I walked across the hallway into Miriam's room, tugging the long sleeves of my white, bodycon dress to my wrists.

Miriam was sitting in front of her toy piano in only a diaper and a towel, hitting random keys with her hands. I smiled before walking to her dresser to get out a pair of pajamas for her. Maverick had just given her a bath, so I just had to get her dressed for bed and lay her down.

"Emerson, your phone's ringing," Maverick yelled just as I stood to lay Miriam down.

"Can't you pick it up?" I called back.

"It's Clara! I'm scared of what I might hear!" I rolled my eyes, smiling in amusement.

"Daddy's so silly, isn't he?" I cooed at Miriam. She giggled, reaching up for my face. I kissed her forehead before whispering, "Night-night, Lovebug. I love you."

I ran back to my room on my tip-toes.

"Christ, I hope you're not planning on wearing just that to the bachelorette party," Maverick said, walking over to me and wrapping his arms around me. "I might not be able to let you leave."

His hand dropped to my ass giving it a light squeeze, and I smiled, rolling my eyes. I pulled away to answer my phone.

"Hello," I answered.

"What took you so damn long to answer?" I laughed.

"I was getting Miriam ready for bed. And, apparently, Maverick was scared about what you might say, so he wouldn't pick up the phone," I explained. She laughed.

"He better be. Though, he probably should be more worried about Flynn." I smirked.

"Yeah, probably." I laughed. Maverick walked over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He leaned in to press a kiss to my neck, but I knew he was just doing it to hear what we were saying about him.

I rolled my eyes with a smile, pushing him away from me before walking into our closet to find a pair of shoes. I decided on a pair of strappy black heels after a bit of deliberation.

"He said 'dada' first, Emerson! Dada first!" Clara concluded her story about Jonathon, her son. I chuckled. "It's not funny! He's supposed to be a momma's boy!"

"Looks like he's a rebel," I joked. I could practically see her rolling her eyes.

"Oh, by the way, we're outside in the limo."

"What?" I exclaimed. "How long have you guys been waiting?"

She thought for a moment. "Actually, I called you when we got here."

"Clara, that was ten minutes ago." She scoffed.

"Yeah, I know. Flynn's been yacking in my ear since I got on the call with you," she said. I smiled.

"I'll be down in a minute," I said before hanging up. I strapped the heels on, grabbed my purse, and rushed down the hall to the living room. "Hey, honey, can you wait for Joan to get here? Clara said they're all already down in the limo." He looked like he was still processing my words. I smiled, leaned down, and pressed a kiss to his cheeks. "Thanks, Mav! I love you."

"I love you, too," he called back as I stepped out of our house, closing the door behind me.

The limo was sitting along the curb, all of a sudden Flynn's and Clara's heads popped up through the sunroof.

"That was not a minute!" Clara called jokingly. I rolled my eyes. "Get in, babe, we're running a tight schedule!"

"And- as your man of honor- I took the liberty of getting a bunch of hats and such to celebrate!" Flynn shouted.

I laughed. First of all, 'man of honor' was never appointed to him, and, second of all, he was wearing a sash that said I'm still single, boys with a winky emoji after it.

I got into the limo, and Clara and Flynn sat back down in the limousine. Kelly was sitting in the limousine with a giant red feather boa wrapped around her neck. I smiled at her, and she returned it.

"Happy bachelorette party!" she shouted. I smiled.

"Put this on!" Flynn said, shoving a sash toward me. I took it and looked at what it said before putting it on because it only said 'bride-to-be'.

"Take a drink of this!" Clara said, shoving a brightly colored can towards me. I rolled my eyes before taking a drink of the fruity alcohol in the can. "Alright, Marlon, first stop please!"

The limousine started moving, and everyone started whooping. I smiled and took another drink from the colorful alcohol can.

We sang along to the radio at the top of our lungs until the limousine parked in front of the club furthest away from our house, The Supernova. The only reason I recognized the club was that it was the one that I used to walk past with London every day after school when we would have early dismissals and not tell our drivers. London was my best friend until a few years after she moved to New York.

