Bright and early, Sophie awakes to Claire's freckled face resting upon her shoulder. She must have found the good grace to forgive her, then.
Carefully, she eases herself out from under Claire, creeping out of the room so as not to wake her. She keeps to the kitchen for the next hour as everybody sleeps. As quietly as she can manage, she mixes a rich pancake batter in a large bowl, enough to go around twice.
When she was very young, her father taught her how to make chocolate chip pancakes. It was one of those rare occasions when he wasn't swamped with work, so she'd remembered every second of it. She remembers the recipe off by heart, feels his guiding voice beside her.
She would have only been four, her father 16 years her senior. He was almost as clueless as she was at the time, but he always tried his best to be a good father to her.
She didn't have anyone to teach her the things she'd have learned from a mother, but her father tried his best. And when he didn't have the time, he hired a nanny to stand in for a mother figure.
Sophie once had a step mother but she left quickly after realising that rich business men have to work gruelling hours in order to be rich, and that she'd have to babysit Sophie.
So, Sophie grew up quickly, teaching herself mostly everything she needed. That included manipulating people to do her bidding, because it made survival easier.
Sophie stops stirring for a moment, her breath suddenly very shallow, and her throat tight.
Before her eyes dare water, she draws a well practiced smile onto her face.
"Hey, you look cheerful."
Sophie starts, nearly dropping her mixing spoon. She hadn't noticed another of the bridesmaids tiptoeing in.
"I just came to grab a glass of water and go back to sleep, but here you are making breakfast."
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
The girl shakes her head, half smiling.
"No, but it's only seven. The girls won't be up for another hour, maybe you should go back to bed as well."
Sophie shakes her head.
"That's alright, I have plenty to do."
"Okay, then. Sometimes it's nice having the morning to yourself, isn't it?"
Sophie smiles.
"Exactly."
The girl whose name Sophie doesn't know fills a glass with water and returns in the direction she came. Usually those girls are too intimidated to talk to her without being in a public setting. Perhaps the sight of Sophie doing something so normal made it easier. She's glad.
After serving stacks of pancakes to the flock of bridesmaids as they stagger into the living area, Sophie gets ready for a day out.
Claire says they'll be dress shopping for the wedding. And of course, out of all the bridesmaids, Sophie has executive decision.
For once, they aren't shopping through Claire's line, so there'll be a broader range to choose from.
They won't admit it, but most of the girls are glad. Sometimes the one aesthetic gets tiring.
By midday, the most popular dress with the bridesmaids seems to be a slim silver piece with pearlescent trims. Sophie isn't fond of it, but the way Claire's eyes lit up when she saw them all lined up in the dress was undeniable.
But light as the mood is compared to yesterday's, Sophie can't help thinking back to Naya. The thought makes her chest squeeze with guilt again.
"Are you alright?" Claire asks aside.
"Fine," Sophie replies with a pretend smile. "Just a little tired, that's all."
Claire doesn't believe it. Especially when Sophie drinks four glasses of wine that night.
The next day, Sophie wakes up and Claire isn't as close this time. She's curled up on the other side of the bed, hair tossed across the pillow.
Sophie groggily pulls herself out of the covers and rubs her eyes. The wine had been a mistake.
She changes into a simple shirt and jeans, but decides to put a jumper on as well, since she can hear the rain pattering on the roof. It'll be an inside day today, then.
She tames her hair with her fingers as she makes her way to the kitchen to get breakfast started, humming quietly to herself. She potters around for a while, gathering together ingredients for french toast. It'd been something she was served on the regular back home, where an in-house chef took care of most meals. It's a good thing she'd paid attention a few times while watching him cook, or otherwise she'd have a rather bland breakfast.
As she mixes the batter, a muffled sound pricks her ear. She pauses for a moment, but the only thing she can hear is the weather outside. She bows her head and returns to the task at hand. But there it is again. She can pinpoint the noise to the front door. She doubts anybody would happen upon the doorstep by accident, so she crosses the room and opens the door.
Her face drains of colour and she almost slams it shut. Because he's there, standing right in front of her.
"Didn't forget about me, did you Princess?"
Sophie glances over her shoulder and then back at the grinning boy in front of her. He's soaked, head to toe.
"What are you doing here?"
"Thought I'd drop in! Y'know, since you didn't say you were leaving. Not so much as a goodbye or a fuck you. You didn't even call me poor or insult me, and I feel like you owed me at least that."
