Page 62 of Her Marine
Journee went over to the other woman. “It’s beautiful.”
Alijah smiled at her. “Thank you. I have everything I need if you’re ready to go.”
Journee nodded, and the two women walked out of the condo and onto the elevator. She watched Alijah place a keycard in a slot, and the elevator began to move. They stopped on the first floor, and Journee followed Alijah out of the building, where an older gentleman awaited them.
“I hope you don’t mind, but Kieran was a bit adamant that Timothy would drive us if we were going to drive around the city all day.”
“That’s fine,” Journee responded. That would work out in her favor. She could input notes on the locations and rearrange the setup on her tablet as they drove from one place to the next.
Alijah introduced her to Timothy, and Journee greeted him as they slid into the back of the vehicle. Once Timothy was in the car, Journee passed him the list of venues they would look at that day. She’d brought the copy in case Alijah wanted it, but Journee would show them to the other woman on her tablet and send them later.
“I’ve scheduled appointments at five venues for us to look at today. It’ll take about forty-five minutes to tour each one. Then we’ll spend a few minutes trying to see if you can envision where things will go. If you can, we’ll add it to the maybe list, and if you can’t, we know that isn’t the right fit,” Journee informed her.
“Okay, sounds easy enough.”
“Since we’ll be out for a while, there’s an hour and a half between the second and third venues. I thought we’d use that time to get some lunch.”
Alijah nodded, and Journee brought up a picture of the outside of the first venue they’d be seeing. It was modern and had only been open a few years, but several weddings and other events were held there. Journee chose the order in which they would see the venues by distance from the condo.
When they walked into the first building, Journee could tell that it wasn’t quite what Alijah was looking for, and Journee would admit that the photos on their website were not of the same space. The outside of the building was modern and sleek. The pictures on their website reflected that on the inside.
However, now as they stood inside, it was more futuristic. Journee was a bit upset because she’d asked Alijah what she was looking for in a wedding venue. She’d then gone through and found places that met her criteria. That this did not, made Journee look incompetent, and she wasn’t having it.
She pulled up the photos from the website and stopped the gentleman giving them the tour.
“Can you explain why these pictures are advertised on your website, but the venue looks nothing like them?”
She scrolled through the different photos showing them to him before passing the tablet to Alijah to look at. She hadn’t shown her those photos in the car, just outside the building. Journee liked to let her brides see the inside in person for the first time. It helped her gauge their interest.
“These were taken at the time of opening, and we remodeled,” he responded.
“Then you should update your website. As it stands now, you’re falsely advertising,” Journee informed him.
“I don’t belie—”
“You are,” Journee cut him off. “Thank you for your time.” The two women exited the building, and once they were back in the car, she turned to Alijah. “I apologize for that.”
Alijah shook her head. “That wasn’t your fault. You were right; they need to update their website because what they’re advertising and what people see when they get there are dire contrasts. It was gorgeous before the remodel, and I understand why you chose it.”
Journee smiled at Alijah as she pulled her phone out to see if she could move the other appointments up.
Journee was on her way home later that afternoon after looking at venues. Alijah found two that she could envision her wedding at, and as she’d told Journee where she felt things could go, she’d taken note of it, planning to make an in-depth mockup to give Alijah a visual.
Her phone rang, and she looked at the screen in her car, seeing it was Courtney. She answered it over Bluetooth.
“Hey, Courtney.”
“I am going to hurt that daughter of mine.”
Journee furrowed her brow. The tone of Courtney’s voice was more worried than angry, and she knew something had happened that upset them. Journee assumed they were talking about Kaydence, but she knew that Talia or her sisters could also be the culprits.
“What happened?” she questioned.
For ten minutes, Journee listened to Courtney relay Kaydence’s stupid heroics during a bank robbery. With each new sentence, Journee was worried and angry that her friend had done something as ridiculous as standing up to armed robbers. It was brave, yes, but also incredibly idiotic.
When the two hung up the phone, Journee took a deep breath because something could have happened to Kaydence. She could have been shot or killed, and the thought of that had Journee on edge. She’d be devastated if something happened to her. The same way she would if something happened to one of her sisters or Talia. They’d pushed the bounds of friendship years ago and were now essentially family.
“Call Kaydence,” Journee spoke, and as the phone rang throughout the car, she couldn’t remember if it’d ever sounded that loud. She heard the call connect but didn’t give Kaydence a chance to speak before firing off, “Why would you do some crazy shit like that?”
