I stayed up late that night, my thoughts twisted with the events that had unfolded. So late, in fact, that when Lukas shook me into consciousness the next morning, I could barely open my eyes.
"You'll never fucking believe who's at the front door," he said to me in a hushed voice.
"I invited her," I grumbled, sitting up and attempting to rub the sleep out of my stinging eyes.
Lukas just stared at me. "You what?"
"I told her I wanted to help with the wedding," I said. I ignored his complete shell-shocked expression and got out of bed. I quickly threw on some jeans and a sweatshirt, pulling my hair up quickly as I made my way to the bathroom. I washed my face and brushed my teeth quickly before rushing out to the living room.
Estella was waiting in the open doorway, looking as perfect as ever. She looked effortlessly beautiful, wearing a vintage dress and kitten heels. She looked like something straight out of 1940's Paris, and my shoulders instantly deflated. It seemed to hit me more and more every time I saw her that I could never compete.
"Sorry to barge in on you," she said as I approached. "I was just at my dress fitting and was on my way through, and thought it would be easier for you if we carpool. Unless you wanted to drive separate-"
"It's fine," I said quickly. "I just woke up, is all."
"I figured," she laughed. "Alex told me you were pretty hammered when he drove you home last night."
"I mean, I wasn't that hammered but-"
"Don't be embarrassed," she said. "We all get drunk sometimes."
She smiled at me then and I wanted so badly to like her. But how could I when she was marrying the person I'd been in love with since I was fifteen?
"You ready to go?" she asked me.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
• • • •
Their hotel room was even nicer inside than I'd expected. It was practically an apartment, furnished with a kitchen and a living room. As we walked inside, I couldn't help but notice the signs of Alex all over the place.
His leather jacket was thrown over the back of a chair, his guitar was resting up against the couch. There was a notepad completely covered in his scratchy handwriting on the kitchen table that Estella quickly tossed aside to replace with a box of wedding programs.
"I just go these printed yesterday," she said, handing one to me. "But I want to put a handwritten 'Thank you' at the bottom of each one. Should we start with that?"
"Sure," I said, looking it over. I had to stifle a laugh, because this wedding was already so incredibly over the top and I'm sure Alex was hating every moment of it.
We each took a seat and started writing on all of the programs (which was completely fucking pointless, if you ask me). She took a short break to put a record on (of course she owned a fucking record player and brought it with her to Sheffield). It was some song from the 50's that sounded like all the rest and I was tempted to ask her if she had any Strokes records laying around.
"So you and Alex have known each other since school?" Estella asked me as we worked away.
"Since we were eight," I said. "Haven't been able to get rid of him since."
"Did you guys stay in touch when he left Sheffield?"
"No," I admitted. "We were both busy and stuff. You know how it is."
"I get it," she replied.
We fell back into silence with the record playing in the background.
"So how long have you and Al know each other?" I asked her. Now was as good of a time as ever to ask.
"About a year," she said. "We met a festival right after he moved down to LA."
I tried to act unfazed by her answer but a year? A fucking year? Sure you can get to know someone in a year, but not near well enough to marry them.
Or maybe I was just being a jealous bitch. I couldn't tell.
Either way, I made a mental note to tell Alex he was an idiot next time I saw him.
"So I saw you talking to that Kooks guy at the party," Estella said causally. "He's pretty cute."
"We're just friends," I said, trying to avoid the conversation that I knew was going to follow.
She raised an eyebrow at me as she set the box down on the counter. "You guys aren't dating or anything?"
I shook my head.
"Oh," she said. "Well, if you ever do decide to settle down and get married, I'm going to have to help you plan it. To repay you for all the stuff you've done for me now."
I kind of laughed. "Trust me, I don't think that's ever going to happen."
"You don't plan on getting married?"
I shrugged. I've never really been big on marriage or kids or any of that stuff. And the only man I've ever fallen in love with was about to legally bind himself to another woman, so the chances of marriage were pretty slim.
Estella looked at me a bit dreamily. "You've never sat around and day dreamed about having a husband and family to come home to every day?"
"Not really."
"Oh." She drew back, a little perplexed. "I guess I shouldn't really be that surprised though, seeing as your Alex's friend and he is definitely not a marriage type guy. I was surprised that he even proposed to me, honestly."
I looked her over, something in me softening a little. "You must be really special to him."
She smiled. "I suppose."
We talked for a little while longer about random things, but the conversation took a turn when I mentioned Alex's parents. She kind of stiffened in her seat, averting her eyes.
"I don't exactly get along with them," she said, focusing her attention on the program.
"Why not?"
"I'm guessing Alex didn't tell you then," she said.
"Tell me what?"
She didn't answer for a long time, but when she did, she started with a deep breath, and I knew whatever was about to follow was going to be juicy.
"We're friends, Emilia, right?"
"I mean, I guess-"
"Alright," she cut me off. "Then I can trust you?"
"Of course."
Debatble. But I'd say anything just to hear what she had to say.
"We kind of had a... fallout a few months ago. We both did things that we shouldn't have. You know how it is. And Alex's parents have kind of had it out for me since then."
I was disappointed with her answer. I was expecting some gossip, but it was obvious that there was practically nothing wrong with their relationship. That wasn't exactly a surprise, though.
We finished up the programs and started working on centerpieces (which involved peacock feathers and glitter and were exactly as over the top as I'd expected). It was nearing 2 in the afternoon when we finished those, and I was actually kind of warming up to Estella.
She was one of the girls that you just couldn't stop looking at, and I found myself constantly glancing up at her throughout the day. It was this reason that I noticed the funny way she held her phone.
It was strange and I hadn't noticed it before- but everything she did was graceful, except for the way she texted. She would kind of turn her body away from me, tilting her phone screen away.
Almost as if she had something to hide.
I knew I was reading into it too much. I'd always been a people watcher, noticing the small things that no one else did.
We finished everything around 3, and I was helping her move the things into a clear spot in the kitchen when something caught my eye.
"What's that?" I asked her, pointing to a whiteboard hanging on the wall. There were a million things written down on it in different colors along with sticky notes neatly placed all over it.
"Oh, that's just all of the wedding details," she said. "All the numbers for the caterer, dress shop, tux place, venue... all of that stuff."
"Hm."
She picked up another box and went on about something else, walking into the kitchen. When I was sure I was out of her sight, I quickly pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of it.
I wasn't exactly planning on crashing their wedding at this point, but I took the picture anyway.
Just in case.