I don’t want to go meet everybody in the hotel bar for celebratory drinks. I want to climb into the clean white bed, snuggle under the duvet and watch The Voice.
I don’t really even want to stay here at the hotel, waiting for tomorrow’s big wedding. But bridesmaids are more important to the wedding than the regular guests, so Kerry and Steph insisted. And going along with those two is the easiest option.
Most of the guests have got a room at the Cedar Court tonight so that we can just get ready here for the wedding tomorrow afternoon.
Maybe no one will miss me, I think as I reach for the remote control for the wall-mounted TV.
There’s an interrupting knock on the door. My fingers brush over the rubber buttons. If I have the TV’s volume turned up loud enough, I can pretend I didn’t hear the knock, can’t I? But whoever it is, they’re persistent, and I creep towards the door as though I can tell who’s standing outside it if I listen closely enough.
I hope it’s not the bride. Or the groom. Or either of the other bridesmaids. Actually, I’d quite like to avoid the majority of the wedding guests. And most of all, I’d like to avoid Damien.
Well, that’s not strictly true. I don’t want to see him because of the things he said and the self-satisfied look on his face when I realised that he was right. But if he turned up at my hotel room, clutching a big bunch of flowers and a bottle of rosé, I wouldn’t exactly send him away.
Eventually, I get curious enough to open the door.
It’s not Damien. It’s Emily.
“Hi,” I say, pulling the door back wider. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out of the country by now?”
“I should,” she agrees, following my silent request to enter. “Lela begged me to stay, so I’ve delayed my trip for a few days.”
I close the door and gesture for Emily to sit down on the bed, pulling out the dressing table stool for myself. “But I didn’t see you earlier at the rehearsal.”
She shrugs. “Well, when I say delayed. I’d kind of already started.”
“You didn’t fly all this way back for her, did you?”
“She’s the only sister I’ve got. She needs me.”
“You missed a great rehearsal,” I say, recalling the way Lela and Ash had looked at each other as they practised their vows. “But at least you’ll be here for the wedding.”
“Do you think that’s why I came back?” she asks, shaking her head. “Of course her wedding is important to me, but I came back because Lela’s terrified that the only reason you haven’t said anything to Ash is because you’re going to announce what she did to everybody at the ceremony tomorrow.”
“She needs to stop acting like her life is an episode of Hollyoaks,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.
“Are you saying you haven’t considered it?”
I look away from her, focusing on a small coffee stain on the beige carpet.
“I thought as much,” Emily says smugly, sitting up and folding her arms across her chest.
I glare at her, remembering that this is exactly the way Damien acted. “Look, I’ve told Lela how I feel. What she does is up to her.”
“But what about you? What are you going to do?”
“Nothing! Nothing. I’ve already said.”
Emily scans my face for a moment like she’s an expert in detecting lies. “Okay,” she finally says. “What are you doing up here then? Aren’t you coming downstairs for a drink?”
I give a little groan. If I refuse, she’s going to wonder why. But I really don’t want to go. “Who’s down there?” I ask.
“Everyone I think. Everyone staying here anyway.”
My eyes glimpse the TV remote lying discarded on top of the bed. I really wanted to stay in and watch the telly. But if I don’t go, Emily will get suspicious, won’t she? She’ll think I’m plotting something.
“Come on, you’re still dressed for the occasion,” Emily points out.
I look down at my purple dress. “Fine.” I sigh and grab the uncomfortable shoes I had been wearing earlier. “You’re lucky I haven’t changed into my pyjamas.”
Emily laughs and follows me out of the door. I can just tell that this is not going to be a good night.
By the time we’ve waited for the annoying hotel lift, the celebrations at the bar are in full swing. There’s Lela sipping something pink with a cocktail umbrella in it, and Ash downing a pint beside her. Steph is drinking from her champagne glass like she’s sucking on a lemon, while her sidekick Kerry flirts with Ash’s cousin. At the end of the bar sits Johnny, laughing away with his mates at something on the screens behind the bar. Only one of them isn’t laughing. Damien looks out of place, hands cupped around a half-drunk bottle of cider.
