Synopsis
Gemma Jones has always been a little reckless, but her misadventures have never caught up with her until now. At seventeen on a whim, she unknowingly married her then-boyfriend, Sasha Vasiliev.
Eight years later, she's engaged to another man but discovers her reckless past is holding her back from having her dream wedding. That and the fact that Sasha doesn't want to sign the divorce papers...
[This book is available on my profile!]
Chapter 1 - Look At This Photograph Every Time I Do, It Makes Me Laugh
"You know Beast!?" My head shot up and I found Cole holding up a photo in disbelief. His mouth was wide enough to serve as a basketball hoop, so I picked up a stale piece of popcorn and threw it in. His reaction was immediate.
"Gemma!" He whined irritably as he spat it out.
"Who the hell is Beast?" The question was barely audible through my fits of giggles. Maybe it was a bit childish that I found Cole choking on popcorn amusing, but I've always felt like a kid with him. I walked over and snatched the photo from him.
Almost immediately a wave of memories hit and made time stand still. The round edges of my vision blurred as my focus zeroed in on the captured moment in my hands. I was staring at a photo of myself laughing and my first boyfriend behind me. His arms were wrapped around my neck and he was placing a kiss on top of my head. He was swaying me from side to side, and the captured movement made the photograph a little blurry. I must've been sixteen in this picture...two years younger than Cole was now.
"One of our Rugby stars. How do you not know who Beast is? He's like a national treasure." Cole's voice brought me back to the present. Like every other boy his age, he was into sports. I on the other hand only recently learned that Christiano and Messi are not the same person.
"You mean Sasha?" I tried to say in a nonchalant tone but it came out on a shaky breath. "We dated."
It was a long time ago and not many people knew about it, but my heart was constricting like we had broken up yesterday.
"What?" Cole's eyes bulged out. "How did I not know this?"
Cole was the closest thing to a sibling I've ever had, even though we were not blood-related. Our parents were good friends so we were raised like cousins. As my first best friend, he knew everything but back then, Sasha was my secret paradise. He was the older guy from a different school, that was mysterious and sexy. He was the guy I knew my parents would flip out if they knew we were dating plus something was enchanting and alluring about no one knowing about us. It also helped that when things ended badly, I could lock the memory of him away and there were no witnesses or evidence to remind me of him. Except maybe his one friend Yesh, my friend Slade and this stupid photograph.
I faked a dismissive laugh and shoved the photo back in the box. "You were in your annoying tween years, I couldn't stand hanging out with you. Let alone tell you about my boyfriend."
Cole fished it back out again. "You have bragging rights, put this on Instagram and tag him!" even though Cole was younger than me, he topped my height by several inches and held the photo well out of my reach.
I took a few jumps but eventually, I snatched the photo back, this time folding it and putting it in my back pocket. "What I should be doing is throwing it out, I'm getting married remember?"
"Yeah, I know Gem." He said with an exasperated sigh as he rolled his eyes, no doubt sick of the way I had shoved this engagement down everyone's throat.
The thought of Jarryd instantly lifted the weight of my memories with Sasha. Just the thought of his kind eyes and sweet smile banished the thought of Sasha's dark pleading eyes into the furthest part of my mind, where they should've stayed. My relationship with Sasha may have been a tragedy but I was finally getting my happily ever after and I wasn't about to let some faded photo ruin my wedding planning bliss.
My phone began to buzz in my back pocket like I was expecting it to. Jarryd had a habit of calling me several times a day, so naturally, I kept it close by.
"I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me." Pain blossomed in my cheeks from smiling too hard, but there was nothing I could do about it. Just the thought of Jarryd made me smile.
He laughed. "How's the packing going?"
"Good. I got Cole to help so hopefully it will go a lot faster."
"That's great babe." I could hear him shuffle on the other end. "I got bad news though..."
"What? What is it?"
"I won't be able to meet with Slade today, can you do it?"
Slade was our marriage officiant and an old friend. She was also a wedding planner, wedding cake baker and seamstress. For as long as I could remember she always wanted to be in the business of marriage, even though she didn't believe in it. You know how they say, those who don't do, teach? Well, in her case, those who don't wed, plan.
I looked around my childhood bedroom, stripped of the decorations and memories. I was standing in a sea of boxes that held pieces of my life. My parents had assured me that I could keep my bedroom just the way it was, but I didn't want to have a place to run to. I didn't want a safety net outside of Jared. Cleaning out my bedroom was more of a symbolic exercise. Before Jared, I had always done things with one foot out the door but I was determined for my marriage not to be one of them.
"Gem, you there?" Jarred prompted and I quickly snapped out of my haze.
