Another Shot at Love by Io Lopez

This story is part of the Summer Lovin' Writing Challenge, where we invited writers to explore the storytelling possibilities of a simple situation. We gave authors free reign to interpret the prompt as they see fit, provided that they give their story a clear ending.

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Note: This story has not yet been proofread.

“Who would have thought that two people who had crushes on each other in the past could work so well together to plan my and my fiance’s dream wedding by the beach?” Noelle creeps up by my side as I continue to check how the florists create the centerpieces for the tables.

Both of us are in the makeshift tent where the wedding ceremony and the reception are going to be held tomorrow. Noelle has been the biggest hopeless romantic that I’ve ever met, and there is no question that she’s hoping that I’ll rekindle the spark with the guy I have hated: her future brother-in-law, the Best Man and the biggest mistake of my life, Lennox Evans. 

“Oh, quit it, Noelle. Nothing is going to happen between the two of us tomorrow evening. Have you forgotten how much I despise that guy?” I quip. Lennox - the guy who I once deemed to be the one. All those dreams shattered when I saw him kissing another girl at one of their family dinners that I also got invited to.

“Seriously though, he hasn’t stopped looking at you since you came into the tent. He’s been talking about you. He even told us that he’s ready to grovel, you know.” 

Grovel his ass. I can’t seem to know why she and he were liplocked that night. But hey, it’s over and done with, and the past needs to be buried and Lennox is a man. I mean a “manly” man.

Despite working in a female-dominated industry, he stands out as one of the best. He’s got more clients than the most famous agency in the city. He also stands out in the looks department, which makes everything more unfair. Being a year older than Lawrence, he looks like a typical businessman - tall, with a sharp hair cut and a dominant air about him. He is stacked - with muscles that flex whenever he lifts something heavy- more than enough to fill out that suit nicely. His skin is sun-kissed from all the surfing that he has done within the past few days while staying in the resort whenever he gets the time. Lips that could possibly talk his way out of any problem and he’s a hot nerd. 

We both admitted that we liked each other but now I wonder if he still does feel the same because I know I do. With us frequently stealing glances at and butting heads with other has been happening in the last couple of days. 

As Noelle and I continue to speak, I notice that the brothers are making their way towards us. There is clearly tension in the air where Lennox and I are concerned. Everyone seems to feel it. Noelle bumps me telling me that they’re already near us. 

“Lennox, before you tease my best friend, I just want to say,” Noelle starts. “that everything looks perfect. You both have outdone yourselves. You, both, should work together, you know.” Noelle winks and I just continue shake my head. 

“Well, I think this will be our first and our last collaboration, Noey. She clearly does not want to have anything to do with me after this.” Lennox speaks. I spare a glance at him, and I can see that he’s torn about something though he’s smiling. 

“Ellie, don’t you want to do a collab with my brother, here? It seems that you two make a really good team,” Lawrence quips as he stands behind Noelle and hug her from behind. 

“I am not sure. I’m able to go about wedding planning alone just fine. Starting my own events planning agency doesn’t seem to be a bad plan.” 

“You wouldn’t dare, Ellie. What if I draft you a contract and make you a permanent partner in the agency?” 

The room falls silent. Both Noelle and Lawrence just stand there with their mouths hanging open. 

“Excuse me?”

“Since I’m not paying you to order me around, might as well hire so you can have that right on what goes where in events.” 

“You know if it wasn’t for my best friend and her wonderful fiance, who happens to be your brother, I would have strangled you already. Then, I’d dump you where sharks can happily feed on your sorry ass. But I’m not gonna do that. And I can bet that ‘sexy...I mean sorry ass’ despite your delusion of perfection in planning, that there will be mishaps tomorrow.” 

“Well, babe, I think that’s our cue to leave my brother and your best friend to their unfinished business... I mean the wedding preparations,” Lawrence says as he pushes Noelle towards the exit of the tent. 

Lennox and I stand there looking at each other. Both not knowing what to say. I start to take deep breaths and go back to picking up some flowers and pretend to arrange. The peonies looked so wonderful in full bloom and I smell the  calming scent. 

