Serena
After Tiff's beautiful wedding ceremony and then the reception, I was back at work.
It honestly felt like I was living in a dream for a day and now I was back to real life. Back to my lovely store.
After the wedding, I think I appreciated what I do a little more, by seeing how a dress from my store really enhanced the beauty of my customers. I wasn't providing some kind of necessary service, but I still felt like it was good thing. It uplifted my mood.
However, my mood wasn't the only one that had changed.
Will had been acting a little strange ever since the wedding and I really couldn't seem to figure him out.
Sometimes, it would seem he was lost in his own world. I'd call out his name, he wouldn't hear, but when he did, he'd shrug it off and say he was okay. I'd question it, but he would insist that he really was fine and that it was nothing.
This was reoccurring to the point, where I was starting to get a little worried and his reassurances weren't doing anything but adding to my worry.
Will was never the kind of guy that was usually aloof. However, now it seemed like he was a hundred miles away, even if he was sitting right next to me.
I wanted to help, but I didn't know how. He wouldn't let me in. I also didn't want to push, in case it was something he just needed to tell me in his own time. I continuously just hoped that time would hurry up.
***
As I arrived at the store this morning, I noticed had I had to open up, which meant Arya wasn't in yet.
I assumed she'd be late anyway, since she had mentioned Louis had planned a special date night. It was something that Arya was initially upset about, since she, surprisingly, wanted to attend Tiff's wedding, but apparently Louis wanted to have to this date night.
I thought it was pretty sweet of him. If she didn't come in at all, I wouldn't be shocked. Although, I just hoped she wouldn't send me one of her dirty texts about how good of a night she had - something Arya occasionally liked to do. I literally have no idea why.
After about an hour, I had already opened up the store and set up. We hadn't had a customer yet, but since Arya wasn't in, I needed to remain on the shop floor, in case someone did come in.
Just when I was trying to going over our appointment book, I heard the bell ring above the door.
I assumed it would be a customer, but to my surprise, it was actually Arya. To add further to that surprise, she walked in with a massive, shit-eating grin on her face as opposed to her usual scowl.
Before I could even open my mouth to question this odd behaviour of hers, she spoke first.
"Louis proposed!" Arya shouted excitedly, and I let out a small scream myself.
Quickly moving towards her, I pulled her in a big hug. "Oh, my God. Arya, Congratulations. I'm so happy for you guys," I told her and then grabbed her hand. "Let me see the-...wait, where's the ring?"
As soon as I asked that question, Arya pouted. "I turned him down."
I blinked a few times, trying to process what she had just said and also if I had heard correctly.
She must have lost her mind.
"Why would you do that?" I asked her the most obvious question.
Arya sighed. "Because I wanted to propose first," she said and I swear I wanted to her get her head checked.
"Are you serious?" I asked, stepping away from her and crossing my arms.
"Yes," she replied.
I shook my head and then rubbed my forehead slightly from the stress this girl would give me.
"And what was Louis's reaction to this?" I asked.
She twisted her lips. "Well, he looked sad-" she started.
"-Duh," I interrupted her, rolling my eyes.
"But-" she glared at me and carried on, "-he then smiled and said it was alright and that he'd just have to try again."
I swear, Louis was the sweetest soul to exist.
"He's so cute," I said.
Arya nodded. "Yup. But, I'm going to do it before he can."
I shook my head at her. "You really are a bit of a nutcase aren't you?"
Arya grinned at me. "Completely."
I couldn't help but laugh at her words.
"Do you have a ring?" I asked, assuming if she was going to propose, she might already have a ring in mind or even prepared.
Arya nodded back at me. "Yeah, it's a silver band with a diamond in the middle," she said and smiled. "Oddly, it matches the one he wanted to give me."
Louis was hopelessly in love with Arya. It was adorable to see, especially when he was so understanding to her crazy antics, as if it were expected.
"Louis is going to be in for a surprise then, isn't he?" I smiled.
"A big one!" Arya replied enthusiastically, and we both laughed.
Our conversation was then interrupted by the sound of the shop bell ringing one more and we both looked to see a girl walk in.
I looked at Arya and smiled. "I've got this," I told her.
She nodded back. "Cool, I'm gonna go pee."
I walked up to the girl and smiled.
"Hello, welcome to The Wedding Shop. How can I help you today?" I cheerfully greeted the girl, putting on my best smile.
She looked at me curiously.
"Are you Serena?" she asked and then I looked at her a little wearily.
When someone comes to your work and then asks for you, when you've never met before. That's just creepy.
Although she does look a little familiar.
"Yes, I am," I said, taking a very small, probably unnoticeable, step back. "This is where you now say your name," I added, when she didn't introduce herself.
