All is fair in Love & War

Chapter 3

Now that the two of them had gathered their luggage they were making their way to the exit. "Are you headed to the rental cars as well?" Katy asked.

"Yeah, I am," Eric replied nodding, "But I'm not going straight to the hotel." 

"How come?" Katy asked. "Something for the wedding?" she added as they walked through the sliding doors. 

"Yes, but something that is still a secret." He said with a mischievous smile.

"Should I be scared?" Katey replied in a playful tone.

Eric shook his head "Nah, don't worry about it."

Together they crossed the street and went to the car rental services. "Which one did you rent with?" Eric asked as he stopped walking.

"Avis, you?"

"Hertz," He said, pointing to the left, "I guess this is where I leave you."

Katy chuckled, "You're making it very dramatic, but I guess you're right."

"I'll see you later," Eric said with a small wave.

"See you later!" Katy replied as she went to the right, towards the Avis counter.

She had only been able to take about four steps when her phone buzzed. Automatically she reached down into her purse and pulled out her phone. She had received a text from Phillipe.

I know you're out of the office for the week, but I thought you might want to know...

The text is read with a link to a news article. Immediately Katy clicked on it and started walking while she read the article.

Celebrity divorce lawyer not present in court

Today during the third day of trial in the case between rock star Crystal Lamora and movie star Rick Johnson, one of the high-profile divorce lawyers was absent. The lawyer in question, William Clark, is one of the highest-paid divorce attorneys in the state of New York and is usually present at all proceedings. The nature of his absence is still unknown-.

At that, Katy stopped reading; why wasn't he there? They were right, he is usually always there, and then I mean always... That was one of the most annoying things about him, his presence.

In her head, she kept thinking about what it all meant until she was standing right in front of the rental car desk.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" Were the words that snapped her back to reality.

Not too long after that Katy found herself sitting in her rented, mid-sized sedan. It was a little bit nicer than the one she had originally picked out, but this was all they had left. Now all she had to do was figure out how exactly the navigation system worked.

That, however, was easier said than done as apparently, the technology used in creating the navigation had been from before the war, and with that I mean the french revolutionary war. As she tried entering the address for the fifth time, she screamed in frustration, slamming her hands on the steering wheel. She then faces palmed hard enough for an audible slap, and when she looked back up, she noticed a family of four sitting in the car across from her. The father was looking at her with an arched eyebrow, and the mother's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. In response, Katy tried to sink down in her seat as much as possible...

Time to use good old google maps... She thought as she entered the address on her phone and started the navigation.

The only problem was, however, that even with google maps, the location was still impossible to find. "Why doesn't she just get married at home? It would have been so much easier." She groaned.

In the end, it took Katy a lot more time than she would like to admit to find the hotel. But eventually, she saw a sign with the name of the Hotel written on it, the Silverway.

"Thank god..." She muttered under her breath as she pulled her car into the driveway. Quickly she drove through a large gate and onto the terrain. For a moment, she looked around, trying to spot the car park but then she saw a sign that said valet, and so she drove that way.

At the end of the driveway, she noticed a rather large fountain in the middle of what looked like a roundabout. Following the arrows indicating she needed to go right, she ended up right in front of the large imposing doors of the mansion. The second the car came to a halt a lanky busboy with bushy blond hair rushed over to the door and opened it for her. "Good afternoon madam." He said taking her hand, "We'll you be staying with us?"

"Good afternoon, and I think so," Katy said as she got out of the car.

"Do you have any luggage?" He asked.

"Yes, I do a suitcase and a carry-on." She said as he immediately moved to open the trunk of the car and another bell boy came over with a hotel luggage cart. "Oh, that's not necessary I-"

She started before he cut her off, "Don't worry about it, madam, we'll take care of it, here is your ticket; please call down to us before you need your car, and it will be ready for you."

"Alright..." Katy said taking the ticket. She grabbed her purse and made her way into the mansion. The large imposing doors were held open by yet another bellboy who smiled at her and greeted her. Katy said a hello and thank you to him as she passed and walked into what appeared to be the lobby.

The lobby was spacious with a rather high ceiling. From that ceiling hung a large chandelier, right in the middle of it. To the left of the entrance was what looked to be the reception desk, with three people standing behind it.

"Good afternoon ma'am, are you checking in?" The stout man standing behind the desk asked her.

"Yes I am, I'm here for the Woods Carter wedding." She replied reading his name tag, apparently, his name was Kevin.

The man smiled at her, flashing his somewhat crooked teeth, "Ah," He said, "Are you a part of the bridal party?"

Katy nodded, "The maid of honour."

"Ah, Katherine Woods, if I am correct," He said looking down at his screen, "Your room is ready, it is a lovely room overlooking the gardens located on the third floor, number 321 and your luggage will be brought up as we speak. Can I do anything else for you?" He said turning around to grab a key card from behind him.

Katy nodded, "That's me. and I do have one question, where can I find the rest?"

The man turned back around and handed her the key card, "Ah yes, the bride and groom will be staying in the garden house, it is located a little bit further back on the property. I can show you the way if you'd like."

"That would be nice," Katy said as the man got out from behind the desk.

"Would you also like to show me your room?" He asked with a kind smile.

"No, I'll be fine finding that one I think," Katy said as she started following the man out of the lobby.

"Alright, ma'am, now the gardens can be entered simply by going out of the lobby, walking down this hallway all the way till the end."

Despite the man's short stature, Kevin was pretty quick, and Katy had a hard time keeping up with him as he marched through the hotel.

"If you go left here you'll reach the pool area." He said pointing to the left as they passed it, "It is open from 9 am until 10 pm."

Katy nodded, as she followed him until they reached a large set of glass doors. "Here we are." He said as he opened one of them, "The entrance to the gardens."