“Don’t even pretend to arrange flowers when I know you can’t.” Lennox says. 

He extends his hand to me and does the most unexpected thing. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk by the beach...to take a break.” 

I heave a sigh and then walk ahead of him towards the exit. He follows in step with me and we stride towards the shoreline. The water brushing against our feet is a welcome distraction. This is the first time that we are spending time out of the venue though we’ve been here for 4 days. The evening is quiet, and the guests have mostly retreated to their mini villas. 

“So why are we walking down the beach?” my voice comes out more irate than I expected. 

“Well, I just wanted us to take a break. We’ve been working nonstop in the last three days, and we just haven’t found the proper time to talk about some things.” I can feel his voice shake. This confident and good-looking man is nervous. 

“And what are those things?” 

“The kind that we should have talked about a year ago. And I know, you know, what I’m talking about.” He stops walking and then pulls me with him. He holds both of my hands. I know there’s no room to refuse to look at him but I can’t help but feel how nice it is for my hands to be engulfed by his.  “You should know that I still do like you.” 

That statement forces me to meet his gaze. Is he serious? After what happened that night, I vowed never to entertain him again should he ever decide to pursue me. I was hurt but I also know that I do not have much strength to say no to him. 

“I want to continue getting to know you, El. I know I messed up that night but believe me, I did not kiss that woman. She came on to me and it just happened at the moment you came out of the door. I did not feel anything for that woman and never will I look at her more than just a friend.” 

This admission brings me happiness and at the same time fear. There is a myriad of emotions running about me and a huge part tells me to believe this guy. 

“I don’t know, Len. We were such in a good place and then that happened. From that moment on, I decided to just be civil with you. Plus, you offered to make me a partner in your agency. What was that about?” my voice raised a bit, irritated with the way he dropped the offer. 

“I did that because that is the only way that I could think of to be able to spend more time with you and pick up from where we left off. I know this is bad timing but,” he lets go of my hand and sighs.

“Let’s just make sure that everything will go smoothly tomorrow for the wedding. I agree that this is not the best time to talk about it. The priority is for us to finish this event with happy  guests. It could be a great PR for your company.” 

Looking at his conflicted form, I decide to take my leave and return to the tent leaving him there with his thoughts. This is all too much for me - the pressure from the wedding, the guests and then the declaration of his feelings. 

A glass of red wine before bed and six hours later, I get up to start my day by heading out to the tent to help out with the last minute preparations. The books, which the couple have chosen to be their wedding favors, needed to be put up in the shelves beside the dessert buffet. 

Two hours into working, I can hear Lennox raising his voice. Apparently from what I can hear, there is a mistake in the seating assignments and everyone failed to see it. I have to interfere before this gets out of hand. He clearly is not in the mood and I know part of the reason why. 

“Excuse me, may I but in? What seems to be the problem, Lena?” I ask looking at the staff instead of Lennox. 

She’s already in tears. She’s shaken up pretty badly and can’t seem to answer straight away. 

“I messed up one of the arrangements. Mr. Daniels should be sitting with the rest of his family but I accidentally switched his place up with Mr. Evans’ grandfather.”

“Okay, this is not a big deal. I’ll sort this one out, Lena. You can go back to your work. Don’t worry.” I add a wink and a faint smile to ease Lena’s nerves. 

“This is just great! All she had to do was to check if everyone was in the right group!” Lennox speaks with a tense voice.His bright demeanor over the last couple of days seem to have dissolved after the conversation we had last night. 

“I said, I will handle it, Len. Why are you so upset about a small thing? I’ll go talk to Grandpa John and Mr. Daniels personally and tell them about the little switch up. It’s going to be fine.” 

“You’re giving me orders now?” he looks at me with a vexed expression. 

“If I must, I will. Your temper needs to be in check. We are all stressed.  Yelling at your staff won’t solve anything. I suggest that you leave the tent for some time to cool off. Go,” I start to push him. I feel that his whole body stiffen but the minute that my palms touch his back, he starts to relax. 

I carry on with the wedding preparations to his dismay. Summer weddings aren’t really my thing but what the couple wants, the couple gets. I just hope that in the afternoon, everything and everyone cools down. 

