Chapter 8

Samantha woke up to one of the most unusual scenes she had ever witnessed. Scarlett was standing in her bedroom with a garment bag in her hand and smiling broadly.

“This is one of the weirdest dreams I have ever had,” Sam said as she looked at Scarlett and then rolled over in bed.

“I’ve got your dress for you,” Scarlett said as she climbed into the bed and sat next to Sam. “The party is only three hours away, we need to get you up and ready.

Sam started to laugh. It hadn’t taken her three hours to get ready for anything in her entire life. She certainly wasn’t going to take three hours to get ready for her engagement party. Plus, she had a dress already picked out that she wanted to wear and didn’t know why Scarlett had brought over a different one.

“I don’t need help getting ready, and I’ve already got a dress.”

“Well, I think this one is better, and we need to get your hair and makeup done. I hired some people. They will be here shortly. Can you just let me do this for you? It’s my engagement party present.”

Sam rolled her eyes. She wasn’t the type of person to make anyone feel bad if they had gone out of their way to do something special for her. So, she reluctantly crawled out of bed and got herself ready for the hair and makeup people that were going to be arriving shortly.

“When will they be here?” Sam asked. “I’m starving.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Scarlett opened it to a crew of people. There were two ladies there to do Samantha’s makeup and one guy for her hair. There was also a woman there to do her nails. Scarlett didn’t know what shape Sam would be in with her hair and nails, and she wanted to be ready for everything that needed to get done. A bride had to look perfect on her wedding day.

“Thank you all for coming,” Scarlett said as she showed them to an area of the bathroom where they could set up.

Luckily, Samantha and Drake’s master bathroom was bigger than most apartments, so it was plenty large enough for them to set up and start working on Sam. One of the women pulled Samantha into the room and placed her into a chair so they could start their work.

“Food, I need food,” Samantha said as she turned back and looked desperately at Scarlett.

“I’ll go find some right now. Have fun!”

“I feel like a movie star, or a pig about to be slaughtered,” Samantha yelled after Scarlett as she left the room.

Now that Scarlett had Samantha started on her getting ready ritual, she let Drake back into the house so he could get ready. He still had a lot to do, and there were a few people that they needed to bring in on the secret before everything started.

Drake went right to his in-laws’ room and knocked on the door. His father-in-law answered, still in his pajamas. They had expected to have three more hours to get ready for the party, but Drake was about to give them a huge surprise.

“I have this tuxedo for you if you’d like. I took your advice, and we are going to have a wedding today,” Drake said to Mr. Holt.

In the background, Drake heard Samantha’s mother as she yelled and got out of bed to come to the door.

“What? Oh, my God. What? Today? I’m so excited!” she yelled.

“Shhh, Sam still doesn’t know. She thinks it’s the engagement party. Please let Robert know if you need anything. I’ll have the wedding planner bring you out to be seated before everything starts. Mrs. Holt and Mr. Holt, I’ll have you wait at the bottom of the stairs when it’s time so you can walk her out to the wedding in the backyard.”

“Oh, Drake, I’m so excited. Thank you for making this happen today,” Mrs. Holt said as she hugged Drake.

“Thank your husband. It was his idea.”

Mr. Holt beamed with pride that he had come up with the idea to hold the wedding early. Drake was excited that it was working out as well as it was, but he couldn’t wait to see Sam and know that she was alright with it all.

“I’m going to get back to work. I’ll see you guys in three hours.”

Drake went back to the front door where Colin was waiting for him. The two men had barely made it through the weeks of planning, but there they were, standing and ready on the big day.

“The flowers are here,” Colin said as he pointed to the front drive.

“Thank God. What else are we waiting on?” Drake asked with anticipation.

“Nothing. The caterer is here with all her staff. The clergy member. Everyone is ready to go. The guests will start arriving in a couple of hours.”

“Thanks, Colin; I’m going to grab a bite to eat.”

In the kitchen, Drake ran into Scarlett, who was getting some food for Samantha to eat while she got ready.

