And The Wedding Is Off! (Now Published so Sample only)

Chapter 5 - Stranger things... right?

Chapter 5 – Stranger things... right?

My week had never dragged as slow as what it did now. When Friday arrived, the day inched by at a tedious pace. I hadn't seen Alec again, but every day he sent me flowers along with another of those notes, which I tucked away in a drawer at home. It thrilled me whenever I picked up one of his notes.

The one thing I couldn't understand, he always rang when I was out delivering flowers. His letters weren't over the top or embarrassing, but it made me uncomfortable that my parents read his notes before I could.

Now with excitement jolting through my veins, I prepared myself for seeing Alec tonight. I stared at my wardrobe with a frown as I showed Flipper what I intended to wear. She continued licking herself and ignoring me, which was her usual cat behaviour.

After a while, I decided on a cute outfit. It had taken me until my late teens to realise that if you dress like a tart, you'll be treated the same way. I could never carry off sophisticated like Madison, so I tended to wear cute, quirky outfits that suited me.

I pulled on my denim skirt, my form fitting top and pulled on a long vest to complete my outfit. My heels were strappy but not too high. They still made my legs look longer, which was what I needed. I had moisturised every inch of my skin leaving me with a healthy glow.

My nerves increased as I let my long, wavy brown hair flow down my back to almost my waist. I applied a small hint of makeup with a sheen of shimmery lip stick, and decided that I was ready to see Alec.

A taxi was the last thing I wanted to use, so I jumped on the first train I could heading down town. I kept the taxi money for when I wanted to come home. The heat of the day had eased with the sinking sun, so I walked the last couple of blocks to the venue.

Music engulfed the area and I couldn't believe the crowd lined up to get through the fancy set of double doors. All the designer outfits, perfect bodies and made up faces I saw left me uncomfortable. Not only was I in casual clothes, but none of them contained a fancy name tag or ridiculous price.

I reminded myself that I had an invitation to be at this posh nightclub opening and Alec would be waiting for me. That made me step forward with a straight back and daring to stare anyone in the eye who looked down on me.

I received funny looks and sniggers but I chose to ignore them. It was only when I heard Maddie's too familiar voice that I winced. She stood behind me and hadn't noticed my existence, until I glanced back to check if it was her.

"Grace?" she may have snorted my name out in surprise.

"Hello, Maddie." I sounded resigned before I looked back to the line that started moving.

I ignored Maddie tittering to her friends and heard her say my name more than once. Most of her friends didn't know me and believe me, that made me happy. Her friends were as bitchy as she was, if not worse.

"Why would you be here?" Maddie prodded my arm and her loud amazement attracted too many eyes our way.

"Why not?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Grace, this opening is a little out of your league, don't you think?" Maddie's friends laughed at her joke at my expense, so I turned away from her.

The two bouncers standing at the doors were big enough to cover the whole doorway. I pushed down on my nerves, forced a smile and reminded myself that Alec invited me here.

"Name?" one of the bouncers growled. He looked me up and down before raising an eyebrow.

"Grace Forsyth." I replied and with a sinking feeling I realised the guy didn't bother looking at the list before intending to reject me.