20 minutes before the we.., p.1
20 Minutes Before The Wedding, page 1
part #14 of 20 Minute Series
20 MINUTES
BEFORE THE WEDDING
DANIEL HURST
www.danielhurstbooks.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
20 MINUTES BEFORE THE WEDDING.
First edition. August 14, 2021.
Copyright © 2021 Daniel Hurst
Written by Daniel Hurst
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
20 Minutes Before The Wedding
Jelena *
Joanne *
Will *
Chantelle *
Jill *
Carol *
Diego *
Mitchell
April *
Paula *
Valentin *
Ronnie *
Lizzy *
Damian *
Harry *
Cara
Bogdan *
Lindsey *
Jelena *
Bogdan *
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Books By Daniel Hurst
Events take place between 13:55 – 14:15
One month after events in 20 Minutes On The Road
If you see the * then the character has featured in the series before...
Jelena *
13:55
The Hotel By The Lake, England
Jelena Markovic stared at her reflection in the mirror and tried not to cry as her mother and sister gave in and wept behind her. The makeup artist had just completed her finishing touches on Jelena’s look for today, and the results were astonishing. For a young woman who had been through all sorts of awful ordeals in recent times, Jelena now looked radiant, a true Serbian princess ready to go and be wedded to her prince. But before that, there was still time for her to share a special moment with her family members who had made the journey over from Belgrade to be with her in this beautiful venue in the English countryside, for what would be the biggest day in both Jelena and Bogdan’s life.
To say it had been a shock when Bogdan had proposed to her last month in the grounds of his rehabilitation facility would be an understatement, and Jelena had certainly not been expecting that when she had made the trip there to see how he was going. It had only been two months since Bogdan had narrowly avoided death in a tragic helicopter crash in Las Vegas, and it seemed like he had a long road ahead of him to recover from the burns sustained in that, but he obviously had other ideas. The ring he had produced for Jelena that day had been quite the surprise, but her answer to his proposal was perhaps not. She had indicated that it was a yes immediately, without thought or hesitation, because how could she say no? She loved Bogdan more than anything in this world, and she knew he felt the same about her. Getting married was just the next logical step in their whirlwind romance that had seen them meet at their lowest point, survive all sorts of dramas since and even find the time to win the lottery in between. But as crazy as everything that had gone before it was, in the mind of today’s bride, what she was about to do was almost just as crazy.
Jelena had visualised marrying the man of her dreams one day with the support of her family and friends around her, but she couldn’t believe that day was actually here now. In just a few moments’ time, she would be getting out of this seat in front of the mirror and going over to the large door behind her before it would be pulled open, and she would catch sight of her husband-to-be, waiting for her along with the rest of their wedding guests. Then she would make the short walk along the aisle to where Bogdan was stood, doing her best not to cry as she went, before they would be bound in legal matrimony and free to enjoy the rest of their lives as husband and wife together. It sounded quite simple when put like that, but Jelena knew it was anything but. That’s because her mother and sister were still crying tears of joy behind her, and it was taking all of Jelena’s strength not to start blubbing too and undo all the make-up artist’s good work over these last two hours.
Getting up from her seat by the mirror, Jelena walked over to the window and stood for a moment in the sunlight that was streaming in from outside. It was calming her down to look out over the immaculate gardens of this prestigious hotel in the countryside, and she was glad this venue had been able to accommodate her wedding today because it hadn’t been easy to find somewhere to host it even with her considerable resources. Despite being a millionaire looking to get married as soon as possible, there had been surprisingly few venues that had been able to accommodate them. That was because everywhere was already booked for other weddings, and despite Jelena and Bogdan being in a financial position to outbid any other couple for a place, they were never going to do that because they didn’t want to spoil somebody else’s big day. But with everywhere around London fully booked, it seemed they would have to go back to Serbia to have the ceremony. That wouldn’t have been a problem, but Jelena had rather been hoping to have her dream day in the country where she had dreamt of having a better life, and that’s why she had been holding out for having it in England.
And then she got lucky.
The phone call from this hotel had come through only one week ago, and it seemed there had been a cancellation. One couple’s misfortune was another couple’s good luck, and Jelena and Bogdan suddenly had a week to get everything organised for the wedding to go ahead today. That might have seemed like an impossible timeframe for the average bride and groom, but Jelena and Bogdan were not average. With unlimited funds, they were able to get everything in place, including flying family members and friends over from Belgrade on a private jet, and now the Serbians had certainly taken over this small corner of this sprawling country estate. The reason for the rush was because Jelena and Bogdan had decided to wed as soon as possible because they knew more than most that life was uncertain and things could change at any time. Having nearly lost each other more than once since finding each other in the London Underground, they had decided to not waste a single second and act fast. That was why the wedding was today. They were acting before life tried to get in the way of their love again.
