Coffee Beans || Sasuke Uchiha X Reader

.:Chapter Twenty-Nine:.

 It was only 8:14 in the morning and your phone was already being bombarded with texts. They were from the girls, of course, and each message was along the lines of "It's the wedding day!" or reminding you that you needed to be at Sora's apartment by nine.

You rolled out of bed to take a quick shower, then quickly tied up your wet hair before slipping on sweatpants and a t-shirt. You filled a bag with a hair dryer, a few brushes and some makeup before you left your apartment and headed to the cafe. When you got to Espress you saw the signs on the front door. Of course there was the always present open/closed sign that hung in the window directly beside the door, which currently said, 'Sorry, we're closed'. But there were two new signs taped on the door from the inside. One of them was just a simple white piece of paper with Sora's writing in purple ink that said 'Permanently closing soon' with a big sad face underneath, and the other was a more professional looking sheet of paper that had contact and building information for anyone who was interested in buying the building. You sighed sadly as you pushed open the door, and you instantly heard loud noises coming from above. Before you joined the others, you went behind the counter to grab a muffin and you poured yourself a cup of coffee. You leaned against the counter and sipped your drink, not yet ready to climb the stairs and face all of the girls.

"(Y/N)?!" Emiko yelled from upstairs. "Are you down there?"

You winced. "Yeah, I'm here," you yelled back.

"Well then get your butt up here! We need your help!"

You sighed, then downed the rest of your coffee and stuffed the muffin in your mouth. You threw away your trash then hurried up the stairs, but felt queasy from all the coffee you'd just chugged. You managed to settle your stomach before making it to the top floor. The front door of the 'apartment' was wide open and welcoming. Through it you could see all of the waitresses gathering in the living room.

"Finally, you're here," Emiko said and pulled you into the room. She looked completely disheveled and stressed, and although that wasn't strange behaviour for her, you wondered what caused her to act like this.

"What's wrong?" you asked

"Do you know how to use a steamer?" she asked.

You blinked a few times. "A what?"

She went into the kitchen and came back a second later with a heavy looking iron in her hands. She pushed it into your arms and you clumsily grabbed it. "Someone wrinkled the bridesmaids dresses on her way over," Emiko said and glanced accusingly at Rin, who was testing out makeup looks on Miki. Ron gave her an equally dirty look.

"And you want me to fix them?" you asked.

"The dresses are on the bed. Hang them on the clothes rack, change the setting to steam and smooth them out. Do one at a time, and you'll probably have to refill the water container multiple times," she said as she pushed you towards the end of the room where the makeshift bedroom was.

"Um, I've never done this before," you said.

"I trust you. You're the most capable," she said, and without another word, she left to attend to other things.

You sighed, but didn't dare disobey Emiko. She was scary when she was in charge, and you knew from past experience that it was safer to just do what she said. You plugged in the iron, hung one of the dresses on the rack, and got to work.

***

It was twenty minutes until the wedding started. You were already at the church with Sora and the others, and guests had just started arriving. They were waiting outside, taking pictures and mingling, while you waited inside with the anxious bride. You were in a room off to the side in the church with the other bridesmaids, but you weren't paying attention to their chatter. You were watching out the window, just hoping that Sasuke would show up. You'd gotten a text from him a few hours earlier, saying he bet you looked beautiful in your dress, that he wished the bride and groom good fortune, and he promised to make it to make it to the reception. You replied shortly, saying you'd let Sora and Kou know what he said, and wished him luck with his presentation. You still wanted him to succeed, even if you were still annoyed. You still hoped that he would pull through and show up at the church. But as the seconds ticked away, and the guests took their seats, you finally accepted the fact that he wasn't coming."It's almost time," Emiko said excitedly, and the other girls squealed. You cheered along with them and tried to push Sasuke out of your mind.

"I can't believe this is happening," Sora said, and became teary-eyed.

"No, you can not cry. You'll ruin your makeup," Rin said. "Tilt your head up," she commanded, then began fanning Sora's eyes with her hands.

"I'm sorry," Sora chuckled. "I'm just so happy."

You smiled, genuinely this time, and rubbed her back. She looked at you sadly. "I know you're disappointed that Sasuke didn't show up. After the ceremony, we can -"

"Sora, it's okay," you said. "This is your day. All the attention should be on you. We can talk about it another day."

She smiled, then nodded, and pulled you in for a quick hug.

"It's time!" Emil screamed. "Get in line."

The girls hurried to get in order and file out into the entry room of the church. Behind the large oak doors was the ceremony area, where everyone was waiting. The organ started playing, the doors opened, and all the faces turned to look at you. You started down the aisle, and while keeping your head as forward as you could, you also tried to recognize some of the faces in the crowd. Sora's parents, distant friends, family members you've only ever seen pictures of, and Naruto and Hinata. You were a little surprised to see them (frankly you forget they were even coming with everything that had been going on) but smiled at them. Naruto lifted his camera and took a picture of you, and when the flash went off, drawing some attention to them, Hinata blushed embarrassedly. You smiled and passed them as you made your way to the end of the church, but nearly turned around and stared at them when you realized something. Naruto was the COO of Sasuke's company, so why wasn't he at the apparently very important meeting?

 You stood next to the alter, looking happy enough as you watched the ceremony, but you were already thinking of reasons why Naruto was here and not at the meeting. One of those crazy theories was that maybe, just maybe, Sasuke never had a meeting in the first place.