[Ambrosia Bellemore]
I went back into the house teary eyed and pouting, which made my mother's smirk grow even wider. Neave and Freida threw me concerned looks, but I gave them discreet winks to let them know that everything was fine.
The party continued unperturbed and I tried my best to keep my over-excited, giggly self under control. But since I was very bad at acting, everyone soon realised that something was fishy.
"Everything alright, Ambrosia?" Paul, Neave's fiancè, asked. He was one of those tall, lanky doctors that everyone above the age of thirty lusted after, with his messy blonde hair and blue eyes. I could see in an instant why Neave fell in love with him.
"All good, Paul. A little jittery." I say, smiling.
"Really? Do you think I can help?" He asks earnestly, his huge puppy eyes shining.
Oh my God stay away from me.
"I'm fine, Paul. I'm okay," I say.
"Are you sure? Are you suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Did something happen to you recently?" He asks, his thumb pressing lightly on my wrist, checking my pulse.
"What? No!" I protest, pulling my hand away.
"How much coffee do you drink regularly? Did you overdose?" He asks, peering into my eyes.
"No, Pa--" I begin to say.
"Is it your menopause?"
"WHAT?!" I shriek.
"Paul, honey, why don't we head back to the hotel? It's late." Neave materializes out of thin air and says, running a soothing hand down Paul's arm.
"Sure, babe." Paul says, smiling widely down at her.
Creep.
"Hey, Ambrosia. I almost forgot to tell you, it's my first dress fitting tomorrow. You can try on your bridesmaid dress too!" Neave says excitedly.
"I can't go. I'm busy tomorrow," I say.
"Tomorrow's a holiday." Neave says.
"Exactly."
"Look here," she says, a steely glint in her eyes. "This can go either way, and both of them end up with you in a bridesmaid's dress at Charlotte's, 42 Avenue Street at eight a.m tomorrow. Good night."
She walks out of the door with Paul tailing behind her. My mother follows them, since they were staying in the same hotel, but not before giving me a self righteous smirk. I want to smirk back at her but I didn't want to spoil my surprise by being stupid, so I settle for a glare.
After everyone's gone, I plop on the couch and sigh. Being in human company for too long is tiring. Thankfully, Mr Cadwallader is allowed to stay with me, much to the horror of Freida.
"Get some sleep. And take that dog with you, please. I need to clean up this mess." Freida says, picking up a stray can of beer.
"I could help," I begin to say, but stop when I catch the hopeful look in Freida's eyes. "But never mind." She glares at me. I give her a 'this was your idea, now suffer' smile.
"Come on, Mr Cadwallader." I say, walking up the stairs to my room. I change into my pajamas and jump into my bed with Mr Cadwallader curling up against my feet. I feel utter happiness bubbling up in my chest and sigh.
"It was a fine, fine day, Mr Cadwallader."
~•~
The next morning, it's doesn't look as fine. I wake up with a jerk, squinting against the bright sunlight pouring through the window. Mr Cadwallader is snoozing at the foot of my bed and my phone is vibrating menacingly on the bedside table.
Double shit with cherry on top.
"CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!" I moan and jump out from under my blanket. I pick up my phone without even checking the name and say,"I'm on my way!" hastily and cut the call before Neave can shout at me.
I put on a black t-shirt and my blue jeans, brushing my teeth and hair at the same time. Patting Mr Cadwallader on the head, I dash downstairs where Freida is slumped on the couch, snoring.
"I'll be back if I'm not dead," I scream before closing the door behind me.
I hear Freida say something like,"Go slay the dragons!" but I can't be sure.
The traffic is thin, surprisingly and I make it to Charlotte's exquisite wedding dresses in the nick of time. I rush out of my car and into the shop with excuses on the tip of my tongue but the door won't budge.
It takes me a minute to realise that the shop is closed.
"What?"
In fact, every shop in the block is closed. And the streets are deserted.
"How?"
Did the world end while I was asleep? Am I the only one alive?
Confused, I click on my phone and the clock screams that it's six thirty in the morning.
Oh.
No.
Almost on the verge of crying, I slump back into my car seat. This shouldn't have happened, I'm too young to suffer like this. Why does this always happen to me?!
Groaning into my palm, I bash my head into the steering wheel. The car gives an angry honk and it echoes through the empty block.
I sigh and start playing a game on my phone, which doesn't last long because my phone dies after five minutes.
"I better get a bungalow in Heaven, God." I mutter irritably.
Two hours of agony later, Neave and my mother arrive. Neave's eyes grow wide with surprise upon seeing me and my mother grunts in disappointment.