“She still has no idea what is going on. She thinks I hired a team of hair and makeup people just to get her ready for the engagement party. She humored me and let them into the room to work on her.”

Drake had to laugh; Samantha wasn’t the kind of woman who spent hours getting ready for anything. She must really care about Scarlett if she was willing to have herself tortured by hair and makeup for hours before any event.

“How about the other ladies? Is everything going well with them?” Drake reluctantly asked.

“Yes, I was going to ride with them here, but I think its better that they stayed at my house to wait. I’ve got a car picking them up an hour before the wedding, so they will be here and ready to go.”

“I still remember some of the fights that went down in the house during out dating week. Are you sure everyone is going to be able to behave themselves if they are all together again?” Drake asked nervously.

The last thing he wanted was a big scene at his wedding. He wouldn’t have even invited the ladies except that he and Sam had promised them a wedding invite when they had first started dating.

“They are excited for you. The only reason there was drama in the house was because everyone was fighting over the same man. There won’t be drama here. They are just excited to see you two again.”

“Alright, if you say so. I trust you.”

Drake really did trust Scarlett, and he knew Samantha did as well. She had been a good friend to them, and he was excited to watch her new company grow. Scarlett had thought about hiring someone else to manage her L.A. office, and she would return to Atlanta, but Drake really hoped she decided to stay. She and Samantha got along so well, and it was nice for Sam to have someone she really trusted around.

“I better get this food up to the bride-to-be before she bites everyone’s heads off. We both know how she can get when she’s hungry.”

Drake had to laugh. Scarlett was right; she knew Sam very well. Sam wouldn’t be a pleasant person to be around if there wasn’t food in her stomach soon.

Scarlett made her way back to the bedroom and had to laugh at the scene that was going on in the bathroom. There were two women working on Samantha’s makeup, one man doing her hair and another woman working on her toes. It certainly looked like a scene out of a movie star’s life.

“How’s it going?” Scarlett asked as she brought the breakfast sandwich she had made for Sam.

Samantha glared at her with a horribly intense stare and then eyeballed all the people around her.

“It’s going great,” Sam reluctantly said.

“You look beautiful,” Scarlett added.

Samantha was a natural beauty and really didn’t need all the people to work on her to make her any more beautiful. But Scarlett wanted Sam to have the full wedding experience, even if she didn’t know it was her wedding yet.

“I’ll have to thank you later for going to all this trouble for me. I’m really grateful,” Sam said, smiling.

Scarlett just laughed. Samantha looked like she was being tortured at the hands of a beauty group. It was quite funny to watch. Sam was being a great sport, though, and Scarlett knew she was lucky that Sam hadn’t refused the help. It would have made for a much more difficult wedding day if Sam hadn’t agreed to have her hair and makeup done.

After over two hours of primping and pampering, Samantha was all done up and looking amazing. Her hair was shiny and glowing in a beautiful updo, and her makeup looked fresh and youthful. Nothing had been done over the top or crazy. Scarlett had talked to the hair and makeup people ahead of time and told them what they should be doing for Sam’s look for the day.

Luckily, everything turned out beautiful, and as the team finally left the room, Sam looked in the mirror, and Scarlett could tell she was really happy.

“Are you ready for the dress?” Scarlett asked.

“I have one picked out, but I’ll take a look at what you’ve got.”

Scarlett knew that Samantha would wear the dress she had brought for her. Sam wasn’t the kind of woman who turned down a gift from someone. All Scarlett had to do was convince Sam to put the dress on; once it was on, Scarlett knew that Sam would know what was going on. Or at the very least she would suspect something was up, even if she didn’t quite know what it was.

“I had this one made especially for today. I’d be so appreciative if you’d give it a try,” Scarlett said.

Samantha walked with Scarlett to where the dress bag was hanging, and Scarlett slowly unzipped the dress from the bag. The beautiful lace of the dress flowed out of the bag, and Scarlett watched Sam’s face as she pulled the whole dress out of the bag.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” Sam said as she reached for the dress and touched it.

“I hope it fits.”