I looked expectantly towards Flynn and Clara, waiting for them to get out since they were nearest to the door.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Get the hell out," Flynn joked. Clara laughed.

"Bride goes first!" Clara yelled.

"Yeah, the bride goes first!" Kelly agreed. I could tell she was getting a bit tipsy. She must've been a light drinker because I'd only seen her take one or two drinks of her fruit drink.

I rolled my eyes at them before getting out of the limousine. Flynn, Clara, and Kelly followed behind me a few moments later.

"Christ, do you see that line?" I exclaimed.

"We've got VIP tickets, so you get to skip the line, Ms. Bride-To-Be," Kelly teased, nudging me with her elbow.

I rolled my eyes, but a smile stretched across my face.

We all walked up to the door to the club, and Kelly showed the bouncer the VIP tickets she snagged because of her famous journalist status(and her husband's famous athlete status, too, probably).

"Alright, go right on in," the bouncer told us, and we walked into the club. The music blasted in my ears, and the lights flashed in front of my eyes.

"Let's get drinks!" Flynn shouted, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the bar. He shouted a four-drink order to the bartender over the deafening music before turning back to me. "God, for getting married in two days you sure seem bored!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm not used to the whole club scene! I've been to the club like two times in my life, and my little club visits never seem to end well. The first time, I ended up kissing Randall- Ugh. The second time, I saw a magazine with terrible accusations."

"What?" Flynn shouted. I realized that I got quieter, but I just shook my head instead of repeating myself. "Here! This one's Clara's! Drink that one!"

He handed me two glasses, and I took a drink of the one he pointed at. We both searched the crowd for Clara and Kelly and found them on the dance floor.

I handed Clara her drink, and Flynn handed Kelly hers. They both took a drink and started dancing again, this time Flynn joining them. I took another drink, and Flynn grabbed my arm halfway through, pulling me closer into their little dance pod.

We danced for a bit to the pounding music. Clara checked her phone before stuffing it back into her purse and grabbing my hand.

"Come to the bathroom with me!" she shouted, dragging me towards the restroom sign before I could even respond.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the regular lighting in the hallway, and it took me another second to see the person standing by the bench.

My hand flew to my mouth. "London?"

The woman smiled and nodded, laughing a bit as tears filled her beautiful brown eyes. I smiled, my eyes watering a bit as I threw my arms around my long-lost best friend.

She wrapped her arms around me, and we stood there for a while.

When I first moved here to Miami, she was the first friend I made. We met first at one of the galas my dad took me to. Her dad was also a big money CEO here in Miami, so she was there too. We didn't really become best friends until school started.

That's also when I learned just how mean people were to people with a different color of skin. So many people bullied London just because she was African American. She never said anything or did anything, but people still made fun of her and called her mean names.

Her family moved to New York when we were nineteen because that was where they were moving the home base of their company. London and I kept in touch for a year or so, but her modeling career kicked off. She was getting really famous, and we sort of drifted apart.

"Emerson," she said sternly, holding me at arm's length, "where was my invitation? You're getting married, and I had to find out from Clara over here! What the hell's up with that?"

I frowned. "I haven't heard from you in nine years. I didn't know if you even remembered me once you got all famous. Otherwise, you for sure would've been a bridesmaid!"

"Of course I didn't forget about you!" she laughed. I smiled before hugging her again.

"I'm so happy you're here!"

"Me too!" We hugged for a few moments more before I pulled away with a gasp.

"Have you met Flynn and Kelly, yet?" I asked. She shook her head, and I smiled even wider. "Oh my god, you're gonna love Flynn!"

I grabbed her hand and began pulling her towards the crowd. Stopping, I turned back to Clara.

"Wait, did you actually have to go to the bathroom? We can wait."

She laughed and shook her head. I smiled widely again, before grabbing her hand too. I pulled them both through the crowd to Flynn and Kelly.

They both slowed their dancing to look at London.

"Hey, Flynn, Kelly, this is London Kennedy. We were best friends in high school," I introduced. "London, this is Flynn Umbridge, he's my personal assistant slash one of my best friends, and this is Kelly Goldings, she's married to one of Maverick's friends, so we've gotten closer."

