The Unexpected Journey Part Two

Chapter 24

She tried not to listen to the buzz of the razor, tried not to see as the blonde waves fell around her. She tried to focus on Harry who stood next to Bishop; tall and steady and seemingly unshakable in the midst of all that was trying to take them down. She tried to focus on Ella and the sweet way she held her tears at bay as she watched what was happening. She tried to focus on Bishop who, even as he shaved the hair from her head, met her gaze with his brilliant smile and his twinkling eyes and the same sort of charm he always held.

It was only hair, she reminded herself as it piled around her feet.

It was only hair, she reminded herself as she imagined what she would look like without it, as she imagined what it would feel like without it.

As Bishop moved around behind her, Maddie looked up to Ella, her own eyes welling up as her vanity got the best of her. "So much for the blonde Duchess, huh?"

"Haven't you heard?" Ella smiled without missing a beat. "Blonde is so last year."

"Is that right?" Maddie swallowed her emotions.

"It is," Ella nodded. "Besides. Now you can try out any hairstyle you want, in any color." Ella waved her hand. "You can be a new woman every night. The wig options are endless."

"Ha!" Maddie laughed, moving further away from the sobs that were building inside of her. Wiping at her eyes, she looked to Harry. "It has been awhile since Cheri made an appearance."

"It has." Harry arched an eyebrow.

Ella watched as the two of them traded looks heavy with love, laced with a shared conspiracy. "Who's Cheri?"

"Nobody," Maddie answered quickly.

"Never you mind," Harry shook his head at her.

"Sure," Ella laughed--the gleam in Harry's eyes and the smirk on Maddie's face giving away so much more than the two of them ever would.

Bishop moved back around in front of Maddie then, making a few last swipes with the razor before he turned it off and stepped away. Maddie could feel her insecurities rushing back, could feel her anxieties taking over. Setting the razor aside, Bishop bent down to look at Maddie, to check his work. But when he saw the tears in her eyes, the way she was biting at her lip, he couldn't take it. It broke his heart.

In a move that was so genuine, so easily flirtatious, so perfectly him, his hands moved to her cheeks, tipping her face up to his and then with that warm, flirty smile that had always been his, he leaned in and kissed her.

Light and easy and sweet. Bringing a smile to every face in the room, bringing tears to all of their eyes.

"You're beautiful love," he moved to kiss her cheek, his eyes locking with hers. "And if I weren't married to your best friend..."

Swallowing back the sadness she was determined to be rid of, Maddie's hands covered his and she returned his smile, unspeakably grateful for him, for this. "And if I weren't married to yours."

"That's right," he nodded his head, kissing her forehead once more before he stepped back.

Taking a deep breath, Maddie squeezed his hand and turned around, wanting to see it for herself before she looked for the reaction of the others.

When her eyes lifted to the mirror, when she saw her own reflection, air sucked into her lungs in a gasp. "Oh my God..." She muttered in a teary voice, her fingers shaky as they lifted to touch her smooth, hairless head. It was all so much, all so big, she wasn't sure she was ready to handle it. But she had no choice but to handle it.

"You know, I'm not sure it's fair," Ella was moving in right next to her before she could spiral, grasping her hand tightly in both of hers, meeting her eyes in the mirror and anchoring her to her side.