Change of Heart

Author: cresentmoongoddess

Rated: PG

Hello everyone,

This is a different themed story from my other main work. I think this is a more relatable work. Hopefully you like it.

Please review and leave feedback on what your thoughts are so far. It will help me decide whether to continue or not.

Enjoy!

CHANGE OF HEART

Chapter 1

Serena Beaumont gracefully smoothed the wrinkles in her periwinkle silk dress, as she listened for the next question.

"So how did you two meet, and fall in love?" asked Stephanie Ross. Her hazel eyes twinkled under the restaurant lighting, as she tapped her pen to her notepad.

"Well we met through mutual friends, didn't we sweetheart?" answered a deep voice, to Serena's immediate left.

Serena turned to smile adoringly at her fiancé, Andrew Carter. His green eyes looked down at her warmly, as he squeezed her hand, which lay entwined in his, on the dinner table.

He was the very reason they were spending their morning as such, in the posh Waldorf Astoria grand restaurant, with the New York Times reporter nonetheless. Well, she supposed they were both to blame. They were getting married.

And according to her mother-in-law-to-be, this wasn't just any plain, old wedding. No, this was THE wedding of the year. And others apparently seemed to share that sentiment. So much so that the head reporter at New York Times had contacted them about doing a feature on their much anticipated nuptials.

Serena watched Stephanie Ross, who was wearing an immaculate black pantsuit. She was very eager to hear everything Serena and Andrew had to say. Well, it had nearly been two hours since they had arrived for the interview at the Waldorf Hotel at 7 AM. She had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 4 AM to get ready for this esteemed breakfast interview.

They had arrived to find Stephanie waiting; her notebook and pen laid out on the table of choice. They had each ordered coffee for breakfast, along with some light snacks, and had commenced with the interview right away, so as not to waste any time, which was exactly what Andrew wanted, seeing as he had a line up of meeting booked for the afternoon.

Stephanie had asked about their families, about their first meeting, their hopes and dreams… Let's just say she was very invested in this piece about their wedding. Of course, she was unfailingly polite and courteous; keeping in line with what was deemed "appropriate interview content" by Andrew's PR team.

Serena had listened as Andrew did most of the talking, near the beginning of the interview. Her carefully practiced, and now perfected-through-many-years-of-practice ‘polite-yet warm and courteous smile' was in place.

The smile allowed her to look like she was enjoying the conversation, even when internally, she was bored to death. She suspected Andrew was wearing an identical smile on his face.

The people wanted to see a crazy in love, adoring, amorous couple. So that's exactly what they gave them. A happy, doting, to-be-wed couple.

"Uh, sweetheart?" came Andrew's voice, waking her from her silent deliberation.

"Ah yes, at Yale University," said Serena as she turned back to face Stephanie.

"Our friend, Amelia, introduced us. We were in different fields; I was in the Arts, while Andrew was in Business. We met, and we immediately hit it off."

"And you've been together ever since?" questioned Stephanie, whilst taking a sip of her red wine. Her tape recorder lay blinking on the table, a few inches from where they were seated, so as not to miss a single juicy tidbit.

"Yes, what has it been, like 6, 7 years? I've lost count," laughed Andrew.

"She was, is, perfect for me, so the years have just flown by. We're a good fit so I wasn't about to let her get away," he joked.

Everyone laughed amicably at Andrew's joke, but Stephanie wanted greater detail.

"What specifically do you like about Ms. Beaumont? What drew you to her?"

Andrew smiled fondly at me, while squeezing my hand.

"What's not to like? She's smart, focused, kind, and obviously beautiful," he said, with a wink.

Serena blushed appropriately and swathed his arm playfully. Stephanie seemed to be eating up Andrew's every word. This was not surprising in the least. Serena was used to it. Women drooled over Andrew wherever he went. And who could blame them? He was drool-worthy indeed.

He stood 6-foot tall, and had a broad shouldered, narrow waist frame. Those forest green eyes, and sandy blonde hair imparted an innocence to his otherwise sexy looks.

Women stared whenever he went, so Stephanie's stupor came as no surprise.

"We have similar goals in life, a similar view-point on life and dreams," continued Andrew.

Stephanie seemed a bit confused and wanted clarification, "What do you mean?"

Serena supposed she should give her input on the matter.

"We're both very practical. We have to be, with our chosen professions. But that is exactly why; we get each other. We understand each other. We've been friends a long time, so it comes quite easily now," said Serena as she gazed at Andrew.

"Ah that's true. Understanding each other is key," said Stephanie, as she nodded her head, as if finally understanding the answer to some great mystery.

Andrew took another glance at his watch. The glances had increased in frequency within the last 20 minutes. Serena knew he had to run to the other part of town, for a meeting, quite soon.

Stephanie had noticed as well. "Just one last, simple question," she stated. "Will the wedding be a big event or a small event? And do you plan on being intimately involved, or hiring a wedding and event planner to oversee everything?"

Well technically those were two questions.

