THE NOTE

They were throwing sticks and stones,
But words could never break you bones,
You just spread your wings and fly,
I knew there always was nothing wrong with being
You

***

CHAPTER V

*****

THE DAYS HAD seemed to speed by, the address being a long forgotten memory thrown to the back of my head as I submerged myself in work and helping plan Morgan's wedding.

The wedding seemed to be the one day where I could free myself from work and carry on stress-free. Or at least it was supposed to be, but nothing was really ever stress free when 'a big event' and 'Morgan' were in the same sentence.

“Everything is going wrong!”

I watched the bride pace up and down the bridal suite from the armchair and rolled my eyes. With a huff, I said. “Nothings going wrong, Morgan.”

She turned to me with a frown and pouted. “That's exactly the problem. Everything is going exceptionally well. Everyone is on time, there are no last minute cancellations. Everything is where it should be. It's all perfect.”

I furrowed my brows. “So... Why is that a problem?”

“Because something is going to go wrong and I don't know when!” she exclaimed, taking me by surprise before taking a deep breath and sitting herself down on the sofa. “Sorry about that.”

“It's fine.”

“Oh no!” she suddenly exclaimed, jumping up onto her toes. I rolled my eyes and looked the other way because she just wouldn't give herself a break.

“What?”

“Where's Anastasia and Gabrielle?”

Anastasia and Gabrielle were her to bridesmaids and her vest friends. Unfortunately, we didn't get a long very well as a trio.

I huffed at the mention of their names and turned away. “Hopefully rotting in hell.”

“Hell is where you are, sweetie,” a third voice joined the conversation, making me roll my eyes and turn away from the two figures who were letting themselves in the room. “So I guess you could say we are.”

“Guys,” Morgan exclaimed, drawing their attention to her. “Where were you?” she asked, jumping up and ignoring the glares we were sending each other.

Gabrielle snapped her eyes to Morgan before pulling an envelope out of her black Louis Vuitton handbag. “We've been interrogating Derek.”

Morgan looked at her in confusion before taking the small white envelope from her and pulling out the letter to read through it. It didn't seem very long and within seconds, she was looking back at them with a frown on her face.

“Who sent this?” she asked, no sign of humour in her voice making me realise that the note was probably very serious.

I couldn't help but feel bad for her. This was supposed to be her wedding day and then someone had to come in and ruin it.

Anastasia folded her hands over her chest and turned to me. “Why don't you ask her?”

Nefore I could start mouthing off about how I had a name, Morgan had spoke up. “Don't involve her in this. I'm asking you.”

They both looked at her with their jaw hung open in disbelief. I only sat back and watched the show unfold because I had no idea what they were talking about.

“Wait, you're defending her?” Anastasia asked, looking at her as if she had grown two heads.

“Of course I'm defending her. Because you guys aren't.” Morgan folded her arms across her chest and glared at her. “She's clearly the target of this awful note and you guys are only making it worse.”

Gabrielle took a step back and scrunched her face up in confusion before looking Morgan again with furrowed brows. “You're putting her...” she pointed to me, “over us?”

“I'm not putting her over anyone!” Morgan exclaimed, the frustration she felt being expressed in her loud voice as she stomped her feet. “I'm just tired of you guys disrespecting her and treating her like an enemy. She's not an enemy!”

“You don't know her!” Gabrielle exclaimed back, taking me by surprise because I had never witnessed Gabrielle lose her composure. She was always calm and collected even when she was beating someone up.

“I know her!” Morgan screamed. “I've known her for two years. I know her child! I know the father of her child.” The both of them kept quiet and stared at her with wide eyes as she took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “I've helped her and she's helped me. Just because the both of you don't understand the complexity of our relationship doesn't mean you have the right to treat her badly.”

I stared at Morgan, feeling my heart soar at how far she was willing to go to defend me. Gabrielle and Anastasia had been there longer than me, but she was willing to overlook that when she witnessed something that wasn't right. I honestly hoped that their friendship would remain because I didn't want her to get rid of her long-time friends for me.

