Payback

Chapter 29: The Wedding

"If you promise to stay, I promise to never leave." -Unknown

Good morning, my love. Greet today with a smile. I'll see you later. I love you. -Xander

☔︎・☔︎・☔︎

There's something magical about weddings that makes you dream of it. I remember imagining my wedding day when I was younger. It was a combination of fairytales and Mom's story of her own wedding.

I even drew how I pictured my wedding dress to look. That is how I realized my love for designing.

Thinking of it now, none of the things I dreamed of were important. It doesn't matter what dress, venue, or theme a wedding should have. What matters the most is the people who would spend eternity together.

"I loved what you did to my sister's dress, Gabbie," Athena, Jay's younger sister said, making me divert my gaze from the bride and groom to her.

I smiled at her. "I could make one for you too in the future when you get married to..." I signaled Bryan's direction. Bryan is Danica's younger brother.

Athena rolled her eyes. "Nothing is going on between us," she said, annoyance evident in her tone. "And besides, Jay wouldn't allow it."

I chuckled. Jay had been so protective of Athena ever since. He's even stricter than Tito Jaden.

"I'll help you convince him." I winked at her.

She just shook her head and focused on Ate Krissa and Kuya Ryan's wedding.

Yes, they ended up together. Who would've thought that Lianna Tyler's Boutique's first child models would get a happily ever after in the future?

I can still remember the days when Ate Krissa would tell me how much she liked Kuya Ryan, and she's too afraid to confess to him because she felt like he treated her like a sister and nothing more than that, but look at them now. They look so happy and in love. They are so perfect together. A match made in heaven.

After the wedding, we moved to the reception area. It was right next door so we didn't have to go very far. I got to sit next to Faith, Ian, Danica, Warren, Andrew, and Xander. Sunshine was busy with work so she couldn't attend.

Maxwell was at a table with his friends and is probably plotting something stupid with Stephen, his best friend, and Shine's brother. The twins were with Mom and Dad who was sitting with their friends as well.

Drew and I agreed to get some desserts so we walked over to the dessert table. As I was grabbing a little bit of everything, I saw a familiar face stood beside me.

"Christina, is that you?" I asked.

"Gabbie, OMG! How are you?" she said before we placed our plates down and greeted each other with a hug. Christina is Tito Christian and Tita Mary's daughter. She's a year younger than me.

"Great," I answered. "How about you? I heard you moved to London?"

"I did," she confirmed. "It was a good thing that I had business matters to attend here. I wouldn't want to miss Ryan's wedding."

I smiled. "I'm so glad you're here. We haven't seen each other in so long," I said.

"Let's hang out soon?" she asked.

"Yes, we should," I answered and both of us laughed.

We talked for a bit before I followed Drew back to our table. The moment I got back, Xander kept stealing my desserts. I just allowed him to do whatever he wants because I know how lazy he is.