𝐒 𝐎 𝐏 𝐇 𝐈 𝐀

Coincidence or fate?

Coincidence ~ a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that has no apparent causal connection with one another.

Fate ~ a predetermined course of events caused by a supernatural power.

Was it a coincidence or fate you met someone? I still ask myself that question every once in a while, all because of Carter Stone. To this day, I still don't know whether it was coincidence or fate that we were in the same club that night we met and in the same bar last night. Fate has a thing for making us meet in bars. I never regretted Carter and me meeting, but I regret how we ended and I regret letting myself slip so much, but it's not a part of my life I want to relive. Seeing him in that club hit me like a ton of bricks as all the memories coming back at full force. The good and the bad ones. 

Silence resonates through the apartment as Tori stays passed out asleep upstairs. I am curled up on the chair next to my apartment's balcony windows, looking down at the traffic on the streets below and watching the people that look so small from so high up. A mug of steaming hot coffee warms my hands, and I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders as the memory flows back to me.

I danced around Carter's apartment to the beat of the music as I flipped the pancake sat in the pan before I went back to cut up the strawberries. The morning sunlight shone through his apartment, which is something I envied about where he lived considering my apartment got rarely any sunlight. I squealed as a pair of muscular arms wrapped around my waist and Carter's lips connected with the side of my neck as I giggled and turned my head around. I placed my hand on his neck before he leaned down and kissed me.

"Mmm, I could definitely get used to waking up to this," Carter mumbled against my lips as he rocked us side to side with the music. A smile graced my face, which is something that happened a lot around Carter, as he always made me happy, and I was lucky to have him.

"To having breakfast made for you or—" 

"To waking up with my beautiful girlfriend cooking and dancing away in my kitchen in nothing but my shirt. Which doesn't leave much to imagination," Carter replied as his hands ran up my exposed thighs.

"Girlfriend?" I questioned, as labeling our relationship wasn't something we had done yet. A month had passed since we met and even though we went on dates, kissed and slept together a lot, we had never had this conversation. If someone had called me his girl or him my boyfriend, we had never corrected them as there had been no need to since, technically, we were together.

"Well, I don't do this with many people, do you?" Carter asked and kissed my head. "I felt like it was implied, you know but, my gran raised me to be a gentleman." Carter cleared his throat before he turned me around and got down on both knees."Baby, make me the happiest guy on earth and be my girl?"

"I guess. I mean, someone has to put up with you," I said and he feigned offense. "I'm joking. You know I'd love to," I said seriously, and he stood back up before he kissed me. "I guess I'm stuck with you now, huh?" I teased. He chuckled before the smoke alarm brought us out of our love bubble and I realized the pancakes were still on. I turned the stove off as Carter waved a towel back and forth near the alarm. Once it stopped, I pouted while I looked at the burned pancakes as they're something I had wanted to make special for him.

"I wanted pancakes," I said, and Carter chuckled before I threw the burned pancake into the trash. "What?" 

"Come dance with me," Carter said as he turned up the music and held out his hand. I raised my eyebrows at him before I placed my hand in his and he brought me closer before he placed his hand on my waist while the other held my hand.

"You're such a goof." I giggled and shook my head. "But it's charming," I told him as he flashed a smile at me. I rested my head on his chest as we swayed around the room to the music. His head rested on top of mine as he quietly sung along to the song.

This moment was perfect, as were many of the moments I shared with Carter.

I raised my head and looked at him before I leaned up to kiss him. I laughed as Carter twirled me out and back into him until my back rested against his chest.

"Maybe we should skip breakfast," Carter said as he kissed the side of my neck and his hands opened the buttons on his shirt. "I'm sure I can find something better to eat," Carter said as his hands skimmed my pussy once he finished with the buttons.

"Hmm, really? Something better than pancakes?" I asked and turned around before I backed up a couple of steps. His eyes never left my body as the opened shirt fell down my body and onto the floor. His obvious strain in his boxers revealing how turned on he was.

"Something much better." Carter smirked before he grabbed me by the back of my legs and lifted me up. I squealed while he brought me upstairs.