"It's so nice to meet you!" Flynn exclaimed. Kelly nodded vigorously. They were both obviously pretty drunk.

"You too!" London shouted back over the music.

Flynn gasped. "We should go to the next bar!"

"That was the plan!" Clara laughed. Flynn returned the empty glasses to the bar, and we all went back out to the limo. We partied in the back with our new member, and we stopped at another club. We spent about an hour and a half dancing and drinking at that club before we finished the night at Landon's club, Club Nightshade.

Flynn insisted we capitalized on the free drinks we got because of Clara and Landon being a couple. About three drinks in at Club Nightshade, I went up to the bar to get a refill.

Just as the bartender walked away from me to get the drink, I felt a pair of hands grab my waist. I quickly whipped around to tell the person to fuck off and that I was getting married in two days.

"Hey, beautiful," Maverick said in a tone that made me just want to melt right into the floorboards. I smiled up at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "How has your bachelorette party been?"

My face lit up, and he smiled at me, grabbing the newly refilled glass of alcohol from the bar and nodding his thanks to the bartender.

"Come on!" I grabbed his hand and weaved my way through the people crowding the dance floor. I stopped where my friends were all dancing. "This is London! My high school best friend!"

London smiled at Maverick. "You must be the lucky man marrying this sweetheart right here."

Maverick nodded. "Maverick."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Maverick." With that, the short introduction ended, and I turned back to him.

"Where's the rest of your bachelor party people?" I asked, my face scrunching up in confusion. He thought for a moment.

"I think they're dancing around here somewhere," he said, looking around the club as if he could actually see anything past the bodies crowded around us. He lifted the glass of alcohol to his lips, taking a sip.

"Hey," I giggled, "that's mine!"

I took the drink from his hands, laughing. He chuckled. I jokingly wiped the rim of the glass off with my hand.

He rolled his eyes at me. "That doesn't make that big of a difference when we kiss each other, swapping a lot more germs than sharing a cup."

I scrunched my nose up. "Are you trying to get me to stop kissing you?"

He smiled before shaking his head and pressing a kiss to my lips. "Please don't."

"Hey, Landon and I are gonna get going. My mom's watching Johnny, so we need to get home before four," Clara said. I nodded.

"Thanks for having fun with me," I said, pulling her into a hug.

"Anytime," she replied. She whispered, "Seriously, I need to get out with friends more often."

I laughed. "Goodnight."

She returned it before leaving with her boyfriend/baby daddy combo. The rest of them followed soon after Clara and Landon left, leaving just Maverick and me at the club.

I turned to him with a smirk. "Maybe we should get home, too. We have a bit to do yet before bed."

"That we do," Maverick agreed. We hurried out to the limo, and Marlon took us back home.

I stripped my shoes off at the door, and we let Joan return to her home. She said Miriam wasn't fussy at all.

Just to make sure, I quietly peeked into Miriam's room. Maverick stood behind me, peeking in with me. Once I was sure that Miriam was asleep and safe, I closed the door and turned back to Maverick.

I gently brushed my hands up his chest from grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling his lips down to mine. Immediately, Maverick's hands cupped my butt, lifting me up. My legs wrapped around his waist as he carried me to our room.

He sat me on the dresser just inside the door, pushing the door closed with his foot, he quickly began unbuttoning his shirt. While he did that, I undid his belt, and unzipped his pants, pushing them down.

His shirt still hung on his shoulders as he removed the sash and quickly pulled my dress up and over my head.

Our lips met, and I reached behind me to remove my bra. His hands grabbed the hem of my panties before pulling them down my legs.

Hey guys!

I'm proud to say that it didn't take me an entire month to write this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you guys so much for 125 reads! I never expected to get that many when I first posted The Arrangement!

This is an important question: Would you guys rather have more scheduled updates about this length, or would you rather have chapters as long as the last chapter(these would probably take a lot more time)? If you want word counts, this chapter has 2,434 words, and the last chapter had 3,735 words.

Thanks again for 125 read and thank you so much for reading, CMF