Is this destiny?

Ellie and Emma are in the back of the cab, heading toward Golden Ocean Resort.

Two of them know each other for several years and are good friends. Emma noticed that Ellie is absentmindedly staring through the window, and she found the silence uncomfortable.

"How come you don\'t have a +1 for the wedding?" Emma thought that this is a harmless topic. She knows that Ellie is single, but she could bring someone to accompany her to the wedding. Right?

"Can we not talk about Jasper?", Ellie almost snapped at Emma.

Emma stifled a laugh. "I didn\'t realize that my question why you don\'t have a date implied that I am asking about Jasper."

Seeing that Ellie is uncomfortable, Emma got serious. "I saw him with Millie and Sharon… Are you OK?"

Ellie closed her eyes. She really didn\'t want to talk about Jasper no matter how much he was popping in her mind.

"How about you? Where is your date?", Ellie returned the question.

Emma got the hint and dropped any future probing into topic of Jasper. "Aish! All the semi-good-ones and above I know are taken. And I had to do extra shifts at the hospital in order to get these few days free… so I didn\'t have time to find anyone suitable…"

Emma\'s explanation got interrupted by Ellie\'s phone.

After a minute of talk with few "I see…", Ellie asked Emma: "Is it OK if we take a slight detour?"

Emma didn\'t object.

Ellie ended the call with: "Don\'t worry, I will take care of it."

Not long after, cab stopped in front of a grand villa in Bel-Air.

Emma gaped while staring at the impressive building in front of her.

"This is?", Emma mumbled after some time.

"My place. My assistant called from the resort to tell me that they forgot ribbons for tomorrow\'s wedding, and I have extra in my house. Let\'s go and get them. Do you want a drink?", Ellie ushered Emma inside.

Two maids welcomed Ellie with big smiles.

"Miss Young, we didn\'t know that you are coming!", housekeeper panicked.

"It\'s OK. It\'s just a quick visit. We will not stay overnight.", Ellie assured her house staff not to worry.

Emma was in disbelief at the sight of a luxury villa she found herself in. "I heard you are doing well, but I didn\'t know you are doing this well. Did you move here from Seattle?"

Ellie was slightly uncomfortable. She does not like for people to know that she is behind famous fashion brand EY. Privacy provides her with a chance of a normal life. "I didn\'t move from Seattle. I come to Los Angeles during LA Fashion week, and I found it tiring to stay in a hotel. Please, don\'t make a big deal out of it, you are making me feel awkward."

Emma was about to say that this huge ultra-luxurious building is a big deal, but her attention got drawn to the sound of a splash from the back of the house.

Ellie and Emma went to investigate.

"My Queen!", an impossibly toned body of a young man covered only with speedo briefs rushed to them and gave a big hug to Ellie.

"Hi Tom…", Ellie hugged him back with a big smile on her face.

Ellie glanced at the swimming pool. "Hi Brian!", she called louder to make sure the man in the pool can hear her.

"Oh! The Queen is here!", Brian exclaimed and swam toward the edge. He pulled himself out of the water and Emma forgot to breathe while looking at his light-brown toned body glistening from the water drops… and she hoped that his swimming trunks will slide lower… accidentally, of course.

Ellie extended her arm toward Brian, palm forward to block him from advancing. "Don\'t you dare hug me! You are all wet!"

Brian stopped one step away from Ellie, took her hand and kissed back of her palm. "Then this will do as a greeting… until I dry off."

Brian\'s outrageously green eyes landed on Emma. "And this is?"

Ellie smiled. "My friend, Emma. We came here to pick up some ribbons. Last minute thing before the wedding tomorrow. We can\'t stay for more than a drink… we are in a rush."

Ellie looked at Emma and gestured toward two probably the most handsome men Emma ever laid her eyes on. "These are Brian and Tom. They are my friends and also models who work for my company, and I allow them to use that second house in the back when they are in the area." Ellie pointed toward two story house in the back.

They exchanged greetings and went to sit on the outdoor sitting area on the other side of the pool.

Emma was in a slight daze due to unexpected sight of dual-handsomeness.

Brian wrapped a towel around his waist in order not to make the furniture wet, and Emma could not take her eyes off him. She knows that he has swimming trunks under that towel, but still… he looked like he just came out of the shower. That light-brown skin covering beautifully toned muscles… perfect facial features… piercingly green eyes… more than full lips which are demanding to be kissed… ah, and that smile! Very seductive… and he was not even trying!

"My Queen, you are in a rush?", Tom asked while reaching for his drink. "Do you need help?"

Ellie thought for a second. "Are you guys free tomorrow? If you can come and help out with last minute pre-wedding touchups, that would be great. Besides the bride and all the bridesmaids, I need to get ready as well, and I could really use few extra hands who know what they are doing."

Tom and Brian exchanged glances and said in unison: "We are free!"

Tom showed his boyish grin while looking at Ellie. "What is in it for us?"

Ellie puffed her cheeks while thinking. "How about we grant you access to the fanciest wedding party in the area, as our D-A-T-E-S? There will be food and drinks, and if you wear my designs, I might push you forward in the lineup for my winter collection." She turned to Emma whose eyes were full of hearts. "You don\'t mind, do you?" Seeing that Emma is lost in a daze, Ellie laughed and turned back toward the guys. "She does not mind. What do you say?"

Tom and Brian agreed.

…

After a short stay in Ellie\'s villa and more than a pleasant chat with Brian and Tom, Ellie and Emma are in the cab heading to the Golden Ocean Resort.

Ellie is holding a bag with several bolts of ribbon while mentally doing some planning for the next day.

Emma looked at Ellie suspiciously. "Ellie, why are you staying at the resort when you have that gorgeous villa with two hunks inside?"

Ellie laughed. "Those two hunks are my friends and employees. And it\'s more convenient to stay at the resort, it\'s closer."

Emma thought that Ellie\'s explanation makes sense. "Why are they calling you \'Queen\'?"

Ellie smiled. "They used to call me Boss and I told them that I don\'t like it, and they need to find an alternative… so, here we are. I\'m not really comfortable with it, but if I tell them to stop, I\'m afraid what else they will come up with. Two of them are quite the characters, always able to make me laugh… but also very dependable."

"You are getting along with them well."

"Yes. We know each other from… long time ago." Ellie vaguely explained. "You can say that they helped me when my company was almost nothing, and I helped them with their careers as well. We are almost like a family."

"Are they… available?"

Ellie teasingly looked at Emma and winked. "I see where this is going… How about this: tomorrow Brian will be your date, so you can ask him yourself."

Emma slightly nodded in response while wondering how come Ellie knows that she was thinking about Brian. Was she so obvious? Did she gawk at the man?