Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait for the chapter, we're just finishing important exams but then we'll be free for the whole summer!
In this chapter, someone returns!!
Enjoy :) & Don't forget to follow!
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After the gathering at the Coustier family's house/mansion yesterday, the pressure and stress of having to plan the wedding seemed to have worsened. Just the thought of such a large family depending on me to make the wedding perfect was completely and utterly frightening.
To be honest, it opened my eyes more than anything else - I needed to be scheduling more meetings and appointments to view cakes, dresses and all sorts as soon as possible. Everything needed to be well prepared.
Nadine came over to my house for a few hours, still in awe at the variety of food they served. Despite the fact she had only just eaten her bodyweight in cake, steak and potatoes she still "borrowed" my card to order a large meat feast pizza. And just as I had expected, she had an overflow of questions to ask me about Isiah, all of which I answered truthfully. I mean, nothing had happened, so there was nothing to be ashamed of.
"So you didn't... yknow?" She'd asked me moments before.
"Do you not trust me?"
She shrugged, "Maybe you promised you wouldn't tell! Hey, did you want anything else on the pizza?" Nadine asked quickly.
I sighed, "I'm full. I think I'm going to go and have a shower. Oh and please, please don't spend too much on my card." Knowing Nadine, she would've rinsed the card out completely if I hadn't mentioned it - now, she would spend just slightly above the norm!
Having a warm, steamy shower actually seemed to help. It'd been a stressful few days - usually I'd meet the family during the wedding rehearsal or something, but never this early into the planning process. Suddenly, I was under a lot of pressure to please and fulfil the entire family's requests, instead of just the usual bride and groom.
As I got out of the shower, I heard the vibration of my phone from across the room. Being the clumsy person that I was, as I reached out to grab the phone, it slid off of the desk and onto the floor.
Not to mention I could no longer hear the loud, alarming ring of my phone.
I sighed and grabbed my phone, checking to see if the screen was cracked before checking the caller ID. And when I saw who it was, I felt my breath hitch in my throat.
The mystery caller was Giselle.
The one person who I had been trying to contact for days, but had never succeeded in doing so. I immediately felt a wave of anger wash over me for allowing the call to be missed.
Without a second thought, I called her back. As the phone rang, my heart rate went up considerably.
"Sahara?"
I breathed a sigh of relief, "Giselle? Oh my god. Where are you? Where have you been?"
"I can't explain that now but I wasn't too far, alright? Could you... pick me up? I'm really sick, I-I-"
"Where from?"
"I thought you were at work. I've been outside of Events of Elegance for a while now." She replied, her voice quiet as though she was trying to be discreet.
"What?" She'd been close that entire time?
She sniffled, "I'm freezing my ass off, could you-"
"Don't move." I warned.
On my way to Events of Elegance, I watched the sidewalks like a hawk. Just in case I might see her - she'd never been the type to listen enough. Knowing her, she would have gotten bored of waiting and decided to make her own way to somewhere to stay. It must've taken a lot for her to succumb to caling me.
What made it worse was the fact that as soon as I'd left, it began to drizzle outside. So now, my pregnant sister was sitting outside in the rain. Marvelous.
I'd noticed her as soon as I arrived at Events of Elegance parking lot. She was stood outside with an oversized hoodie. Besides her, on the floor was the bag she'd left my house with. Her face, which lacked a single bit of makeup, looked pale and lifeless.
I parked right up in front of her and opened up the door to the passenger seat, "Here, get in."
I waited in silence as she placed her bag down and buckled herself up. Once she had, there was a silence that I didn't quite like between the both of us. I'd been so worried about her the past few days, now that she was here I had no idea what to say to her.
"I don't even know where to start, Giselle." I admitted after giving myself a few moments, "What's wrong? Is something wrong with the, y'know..."
"Nausea." She answered bluntly, "I just feel a little sick."
"And you actually want to talk to me right now?" I asked, knowing she'd always been too stubborn in the past to talk to me first.