"Thank you for coming, Am." Neave says earnestly as we walk into the shop. I smile back, my tiredness ebbing away a little.
Charlotte's is a small place and extremely warm and cozy, which makes me want to curl up in one of the racks and sleep. Charlotte is a busty, kind woman who welcomes us with a wide smile on her face and escorts Neave into the dressing room immediately. My mother sits on the couch stiffly and I lean on one of the glass windows, admiring an emerald gown with little sequins glittering on it.
Fifteen minutes later, Neave emerges out of the room in a Victorian style full length gown with a stiff collar and full sleeves. She walks stiffly, almost like she's frozen over.
"It's beautiful," My mother says at the same time that I say,"It's horrid."
Neave and Charlotte seem to agree with me, much to my mother's dismay, and walk into the dressing room again.
I go back to daydreaming, where Calum and I are dancing in a field filled with sunflowers. Calum is a pro at dancing now, and I'm in the beautiful emerald dress, twirling and laughing and kissing...
"Ambrosia!" Neave screams and I'm back in the shop.
"Y-Yeah? It's a beautiful dress." I stammer. And it is. The full length gown trails behind her back as she walks. The white bodice glimmers almost enchantingly when it catches the sun streaming in from the windows. The sleeves fall elegantly by her side like wings.
"You look beautiful," my mother says, with tears in her eyes. Somewhere deep, deep in my chest, a volcano erupts painfully.
"This is it, Charlotte." My sister says, smiling.
"Very good, now may I go home?" I ask, yearning for my bed.
"No. You'll try on your dress after I get out of mine." Neave says. I pout.
Fifteen minutes later, I'm strapped into a death contraption. It's a dreadful red dress that leaves little to the imagination and it's almost too painful to the eye.
Even Charlotte looks sorry for me when I walk out. My mother looks satisfied though.
"No," Neave says almost immediately. Charlotte nods her head vigorously in agreement.
The next dress is almost as horrid as the last. It's a muddy brown, floor length dress with a high collar and floor length sleeves. I almost gag when I look at myself in the mirror.
"Get out of it," Neave says.
The next five dresses range from unbearable-to-look-at to disgusting-to-the-point-of-pain. My mother's smirk grows nastier and nastier after every rejection.
"Okay, that's enough." Neave finally says.
"I agree. Let's head back home." I say, running into the room to get back into my jeans. I hear my mother's voice when I walk out.
"You can't help it, you know. Some girls just don't have it in them." She says in her shrill voice.
"Oh yeah? Don't have what, mother?" I ask innocently, leaning casually against the wall.
"Charms to woo a man, of course!" She says, laughing lightly.
Ignoring the warning looks from my sister, I say,"And that's all that matters, doesn't it? A man?"
"Of course!"
"But it doesn't seem like you've succeeded, have you mother?" I say with a sneer. "Seems like your man wooing skills need improving."
My mother rises from the couch, anger flashing in her eyes. But for once, I'm not afraid. "Don't you dare--"
"STOP IT!" Neave screams, freezing us both to our spot. Neave never lost her cool.
"This is my wedding! Why do you always have to make it about her, mom?! Pestering Ambrosia about her date, her weight, her dress! She can do whatever she wants!" She screams at her, flailing her arms around in agitation. I cross my arms and smirk at my mother.
"And you!" She turns to me and my smile drops. "Why can't you stop being miserable all the time? I don't want to force you into anything and you always make it seem like I am! I'm your sister and I'm getting married! Can you at least pretend to be excited?!" She shrieks, her cheeks flushed with anger.
"I've been putting up with this for years! When was the last time you've ever gotten along with each other?! I don't care what differences you have, but if you keep this going any longer, I'll throw both of you out of my wedding and I'm NOT JOKING!" She says and walks out stiffly.
My mother is the first to recover from the stony silence that follows. Throwing me a nasty glare, she walks out of the shop after my sister. I listen to their car driving away before I walk out. Sighing into my seat, I promise myself that I'll do something special for my sister and try to be happy for her, even though I'm miserable from the inside.
Picking up my phone which had been charging on the console, I notice that I had two missed calls from Calum and a text.
'You've been ignoring me.'
~•~
That's too much drama for a chapter, seriously. And I believe that an apology is in order,
I'm sorry, guys. I know the update came super late. I've been feeling pretty low lately and writing has become increasingly difficult of late. But I made myself sit and write because I love you guys and I don't want to let anyone down. We've reached 6k reads people and I can't thank you guys enough.
If you have come this far, drop a ❤ (even if you're a ghost reader, pweez) so I can find you and hug you till you die of oxygen loss.
Bye!
Ps- and can I just say, the picture at the top is ADORKABLE!