As we approach the group, Emily slips in between Ash and Lela, putting her arms around both of them and talking about something that must be hilarious since all three of them are laughing about it. Oh God. They’re probably talking about me and my pathetic appearance here. Why did I agree to this?
There aren’t any empty stools left so I mingle awkwardly behind a small group of Ash’s extended family, not really wanting to order a drink.
I watch Damien lean across the bar out of the corner of my eye. I can’t tell if he’s ordering a drink or flirting with the pretty blonde bartender. Maybe he’s trying to make me jealous. I walk away, finding a spot that’s far enough away from the group that I won’t have to make small talk with anyone.
Someone slips into the gap next to me, sliding a glass of pale green liquid towards me.
“What’s this?” I ask, turning to face Damien.
“Mojito,” he explains casually. “I’m replacing the one you spilt that night when I bumped into you and Anna in Leeds.”
My eyes widen and I blink with shock. “You saw that?”
“Yep.” He grins. “I just never said anything. I think you were embarrassed enough.”
He’s right. I can feel the heat in my cheeks at just the mention of the incident.
“Jade, I’m sorry about earlier,” he says.
I glance at the cocktail he’s just bought me. “I suppose you think a drink will make up for it?”
He shrugs. “That’s not why I got you it. It’s really up to you about making up.”
“Well, I haven’t decided yet,” I tell him, turning my body away stiffly.
“Okay. I just hope we can still be friends after all this drama is over.”
I watch him stride back over to his friends at the other end of the bar, my mind repeating what he;s just said.
Friends. Friends? Is that all that was happening between us? What about our dates? Surely I didn’t read too much into that. We did go out as more than friends, didn’t we? Oh God. I’ve made an ever bigger fool of myself.
Why am I even here? I turn to walk away, leaving the mojito undrunk on the bar. Someone is heading through the doors at the opposite side of the room. Someone tall and skinny who’s dressed in a striking royal blue suit. He stops and brushes his loose dark hair out of his eyes, studying the wedding party before him.
I know him. It’s been a while, but I recognise the confident bounce he holds in his movement. As he gets closer, it’s obvious I’m not the only one who has noticed his arrival. Lela suddenly pales, her skin turning the colour of her dress. She looks desperately around the room for an escape plan but he’s coming much too close and all the other guests are starting to notice him too. For a second her eyes fall on me, and she glowers as though this is somehow my fault.
“Josh,” Lela says plainly when he finally stops in front of her. Her voice is doing that high-pitched thing again. Only, I don’t think she’s trying to sound posh.
“Lela.” Josh nods at her, and then at each of the faces around her.
Ash pushes himself forward from the group slightly, a look of pure confusion written on his face. I’m looking on in horror as the two men square each other up, neither one sure of the other.
Something horrible is going to happen. But I’m not going to be responsible for it. And I can’t do a thing to stop it.
I search for Damien in the group but he’s lost behind his friends who, like Ash, have taken a step forwards and are standing with their shoulders arched and fists clenched ready for a fight.
My eyes shut all of their own accord. I don’t really want to witness this. Why didn’t I make a scramble for the lift as soon as I saw him?
“What are you doing here?” Lela questions, her eyes darting nervously between Josh in front of her and Ash at her side.
“Oh, don’t stop the party on my accord.” Josh shoots a smarmy look in Ash’s direction.
“What exactly is going on?” Ash demands.
“Nothing,” Lela insists quickly. “I’m going to talk to Josh in private for a minute.” She moves and pushes Josh by the chest back out of the doors he just entered by before he can say anything else.
Ash watches the doors as they swing shut before turning to me and asking, “Jade, you’re Lela’s best friend. What the hell is Josh Graves doing here?”
Somehow I knew that this would all come crashing down around me. Even though all I did was stand back and say nothing. Why do these things only ever happen to me?