Hello all!
As some of you may know I have launched 'The fan name project' as a way of thanking my readers for being so ace!! So here it is - the chapter featuring my four starlets of the week - Shelley Burbank (author of Disguised), Nikki Kelly (author of the styclar saga - LAILAH), Lainey Reed (simply amazing) and Annie Gautum ( an avid reader and highly entertaining)! If you would like to be a part of this project - it's ongoing so drop me a line and we'll see what we can do!
Check them out @ShelleyBurbank, @TheStyclarSaga, @SkyLyte and @soundsabit02.
Enjoy the chapter, here it is!
What a perfect day to get married – It was hard not to admire the blanket of blue sky above - I was just finishing off getting ready when I heard a loud thump on my hotel room door.
‘Who is it?’ I asked, impatiently.
‘It’s Lainey – I’m a friend of the brides – Can you open up for a minute please?’
I fixed the last clip onto my loose bun –voila! I was ready – finally.
Tiptoeing towards the door – I could feel the frilly hem of my red dress rub against my knees – ‘What can I do for you?’
I couldn’t see anything through the small peep hole – ‘Just open up for a moment.’
I opened the door and was confronted by a young girl - she was no more than twenty one- twenty two at the very most. She wore a yellow dress, black shoulder length hair and spoke with a strong Jamaican accent – but it was her eyes that stood out the most – they were grey with orange specks that dotted around the edge of her pupils.
‘How can I help?’
She shifted her gaze to the left hand side - a look of concern embedded across her face. ‘Erm.’
Before she had a chance to finish her sentence – she was pushed forwards by a blonde girl with long wavy hair – wearing thick rimmed glasses and a wedding dress! ‘Get out my way, Lainey – I need water, can someone please get me some WATER!’
I rushed over to the dresser and poured some water into a glass – ‘Here you go. ‘I said, handing it to her.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, her beautiful white dress moulded into her petite frame perfectly, and she kept looking up at me with her big blue eyes. Drinking the water in large gulps, I noticed her breathing was quite erratic. ‘Yuk’. She said, handing me back the glass. ‘I can’t drink this.
‘I’m sorry, it’s all I have.’
‘I can’t breathe. ‘She said, clutching her chest. ‘Jesus, did someone put cucumber in my food last night?’
‘Well if someone did I don’t know anything about it,’ replied Lainey. ‘Look Nikki, you have an hour until the ceremony starts – you’d better get your act together.’
‘What if it was Giles? He’d do something like that!’ she looked up at me again this time - with pleading eyes. ‘He’s always trying to get me to eat my poxy greens! I’ve told him I’m allergic to vegetables, I always have been – Jesus how hard is it for him to understand that?’
‘Sorry guys.’ I interrupted. ‘But is there anything I can help you with?’
The girl in the wedding dress glanced over at me again – but this time she eyed me up and down suspiciously. ‘Do I know you?’
‘I’m a friend of Poppy’s - she invited me to come today.’
‘You know Poppy?’ she said jumping up on her feet. ‘Where is she? Tell her to get here immediately!’
I was just reaching for my cell to call Poppy when the girl’s phone beeped inside her palm.‘ Aunt Shelley?’ she said, pressing the phone really hard against her ear. Flopping herself back down onto the bed, she sighed - ‘I need you. Can you come to room’ she paused for a moment and looked over at Lainey –‘What’s the room number here?’
‘Room 202 – it’s on the fifth floor.’ replied, Lainey.
‘Did you hear that Aunt Shelley?’ Her auntie must have told her what she wanted to hear because after a few seconds she hung up the phone and threw it down beside her, smiling. ‘She’s on her way.’
I wasn’t sure what to do – for one, why were they in my room? And two, I needed to go downstairs and meet Poppy and the others. When I say the others, I mean Scott and Josie – but for some reason it’s just better for me to refer to them as ‘the others’.
‘My poor little pecan pie!’ said a voice that came from the entrance of my room - And in walked a lady with light brown shoulder length hair – hazel eyes – and what can only be described as a pearlescent sheen that permeated her being – she was rich – mega rich. I could tell. I was a celebrity for all of five minutes remember – I know these things.
The girl in the wedding dress jumped up from the bed and wrapped her tiny arms around her Aunt’s neck. ‘Aunt Shelley Burbank! Thank God.’
The woman referred to as Aunt Shelley patted the girls back in the same way that one would burp a baby -‘There, there. Now what’s all this nonsense about?’
Lainey rolled her eyes and laid her palms flat out in front of her. ‘She’s being a drama queen again.’
The girl hung onto her Aunt’s neck for dear life – ‘I think I might be making a mistake. I think he spiked my food with vegetables.’ She sobbed.
‘There, there. Now stop being silly.’ Replied, Aunt Shelley - holding the girl’s arms out in front of her, she looked assertively into her eyes. ‘Now, I’ve warned you before about these cheap five star hotels, it was probably one of those under-paid waiters. They never listen to proper instruction – have you tasted the water in this place? It tastes like a river – a dirty one at that.’
The girl let out a small laugh as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
‘Now, take off these magnifying glasses and show us your beautiful big blue eyes.’
‘I can’t take them off Aunt Shelley. I simply can’t!’
‘Why ever not darling? The optician said you have perfect vision. You don’t need to wear these silly things.’
‘But they make me look intelligent – Giles says he would never marry a girl who lacks intelligence.’
‘But you are intelligent honey – didn’t you just finish your MBA last month?’
The girl nodded.
‘So can we stop with this little outburst and get ready? Let’s show the general public what you Kelly’s are really made off!’
The girl in the wedding dress walked behind her auntie as they made their way out of the room, with Lainey following closely behind.
I heaved a sigh of relief but it was only temporary as the text that came through from Poppy shortly afterwards, was filled with a long string of expletives - apparently her and ‘the others’ had been waiting for ages in the foyer.
It was time for me to face my demons - again.
The wedding
The ceremony was – in a word – a puke fest. The soon to be married couple said their vows and nervously pushed rings onto each other’s fingers – Giles epitomised all that a property investor should – not to mention his creepy looking friends.
I stood next to Poppy and a few of the bride’s family members – Scott was standing to my far left on the other side and Josie a row behind him. He wore a grey suit with a black shirt tucked neatly inside – his hair looked shorter than usual and he wasn’t far from delectable. I could tell he had been travelling because he looked tanned and those hazel pools – I noticed between the audience’s gasps – he kept staring over in my direction – But I refused to indulge in non-verbal ping pong.
A girl that was stood next to me had started to giggle randomly - I was inclined to ignore her at first but she just kept on. I finally looked over at her. ‘What’s so funny?’ I whispered.
There was something about her - it might have been the blue streaks in her hair but in all honesty she seemed to be the most down to earth. ‘I’m Annie.’ She whispered back. ‘Annie Gautum.’
‘Pleased to meet you Annie, I’m Jen.’
Poppy shot an angry glance over in my direction- her expression warning me to keep quiet.
‘You see that guy over there?’ said Anne, pointing in Scott’s direction.
I could feel my face burn up. ‘What about him?’
‘He keeps staring at you. What a donkey hole.’