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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴘʟᴜs ᴏɴᴇ, ᴍɪɴᴜs ᴏɴᴇ ꒱


❝ CAN THIS COUNT AS
MY WEDDING PRESENT? ❞

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Needless to say, Kendrick and Celeste were very surprised when they met up with Juliet again. For one, she was smiling—actually smiling, not the pinched, forced upturn of her lips that they'd become accustomed to over the years— when she greeted them at the door. For another, the dark hair that now framed her face changed the warmth of her usually vibrant appearance to something that was cooler. It seemed to make her appear more sophisticated— older, in a way. It wasn't necessarily bad, just different and something to get used to. However, they didn't have long to dwell on their shock because this visit wasn't strictly one for pleasantries; they were here on business.

As expected, Celeste was the first to gather herself after they'd stepped inside. "Love the hair," she complimented the other woman. "Can I ask why?

Juliet gave her another smile. Granted, it wasn't the usual exuberant beam that she'd worn when she'd been younger, but it was leagues better than it had been even days ago. "Thanks. I thought the change was necessary. It's symbolic in a way, you know?"

The Asian woman raised an eyebrow with interest. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I mean, I wanted to use it as a way to mark a fresh start."

While she trusted Kendrick and Celeste to support her in this, she chose not to share the whole reason as to why she'd decided to go dark: even though she was trying— really trying— to be happy, it still felt as if all the light had been sucked out of her life. Her vibrant, red hair was a stark contrast her usual emotions, which were more often than not sad and blue. Juliet promised herself that when she felt genuinely happy again, she'd go back to her natural color.

Instead of saying all that, though, she cleared her throat changed the subject. "When you called earlier, you mentioned that you had something to ask me?"

"Yes," Celeste said with a nod, thankfully taking the bait. "It's a matter of some importance. With our wedding date drawing closer, Kendrick and I wanted to start working on some of the details. Since you're much easier than dealing with my relatives, we decided that you're first on our list."

"Lucky me," Juliet replied dryly. "What's up? You know I'm happy to help you guys with whatever you need."

"That's great." Kendrick jumped in; his voice was filled with obvious relief. "We need a Maid of Honor and we— well, Celeste— wanted—"

"Would you be my Maid of Honor?" the brunette finished, cutting off her fiancé's nervous rambling with her calm question.

Juliet didn't respond for a moment as she let their request register, but then she shook her head vehemently. "No. No way. Absolutely not. I'm sorry, but I'd literally rather do anything else than be a Maid of Honor again. I regretted my decision almost as soon as I made it last time and I've learned my lesson."

Celeste made a face. "Do you really think I'll be a bridezilla?"

Juliet faltered for a moment. "No— no, of course not," she agreed quickly (a little too quickly.) "But I'd rather not have to, uh. . ."

"Deal with my relatives?" the other woman offered with an amused smile. "Or me?"

The dark-haired woman's mouth opened and closed as she tried to figure out an answer that wouldn't offend her friend. Kendrick nudged his fiancée lightly. "Stop it, babe. You're making her uncomfortable." He turned to Juliet with a warm smile. "You don't have to, of course. We'd just rather work with you than Celeste's cousin from Japan."

Finally, she came up with a weak reply: "your family's not that bad. . . right?"

The couple exchanged an apprehensive look. Even Celeste— who was usually so composed and collected— looked uneasy. "Worse, actually. They're not overly fond of the fact that this is a mixed wedding. If I had it my parents' way, I'd be marrying some hotshot CEO from one of the major families in Singapore."

Kendrick put a reassuring hand on her arm. "Don't worry. A little bit of racism doesn't faze me." His words earned him slightly incredulous expressions from both women. He shrugged. "What? I'm just trying to make light of a bad situation."

"If you really don't like them, can't you. . . uninvite them?" Juliet suggested. "I mean, I know it's family and everything but if they cause you this much stress with an eight-hour time difference, what will it be like when you're in the same time zone?"

