Impostor

Chapter 24

We drove to a very expensive-looking hotel. The building loomed high and I felt a little intimidated by the rich guests watching me roll in with my wheelchair. They stared at the bandages on my hands and feet before turning to each other and whispering as they walked by. Some people even pointed at me and I felt super self-conscious. Emma noticed this and put her hand on my shoulder to get my attention. "So I had two dresses made for you. One is long enough to hide your feet in case you're feeling a little shy. The other is short and bold. It screams, 'What the hell are you looking at?'" she said as we made our way to the elevator. "I am really loving the idea of the long dress right at this moment." I said while eyeing the people who we walking past us and whispering.

"Don't mind them. They are just jealous that you are my best friend and they are not." She joked and stepped into the elevator. I smiled at her attempt at making me feel better. Dana rolled the wheelchair into the elevator and the other girls squeezed in. Trevor waited in the lobby with our luggage. He would be taking the elevator when we were safely in the penthouse. "So, where are the men?" I asked while looking up at Emma from my seat. "Missing Harry already?" she laughed and let a smile rest on her lips as she looked at the doors before looking down at me again. "They have the penthouse across the street." She said as the doors opened to reveal our penthouse. It looked similar to Michael's apartment, but with different designs and the view was different. We also didn't have a pool.

"I call dibs on the master suite!" Emma yelled as she ran down the hall. I heard a swoosh that sounded suspiciously like her jumping on the bed. I let Dana push me a little forward and confirmed my suspicion. Emma was lying face down on a king-sized bed with plush white pillows and a similar spread. She lifted her head and pulled her phone out of her pocket, dialing someone's number. "Hey, we just arrived. I know we're late and yes I did just roll my eyes. You know me too well. See you in five." She said and hung up the call. She turned to me and I must have looked confused because she stood up and walked over to me. "Our hair and make-up stylists are on their way." She explained and I nodded.

We all chose our rooms and showered as instructed by Emma. Dana ran me a bath and helped me get in. It felt weird having a strange woman bathe me. She helped me out and towel-dried me and my hair. She helped me into my bridesmaid robe and pushed me into the living room where all the laughter and conversation came from. Emma beamed when she saw me and rushed to take over from Dana. Emma pushed me around the couch and I nearly stood up from my wheelchair when I saw our hair and make-up stylist. "Fernando! Oh my gosh! I can't believe you're here." I said in shock as he smiled brightly and walked over to give me a bone-crushing hug. "Who else would make you girls look like princesses?" he asked acting offended. I laughed and nearly started crying. It felt like ages ago that he transformed me into the King of Spades. "There's only you." I said smiling at him.

"Let's get started, shall we." He said and his assistants started working on our make-up while he worked on Emma's hair. He loosely curled her hair and started twisting the curls into an elegant bun with a few curls dangling from the bun. He then strategically placed her diamond hair comb above the bun, the veil hanging elegantly from the comb. The veil hung down to her mid-thigh and looked like it was sparkling. She looked beautiful already. The girls and I were done with make-up and took turns to sit so that Fernando could do his magic. I was the first to sit. Emma insisted and said something about me taking longer to get dressed because of my injuries, which made complete sense.

My make-up looked like I naturally looked this beautiful. Fernando curled my hair into perfect ringlets and tied half of it into a thin ponytail on top of my head while the rest hung loosely down my back. He never ceased to surprise me. Every time I think that I couldn't look more beautiful he goes and proves me wrong. "Thank you so much, Fernando." I said as tears gathered in my eyes. Why was I so emotional these past few days? "If you cry and ruin my masterpiece, I'll kill you." He said and it sounded like he was only half joking. I laughed anyway and he gave me a gentle smile. "Off you go, go get dressed so I can admire you." He said and shooed me away. Emma was already getting dressed with the help of a few make-up assistants. The photographer was also inside, trying to capture every second of Emma's big day.

Dana rolled me into my room and I gasped at the sight of my new wheelchair. A photographer was standing behind it, trying to capture my face so that Emma could revel in it later. The wheelchair looked like a hollowed-out tree stump with vines twisted between the spikes of the wheel. The handlebars looked like branches that extended from the stump. On my seat was what looked like a bed of moss. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was in fact a plush pillow. Dana walked back over to me with a dress in each hand. Both dresses looked amazing. One was long and the other was short, just like Emma had said they'd be. I suddenly felt like wearing a short dress. It was red as a rose with a lace bodice. It would hug my curves perfectly. I wondered where Emma got my measurements from.

Dana helped me stand and get undressed. The photographer halted her assault of photos until I was dressed before continuing. Dana helped me into my wheelchair and pushed me out of my room so that everybody could see what I looked like. Everyone was ready and waiting in the living room. Emma's dress matched Princess Kate Middleton's to the very last detail. She looked like a princess at that moment. "Emma! You look so beautiful." I said as a bright smile spread across my face. I felt like weeping with happiness for her. She gasped when she saw me. "Oh, my word. Jane, you look great. I knew you would choose the short dress." She smirked while holding a glass of champagne.

Trevor soon came up and told us that it was time to go. Fernando started to hand out bunches of flowers to each girl. The bunches consisted of white lilies for the bridesmaids and a bunch of at least 24 red roses for Emma. My bunch had a single red rose in the middle. We thanked Fernando and he smiled before rushing to his car. He needed to get to the venue before us as he was a guest. We helped Emma with her dress train as we got into the elevator. It was a mission to get both Emma and me into the limo. We didn't want to tear or crease her dress. Trevor had to put my wheelchair on a trailer attached to the limo. After a good struggle of fifteen minutes, we were finally on our way to the church.