The sound of a horn honking down below brings me back to reality. Bringing my coffee to my lips, it's cold and I sigh before getting up and making my way to the kitchen. Dumping the cold coffee down the sink and rinsing out the mug, I sit at the breakfast bar and load up my laptop.

"Ugh," Tori says, as I bring up my calendar on the laptop and I turn my head, seeing Tori stumbling down the stairs with her hand on her head looking a little worse for wear. Her hair messed up, some mascara smudged around her eyes she missed taking off last night and she looks a little pale—well, paler than usual. The downsides of a redhead she says. "I need aspirin or a gun," she complains, grabbing the aspirin from my cupboard and some water.

"Would now be a good time for that I told you so?" 

She takes a seat at the breakfast bar. "How long have you been awake for?" 

"Not long," I lie, focusing on my laptop screen. I didn't want to tell her about seeing Carter at the club or the fact I keep daydreaming about him, as well as the memories we made back in college. Victoria was with me through the good and the hard times while I was with Carter in college and through the breakup. While I'm eighty percent sure it was Carter at the club, the chances of me seeing him again were very unlikely.

So why bring up the past when it won't interfere with my future?

"I vaguely remember dancing on the bar." Tori scrunches up her eyebrows. "Or was it giving some guy a lap dance?" 

"You danced on the bar," I clarify. "Meg joined you, much to Nicole's dismay, and Jackson was trying too hard to get you both down. The staff were not happy because you were in their way when they were trying to serve drinks."

"Sounds like a good night. It's a shame I don't remember most of it, though." Tori sighs. "Did you have fun?" 

"I can have fun, you know." I roll my eyes at her. "Work is important to me too though," I say, and she nods her head in understanding. "Feeling up for some coffee?" I ask her, getting up to make some and she nods her head eagerly.

"So...I kissed Jackson again last night," Tori hesitates as she picks at her nails. A nervous habit she's always had.

"Oh, I saw, we all did." I chuckle, handing her a cup of coffee before sitting down next to her again. "But I wasn't going to bring it up until you did. What are you doing with him? You make out with him all the time when we go out and then the next day you pretend nothing happened."

She sighs. "I know, I know it's not right. I don't mean to hurt him, but I enjoy feeling the way I do when I kiss him."

"It's called having feelings. You know Jackson likes you," I tell her. None of us had to tell Victoria that Jackson has harbored a crush on her since they met, as you could tell from his actions around her and the way he looks at her.

"Of course I do. I've always known that. Do you see how goofy he gets around me? It's cute though." She smiles dreamily. "I just I can't do it. I'm not used to being tied down to one guy, I never have been you know that! My parents wish I did, but when things get serious, I run and I don't want to hurt Jackson."

"You're also hurting him by doing what you're doing now, though." I smile sadly at her. Someone knocks at the door and I walk over, leaning up to look through the peephole seeing Nicole and Jackson.

"I am never ever drinking with you three again," Jackson complains as I open the door and he walks straight in, going to collapse on my couch. "I don't know why I continue to drink with you guys."

"Because you love us, and have no other friends," Nicole adds, making us all chuckle. "We brought food," Nicole waves the bag around. "Well, for whoever can stomach it, which right now seems like me and Soph."

"I'm fine with that more for us." I shrug, smiling, before taking the bag and heading into the living area. Moving Jackson's legs off the couch, I sit down and put all the food out on the coffee table. "Where's Meg, anyway?" I ask Nicole, noticing she didn't come with.

"Still asleep and she wasn't feeling up for coming, anyway. She drank way too much last night and is paying for it today," Nicole explains, munching on a croissant. "Like some other people we know."

"Be grateful you don't get hangovers," Tori tells Nicole, before a phone makes a sound. "Who the hell is calling me? Crap, it's work. There's a problem with the upcoming exhibit. I have to go in and sort out. As soon as I get this booze smell off me and look a bit more presentable. I'm borrowing your shit, Sophia," Tori shouts as she walks upstairs.

Of course she is.

━━━━━━━━━

"I assure you, Addison, I will get you your pictures as soon as I can. I'll chase Jackson up for them. Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon," I assure her while I sit at my desk tapping my nails against the marble beneath me before I end the call, "How are those pictures for the Lawson's coming along?" I ask Jackson.