"I'm trying not to think about it," Celeste admitted. "Well, if you won't be my right-hand woman, will you still at least be a bridesmaid? I promise to pick out a dress color that doesn't clash. . . never mind," she realized as she eyed her friend's new, dark locks. "I guess that's not really a problem anymore."

Juliet grinned. "You're welcome. Hey! Can this count as my wedding present?"

🌎🌎🌎

After everything she'd heard about Celeste's family, Juliet wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting them at the dress fitting. She sat nervously on one of the stiff, backless lounge chairs with her hands clasped tightly in her lap. The Asian woman wasn't much better as she paced in front of her best friend. As the Maid of Honor had yet to arrive, Juliet did her best to substitute for the time being.

"Relax," she said anxiously. "It'll be fine. You'll see."

Celeste pinned her with a clearly unconvinced look. "You sound worried."

"I'm not worried!" the dark-haired woman replied quickly.

The bride scoffed slightly. "No wonder your first Maid of Honor was a bad experience, you're terrible at this."

Juliet felt her face warm at the dig. She had to admit that her friend's claim was true; Topanga's initial wedding planning had been a disaster. As her Maid of Honor, she could have probably done more to keep things on the right track. As it was, she'd been too preoccupied about how the oncoming ceremony would affect. . . No, she told herself sternly. Don't think about that. Leave the past in the past. Focus on the present.

That had become her recent mantra as she tried to assimilate into her new personality: confident, outgoing and charming— how she'd been when she was younger, but more on the extreme side. She shook herself from her thoughts and changed the subject: "do you want to start trying on dresses? It might help you take your mind off things."

"No, I—" Celeste began in a short tone, as if exasperated by the idea. It changed to become more appreciative as she realized what Juliet had offered. "I would, but my mom would probably have my head if we started without her. She's flown all the way from Singapore for this."

"Is she usually late? Or do you think she's being affected by the jet lag?"

The Asian woman shook her head. "My mom's will is stronger than jet lag. She's probably out getting brunch with my cousins— they flew in last night, too. She's on her own schedule and since she doesn't respect Kendrick, she'll be purposely late to every event."

Juliet made a face. "I'm not looking forward to the rehearsal dinner, then. I'll make sure to eat before I come."

"That's probably smart," Celeste agreed. She checked her watch and sighed. "It's been almost an hour now. If you want to leave you can. You probably have better things to do than wait around."

"Don't worry about it," she said reassuringly. "There's no way I'm leaving you to deal with. . . uh, your family by yourself." Juliet had clearly planned on using an unpleasant adjective to describe Celeste's family, but had changed her mind midway.

The bride gave her a tense but grateful smile as she took a seat next to the other woman.

🌎🌎🌎

"Do we really have to do a full wedding? Can't we just elope?" Kendrick complained as he, Celeste and Juliet ate Chinese food in the couple's apartment after a particularly grueling day. "Your mom is a piece of work."

The Asian woman pointed her chopsticks at him in a slightly threatening manner. "Watch it. She's going to be your mother soon, too."

"The horror," he deadpanned. "Seriously, if we were doing this my family's style, we'd get married in the closest park and then have an outdoor barbeque."

"Most of them can't afford to fly to London," Celeste replied evenly. "That's why my family's taken over the reins. And if you want to be the one to tell my mother that she won't get her professional photos then by all means, tell her."

"I don't have a death wish."

Before Celeste could argue back, Juliet jumped in; she'd been changing the subject a lot recently as the couple's disagreements became more frequent. "Celeste, your family isn't that bad," she protested.

Immediately, they both turned to her with comically wide eyes. "How could you say that?" Kendrick demanded, at the same time his fiancée added:

"Have you met my mother?"

"Alright," the dark-haired woman conceded. "Maybe your mother isn't the best. And I'm certainly not Niwa's biggest fan, but Chen is tolerable to be around." The pair exchanged a knowing glance, causing Juliet to demand: "what?"

Celeste spoke carefully. "Chen's the first. . . guy you've given the time of day."

"Could he be your plus one to the wedding?" Kendrick pitched in, with far less tact.