Serena knew these questions were directed towards her so she began, " It will be a sizeable event; we know quite a few people. That being said, I don't want a very large wedding either. So I suppose, something in the middle; neither too large, nor too small.

Stephanie smiled in understanding.

Serena continued, "To answer your second question, I will be very closely involved with the preparations. It's always been a dream of mine to plan my own wedding-" she added with a sheepish smile directed at Andrew. "So I intend to oversee everything quite closely," ended Serena.

"Even despite your demanding job?" pondered Stephanie.

"Yes, of course. I am committed to making this work. I intend to take some time out to focus on my wedding. A girl only gets married once," answered Serena, while she continued the thought internally. ‘Well…ideally.'

"Of course. Especially since it is THE wedding of the year," said Stephanie with a wink at Serena.

‘So I hear,' Serena mumbled mentally.

Stephanie gathered her interview essentials, and after a few pleasantries, which included wishing them ‘All the best in their wedding preparations and planning' was on her way back to the head office.

Serena and Andrew watched Stephanie leave, with amiable smiles plastered on their faces. They continued doing so until they saw Stephanie exit the hotel and hit the roads of New York City.

As soon as she hit the pavement, their carefully placed smiles fell as their faces relaxed. And they were back to their normal selves.

"Well that went well," pondered Serena.

"I think so too," said Andrew, as he quickly grabbed his coat jacket from the back of his chair and shrugged into it.

"You really couldn't help that dig at her asking two questions, could you?" he added with an all-knowing smirk.

"Well she is a journalist Andy. She shouldn't make false statements."

Andrew chuckled, "Uh huh."

"So any plans for the day?" he asked, fixing his suit, making sure he looked impeccable.

"I have a few things lined up. And I suppose I should get started on this wedding planning business as I just told Ms. Ross a few moments ago."

"Don't stress yourself out too much. You can have all the help you want," said Andrew.

"I know, but I do want to do this myself" Serena emphasized, looking into Andrew's eyes.

"Mhm, ok, I have to go. Need to be on Fifth Avenue in 15 minutes," he said, checking his watch.

"Yes, go, go. You have a business to run."

He smiled as he called his driver Mike and asked him to come around the corner.

"How do I look?" Andrew asked, his arms in the air as if asking a question.

"You look perfect," Serena said with a smile.

Andrew leaned down and kissed Serena's forehead. "I'll see you later sweetheart. Hopefully we'll be able to do dinner, if these meeting don't take too long."

And just like that, he was gone. He came and went like the wind.

As Serena contemplated whether to head to the office or home, her phone rang in the pocket of her handbag.

"Yes hi, am I speaking with Ms. Beaumont?"

"Yes, this is she. Whom am I speaking with?"

"Ms. Beaumont, this is Antoine from Gaultier's Florist shop on 3rd Avenue, and I'm calling to let you know that your flowers are ready so you can come over, at your convenience, and verify your order."

What the hell was he talking about?

"I'm sorry, I think you may have me confused with someone else. I haven't placed any order for flowers yet. I haven't even selected a flower design yet."

"Um, I am sure this is for your wedding Madam. Are you not getting married to Mr. Andrew Carter?"

"Well …yes I am, but I haven't placed an order. What was the order for exactly?"

"Um, it is for the reception party Madam. It is a beautiful arrangement of a dozen lilies for every table…"

He continued saying something about how beautiful the arrangement was, and how she would absolutely love it, but Serena wasn't listening. She felt the anger building up inside her.

Quietly she interrupted the gushing man and asked, "Do you remember who placed the order exactly?"

"Why yes madam, it was-"

She knew; she knew before she had asked him. She just needed to verify it.

"-It was Lillian Carter. Why she must be your-"

"My mother-in-law, yes," Serena answered, the rage continuing to build inside her.

Lillian, "Lilly" Carter. The bane of her existence. As sweet as her son was, she was the complete opposite.

Of course, it would be her idea to order flowers that corresponded to her own name for her son's wedding!

"Ah yes, yes. She came in about 2 weeks ago and selected the arrangement. She said it would go beautifully with the cake she had ordered."

She did what?

Oh no she didn't!

Not only did she order her flowers for her, but she had also already picked out her wedding cake!

This woman was insane! How could she do this?!

Reigning in her anger, Serena spoke into her cell phone, " Antoine, you need to listen to me now. You need to cancel this order. There will be no lilies at my wedding. Rest assured, I will visit you to select another appropriate flower, once I have settled this issue. Thanks for understanding Antoine."

Depositing the phone in her bag, Serena tried to control herself.

The woman was a lunatic. How dare she do this?

Serena had to go face her so she could tell her that this was not acceptable. She knew calling her would do her no good. She rarely answered calls, and seeing Serena's name on her caller display would hardly propel her to answer.

Let's just say Serena believed Lily didn't like her, as much as Serena didn't like Lily.

So this left just one thing to do. Serena walked out of the hotel and found her car parked alongside the curb. She threw her bag in the passenger's seat, and decided to drive down to have a little chat about restrictions, borders, and crossing such border lines, with her dearest mother-in-law from hell.

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