Beauty and the Bridesmaid

Chapter Twenty One

When I came here, I just carried it in its plastic covering. What am I supposed to do with it now? I can’t carry it out with me. What if somebody sees me with it? What if it’s Lela? That would just be a distasteful mistake, wouldn’t it? A bleak reminder of the wedding she’s not going to have anymore.

Maybe I should just cram it into the bag. It’s not like it matters anymore. Nobody will be wearing it.

I think of Lela and the predicament she’s going to have about her wedding dress. A bridal gown is a lot more conspicuous than a knee-length bridesmaid’s dress.

I could go and talk to her, but she’s probably being guarded by her minions.  Even if what Ash said is true, and Lela’s the one who told Josh we’d be at the Cedar Court, Emily probably still thinks I invited him or something.

Not wanting to stay here and deal with the damage, or pick up the pieces like I always do, I scoop up the dress again. I gently fold the soft fabric until it’s small enough to be placed inside my weekend bag. Then I click off the light and leave the room.

The lobby by the hotel bar is pretty empty when I get there. There’s a few people milling around, but I can’t see anyone I recognise. I stride forwards towards the reception desk to hand my room key in.

Some of the wedding party had booked their room for an extra night, so that they could just stumble back there after a few drinks at the wedding reception. Luckily my plan had been to leave as soon as possible.

I swing my bag over my shoulder as I reach the desk and slide my key across. I tell the curly-haired woman behind the desk my name and room number, and she types something into her computer.

“Early checkout?” she says with raised eyebrows.

I nod, not bothering to comment.

“You’re from the wedding party, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I reply curiously. “Has anybody else been down?”

She shakes her head, curls bobbing. “I heard about what happened though. Has the wedding been cancelled? Because there’s nothing on our system to say–”

“Jade!” a voice yells, interrupting the nosy receptionist.

I turn to see Steph running towards me, waving her hands frantically in the air. “Please tell me you haven’t checked out,” she says in a rush.

I glance at the woman, who’s leaning across the counter open-mouthed as though she wishes she could she could watch the events unfold with a bowl of popcorn in front of her. “I…not yet,” I say.

“Good.” Steph yanks me away by the arm, going back and grabbing my discarded key as an afterthought. She links arms with me as though we’re best friends and walks me back towards the bar.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I ask after she’s ordered us both a drink that I’ve never heard of.

“The wedding’s still on,” she answers in a low voice as though Lela is a celebrity and the man reading a newspaper beside us is a ruthless journalist, desperate to sell the scandalous story to all the gossip magazines.

I’m about to hit her with some more questions when the bartender places two tall pink glasses in front of us.

“Drink this,” Steph orders, picking up one glass for herself and sliding the other one towards me. “You’re going to need it.”

I pull a face as the syrupy liquid goes down. “Okay. So the wedding is still going ahead. Did somebody speak to Ash? What’s happened?”

Steph shrugs. “Ash is up in his room right now getting ready like nothing’s happened.”