Juliet bristled at the suggestion. "No way! I'm not ready to date yet, you know that. Besides, I only said he was tolerable— you don't have to treat as if I were proposing to him or something. Jesus, you guys. You'd think you didn't know me at all!"

Celeste kicked the dark-skinned man under the table, causing him to wince. She gave the other woman a sympathetic smile. "That's quite alright," she agreed easily. "You should date whenever you feel it's time. We were just. . . offering it as an option. It kind of sucks to go to a wedding by yourself."

Apparently, Kendrick didn't heed his warning as he spoke up again: "it has been three years. It might be a good idea to test the waters, and what better way to do so with Celeste's cousin that you're probably never going to see again? Ouch!" he added as he shot a glare in the Asian woman's direction.

"Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm good," Juliet replied. "I was actually planning on asking Minkus— er, Stuart, to come with me."

"Well, let us know how it works out," Celeste said earnestly. "From all you've told us, I'd definitely like to meet him."

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When she called Stuart (it was so hard to think of him on a first-name basis) later, he'd been surprised but regretful as he declined the invitation as he was in a critical place with his business. ("Could you go back in time and tell my younger self that you would be asking me to a wedding?" She'd replied with an amused tone: "no, but you'll probably invent time travel in the near future and can tell yourself that.") She wasn't going to have a date— or any kind of plus one— to the wedding. So what? Celeste's mother, Hana, had decided to have an open bar. By the end of the night, Juliet was sure that she was going to make full use of it— especially with how the day was currently going.

It was now D-day, two months later. The back rooms of the wedding venue bustled with activity as relatives and friends rushed to get the last touches together before the appointed time. Against all stereotypical descriptions, Celeste did not look like a 'glowing bride' as she tried to negotiate with her cousin to put on the chosen dress. There was a stressed gleam in her eyes as she argued with Niwa— one that had Juliet making sure to keep all sharp objects out of sight.

"Seriously, shoushi [cousin], you know that emerald is literally my least favorite color! It's so out of season right now, too. You're having a fall wedding— if you wanted green, you could have at least gone with sage!"

Juliet imagined the unpleasant retort that her friend undoubtedly wanted to snap at the brunette, but Celeste grit her teeth and held it in, opting to take a deep breath instead. "Niwa, it's only for a few hours. You know mother picked this color out since it will be in fashion when we get the pictures back."

Her trend-obsessed cousin huffed and tossed the dress to the nearby chair. "A few hours, an eternity? What's the difference when I'll have to look at those pictures for the rest of my life and know that you picked jewel tones for a wedding that obviously screams pastel!"

"Again, mother picked out the colors," Celeste repeated. Her air of forced calm wavered slightly as her patience was tested. This day was supposed to be about her, after all, and yet, as always, her cousin was being more of a bridezilla than she was. "And you don't ever have to come back to our house and see them, if you like."

Thankfully, the other woman didn't pick up on her bitter tone and chose to argue a different point. "Why did oba-san [aunt] pick out the colors anyway? Isn't this supposed to be your wedding? Maybe if you had more say in the theme, it wouldn't be such a disaster!"

"I don't know whose wedding it is anymore," the bide mumbled. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to compose herself. When she opened them again, she spoke with threatening undertones: "Niwa, I swear, if you don't get into that dress right now—"

"O-kay," Juliet jumped in. While she normally tried to stay out of the Ng's family arguments, they were going to be late if they kept this up. "This isn't a murder-mystery dinner. Before we resort to cousincide, maybe there's a solution to this."

Both women turned to her with incredulous expressions on their faces. Niwa's was more disparaging as she asked, "and what would you propose?"

The dark-haired woman floundered for a moment as she hadn't been expecting the question. There was absolutely no compromising with Niwa; it was her way or the high way. She chewed on her bottom lip as she thought, but took a minute too long for the Japanese woman.

"I thought so," the brunette said snidely, turning away from her. "Now—"

"What about maroon?" Juliet had both women's attention now.