She let out a little amused breath. "Right, sorry. My name is Lola."
"Okay, Lola. How may I help you today? I assume you're looking for a dress?" I asked.
She shook her head, biting her lip slightly. "Not exactly," she trailed off.
I raised a brow at her. "Then?"
The girl, Lola, then cleared her throat. "I wanted to speak to you."
She looked as if she was preparing herself, and I was just lost. I didn't have a good feeling about this.
"Okay?" I said the word in a questioning tone.
"I saw you at the Masterson and Wilson wedding," Lola stated. She was talking about Tiff's wedding.
I paused for a moment and then it clicked.
"Right!" I clapped my hands. "I knew you looked a little familiar."
During the reception, I did see her face, I'm sure of it.
"How do you know Tiff?" I asked her, but she seems to awkwardly shift on the spot.
Lola cleared heard throat a little and looked away from me. "I don't," she said.
As if I wasn't weirded out already.
"Okay, sorry. I'm a little confused now," I told her, letting out a nervous chuckle.
"My roommate's boyfriend was part of the catering team. I was helping out, since they were short-staffed," she then explained and I let out a relieved breath.
Okay, so that wasn't weird. She did have a reason to be there.
Just as I was about to reply, Lola spoke up once more.
"Is there somewhere we could speak? In private?" She asked me, looking around slightly, as if the walls had ears.
Was it the safest idea for me to consider talking to this complete stranger in my office? Probably not. But I felt I could take her, if it came to that.
"Oh, um. Sure. I have an office in the back," I told her.
"One second," I excused myself from Lola, and walked towards Arya.
"Hey, Arya. I'm just going in the back, keep an eye on the store for me," I asked, despite that going without saying, since she always does such a perfect job of looking after store for me when I'm running around elsewhere.
She glanced back at Lola, then looked at me with a nod. "Sure. No problem."
I went back towards Lola and gestured towards the way of the back office.
"So, you wanted to speak to me?" I asked, closing the back door at taking a seat at my seat, with Lola taking a seat on the other side.
She cleared her throat nervously. "Yeah."
I raised a brow at her, just waiting.
"At the wedding, I saw someone else. Someone I hadn't seen in a while. I was actually looking for them and then found them to be attending the same wedding," Lola said.
"Okay?" I said, a little unsure of why she still knew my name and came looking for me.
Lola took a breath. "That person is Will."
She seemed scared as she said the name and I wasn't exactly sure which emotion I was feeling, but confusion was a top one.
"Will? My Will? William Pattinson. That Will?" I asked her.
"Yes, to all of the above," she shifted awkwardly in her seat.
I put on a forced smile on my face.
"Maybe you should start from the beginning," I told her.
"I'm Lola Jacobs, I used to be at school with Will," she then properly introduced herself and then it clicked.
"You're that Lola," I stated.
She then smiled back at me. "So I guess he told you about me then?"
I nodded. "He said-" I began to say, but shook my head. "...actually, why don't you just tell me your side first."
"Okay. Well, during high school, Will and I became good friends. He was kind of nerdy and shy; I couldn't help but fall for him. We were a small group of friends and I was too scared to act on my feelings, thinking it would split up the group if Will didn't feel the same way, so I kept things too myself," she started her story.
"But he did feel the same way," I added knowingly and she nodded, agreeing with my words.
"Every so often, I'd get this feeling that he also felt the same way about me," the smile she had on whilst reminiscing, quickly turned into a frown. "However, by the time I worked up the courage to tell him, I found out that I was sick."
My mouth was left slightly open by her words, not expecting that at all.
"Sick?" I questioned.
She gave me a small smile. "Cancer," she confirmed what I was beginning to think. "I didn't know it at first, but I started to get tired really quickly and just feel ill. After having some tests done they told me what it is."
I could see Lola wringing her hands in her lap. I felt as if I should stop her, since this wasn't the most easiest subject to talk about. However, before I could begin to speak, but she continued.
"My parents wanted me to get treatment at this special place," Lola told me and I frowned.
"So you left," I said, knowing that's exactly what she did.
A tear slipped from her eye and she quickly wiped it, as if she were hiding it. "I didn't want to tell Will about my sickness, more because I felt like he'd stop me from leaving or want to be by my side. I wasn't sure if I'd survive this, my chances weren't so great and I didn't want to put that on him."
She was making it incredibly hard to dislike her.
"He was hurt when you left," I told Lola.
Her head, which was bowed down, lifted up to look at me with a solemn expression.
"Will chose that moment to tell me that he was in love with me. It meant the world to me when he said it and all I wanted was to be in his arms and be with him, but I couldn't," I saw the tears at brink of her eyes once more, but she rapidly blinked to avoid letting them fall.