"I'm done, but the book they wanted all the pictures in is on back order." Jackson shrugs. "I tried getting them to move it up as fast as they could, but they keep blowing me off."

"I'll sort it."

"So how long do we think they'll last? I give it eight months." She shrugs, making me chuckle.

"I'll take this bet. I say five because they argue at least once a day," Jackson states.

"I give it three, I saw the groom walking out the cloakroom with a bridesmaid then a few hours later walked out with the maid of honor," I clarify "He can't keep it in his pants long enough to carry on getting away with it she'll catch him."

"Why do people get married to someone if they're already or know they're going to cheat?" Nicole asks, and I shrug as we get the binder out of the cabinet that has the invitation template cards in it for Savannah and Elijah to choose from.

"Because people are idiots and only care about money or sex," Jackson sighs, sitting on Nicole's desk chair and she shoves his feet off her desk just as the bell above the door rings and Savannah and Elijah walk in.

"We're late, right? I knew we were late, traffic was a nightmare," Savannah worries.

"I told you we should have walked babe, no one drives in this city," Elijah says and Nicole and I agree with him. "See, these two get it."

"I don't get what the whole driving in this city thing is about." Jackson shrugs.

"Because you're not from here. A person who doesn't walk or take the subway in this city is not a person you can trust. It's like a person who doesn't drink coffee. It's unnatural." I shrug.

"It's easy to pick out the people who were born here and the people who moved here," Nicole says.

"You guys truly scare me," Savannah says, and we smile before I offer for them to sit at my desk. "Oh, here is our guest list. We wanted to be prepared, but there may be a couple of people we forgot." Savannah hands over a list to me full of names and addresses.

"Perfect. My job just got easier. So now we have the first draft of the guest list and even though we don't have the venue, it's fine because we can start getting your invitations ready. Usually we send out save the date cards then invites but since it's three months till the wedding, it's better this way," I explain to them and they nod.

"This is all our job, so you guys have nothing to worry about. As soon as the location is picked, we can send out the invites straight away without a worry on your head." Nicole smiles.

"Thank god! Some of my friends have had weddings and the stress they were all put through," Savannah sighs.

"I'm surprised we still have our full heads of hair. We take on all the stress of planning a wedding so you don't have to." Nicole smiles.

"Now, with a short time limit as wedding planners, we suggest for your meals at the weddings to have a buffet as people can take so long to decide and send the RSVPs back so it can be harder for the catering company. It is your wedding, but we just like to point it out," I explain.

"I think a buffet will be great. A lot of our families and friends have young kids and we're not very formal anyway," Elijah agrees.

"Is it bad I want to hug them for making our lives so easy?" Jackson asks, making us all laugh.

"Don't jinx us." I chuckle. "So here are the templates," I say before opening the binder.

"I did not know there were so many options," Elijah says looking wide eyed staring at them all. "I regret offering to help with all the wedding stuff now."

"How did that happen, anyway? Usually we only get the brides to be in here," Jackson asks.

"I told him if he's so desperate for us to get married in three months, he has to help." Savannah laughs, making us all laugh. "They're so many to choose from. I'm thinking something classic and simple, maybe white and gold accents."

"We have these white with a gold banner and the text," I say, flipping towards the page I know off by heart from all the years I've done this.

"Ooh, these are perfect! What do you think, Eli?" Savannah asks.

"I like them," Elijah agrees. "So these are the ones, babe?" he asks and Savannah nods.

"Perfect. I can get them all sorted then when we have the venue," I explain, closing the binder and putting it back in the filing cabinet.

"Great! This is all coming together. It feels so surreal. Oh, are you guys busy tomorrow night? We're throwing a little dinner at our place for our family and friends, and our bridesmaids and groomsmen will be there. We figured since we'll be spending a lot of time together it would be nice to get to know you guys more," Savannah invites "And of course bring any partners you guys have."

"Free food I'm in," Jackson says, making us all laugh and we all agree to join them tomorrow for dinner at their place before they leave.

Guess we're having dinner with the clients tomorrow.