Celeste gave her a hopeful look. "What's your idea, Jules?"

Her gaze remained on her friend's difficult cousin. "How do you feel about maroon, Niwa?"

Niwa pursed her lips. "It's not pastel."

"Is it a fall color?" Juliet asked. She'd never once thought about colors corresponding to seasons but she supposed that came from growing up with boys. Her female friendships had formed late and, while she did have a shallow interest in fashion, she only knew enough to put outfits together.

"Yes," she admitted reluctantly, "though wine red would be closer."

"I don't have wine red. I do have my maroon bridesmaid's dress from my friend's wedding, though. I don't know if we can get it altered on such short notice, though."

Celeste's expression was one of the utmost gratitude. "The tailor for my dress is still here in case of emergencies. I'll tell mother to stall to give you enough time to get it."

"Whoa, hang on!" Niwa exclaimed (unnecessarily) loudly, cutting into their conversation. "I haven't agreed to anything! Maroon is still jewel-toned, you know."

The dark-haired woman let out a strained breath. "Niwa, your main issue was with the dress being out of season. I have one that is in season. We don't have any other dresses; you can either chose the green one, the red one, or we'll uninvite you from the wedding." She said this last part with a sort of savage pleasure; Niwa had been difficult from day one and Juliet had (almost) regretted saying no to Celeste's offer.

The Japanese woman looked deeply offended (probably because Juliet had called the color 'green' instead of 'emerald'— Niwa was so pretentious.) Niwa must have sensed that the tide was turning; Juliet and Celeste had— unintentionally— moved closer together and were staring her down with their arms crossed over their chests in an eerily identical way. She made a big show of sighing and pouting as she complained, "I can't believe you guys are ganging up on me like this. I'm only trying to make my shoushi's wedding the best it can be—"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Juliet exclaimed, completely exasperated by the whole ordeal.

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Kendrick and Celeste were married at long last later that day, much to the couples' relief. Even if Hana's reception of her new son-in-law wouldn't be called civil by any means of the word, there was nothing she could do now that could separate the newlyweds. Juliet was currently sitting alone at one of the many round tables, slightly slumped over in her chair as she was exhausted from the day's events; she could only imagine how Celeste must be feeling. Her fingers lazily twisted the stem of a tall wine glass that was half-full of a deep, red wine that she couldn't pronounce and would never be able to afford under normal circumstances. Couples revolved slowly on the dance floor as romantic music played from the speakers (the live band had taken a half-hour break.)

She was grateful that the whole ordeal was finally over and swore to herself that she'd decline any future invitations to weddings. In fact, she promised herself that if she ever did get married, she'd skip this whole fiasco and just go straight to the courthouse. Or maybe she'd get married outside on a rooftop somewhere with no frills or fuss over what color the napkins should be. Then, without warning, the image of which groom she'd like to have formed in her mind. Juliet squeezed her eyes shut and shoved all thoughts of marriage away. In an effort to prevent herself from spiraling, she downed the rest of the very expensive wine in one sip.

"It's been that kind of day, huh?" a familiar, slightly accented male voice spoke from behind her. She quickly set her wine glass down and wiped her mouth on her napkin, feeling inexplicably like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"I 'spose," she decided on replying. Juliet cringed inwardly and wished that she had something more intelligent to say.

Chen Ng took one of the empty chairs next to her. He was, in her opinion, admittedly handsome. Like most of Celeste's cousins, he came from a wealthy background with the looks to match and occupied a high-end job in one of China's major companies. "It's alright," he said. "I know how much of a nightmare Niwa can be. She's been like that since we were kids."

"Oh," the dark-haired woman responded. Juliet had never considered herself to be particularly flirty; she'd been lucky (or not) to have two guys that had considered her worth their time without having to put in much effort. Now that she was alone, she wasn't quite sure how to act in the presence of a guy that she found attractive (not that she would ever tell Kendrick or Celeste that.) Remember: confident, outgoing, charming. Leave the past in the past.