Five hours and 3 cups of coffee later, the wedding ceremony starts. I am lucky to have gotten an hour of getting prepped for the ceremony. 

Walking down the aisle, I notice Lennox standing beside his brother in the altar. He looks at me with an expression that is a mix of yearning and remorse, probably because of what had happened earlier. I should fix things later. 

The ceremony is wonderful. It is even made more intimate with the fact that there are only members of the immediate family and very close colleagues invited. Everyone is happy and in a celebratory mood. I have been approached by guests complimenting how the event was organized and of course, I give credit to where it is due - Lennox. 

Lennox walks up to me when I stand beside the live wedding painter and checking the work she’s  doing. He motioned for me to move outside of the tent. 

“Congratulations for a successful event, Mr. Evans. A lot of the people have complimented how well it was organized,” I say. I can’t bear another minute of dead air between us. 

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” His voice is calm and sweet. I look at him feeling a bit nervous as I do not know how this conversation is going to go. “Thank you for your hard work, Ellie. The offer still stands, you know. And before I forget, you look beautiful.” 

Lennox Evans is making me blush for the first time since we got here. He looks relaxed and calm and I feel that what happened earlier was an accumulated amount of stress that included me. And I, being the fixer, need to address it sooner.

“Len.”

“El.”

We both speak at the same time. We smile at each other and he gestures me to speak first. 

“Len, I am grateful that you opened up to me last night. I didn’t know that you felt that way for me and it has got me thinking,” I say. 

“Hold up, are we talking about the partnership offer or the other offer”

“Well...now that you ask...it’s about the other offer.” I look at my hands as if they are the most interesting things to look at. “Len, are you sure it’s a good idea for us to get back into getting to know each other? I mean, I feel it, too, you know.”

He breathes in deeply and I can see one side of his lips lifting slightly as if he can see where this is going. 

“Do you still like me, El?”

“I do.”

He moves closer to me and I breathe his scent in - clean, light, cool like the ocean breeze. My heart beats quicker than ever and I can feel that his is beating in the same erratic manner as mine does. He tucks some loose hair behind my ear and I shiver at his touch. 

“Then, let me tell you this. If you give me a chance, I’ll make sure to make it up to you. I can’t promise you that I’ll be perfect, well I already am in planning, “ he jokes and I give out a small laugh. “but I will try my best to woo you in the way that you’ve always wanted.”

Looking into his eyes, I can see his honesty. If he’s showing me this much of emotion and promising me what he’d do if I’d give him the chance. Something tells me that this chance could be the one that we need to patch things up and start anew. 

“Does this mean that you’ll put up with my moods, my being grumpy and being crazy mad?” I ask. 

He draws in nearer and  cups my face between his warm hands. “Yes. I will ensure that you’ll get your sweets, cookies and cakes on the days that you need them. I will make reservations to the restaurants that you want to try out. I will even block my whole Friday afternoon so that I can spend more time with you. Will that be enough?

“You remember what I like to eat on the you-know-what days?” The way that he remembers what I like to eat and do says a lot about this man. 

“Typed them in my memo app so I won’t forget them,” he fishes his phone to show me what he has written on the app. 

This man. This wonderful man even though I hate to admit it has left a lasting mark on my heart. 

“Let’s take another shot at it.”

He smiles at me before he rests his forehead against mine. I feel relieved to see how he took it all in stride. The last couple of months of him being patient with me during the whole wedding planning and organizing time couldn’t have been easy. But I think now that we’re both in the same page, it will get easier. I hear Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” being played through the speakers. 

“I think it’s time for us to get back inside,” he says. “It’s time for us to dance. I handpicked that song just for us.” 

I smile and take the hand that offers me as we walk hand in hand towards the tent. I then stop for a quick second to tell him about my decision about his partnership offer. 

“Wait, I forgot to tell you something.” Here goes nothing. “I want to look into the partnership deal that you’re offering.”

He kisses my cheek as he chuckles and continues to usher me towards the dance floor where we swayed with the music and danced with the rest of the family throughout the evening. 

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