Sophie's surprised that he feels that way. That he'd expected some parting words. But she can't have Claire see him here. She should drive him away before somebody spots him.
"I can pay off that debt right here and now, if you'd like. I've got choice words for you, showing up here. How did you even find me?"
Nikki just smiles.
"Your friend Naya gave me the address. But she didn't cave easy, I'll tell ya that."
He'd implied what he thought might get a rise out of Sophie, but she can spot his teasing prods now.
"So, why are you here? To say goodbye, that's it?"
"I know I can't be here. But I just really wanted to know."
He almost looks nervous now.
"Know what?"
Nikki steps forward and takes her face in his hands.
"If you feel anything when I do this."
Then his lips are on hers, warm despite how his dark hair is dripping from the rain, how his damp clothes cling to his skin. A shiver washes over Sophie's skin, but it isn't caused by the clouds.
As surprised as she is, she comes to realise that she doesn't mind it. Him.
She melts into his chest, bringing her hands against his beating heart. One of his slips onto the small of her back and guides her closer.
Nikki's lips form a smile under hers. He's quite impressed that she hasn't pushed him away and called him worthless. Yet.
The way her body feels against his, her lips, her hands on his chest. He wouldn't mind staying for eternity. But as soon as he thinks it, she's drawing away.
For a moment, she stares in silence while it occurs to her what's just happened. And what's more horrifying, she did feel something. Like the time in the elevator, she couldn't control her feelings for him. But this time, she doesn't particularly want to.
"I feel it," she murmurs against Nikki's lips, making a large grin slash across his cheeks.
"Good. I knew you liked me."
She rolls her eyes and angles her face away from his hazel gaze, hiding her own smile.
"Oh, and by the way... Did you put a dead fish in my room?"
The memory makes Sophie burst into laughter. Indeed she had. She'd forgotten all about it, how badly it must have smelled. Or, did it take them a while to notice, among their acquired rockstar scent?
"I have no idea who that could have been," Sophie denies, shaking her head.
"Right, I guess it's a mystery then."
"Guess so."
Nikki peers around Sophie, into the house where all the bridesmaids are still fast asleep.
"Can I come in?"
Sophie's gaze skins over his drenched clothes and she realises she can't turn him away.
She knows how furious Claire will be if she finds Nikki in the house, so she can only keep him for a little while.
"Only for a few minutes. You're not supposed to be here."
"That's fine, I'll just dry off."
Sophie gives in and leads him inside, a trail of wet footprints following them in. She fetches a couple of fluffy towels and shuts Nikki and herself in the bathroom with heated floor and lights. They slide onto the tiles and sigh with relief. It had been cold outside, but they'd hardly noticed. It was only as soon as they'd stepped inside that they realised how frozen they were. Now, they can unthaw in the warmth quite nicely. But Sophie prays nobody needs the bathroom before she can shoo Nikki out. Anywhere but here would have been better for him to show up.
She's already on the rocks with Claire, who's been watching out for slip ups from any of the girls, especially on the week before her wedding day.
She thinks back to how Claire had treated Naya. If that's the way she treats Sophie's friend, imagine how she'd feel about the sleazeball they ran into at the hotel restaurant. And that reminds her... She'd never left any sort of information back at the hotel that would give away where she went to stay.
"How did you find me?"
Nikki pauses, halfway through towel drying his hair.
"Your friend, what's her name, Nina?"
"Naya, right."
"Yeah, she gave me the address. Thought we had unfinished business apparently. I'd have to agree."
Sophie isn't sure how to feel. Did Naya know ahead of her how she felt about Nikki? She still isn't sure yet herself.
"I'm glad you're here, but I wish you weren't."
"I'll settle for that," Nikki laughs, a genuine smile flashing across his face. One Sophie hadn't really seen before, if she doesn't count the time she accidentally got high with him. She catches herself admiring it and quickly snaps out of it.
She enjoyed their rivalry while they were staying at the hotel. And as she says it, Nikki nods.
"And I'm sorry that it ended in so many bruises and cuts. I never really wanted to feud but it was fun aside from the injuries I inflicted on you."
"That's okay. But what do you mean you didn't want a feud? I needn't remind you that my dress is completely trashed, do I?"
Nikki's brows raise.
"I remember you being the one bumping into me first and mouthing off but I suppose everyone's got a different story."
"So why'd you come here, if that's the way you feel?"
"Cause I like you!" Nikki exhales in frustration. "I've got a stupid fucking crush on you. And I think you feel some type of way, too."
