The 3 Month Plan

Wedding Bells

"This is a bad idea, Sky," Frank says as he walks back and forth in the living room.

I run a hand through my hair. "No it's not. Give it a few days and Rocky will be off our back."

I turn around as I say his name, a silent tear escaping my eyes. I feel Frank's arms around me as he holds me against him to comfort me.

"You know," he says softly. "You were always this stubborn."

I nod. "I know."

"Rocky won't be pleased," Frank says. "If he finds out that the Frank you're marrying is no other than the Frank that went to high school with you both and is also his friend, he'll lose it."

"Relax, you're not betraying your friend," I reassure him. "He never told you about his wedding to me, now you won't tell him about your wedding to me."

Frank shakes his head and gives my cheek a kiss. "I'm going to hell, it's official."

I slap him in the back with the roll of paper in my hand.

———————

I circle the phone number in the newspaper and set it on the coffee table. Going back to the laptop, I read my email, take a deep breath and hit send. I will regret this in a few days but it has to be done.

"I've paid for the venue," Frank says behind me.

I turn to smile at him. "The last deposit?"

He simply nods and kisses my forehead. "I guess this means we're getting married."

I sigh. "Four days left."

"Sky Williamson," Frank says under his breath. "It has a nice ring to it."

Smiling, I turn to him. "Mr and Mrs Williamson, I like that."

Frank laughs as he leans over the computer in front of me. "Is it all set?"

I nod.

"Then let's get married," Frank teases.

Even though every bone in my body wants me to laugh, I cannot do it. A frown forms on my lips at the reality of all this just to get Rocky out of my life.

I shut the computer and walk over to the kitchen where I switch the kettle on as I silently curse myself.

My phone rings in my back pocket. It's Daniella. This is a call I am not going to answer. She must've gotten my new number from Rocky, who so sneakily got it off my last landlord.

As the kettle continues to boil, I walk over to my bedroom and look on the drawer. Two thousand one hundred. That's all the money I have. In four days, which also happens to be the day of the wedding, I owe him for another week of rent or else I am on the street. One thousand nine hundred, how am I supposed to earn that in four days.

I stash the money back and take a deep breath. "You can do this," I tell myself.

When I leave the bedroom, I watch Frank pocket his keys and wallet. "I'm going to call it a day."

I nod. "Am I going to see you before the wedding?"

Frank smiles. "We'll see," he says as he turns and heads for the door before coming to a pause. "Rocky doesn't know I'm in the country yet. He still thinks I'm overseas."

My mouth drops open. "You haven't met him since you've returned?"

He shakes his head.

"How on earth did you decide to meet me then?"

Frank smiles. "I saw the articles when I was overseas. About your relationship, about your marriage. I always knew it was coming. You two were so very much in love back in the day so it didn't surprise me. What surprised me was landing back here in the country and finding out that you were off the grid. So I tried looking for you. You and Rocky were the closest friends I had. I knew something wasn't right when I found you renting this little place when you were supposed to be married to Rocky and living in his so called mansion of a home. What he did was wrong with the contract, so that's why I'm in this. But his heart is in a good place. And I know you still love him so you want to help him. That's another reason why I'm in this."

"Thanks Frank," I whisper trying to control the raw emotion in my voice.

"No problem, Mrs Williamson."

That brings a smile to my lips as I watch Frank exit the door.

I head back to the kitchen and pour the boiling water into a mug with a tea bag. It boiled a little while ago but I got distracted with everything Frank had to say.

Grabbing the mug I head back to the lounge room and grab the magazine that has Rocky and my photo on the front cover.

Trouble in paradise. That's the title. There's a photo of us with Rocky's arms around me. There is a split down the middle of the photo with the text reading; Rocky and Sky have not been seen together in the past few months. Mr Hamilton has been seen busy with work, is that the possible cause for their rumoured split?

I frown as I throw the magazine on the table. Why do they publish things like this? For a while the other  troubles got too much I forgot about the magazines and newspapers, the possible paparazzi and even the journalists.

I wonder how Rocky is reacting to the news. Has he even seen it?

I grab an envelope from the table and open it. My wedding invitation.

Looking at the five other envelopes on the coffee table, I scream in frustration. Maybe I should call quits and go back to Rocky. Maybe I should tell him I love him.

"Take a deep breath, Sky," I tell myself in the hopes that it'll calm me down.

I feel bad that someone other than Rocky and I know the marriage was fake. Daniella always knew so she technically didn't count, but I had to tell Frank the truth to make this work. I guess he was the only connection between Rocky and I since high school. In fact I only went to Rocky in the first place when my family had all the business issues because Frank told me he'd help.

Wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans, I think back to the day I was standing in his office. I was scared. What was he going to think about me?

We went from sleeping with each other in high school, the last day we saw each other at graduation, to me standing in his office asking for his help. I had disappeared on him with no explanation.

After graduation, Rocky had tried countless times to get in touch and locate my whereabouts but I avoided him. Two years later I had texted him to warn him to stay away. That was that.

I always felt Frank was the middleman. He used to tell me what Rocky was up to. Now that I think of it, maybe he'd done the same for Rocky.

Frank is about to betray Rocky for my sake, I don't know how I feel about that. Will it ruin their friendship? Am I a horrible person?

The wedding is in four days. After that, I have every intention of leaving this place. My eyes get wet at the thought. This was the perfect place for me and over the months I was able to call it a home, not a house.