12. Wedding Jitters

Elizabeth gets off her flight from Tokyo and heads to collect her luggage; afterwards, she heads to the hotel. In the elevator, she pulls out her phone and calls Liza.

"Hey babe, I'm back. Could you please do some house hunting for me? I need to find a place ASAP, or all our savings will be going to this hotel suite." She says, "No problem, boss. I will come back to you with the prospect's tomorrow morning. Your schedule has been cleared for Ms Gray today." Liza responds. Elizabeth has not been looking forward to this meeting for some reason. "Thanks, Liza. Chat tomorrow," she says and hangs up.

After showering, she decides on a casual, off-the-shoulder top and tight jeans, accentuating her curves. With a satisfied nod, she opts for flats instead of heels today.

She pulls up in front of Emily's address and parks her car. The villa is surprisingly quaint, not the Dereon flashiness at all. Elizabeth smiles and heads inside. She was about to ring the bell, but Emily opened the door before she could.

With her hand posed in mid-air, Elizabeth looks at Emily and laughs, "Don't tell me you've been waiting long?"

Emily blushes and pulls her inside, "Not at all! I'm just so excited about today!" Elizabeth looks at this hyper little church mouse and smiles. "I wish all my clients would meet me with such gusto!"

Emily beams at her. "I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable," She looks down then bites her bottom lip. "You're the first person I've seen this week besides August. It gets quite lonely here. Even this villa feels like a mansion on some days."

Elizabeth looks at her with confusion, wondering just what exactly is going on behind these closed doors. Emily perks up again, "Let's head to the living room. I'll get the ladies to bring some coffee and cookies."

She gestures to one of the helpers and tells them what to do. Elizabeth looks around the villa and is surprised to see that the inside isn't flashy either. She feels guilty for having judged Emily before knowing her.

"You have a beautiful home, Em." Elizabeth sighs; Emily looks at her with sadness, "Yeah, this was my mother's home before...." Does Elizabeth spot something in her eyes, sadness?? Suddenly Emily snaps out of it.

"Let's get started!"

Five hours later, Elizabeth stands up and stretches her legs. "That was the most fun and tiring prep I have ever done!" she exclaimed, "I have never had so much coffee in one sitting either!" she laughs and looks over at Emily. The latter looks happy, yet there is something she could not quite put her finger on.

"Emily, is everything okay?" She looks over at her, and her bottom lip trembles.

"Emi-"

"I'm okay, Lizzy. I'm just a little overwhelmed, that's all..." Emily trails off. Elizabeth suddenly becomes more worried, "Emily, you can speak to me about anything. Please do not just think of me as your wedding dress designer. Think of me as a friend. Whenever you need someone to talk to, please do not hesitate to call me, okay?" Elizabeth looks at her sincerely, and she smiles even though her tears are threatening to fall. She grabs Elizabeth's hand and says, "Thank you, I really appreciate that."

Elizabeth smiles at her and gathers all her things before heading out. "Thank you for today, Emily. I feel like I know you much better now," she says. "No, thank you. You have no idea how much today means to me." Emily reaches over to hug her, and she reciprocates. The two smile at each other, and Elizabeth says, "I'll see myself out. Take care, Em." And with that, she turns to head out.

Just as Elizabeth closes the door behind her, she turns around to walk and bumps into someone, spilling her project all over the ground. "Oh no!" she bends down to pick up her spilt folder and looks apologetically into the person's eyes.

One blue, one green

August gives her a cheeky grin and bends down to help her. "We really need to stop meeting like this, Dragonfly."