"You're my sister. We argue, yeah, but I know you've got my back and I've got yours," She muttered, "I did not sign up for puking my guts out every morning."
"Do you know how much you scared me by leaving like that the other day?" I changed the subject, "I've called you so many times, I thought maybe something had happened. New York is a big city, you could've-"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for snapping at you and leaving like that, but I needed time to think." She chewed on her bottom lip, "You should respect that."
I stayed silent because I knew she was right. If I was in her position right now, I would undoubtedly want some time alone to think over what was happening. I'd been such a big part of Giselle's life that I felt like her actual mother. Like I needed to make sure she was okay at all times, and help her fix all of her problems.
"I'm sorry for being an overprotective maniac." I apologized, "We could go to my apartment or maybe even take you for a check-up if you'd like?"
Her face fell and I watched as fiddled with her hands. She sighed, looked up at me and then focused her attention back onto her hands. "You're not going to take this lightly, but I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?" I asked, knowing I would do almost anything to make sure she wasn't alone.
"I want you to take me to the abortion clinic." She mumbled.
I could tell from her face that she wasn't thinking clearly. She couldn't have been thinking clearly. If she'd had some real time to think, I would have driven her to the clinic as she wished. The idea of an abortion seemed rushed, as though she just wanted a quick way to get rid of the morning sickness and avoid having to tell Andrew as soon as possible.
"No way. You can do whatever you want when you have a little longer to think about this, Giselle. I know you and I know you need rest- maybe then you can make a proper decision."
"Sahara-"
"I'm not saying you can't do it. But not right now, when you haven't slept properly." She knew I was right. She had dark bags under her eyes, was damp from the rain and just looked like she needed a good few hours relaxing just to take her mind off of the situation.
Eventually, after a few seconds of thought she nodded. "Yeah. I- er, I need sleep and a warm bubble bath."
"That, my sister, I can provide you with," I laughed, trying uselessly to brighten the mood in my small car.
--
When I got home, I immediately heated up some water to make some tea and allowed Giselle to have some time to herself in the warm lavender scented bath I made her. By the time I had finished everything, she was sat on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket and looking somewhat more refreshed.
"Are you feeling any better?" I asked. "Or does it just not work like that?"
"I feel like I'm not going to puke any time soon." She replied, which, of course, was an improvement.
Just as I was about to delve into a discussion about puke with my little sister, it instantly occured to me that she probably hadn't eaten anything in a while. So, I naturally rose out of my seat and offered her a supportive smile, "I'm gonna make us something to eat-"
"Wait." She interrupted but still avoided eye contact with me. I watched as she nervously fiddled with her hands, something she was almost famous for. "About today. When I asked you to take me to the clinic, I just wanted to say thank you. You know me so well and you knew I wasn't thinking straight - I'm not going to the clinic."
"So you, uh, want to keep the baby?"
When she nodded I couldn't hold back my smile, "I knew you'd change your mind."
"Yeah... well."
"What are you doing now?" I asked, changing the subject.
"I don't know. I need to figure things out, Sahara. Before all of this, Andrew and I just weren't getting along. He wanted to move out to Canada to be with family, I wanted to find somewhere nice in New York to be nearer to you. He wanted to buy a nice apartment, I wanted to start saving for a house."
"You wanted to be near me?" I wondered aloud, feeling slightly happy that she'd said that.
I had never heard Giselle talk about Andrew unless it was money related. It really made me wonder if Nadine was right. What if she was with him for money?
I knew there was a part of me that had sympathy for her, but what she was doing to Andrew wasn't fair either. He deserved to know the truth.
"What do I even do first?" She asked.
"I think you need to tell him. About everything."
She bit her lip, "I can't. I'm ashamed, but I'm afraid of his reaction, he thinks I'm away with you at some spa health centre for a week. How can I possibly begin to tell the truth about every lie I've made all this time?"