“She's like a sister to me. She's like a sister to Derek so even if he were to cheat, which he wouldn't because he's extremely faithful, it wouldn't be with her. This note is complete bullshit so you only wasted your time going on this wild-goose chase and you've achieved nothing.”

She slammed the white note on the glass table in the living room and stormed over to one of the bedrooms, making sure to slam it behind her.

I let the heavy silence linger around us for a couple seconds before getting up out of the white leather armchair and walking across the tiled floor to the table with the note. My heels clicked against the floor, making the two girls snap their heads up and look at me.

I stopped at the table and picked up the note, letting my eyes scan over the words.

It seems like you have the perfect family, but maybe you should check a couple times to make sure the dress-maker isn't fucking the groom. You know Ara has a knack for that.

Xoxo,
Celeste.

I masked the way my heart lurched out of my chest, figuring that it wouldn't do anything to help my image in front of the two girls in front of me. They already suspected me and showing that the note had an effect on me would only make them suspect me more.

Even though I kept calm, my thoughts raced and my heart beat harder. Celeste knew where I was. Celeste knee who I was with. On one hand, it could mean nothing. Celeste and Daniel didn't share anything together and this could honestly just be a bitter prank on me for how we left off.

On the other hand though, many things could have changed int over two years. Maybe they were friends now. Maybe she was working for him now.

Maybe they were married now.

I shouldn't have felt upset at that, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want them to get married because I still loved Daniel. I knew he wasn't for me and if given the option, I would never run back to him. But I just wanted to believe that he couldn't move on from me like I couldn't move on from him.

I looked away from the note, not wanting to dig up bitter feelings when my eyes met the harsh glares I was getting from both of the girls in front of me. Thoughts of Celeste and Daniel slipped my mind, and I found myself smirking and leaning against the table, completely unaffected by them.

“Oh no,” I said, wiggling a finger in their faces. “Don't blame me for this slip up. This one is all on you.” They said nothing, so naturally, I continued. “I mean, don't get me wrong, I know I'm a bad person. But for once, I'm not to blame for this incident.”

“We should go, Gabrielle.”

“The truth of the matter is you should have come to Morgan with this note first,” I continued, knowing that they weren't going to leave. “It's her relationship and not yours so you shouldn't have taken it into your own hands to get the truth out from Derek. It's got nothing to do with you and she knows him better than you do. You basically showed your distrust with Derek and your inability to believe she's capable of handling herself.”

“Oh please, spare me all this 'holier-than-thou' bullshit,” Gabrielle said, making me roll my eyes and walk towards my handbag on the sofa.

“Its not 'holier-than-thou bullshit',” I said, smiling lightly at them. “It's advice. And whether you take it or not determines whether you're both fools or not.”

I slipped the note into the bag in a way that they wouldn't have noticed before picking it up and heading towards the door.

“Another peice of advice to you,” I said, just before I left. “If you want her to remain your best friend, you should probably go in there and apologise before I go in and comfort her and you guys accuse me of trying to steal her.” I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Again.”

It was only after I had closed the door behind me did I let the worried frown fall back onto my face. I made my way across the hotel to where Derek and his friends would be. Worry clouded my every thought, but I could only focus on making it to his suite and twisting the doorknob.

I was met immediately with five smiling face, relief only washing over me when I realised that Mateo's face was among them.

“Baby,” I cooed, walking over to him as he bounced up and down and extended his arms for me to carry him. I never could understand how excited and happy he got just to see me. “How are you?”

He pressed his cheek into mine once I had him in my arms and smiled so hard, I was almost sure his face would split in two. I was just happy he was safe.

“Fine.”

“Araceli!” I turned around at the sound of my name and met Derek's concerned gaze. His hair was gelled back and he was wearing a dark suit but the jacket wasn't on yet. “Why are you here? Did something happen with Morgan? What's wrong?”

