Bonus Chapter: Meeting Aqueela (Part 3)

Three years later...

Sarah's POV:

Emma and I walk back to the room where she's supposed to wait. "I'll be back, Emma. Your wedding is starting soon so I just quickly need to check if everything is in order," I tell her. We're running a bit late as is.

"No, don't!" Emma exclaims before motioning over to Lola standing beside her.

I stifle a laugh. Lola doesn't seem that bad...

"I'll be nimble," I reply reassuringly, doing my best not to giggle. Lola is definitely not the type that Em chooses to hang out with.

I leave the room and check the decor. All of it has been done beautifully; everyone has done their jobs well.

I greet people along the way. There's a lot of people that I don't know.

"Hey, Sar," Grey stops me next; it's nice to see a familiar face. He takes in my appearance and nods in approval. "You look nice."

"Thank you," I hug him and smile. "How are you?"

I glance around but I don't see Nancy anywhere nearby. Maybe she and Ryan aren't coming after all.

"Good, thanks," he answers me before returning the question, "you?"

"It's been a busy morning," I admit. Landon has been more difficult than the bride herself but that was to be expected. "We're here and that's all that matters," I conclude, choosing to stay optimistic. My best friend is getting married today.

Grey chuckles, catching the underlining message behind my words. He clears his throat. "How is Em doing?"

"A bit nervous but really excited," I answer him.

He nods, acknowledging my words. "Is Landon around?"

"He's somewhere around here. I'm actually looking for him too," I tell him.

I'm about to say more when two men interrupt our conversation:

"Excuse me, Madam," a man with brown hair and dark eyes bows before me, a serious expression on his face, "but where is the bathroom? Could you point me in the direction, your Kindness? My bladder is about to burst. I really have to pee-pee."

The other guy with striking eyes, turquoise in colour, speaks up:

"And you're sure you don't have to poo-poo, BroMax?" He asks his friend, seemingly dead serious, which makes it all the more confusing. "It's not healthy to hold in a twosie 'cause that could be quite a doosie."

The one known as Max cringes in response. "Troy, don't embarrass me in front of a pretty lady. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

I raise a brow at the two and stifle a laugh.

What is happening? Are they being for real?

"Um...." I hesitate, puzzled, "what?" is all I manage to get out. I'm still in shock here.

"BroMadamKindness, you don't want a mess all over the wedding reception, do you? Otherwise the bride is going to be slipping down the aisle instead of walking down it. I suggest you tell BroMax where he can go and number two," Troy says to me, blunt as ever.

I look over at Grey for help. I'm not sure what to do here. I'm never been put in a position like this before.

"Bunch of idiots," Grey mutters under his breath, his entire demeanour suddenly changing. "Just ignore them, Sarah, or they'll murder you with their stupidity."

"Pish posh, you'll love the brown slosh," Troy replies to Grey and then laughs hysterically at himself.

"How do you know them?" I ask Grey quietly.

"Through God punishing me for all my sins," he tells me, causing me to laugh.

I look up again and catch Max's gaze. "Hey," he nods at me, finally introducing himself, "I'm Max."

"I know," I reply, bewildered, "your name's been mentioned a few times now in this conversation."

"Not enough though," he jokes and holds up his hand for a high-five, "am I right or am I right?" He cups his mouth and begins to holler loudly, "What's goood?! Get woke, America!"

I merely smile, growing more uncomfortable by the second.

Troy, as if seeing it as a competition, decides to introduce himself too. He curtseys before me before startling me by suddenly grabbing my hand. "I'm Troy, Madam, but you can just call me Troy. Humbled for you to finally meet me, your prince," he says before kissing my hand. "You've been waiting for me, I know. What a pleasure it is for you."

Is he flirting? I'm not sure...

The kissing leads to a make out session against my hand and it's quite disturbing. I pull my hand back and discreetly rub it against the side of my dress in the hopes of removing his saliva.

"She's dating Landon," Grey steps in and saves me.

Both Max and Troy suddenly take a few steps back from me with wide and fearful eyes.

Yup...they have definitely met my boyfriend.

Max holds his hands up in surrender and begins to subtly move away from me. "Back it up, back it up," he hums softly, afraid. "We'll be on our way then, Madam," he begins to ramble while still walking backwards, "and forget our names and faces, they're really not important!" He ends up running away.

"I mean, my face is pretty important," Troy argues with him. "It makes quite the memorable impression on people."

I nod. "Um...okay."

Troy suddenly points to something behind me. "Quick! Look! I'm pointing at something behind you!"

I frown and keep my eyes locked on him, aware of what he's trying to do.

Nonetheless, Troy quickly does a somersault followed by a cartwheel before he scrambles to hide behind a chair. He crawls out a second later and then disappears around the corner where Max left.

I turn back to Grey and burst out laughing. "What just happened?"

Grey joins in and laughs too. He places a hand on my shoulder as if to reassure me. "It's better you don't know." He spots two people in the crowd and motions me over, "C'mon, I'll introduce you to real people."

That would be nice. I'm all for real people.

"Hey, dude," an attractive man with black hair greets Grey, a friendly grin on his face. "Long time, huh?"

Grey nods in agreement. "Benley, this is Landon's girlfriend, Sarah. Sarah, this is Benley, a mutual friend of ours."

Landon hasn't ever mentioned a Benley to me before...

Benley smiles at me politely and shakes my hand. "Nice to meet you."

I nod and return his warm smile. "Likewise."

Benley shakes his head at Grey. "And here I thought you finally settled?" He teases, gesturing over to me.

"Sarah's out of my league, out of Landon's too to be truthful," Grey scoffs jokingly before greeting the beautiful woman standing beside Benley. "Hi, I'm Grey."

The girl smiles widely at him. "That's a unique name. I'm not sure if I hate it or love it but I think I hate it," she says, surprising us all with her words. "Hi! I'm AJ! Just by the way!"

Grey frowns at her for a second and then meets Benley's gaze again, letting it slide. "So, just because you settled, you assume everyone else has to too?"

"Well, dude, you're not getting any younger," Benley jokes with him. "Or any prettier...."

While the men talk, I introduce myself to AJ. "Sarah, nice to meet you."

"AJ!" She shakes my hand eagerly and repetitively. "It's so awesome to meet you! Are you the maid of honour 'cause you're fricken beautiful?!"

I can't help but smile. Her overenthusiasm is endearing. "I am," I answer. "And you're the one to talk; you're gorgeous."

She brushes my compliment off. "Aww, stop!"

"I hope you don't mind; I'm just running some errands before we start," I excuse myself, apologetic. "I'll catch up with you and Benley later?"

I need to get back to Em. She's going to kill me for leaving her alone for this long with Lola, that's if she's even survived.

"Fo sho! Go ahead," AJ insists, not taking offense. "You do you! Go and be great! Make me proud!"

I smile again, not sure what to say to that.

Some strange people here today...

Just as I'm leaving, a person barges through the church doors like a crazy person. I spin around and see that it's a petite, blonde-haired woman with her first in the air. "Your Honor, I object!" She shouts, managing to draw my attention as well as everyone else's.

Grey curses loudly and I immediately realize who it is; this can only be the infamous Aqueela Lawson I keep hearing about.