"D'you know what dad would say?" I asked and watched as she shook her head. "He would say that it's never too late to tell the truth. The truth is the key to all happiness."
"Dad also used to say that omelettes would taste nice with apples." She chuckled.
After a moment of discussing some of the strange things my dad would say, Giselle and I both burst into laughter. He was hilarious, always had something strange to say. His advice was the worst, though. I'm pretty sure that he was the reason Giselle failed every single History assignment she had until she was thirteen. He was always fun to be around.
Well, that was before things turned sour.
Giselle caught her breath, "I miss dad, you know. If he saw us now he would probably blame mom."
"Hey! I don't think there's anything wrong with us?" I stated, a little offended.
She stayed silent for a moment and looked as though she was in deep thought before she opened her mouth to speak, "He can't have gone far, Sahara. Maybe we could track him down. We could find him if we just-"
"You're being ridiculous. If he wanted to be found, he would have found us. Besides, what could we even do to help? Search him up on Facebook?" I mocked her, even though that was slightly a good suggestion.
"That would be a great place to start! I know we could find him if we tried, you're just too afraid to see him again."
"I'm not afraid of anything." I'd said, which was far from the truth. "Besides, you have a lot of stuff to deal with first."
She rolled her eyes, "You have a point. I think I'm going to face time Andrew or something."
"And tell him everything?"
She shook her head, "No. Not yet, that's something we're going to have to talk about face to face."
I nodded and knew that telling him face to face would be the decent, grown up, thing to do. I sat in silence as she pulled out her phone and dialed his number.It was incredible how quickly she managed to turn her upset, sad face into something that looked like she'd been told she had just won the lottery.
Andrew answered almost immediately. He looked like he was in an office and wore a thick pair of black glasses. As soon as the connection had allowed them to be able to see each other properly, his face lit up. He really must have been worried.
"Giselle!" He beamed, "I've called you a million times, I figured the reception at the spa must've been playing up."
"Hi, A." She greeted him, "I... er- left the spa early. I'm with Sahara right now."
"Giselle, what I said before about moving to Canada-"
"It's okay. Let's not dwell on it too much," She smiled weakly.
"I want you to know that I'm willing to move to New York, I want us to work." He'd quickly said before noticing me, "Anyway, how are you? Having fun?" He asked, he wasn't looking straight at her. I think he may have been at work, his eyes were looking downwards as though he was writing something. So, after not hearing from your lady for several days, you still prioritise work? "I've missed you so much, the house feels too empty without you here. Don't leave me on my own for too long." He chuckled.
"We've had tons of fun, I got a massage and-"
Andrew looked up and his eyes widened, "You... don't look too good. Are you ill or something? You look exhausted too, what's going on?"
She quickly looked at me from the corner of her eye as though she needed my help. I stayed silent and sat back, looking in the other direction.
She forced a brighter smile, "I'm really okay. Don't worry, babe. I've been to the doctors-"
"What'd they say?" He quickly asked with pure concern.
She gulped, "I have some sort of viral infection, but I've been prescribed things so I'll be alright in a few days. It's probably because I miss you so much, it feels so weird being away from you."
I sat back in pure shock as she lied through her teeth. I was expecting it, she already told me she wasn't going to be honest today, but the way she spoke to him seemed so fake. It made me believe Nadine's theory the more she spoke. As they rounded up their conversation, I noticed how Giselle seemed so unattached to Andrew. As though she couldn't stand the mere sight of him, yet was obliged to tolerate him.
"You tell Sahara over there to take care of you, yeah?" Andrew said and looked as though he wanted to fly to New York himself, and do a better job than I could ever do. "I love you, Giselle."
She nodded awkwardly. "Love you too."
Seconds after, she ended the call and placed her phone back onto the sofa. She sighed, leaned back and laid her hand on her forehead.
"That was hard." She eventually admitted.
"Yeah, you're gonna need to toughen up Giselle. Things are about to get a lot worse."
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-Raye&Aisha