“One question at a time. Jesus,” I groaned, making him give me an apologetic smile that wobbled on his lips. He very obviously was worried.

“I'm sorry. It's just that Gabrielle and Anastasia cane in her a while ago and started asking me all these weird questions. I don't know. You don't know of she's reconsidering or something, right?”

I looked around the room, taking note of the other guys in here. Travis, Jacob and Theodore who was Derek's sister's husband, all looked at me too, readying themselves for my answer.

I smiled softly, feeling bad for all the worry he was going through and spoke. “Someone left a nasty letter and Gabrielle and Anastasia fell for it. That's all. Morgan is still going to marry you so you don't have to worry.”

Ny words didn't seem to put him at ease like I hoped it would. He furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips. “What did the letter say?”

I sighed and took it out of my handbag and handed it to him, successfully masking the way my heart beat harder in my chest every time I saw it. I would've told him that I knew Celeste and that I was worried that Daniel was coming for me, but I didn't want to stress him on his wedding day so I shut my mouth and let him read.

Seconds passed before he looked at me again, his eyes ablaze with anger but his face showing concern. He just never got a break, did he?

“Do you know this name?” he asked, flashing the letter to me as if I couldn't remember the name that Brough me so much panic. “Do you know her?”

My heart raced in my chest, but I shook my head and frowned as if I had no idea what he was talking about. “No, I don't. Why are you asking?”

“Araceli, this is a note targeting you specifically.”

I stared at him with wide eyes, wondering how he gad put that piece together. “How did you...”

“The only person you've told about your past is Morgan and I. For them to know you have a 'knack for it' means you've either told someone else or the person who sent this has been predisposed to the information.” I gulped, unable to say anything as he continued to speak. “Is Celeste Daniel's wife? She was the one he cheated on with you?”

“It's not cheating, okay?” I suddenly exclaimed, feeling inclined to defend myself. “She knew he was with someone else.”

“That's barely the issue at hand here, Ara,” Travis joined in, taking the nite from Derek and ripping it into shreds. “They might be after you. We need to get you somewhere safer.”

“You need to leave now,” Derek said, placing his hand on my shoulder and staring deep into my eyes. “You're only placing yourself in harm's way by still being here. Go. I have a safe house along the coast and I'll send you the directions so you can get there.”

“But, your wedding,” I frowned, not wanting to miss it. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid yet there we were.

“We'll send you a recording. Now go.”

“They're right,” a third voice joined the conversation. I turned around and glared at Jacob, Derek's friend, who had been sitting there, enjoying the whole scene. “Leave before your boyfriend comes back and shoots up the whole church.”

“Jacob,” Derek said in a warning voice, but he just shrugged.

“It's the truth.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “It's fine. I'll just go.”

He looked back down at me, his eyes shining with guilt as if he'd done anything wrong. “It's for your own safety. Okay?”

I nodded and smiled before making my way towards the door. It's not like I had a specific role to play in the wedding. I just wished I could say the dress that I had dedicated hours to being worn. Jacob was right though. Not only was I in danger, but everyone in the hotel and in the church would be in danger too because Daniel didn't really care who lived or died as long as he got what he wanted.

And I knew then what it was that he wanted. It wasn't me.

He wanted Mateo.

*****

Okay, fine. I admit it. It took a minute to post this but I finally got around to doing it so please pat my back.

I'll try not to miss anymore updates again. I promise.

I've just been busy rewriting this whole story starting from the first ever book, but surprisingly it's been kind of easy. I made a small plan of the first couple of chapters and what I want to put in them and while I never thought I was the kind that worked well when I planned things, I find that I'm much more productive when I'm sitting in front of the plan.

Maybe I was wrong.

Anyway, how are you guys doing? The next chapter will be a bit more interesting but the real action will begin in the chapter after that so stay tuned ;)