With these thoughts in mind, Juliet made a tremendous effort to turn a rapidly-becoming-awkward conversation around. "So, what's the story with the Ngs? Celeste's never gone much into her family history but I know that she's Chinese-Singaporean. But Niwa's Japanese. How does that happen?"

Chen gave her a little smile— she noticed that he kept his lips closed as he did so— at her question. "Well, there's three branches in our family because Celeste's father had two brothers. My grandfather was a bit of a hard-ass and married his sons off to the three most eligible women since it was his dream to have a monopoly across Asia— it's a good thing he didn't have more sons. Anyway, my dad married a Chinese woman, one of my uncles married Ayi Hana, who's from Singapore, and the other was sent off to Japan."

"Do all rich fathers pull their sons' strings?" Juliet wondered. Her ex-boyfriend Jack came to mind here, which was somewhat of a surprise since it had been years since she'd thought of him.

The Asian man chuckled. "I don't know about all rich fathers. I'm sure there's some decent ones out there, but I can't speak for mine."

"I can," she decided. "Mine's great. Well, except for the part where he abandoned my mom, but now he's a good father. Maybe it's different with girls." Juliet made a face. "We're in the 2000s now. You'd think they'd get past this gender-biased way of thinking."

"I agree," he said. "Though in this case, I think equality would be the opposite of what you're trying to achieve. But in general I think that girls are much too smart to let their fathers tell them what to do."

Juliet felt her face heat up as he said this and she quickly looked down at the white tablecloth. While it could have been said as an offhand comment to continue their conversation, Chen's dark eyes were focused on her in a way that suggested he thought highly of her intelligence. She'd always been a sucker for guys who thought she was smart. As soon as she acknowledged that, she couldn't stop the next statement that came out of her mouth: "Kendrick suggested that we should go on a date."

Once she'd registered what she'd said, Juliet felt her face heat up further, and this time not in a pleasant way. She had to physically keep herself from squirming in her seat out of embarrassment. Way to live up to your new image. Well, at least she'd been bold.

To his credit, he didn't look put off. "Did he? Why would he say something like that?" Chen paused to study her with a hint of amusement in his expression. "Unless you mentioned something that would suggest. . .?"

"No!" Juliet said quickly as she tried to ignore the burning sensation that was curling through her insides. Now would be a good time for the floor to open up and swallow her whole. "No way, I definitely didn't say anything like that. Kendrick says weird things all the time. It's-it's just that I couldn't find a date-I mean someone to go with to the wedding, and since you'd already be there—" She cut herself off to keep herself from rambling further.

"I'm flattered that you'd consider me as a romantic partner but I'm afraid I'm not currently looking for anyone. Besides, I'll be leaving London at the end of the week. It would be a little impractical, wouldn't it?"

She could quite literally just die. "That's what would make it work." Why couldn't she stop talking? Was there something wrong with her brain? "I'm not looking for anything long-term. It's been a few years since I've gone out with anyone so that's why Kendrick thought it would be a good idea."

To her surprise, Chen actually seemed to be considering her words. "One date, no strings attached?"

"One day isn't really long enough to get to know someone, is it?" Juliet pointed out.

"Fair enough. How does Friday sound?"

The dark-haired woman stared at him in shock for a moment that he'd taken her impulsive words seriously, but then she offered him a small smile. "That sounds great."

A/N: hi everyone! Sorry I went MIA; I've had a lot going on with the winter holidays and school starting. Plus I've become obsessed with playing Disney Dreamlight Valley. I'm not usually into gaming but this one has taken over my life, which is why I haven't written as much. I don't know when I'll be able to write again, but the good news is my gaming hyperfixation is fading (at least until the update that's coming out later this month), so hopefully I'll get another chapter out sooner.

Also, I know it seems fast for Juliet to change her mind from 'absolutely no dating' to agreeing to go out with Chen, but at least two months are covered in this chapter, which would be enough time for her mindset to change. Plus, by the end of the chapter she's more assimilated into her 'new personality,' which is why she (very clumsily) brought up the date in the first place.