"Yeah, sure, I could do that."
"Thanks, babe. I love you." He sounded relieved.
"Love you too."
It took me an hour to find Slade because I went to her offices and was told she was at the dress shop which was a 20-minute drive away. When I got there, they told me she was at the bakery, which was back in town so I had to drive back.
Slade's bakery was a tiny shop, with an open-plan kitchen. Customers could see her when she was baking. The décor was all white and I always felt like I was stepping into heaven. Heaven that smelt sinfully sweet.
I found her in a bright yellow apron, levelling a buttercream cake. Her flawless brown skin was radiant against the whites and ivory of the store.
"Gemma!" She looked surprised but happy to see me nonetheless. She flipped one stray braid back after ripping her gloves off.
"Slade, I'm so sorry Jarryd said he wouldn't be able to meet-" She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the back. Away from her two employees and cake tasters. "Woah, ok?"
She shut the door behind us and turned to me with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" I asked slowly, not sure if I should take this reaction seriously or not.
"Yeah, it's a good thing you came in, because I've been meaning to talk to you." She was whispering and that stressed me out. She usually lowered her voice when something was wrong. Like when she told me I couldn't get my dream venue or when the florist dumped us.
"What's going on?" I lowered my voice to match her volume and suddenly it felt like we were both trying to defuse a ticking bomb.
"I can't officiate you." She said slowly, searching my eyes for a reaction.
"What? W-why? I thought you wanted to, I don't know where else to get an officiant at this stage?" She took both my hands and shushed me.
"Of course, I want to officiate you! It's just...no one can officiate you..." Her dark brown eyes were wide searching mine, like she was trying to telepathically tell me something because she didn't know how to verbalise it.
"I don't get it?"
She took a deep breath and went behind her desk, I had to turn around to keep my eyes on her. "You remember Sasha's matric dance? The night we all got drunk?"
Vaguely but I nodded slowly to encourage her to reach her point.
On the night in question, Sasha had taken me as his matric dance date and we wanted to get drunk with his friends but because I was underage, we had to get off school property. So we went to Luke's, Slade's younger brother, house. That's where I met Slade. As I said, she had always wanted to be in the business of weddings and I remember her telling us she had just applied to be a wedding officer in time for her older cousin's wedding.
She also said she was nervous because it was her first wedding, and she wanted the process to go smoothly. Being the drunk and in love kids that we were, we suggested a mock traditional wedding. She could practice officiating a wedding, and I got to pretend to be a bride.
I cringed at the memory of it, it sounded stupid now but at the time it was exhilarating. What little girl didn't dream of a wedding day?
"Yeah..." I said slowly, not liking where this was going.
"Well...um..." She was wringing her hands and looking everywhere but me. "My um...my license got approved and turns out you and Sasha followed all the rules of a traditional marriage."
Yesh, who was one of Sasha's closest friends, was of Xhosa descent and it was his idea to use their customary practices. Sasha and I thought it was so special because my mother, who passed on right after I was born, was also of Xhosa descent.
"Ok. So, what are you saying?"
Slade took a deep breath and exhaled her explanation. "I'm saying I can't marry you, because I've already married you."
The silence was deafening as I tried to make sense of what she was saying. I had to be imagining mathematical equations dancing around my head as I tried to work out what this meant.
"Wait, no." I shook my head profusely. There was no way, I pulled out the seat at her desk and collapsed in it. "Tell me you're joking?"
"I'm so sorry Gem, you're legally married to Sasha. By law you can't marry anyone else unless you dissolve this."
"No but, it wasn't civil! There were no lawyers, no, there's no way that was legally binding!" I said grasping at straws, desperate to debunk what she was telling me.
"Uh..." Slade gave a nervous laugh and her voice was so low it was barely a whisper. "There's something called the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act."
When I didn't react she continued. "I'm sorry Gem, you're legally married. Or congratulations, depends on how you want to look at it."
Her attempt at humour had me springing out of my seat and she jumped out of hers running quickly to the other side.
"It's ok Gem, you just have to divorce him!" She said with arms stretched out, careful to make sure her desk stayed in between us.
"Divorce takes months! My wedding is in a few weeks!" Every time I moved she retreated, we were hovering around the desk like two finalists in an intense game of musical chairs.
"Not if Sasha is compliant?" She said with a hopeful look in her eye. "I'm sure he doesn't want to be married to you, any more than you want to be married to him."
"Slade." I said through gritted teeth. "I'm gonna kill you!"
This time when I launched toward her she darted out of the office bubbling with laughter, "I'll fix this Gemma, I promise!"