.

The bell for lunch break rang through the entire building and the once quiet building started picking up life slowly. People started off to the cafeteria in groups and Vine could see Daisy beckoning on her to come over so they could go get lunch together.

I need to ask Cleo first if she also wants to come along.

As she stood up to change into her heels from her loafers, she caught a very quiet beep on her phone from the corner of her eyes.

It had better not be who I think it is. Hell no!

"What's this now?!"

Hello. From my end I can see that the message not only delivered but has also been read. So, I fail to comprehend how possible it is that you did not get my message when you clearly did. As a result, I have concluded that I will not be resending the mail. If you lost it, it is due to your own negligence and that's on you. 

I repeat. Do not call my private number again. 

Kind regards, 

Nathaniel Ross Jnr. 

Vine could see herself going full Tarzan mode and destroying everything in sight. 

"Who does he think he is anyway?! Am I contacting him for any other reason asides his wedding?! How dare he address me in such a condescending manner?! When I get my hands on his nasty, no good, proud, narci…."

"Woah! Woah! Slow down, sister. What's wrong? I haven't seen you this pissed in a really long while. Whoever's got you this mad but be some crowned king of douchebags to be able to piss you off so. Now, calm your tiddies girl. Tell me, what's wrong?"

Vine looked at Daisy and she could feel tears well up in her eyes. She knew she always kept a bold front but sometimes it all gets to her and she finds it hard to stay collected. 

Ever since her parents died, she had had to take care of her little brother. It had been her and Tony against the world.

"Daisy, I'm tired."

"Of?"

"Everything."

Sigh.

"Come here, big girl."

Daisy held Vine in the tightest hug she had felt in a while. She continued to stroke her hair fondly, while whispering ever so softly.

"You got this. You've been doing this for years now. You can do this. You did it when you were all alone, but now you even got me. You're not alone anymore Vine. We got this. Now, take deep breaths. Okay? That's it… good girl."

Vine looked straight at the door and let out a soft whistle. In that moment, she concluded that she was going to plan the best wedding L.A had ever witnessed so she could shove her success down Clare and Nathaniel Ross's throats.

"Yeah, that's what I'll do. I'll be so fucking good st my job that those beasts will be too dumbfounded to open their foul mouth to trash talk me again."

"Uhn? Did you say something baby?"

"Nah… thanks Daisy. Lunch is on me, okay? Let's go get something yummy to eat. Lord knows we need all the strength we can get to stay sane in this jungle of an industry that we've found ourselves in."

"You got that right!"

They walked hand in hand as they stepped out to the company's cafeteria. 

Drowned out by her laughter and conversation with Daisy, Vine didn't hear when her phone beeped.

New Message

Hey, this is Nathaniel Ross. Meet me at the Swiss Oriental Hotel by 2 pm. Don't be late.

N.R. JNR.