Scarlett knew that Sam was thinking the dress was not appropriate for an engagement party. The off-white lace looked much more like a wedding dress, but it was so beautiful, and Sam knew that Scarlett had it made just for her; she couldn’t resist at least sliding the dress on.

“It’s so beautiful.”

Sam took the dress and slid it down to the ground before she stepped into the middle of it. Scarlett helped by holding the dress as she pulled it up gently over Sam’s hips and then helped her get her arms into the right area.

“Well, at least it fits good,” Scarlett said as she zipped up the dress.

The dress was skin tight all the way down to the ground where it flared out slightly and had a small train. The intricate beading and lace work looked like it took hours to complete, and from what Scarlett had learned about the dress, it had taken months to hand stitch every bead and lace section onto the dress. They had been very lucky to have found a dress in Sam’s size that didn’t require many alterations to fit her body.

Boy, oh boy, did the dress fit her body. Every curve was covered perfectly. Scarlett couldn’t have seen the dress fitting anyone as well as it fit Sam. It was absolutely stunning on Sam.

“What do you think?” Scarlett asked as she spread out the small train at the bottom of the dress.

Samantha was silent, and Scarlett could see that she was pondering what to say next. The dress obviously looked like a wedding dress, and Sam would have been honored to wear it at her wedding, but she didn’t think it was at all appropriate to wear to an engagement party. On top of that, she’d had her hair and makeup done for hours to attend.

“It’s like my dream wedding dress. Would you mind if I kept it and wore it on my wedding day?” Sam asked as she started to unzip the dress.

“Actually, I think it’s perfect for today,” Scarlett said simply as she stopped Sam from taking off the dress.

Samantha looked at Scarlett and was totally confused about what was going on. She couldn’t wear the dress to her engagement party if she were going to wear it on her wedding day. It wasn’t right, but Sam wasn’t prepared to fight with her friend over the dress either.

“Is there something you’re not telling me, Scarlett?” Sam asked as she turned around in her beautiful wedding dress.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, this dress is exactly everything I have ever wanted in a wedding dress. Down to the single light blue bead right here. I told you about that idea a couple weeks ago and said it was my dream wedding dress idea.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s funny. Well, it looks good for an engagement party dress too,” Scarlett said, trying not to let the secret slip just yet.

“Where’s Drake? I need to talk to him,” Sam said as she went toward the door.

But Scarlett jumped in front of her and slammed the door shut.

“No, you can’t see Drake!”

Scarlett wasn’t about to let Sam jinx her own wedding by seeing her soon to be husband while wearing her wedding dress. She wasn’t big on superstitions, but that was one that she believed in. Scarlett wasn’t letting Sam out of that room until it was time to walk down the aisle.

“Scarlett, you tell me what’s going on right now, or I’m taking this dress off and putting my sweat pants on for the party,” Sam threatened as she stood near the door.

Scarlett didn’t know what to do. Sam looked so amazing with her hair and makeup done specially to match the beautiful dress. They only had a few more minutes until the music started, and it was time for Sam to walk down the aisle. Scarlett had to stall Sam for just a few more minutes and then everything would be ready.

“Sam, I know you want answers, but I need you to trust me. Remember how I asked you to trust me that last day when I was in the house. Remember when we went on that long walk, and you confessed to loving Drake but wanting to give him the opportunity to love someone better. I told you to trust me, and it all worked out just perfectly, didn’t it?”

“Yes, but …”

“But, nothing. You look beautiful, and that’s all there is to it. We aren’t going to talk about it anymore, and you are going to trust me. We have ten minutes to wait. Can you just put your trust in me for ten minutes?”

Scarlett wasn’t about to ruin the secret, and although she thought Sam was going to start figuring it all out very shortly, Scarlett wasn’t going to be the one to come out and tell her exactly what was going on. Part of the fun of the surprise was going to be Samantha realizing that it was actually her wedding day.

“Okay, I’ll give you ten minutes. But that’s it,” Samantha said as she hugged her friend. “But only because I love you.”

“Thanks, Sam. I promise it’s going to be well worth it.”