"So instead I told him I loved him, but I had to leave and that I was sorry," Lola finished with a sniffle.
I gave her a moment to collect herself once again and when she looked at me with a smile, I felt she was ready to talk once more.
"How are you now?" I asked her.
She seemed shocked at my question, as if she didn't expect me ask or care.
"Better, much better. Thank you," she smiled. "I was in recovery for some time, but I'm a lot better, only have a few appointments sometimes."
I gave a genuine smile back. "That's great. I'm happy for you."
"Thank you," she replied.
The awkward silence between us now was resounding, so I chose to be the first one to break it.
"So, uh, can I ask, what do you want now?" I questioned her, and when she tilted her head slightly, I tried to clarify myself. "I mean, you wanted to see Will, but-"
"I'm not proud of this, but I stalked him on social media," she confessed.
An amused breath left me, at both her confession and guilty expression. "You did?" I asked her.
"Yeah, again, I'm not proud of it," she shook her head. "I knew he had the bakery, but I wasn't brave enough to go there and meet him. But when I saw him at the wedding, I just-...I knew I needed to."
"I'm sorry, I know it sounds bad, I just wanted to speak to him," Lola added.
"But then you saw me," I stated.
At the wedding I remember seeing this slightly skittish looking person, that was looking in my direction. Only now do I realise that it was Lola, who was looking in Will's direction and only seemed skittish and ran when she saw me come up to him.
I guess this explains Will's recent lost behaviour. He had to have seen her too.
"I did," she confirmed. "I didn't want, or expect, Will to wait, but there was always that tiny bit of hope. I just wanted to speak to him and at least tell him why I left. When I saw you with him, he looked so happy, I just-...I felt it was wrong to go behind your back and do this. I wasn't even sure you knew about me," she rambled on, looking at me nervously.
"I know as much as Will did really, or maybe just less than that," I told her.
Will and I had this 'honesty is the best policy' kind of thing between us. So when I shared my past with him, Will did the same with me.
He'd told me all about Lola. She was his person.
Of course it was clear now that he didn't know all about Lola's illness. At the time when he told me his story, the hurt he felt from her leaving like that, it was still visible.
At first, I thought she was the one that got away. But right now, she's here in front of me and definitely, not away.
"I wanted to ask for your permission, to just talk to Will and just explain my side. I don't want to carry on with him thinking I just left without reason," Lola asked.
This time it was me who shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"This is a little weird," I commented. "I've never had someone ask for my permission like this, but then again, I've never been engaged to someone and their ex come to me," I laughed, trying to ease the tension in the room.
It didn't work.
"It is weird and I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable or causing any problems," Lola apologised.
I wanted to believe that she meant her words and wasn't trying to cause anything, but that small, very small, part of me was still annoyed.
"This is just-...it's unexpected, I guess," I replied, twisting my ring around my finger.
Lola nodded. "I understand," she said, "I also understand if you say no and I'll accept that decision too."
I looked at her, studying her face, and she seemed to mean those words.
"It's a lot to take in," I sighed, rubbing my forehead, feeling a slight headache come on from all this.
It was too early in the day for this.
I looked back at Lola and she looked so damn hopeful. I knew I couldn't refuse, that would make me a terrible person, I also didn't think it was my decision to make.
"The best that I can do for you, is to pass on the message to Will, that you want to meet. From then on, it's his decision on what to do," I told her.
No matter what I say, this was really Will's life and his decision to make. I wasn't a possessive or jealous person to refuse her from talking to Will. I also don't think my conscious could bare hiding that from him.
It tore him up when she left. Now that she was back, he deserved to know at least.
"Of course," Lola agreed. "Um, I have to go for an appointment right now, but if you do decide that you are okay with me talking to Will, could you please let me know?" she asked, fishing out a card from her bag, and placing it on desk.
I nodded, taking the card in my hand.
Lola stood up from her seat, as did I.
"Thank you, Serena. Truly," she said.
"It's okay," I replied.
Just as she turned around to leave, I stopped her, a burning question remaining in my mind which I needed to get out.
When Lola looked at me curiously, I spoke up.
"Can I ask, why now? Why do you want to meet him all of a sudden," I asked.
She gave me a smile, one that seemed a little sad. "I just need to know he doesn't hate me."
I nodded at her words and watched on as she gave me one last smile and then walked out the door.
Now, I was left with an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. The ring on my finger, felt as if it weighed a tonne now. In my other hand, I held the card with Lola's contact information.
Dropping the card, I looked at my ring.
I knew this wasn't good.
***
Hope you liked the read :)