Staring out of the window as her mother and sister dried their tears behind her, Jelena looked across the green lawns and past the tall trees down to the small lake where dozens of white chairs were set up in neat rows in front of a tall white dome. That would be the scene for the second wedding that was taking place at this venue today, a hotel and estate so large that it was easily able to accommodate two ceremonies at once. Jelena saw several guests making their way along the garden path towards the white chairs, and it seemed that particular wedding would be starting soon too. But not before Jelena’s because the door behind her opened and the wedding planner she had hired popped his head into the room.
‘Spremni?’ the Serbian man asked, and Jelena felt her chest tighten and her heart rate increase as she processed the word.
He was asking her if she was ready, and that would only be the case if everybody else was ready too. That meant all their guests were in their seats in the other room, and most of all, it meant that Bogdan would be standing in place at the front, beside the man who would be conducting the ceremony today.
Jelena knew that everybody was waiting for her now, and as the wedding planner stared at her, along with her mother and sister, she knew she had to give her answer. A quick nod of the head was all it took to send the wedding planner scurrying out of the room again, presumably to give the thumbs-up to those in the main ceremony hall, and as he went, Jelena knew the time was almost here.
The make-up artist rushed over to the Serbian bride to see if she needed any final retouching of her make-up, but Jelena was confident that she was looking as good as she was ever going to. She was excited to be getting married today, but she wasn’t really enjoying being the centre of attention and felt it strange to have so many people fussing over her. But most of them were just trying to do their jobs, and Jelena allowed the make-up artist to make her final checks before she received a warm smile and a kind word to let her know that she was good to go.
Inhaling deeply before exhaling slowly, Jelena made her way over to the large wooden door that she would soon be walking through, and as she did, her mother and sister took their places alongside her. They would be walking behind her down the aisle today, the women of the Markovic family proudly on display and showing that nothing could ever keep them down. Not the poverty of the past or the crimes of the sex traffickers who had kept Jelena locked away for so long. They were proud women, proud of their country and their strength, but most of all, they were proud of each other, and Jelena was glad to have them with her as she prepared to make the most important walk of her life.
In position in front of the door, Jelena waited for the wedding planner to give the gentle knock on the other side of it that would tell her that he was about to open it. As she did, she tried to keep her breathing calm, and her posture relaxed. But that was easier said than done when she knew that there were fifty Serbian people on the other side of this door, and they were
It felt like time stood still in that small room where Jelena waited, but eventually, she heard the knock on the door, and her body instantly stiffened.
This was it. The moment she and everybody else here had been waiting for.
The guests were ready.
Bogdan was ready.
And now Jelena was ready too.
The door was suddenly flung open, and Jelena went from staring at a door to staring at a room full of her well-dressed countrymen and women, all of whom turned around immediately to look in her direction. Several of them gasped when they saw her, and some started to cry, but all of them were smiling, and it was obvious that they were happy to be a part of this special occasion. But there was only one person who Jelena really wanted to see react to the sight of her in her dress, and that was the man wearing the suit at the other end of the aisle.
Bogdan was looking right at her.
And he was smiling.
Jelena felt her body relax when she saw that her fiancé approved of her look today, not that she ever honestly thought that he wouldn’t. As far as Bogdan was concerned, Jelena could have come down the aisle wearing a black bin bag, and he would have still been happy enough to marry her, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t made the effort to try and dazzle him with her appearance today. And dazzle him she had because as she made eye contact with him, she saw him raise a hand to his left eye and wipe something away, and she presumed it was a tear.
All this time she had been worried about it being her who succumbed to the emotion of the occasion yet it was Bogdan instead, and the burly, bearded man was blubbing away like a baby as she stepped into the room and started to make her symbolic walk towards him.
Putting one foot in front of the other and trying to keep her composure as she went, Jelena kept her eyes on Bogdan because that was simply more reassuring to her than looking at the sea of faces on either side of the aisle that were all beaming in her direction now. She felt like a celebrity with all this attention on her, and she kind of was because her image had certainly been published in the newspapers back in Belgrade a few times ever since she had won the lottery with her partner earlier in the year. But all the attention today was for a much more enriching reason than money. It was for love, and everybody in attendance was basking in the warm glow of knowing that they were in the presence of two people who would do anything for each other as long as they could be together.
