Without Hesitation

Chapter 3

The next morning, Elle woke to the smell of coffee and fresh-made pastries wafting in from the kitchen. She couldn't remember the last time that someone made breakfast for her outside of a restaurant. Laura was admittedly not a good cook, so it was up to Elle to utilize her kitchen skills each morning. While most of the time she didn't mind - cooking was normally a calming activity for her - it still was nice having someone make something for her for a change. And even though Morgan's parents whipped this up for Morgan and Adrian's big day of visiting their venue, she decided that she was going to still count it.

Elle opened her laptop that was on her nightstand and groaned. Of course, the standard Monday blitz of messages, tasks, and emails had hit. She even had four emails from Will, asking her the status of the brand color guidelines for Jolt Money that she had already submitted to him. She was not going to enjoy these two days of working before her time off. She considered taking some more time after the newlyweds left for the honeymoon on Saturday to visit Bend, Oregon, but decided against it. While Elle loved living alone, she hated traveling alone. What was the point of seeing someplace new if you're not experiencing it with someone?

She answered a few emails before her head started spinning from hunger, so she closed her laptop. There was no way she could get through anything else without some coffee and pastries. So, she threw on her coziest of sweatshirts, pulled on some leggings, and put her hair in a messy bun before walking out into the dining room.

When she rounded the corner, she was taken aback because it felt like she just walked into a war room. Morgan and her mom were going through Morgan's incredibly detailed wedding binder, talking about rescheduling the final dress fitting that afternoon. Samuel was working away in the kitchen, seemingly putting some finishing touches on some Mexican sweet bread and scones that Elle wanted to shove in her mouth that very minute. Adrian was walking back from the TV room, tux in hand and Avery in tow. As soon as Adrian turned to set his tux down on one of the island barstools, Avery's eyes locked on Elle's, and Elle immediately wished that she would have checked herself in the mirror before leaving her room. Then she remembered Ruby and remembered that she didn't care what Avery thought.

"Morning!" Morgan chimed from the kitchen table. She took a large swig of coffee, and while the mug was still to her lips, she beckoned Elle over. Elle walked to the counter to grab some breakfast and coffee before diving into plans with Morgan.

Elle approached Samuel, slaving away over the pastries. "Morning Samuel, these look amazing!"

Samuel looked up at her and smiled. "Gracias!" he said with his warm, Mexican accent. He was radiating focus, and she could see a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. "I've been trying to test my cooking skills, and let me tell you, this is the hardest test yet."

Elle took a bite out of the sweet bread, the colorful topping coating her tongue with sugar, and heard herself moan. "If this is a test, these are A+ worthy."

Samuel smiled even brighter and motioned for her to walk over to Morgan, who was clearly waiting for her expectantly.

"Morning Morgan, Andrea," Elle said with a warm, yet pastry-filled smile. "What are you guys talking about?"

Morgan rolled her eyes, and Elle thought she saw them glisten. Oh no, stress tears already? "Well, the caterer can't do the facilities tour until three today, which means that we must move the final dress fitting to tomorrow, but the tailor is being difficult to work with. And the florist just upped her price for the table centerpieces because the flowers we chose are apparently hard to work with which I think is just ridiculous-"

"Honey, honey. Calm down. Everything will be okay, we will get it all figured out and you will still get married on Friday," Andrea said while rubbing Morgan's shoulders and giving Elle a sympathetic look.