Chapter 5 - Breach at Gate Three
At 4:45 PM, Elena slipped away from the dessert bar and leaned over Gladys’s chair. A tight, victorious smirk played at the corners of the coordinator's lips.
"Gladys," Elena whispered softly. "Main gate security just radioed. You might want to step over to the cobblestone terrace."
Gladys offered a polite nod to Mark, excused herself, and glided through the French doors toward the resort’s private entrance. The ocean breeze hit her face, carrying with it not just the scent of salt, but the distinct, unmistakable sound of high-pitched shrieking.
There, barricaded behind the ten-foot-tall wrought-iron security gate, was an absolute circus.
Abigail stood at the forefront, looking like an explosion in a lace factory. She was stuffed into a garish, overly tiered white bridal gown that looked two sizes too small. Her cheap synthetic veil was hopelessly tangled in oversized rhinestone earrings, and she clutched a rapidly wilting bouquet of grocery-store hydrangeas that were already shedding petals onto the stone.
Beside her, Eleanor was draped in an emerald cocktail dress, violently waving a crumpled computer printout and screeching at two massive, stone-faced private resort security guards.
Parked haphazardly across the private turnaround lane was an enormous, idling chartered party bus. Through its tinted windows, a dozen bewildered, sweaty faces peered out. And standing awkwardly beside the bus was Abigail’s third groom—a bewildered man in his late thirties wearing an ill-fitting cummerbund and looking as though he desperately wished the pavement would swallow him whole.
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"Do you know who I am?!" Eleanor shrieked, her voice cracking as a spray of saliva hit the lead guard’s immaculate lapel. "My granddaughter is getting married here! This venue was handed over to us! We brought forty guests on that bus! Open this gate immediately!"
The lead guard didn't even blink an eyelash. His arms remained crossed over his broad chest. "Ma'am, this is an exclusive private buyout for the Matthews-Bennett wedding. Your names are explicitly flagged on the trespass register. Step back onto the public turnaround or I will have local transit authorities tow the bus and cite you for commercial trespassing."