For a moment, Sophie's taken aback by his honesty. But when she thinks about it, she feels the same way. She used to only feel hate for him, but now, whether she like it or not, her stomach knots when he grins, when he draws close. And she can't help it.
"Why? We've never said anything nice to each other before," she grasps for reasons, reasons why she shouldn't like him. Why he shouldn't be sitting across from her right now.
"To be honest, I think I've liked you since I saw you. Never been much of a sucker for a rich mean-girl, but maybe you were somehow different. In some way. Or, maybe it was that dress."
"A dress I'll never be able to wear again."
"You deserved it."
Sophie huffs a stubborn laugh.
"Shut up. But really, why me? There's plenty of girls that would have leapt to your side."
Nikki's shoulders lift up and down.
"Cos you're fierce, scary as fuck, confident, gorgeous. Maybe because I knew I could never have you, or rather, you'd never take me. Too proud to let you go. But hey, I'm here, aren't I? Maybe you've got a soft spot for filthy rockstars."
Sophie half smiles because she doesn't. Only this one.
"What about me, huh? What do you see in me that you let me in?"
Nikki knows it's entirely possible that Sophie still sees nothing in him. That he has a massive crush on her and she's still as uninterested as ever. But would she have kissed him back, admitted to feeling something, let him in, if she is still the same posh girl from the airport?
He'd been in her vulnerable space. He could tell, like the time he was patching up her knees, her cheek. The elevator. She wouldn't have let him in so close if she didn't see anything in him, would she?
But it's always been difficult to tell what motivates Sophie.
"I don't know," Sophie finally replies, biting down on her bottom lip. "I've never really been challenged the way you did. It kind of took me by surprise. No yes ma'am's, no fake smiles, none of the boring stuff. It was just... you."
She bets that if she'd tried to apply her usually manipulative tendencies on him if she'd met him somewhere different, he would have seen right through it. Being unable to bend him to her will frustrated her sometimes, because there was no hiding behind a fake charm. They'd blown through any chance of civility when they ran into each other at the airport.
Maybe her last line of defence was treating him the way she did. And maybe he saw right through that too, right to the girl struggling to keep control of her narrative.
"I mean, I hardly know you though."
"Then let's get to know each other."
"Okay. But first, take your shirt off."
"What?"
"You'll catch a cold. Lay it on the tiles, they'll dry it out soon enough."
"Oh sure, any excuse other than your perverse desires," Nikki teases, pulling his shirt over his head and doing as Sophie instructed.
"Shut up, I'm trying to help," she blushes, an indignant tone to her voice.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Nikki laughs.
Sophie can't help glancing over his bare torso and arms. He already knows she's fighting the temptation, so where's the point in hiding it?
Her breath catches at a small raised scar on his arm. It's an old one, slightly pinker than the marble skin stretched across the lean muscle on the rest of him.
"What's that from?" She's sure there's some exciting rockstar tale behind it. But Nikki shifts, an almost pained look on his face.
"I didn't think we'd start so heavy with this getting to know each other deal. Thought I'd share my favourite colour before my shitty childhood."
Sophie is horrified that she'd stumbled upon something so sensitive. She shouldn't have mentioned it, because it clearly strikes a chord.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-... You don't have to say anything."
"It's okay," he half smiles. "My mom and I never got along, she was awful. Did that to myself just to get her in trouble, then I ran away. And my favourite colour is clear."
Sophie isn't sure what to say. She can't imagine a household that drastically different to hers. She'd never met her mom, but Nikki had to leave his.
"I'm sorry I brought it up, that sounds really awful."
Nikki shakes his head.
"Don't give me the whole pity thing. I like it better when people focus on how far I've come instead."
"Well you've come a long way. I saw your band on TV."
"Did you like it?"
"I hate to admit it. And clear isn't a colour."
"Yes it is. What's yours then?"
"I don't have one."
"That's stupid, of course you do!"
"Well you don't."
"Fine. What colour are your panties?"
Sophie snorts. "Charming, you are."
"What colour?"
"Blue, today."
"Then that's my favourite colour. Today."
Sophie shakes her head, trying not to humour him. But he's so out there that it's hard not to be entertained. She'd never be able to guess what might come out of his mouth next because it's always something out of the blue.
Nikki tilts his head, brows knitted together.
"Do you hate me? For showing up?"
Sophie knows that if she was being sensible, she would have sent him away as soon as she'd opened the door. But there's something's wrong with her, and she's given up trying to fix it. She might just be attracted to the dirty rockstar who'd ruined her dress.