New Beginnings

18 - Loop

His smile could have lit a dark room. He kissed me... softly, tenderly. The kiss was full of emotion and I melted into it. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. He was still smiling when he stepped back. And I was still reeling.

What were you thinking, Hannah? I asked myself. You know you like him. You know it. Stop denying it. I argued with myself in my head until the phone rang. It was Changkyun calling Minhyuk. I could only hear Minhyuk's side of the conversation.

"We'll be there by 6... No, she is staying with you tonight. You don't need to bring anything... OK, see you soon." I was puzzled by his assumption that I was staying with Kyun. "I just knocked you for a loop. You need some time," he winked at me. I nodded.

The drive to the venue took about a half hour. He talked most of the way, which was good because I was having a hard time processing things. Normally they do group tours, but I had an appointment since we already had a booking there. We had been corresponding via email, phone, and video for the past few weeks so I was happy to finally be there in person.

My clients had chosen this venue because of the gardens and the castle. It was an absolutely stunning property and perfect to fulfill her fairytale vision. I had done an event there a few years ago, but I wasn't very familiar with their grounds. At the time I had imagined how it would be to get married here. The main building was a home built in 1904 after the owners were inspired by castles they had seen on a trip to Europe.

The gardens covered acres of the estate and were going to provide the perfect setting for her fairytale wedding. The ceremony would be outdoors so the flowers and cherry blossoms would be in bloom. Hopefully. The cherry blossoms were not always on schedule with the festivals meant to celebrate them.

The reception would be held indoors. After our tour of the garden area where the ceremony would take place, we went inside. This is where my magic would really be put to use. Yes, I had plans for outside, but in here... well, this would be transformed into a princess's dream.

I had already worked out the plans with the manager, but I wanted to make sure my ideas were going to work and that we were on the same page. We were. She had ordered the flowers, which would be hanging from the ceiling similar to a Seventeen MV I had seen, and fairy lights would be placed throughout them.

Sheer fabric would be draped from different points along the way, in the flowers and around the room. The tables would have bouquets of matching flowers and the sheer fabric would be draped around them. The family had not spared any expense for their only daughter. This was her dream wedding and they wanted her to get exactly what she wanted. I was making sure of it. I was getting excited because I knew how magnificent it was going to look.

I called Martha and let her know things were going as planned. She was excited and nervous. I told her I would be there on Friday afternoon to oversee the decorating. This was going to take much longer than the usual 2-3 hours.

Now that the business was handled, we decided to walk around the gardens. It was a beautiful afternoon, warm and sunny. I hoped for weather like this on Valerie's wedding day. As we strolled across a bridge, Minhyuk took my hand. It felt natural. Comfortable. We shared a smile and walked over the bubbling stream below us. I caught him taking my picture as I stopped to look at some flowers, so I struck a pose for him and we played model and photographer for a moment. I started laughing and he kept shooting. He told me those would all be in his private collection. I grabbed some of him too and then we took a few together.

He pulled me under an ivy covered trellis and kissed me. I felt the earth move under my feet. When he pulled back I could only look into his eyes. I was lost there. And I didn't want to be found. I began to question my decision to try to keep him at arm's length.