Page 20 of The Plus One Professional

“Yeah, when we were young.”

Timmy didn’t look convinced. “Okay, but, I mean, you two were… and I don’t know; I was just thinking, you know, maybe now, now that she’s older, you’re older?—”

“We’re not getting back together.” Academically, I think I understood why she’d done what she had. I assume she needed to blow up our relationship because it was too much for her. We were both so young, and overnight, I became responsible for four lives. She hadn’t asked for that. But that didn’t change the facts of her actions. And actions had consequences; reasons didn’t matter.

Which was why it was better that I didn’t kiss Bailey. Because that would have had consequences. And I didn’t have room in my life for consequences.

9

BAILEY

“She can’t be here!”The bride’s voice echoed through the cavernous corridor as I rushed down the hall of the hundred-year-old church to the dressing room.

I’d stepped outside for one minute to help the bride’s mother to her car so she could head back to pick up the bride’s father, and it appeared all hell had broken loose. I’d heard her shouting from outside while I waved Mrs. Harper off.

“Get her out of here!” The bride shrilled.

Billie exited the bridal suite, and I immediately knew we had a code red.

“Groom’s ex-girlfriend. She spotted her out the window.”

My chin dipped in acknowledgment as we passed each other in the hall. After being sisters our entire lives and working together for the past ten or so years, we silently knew what our roles would be. Billie would handle the ex, and I would handle the bride. We played to our strengths.

I mentally prepared myself to deal with emotional carnage as I entered the room and found Ariana sobbing as she pleaded with her bridesmaids, “What is she doing here!? Why is she here?”

Instantly, my mind switched to damage control. Makeup and hair had just left; we’d need them to come back. If the wedding was going to happen, that is. In my experience, it was fifty-fifty whether or not an ex showing up derailed the day’s events. Actually, more like seventy-five to twenty-five in favor of the nuptials going forward.

“What is she doing here?!” Ariana demanded.

“I don’t know. Do you want me to ask Rob?” Cara, the maid of honor, offered.

“Why would you ask Rob? Do you think he invited her here? Oh my god! Do you think she’s going to object?”

Whenever people found out what I did for work, one of the first questions they asked was if I’d ever seen someone object when a bride and groom exchanged vows. Once. I’d seen it happen once. Even though I knew it was bad form, I had to admit that the romantic in me had swooned just a little. Internally, of course. I kept it professional externally.

In fairness, if the groom had been a decent guy, I wouldn’t have been quite so inclined to have been swept up in the moment, even silently. But since the groom was a narcissistic asshole who had hit on me, Billie, and Birdie during the eighteen months we’d worked on his wedding, I was rooting for the objector.

I’ll never forget. The guy was four rows back, and before the officiant even got the words “or forever hold your peace” out, the man, who I later learned was named Brian, was on his feet. He said that he objected because Hannah, the bride, deserved a man who woke up every day grateful that he had the opportunity to make her smile. She deserved a man who would go out and get her cookies and cream ice cream in the middle of a rainstorm while she sat in front of a fire. She deserved a man who would rub her feet at the end of a long day without being asked. She deserved a man who couldn’t wait to hear the next words that were going to come out of her mouth because just hearing her speak was medicine for his soul.

The groom laughed at Brian’s declaration while the bride cried. Happy tears. She left the wedding with Brian. The happy couple tied the knot the following month, just celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary, and were expecting their first child.

“Do you think this is all for content? Do you think they planned this? Is Rob going to leave me at the altar so they can get back together as some sort of stunt?” Ariana looked around the room for answers.

The bridesmaids all shared a look that told me the thought had crossed their minds. One of them looked down at their phone. I could tell it was bad news from Cara’s expression.

Rob and Ariana were both social media influencers. Together, they had over five million followers. I still wasn’t sure exactly what their job entailed. They were both incredibly good-looking and posted a ton of selfies. From what I’d seen, they basically did ads for products, filmed themselves on vacations, and doing dances.

“What?” Ariana demanded. “What is it?”

Cara turned the phone around to show the bride the screen. “Juliette is live streaming. And there’s ten thousand people watching.”

Apparently, Juliette, who I assumed was the ex who’d shown up, had a following too.

“What?!” Ariana shrieked.

There was a knock on the door, and I heard Rob shouting from the other side. “Ari, are you okay? I had no idea she was going to do this, baby! I swear! Let me in.”

She nodded at me, and I opened the door. Rob walked in and beelined straight to his betrothed. Billie was right behind him.

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