Jelena was halfway down the aisle when she saw Bogdan receive a tissue from one of his friends, and she laughed as she approached him, finding it amusing that her strong partner had been almost reduced to a quivering mess just from the sight of her in this dress. But he wasn’t the only one sobbing now, and Jelena could hear her mother and sister behind her fighting back the tears as well. Amazingly, it seemed like Jelena was the only one not succumbing to her emotions, and she felt proud of herself for not letting the occasion get to her and ruin her make-up. But maybe she was getting a little ahead of herself because as she reached the end of the aisle and took her place beside Bogdan, she realised the hardest part of this whole ceremony might still be to come.
It was almost time for the vows, but before that, Bogdan took Jelena’s hand and gave it a squeeze, and it was something he often did when they were on one of their many walks together around London. The simple gesture took her back to all the times they had walked hand in hand along the Thames and through the streets of the English capital, back to days when the sun shone, and life seemed so very simple. But it also took her back to the days when she had been recovering from her injuries sustained at the hands of the sex traffickers, and that had been when she had needed Bogdan’s support the most. Of course, he had always provided it, and that was why they had ended up here now. They had been through the good times and the bad, the thrilling and the shocking, and they had both come close to losing each other enough times to never risk taking the other one for granted ever again.
And now they were about to be married.
It was the fairy-tale ending to the relationship that had been far from smooth sailing, and they deserved all the happiness that was coming for them in the future. But as they stood there and smiled warmly at each other while the guests in attendance took their seats for the ceremony to begin, they had no idea just how memorable this day was really going to turn out to be.
Joanne *
13:56
The Hotel By The Lake, England
Joanne Bruce felt the warm sunshine on her face, but she knew that wasn’t the only reason for the small beads of sweat that were beginning to form on her forehead. They were down to the fact that she was in the midst of organising the final stages of yet another wedding, and as usual, there was still plenty to do.
‘Where are the rose petals for the aisle? There should be rose petals!’ Joanne said to the hotel employee beside her, but he just looked back at her with an expression that said he had no idea what she was talking about.
Doublechecking the sheet of paper in her hand to make sure that she hadn’t made a mistake, she saw that there definitely were supposed to be rose petals sprinkled over the ground where the bride was due to make her walk in just less than twenty minutes’ time. But the problem was that the rose petals were nowhere to be seen, and that just wouldn’t do because, as a wedding planner, Joanne’s job was to make sure everything was exactly as the bride and groom had requested it to be.
Turning to the next nearest hotel employee in the hope that they would be more helpful than the last one, Joanne asked if the rose petals were going to materialise within the next few seconds, and thankfully, she got a more promising response this time.
‘Sammi’s bringing them over right now,’ was the reply, and Joanne looked up to see Sammi, another hotel employee, hurrying down the grass hill towards her with a white bucket in her hands.
‘Great,’ Joanne said, before letting out a deep breath because that was one problem solved. Now it was time to get to work on the next one.
‘We need another chair on the end here,’ Joanne said as she noticed there was a chair missing from the second row. ‘Grab one from the hotel, quickly, please!’
Joanne’s order was obeyed instantly by yet another employee, and they scampered away back towards the large venue that overlooked this quaint wedding setting down by the lake in these majestic grounds. This hotel was one of the most expensive places to host a wedding in this part of the UK, and that meant that every bride and groom that passed through here had parted with a substantial amount of cash to have their dream day at this location. That only added to the pressure of Joanne’s job as the senior wedding planner here because she knew that any mistake in pulling off the perfect wedding would likely result in her losing her job and the venue having to pay back thousands in fees. Today was no different, and Joanne knew that she had to keep working as hard as she possibly could over these next few minutes to make sure that her latest clients had the day they had paid for and dreamed about.
The couple in question today were Lindsey and Diego, two lovely people who had entrusted Joanne with fulfilling their list of wishes as they prepared to tie the knot on these exclusive and expensive grounds. The ceremony was being held in the gardens of this hotel, in front of the picturesque white dome by the lake where many other weddings had been held before, and everything was almost ready.
Almost.
The guests were walking over from the hotel to take their seats, the registrar was going over her notes in the shadow of the dome and just in front of her stood Diego, the groom and the man looking a little nervous as he sweated slightly in his smart suit, alongside his best man and ushers.
Joanne had worked at this hotel for three months now after leaving her last place of employment to grow her career at a more prestigious venue. She had worked at a hotel beside the Thames for a couple of years and done well there but being the senior wedding planner at this venue was certainly a step up. This place was so big that it could accommodate more than one wedding on the same day, and that meant there were never any quiet times when working here. Usually, most venues were busiest in the summer months, but this was hotel was booked all year round, and Joanne liked that because more work meant more money for her. But it also meant more stress, and today was just another example of how this venue was catering to several different wedding parties at once.
