Page 104 of The Wedding Pact
The way she reeled them off had August wondering if she was the go-to fixer in Elizabeth Street. ‘No, nothing like any of those, this is more of a wardrobe malfunction.’
Callie’s eyes travelled down to August’s dressing gown. ‘What have you got on under there?’
‘Not much, to be honest.’
‘And what’s the problem?’
‘The problem is that what little I have got on I can’t get off.’
‘Why didn’t you wait for Flynn to come home? Surely the point is for him to take it off you anyway?’
August felt herself pink, both at the shame of still lying to Callie, and moreover at the thought of Flynn taking it off her, which flashed into her mind as rather a pleasant fleeting image.
She regained her composure and said, ‘Well, this is supposed to be a surprise, for another time, I was just testing it out. And now something’s gone wrong with the ribbons on the dress and, I think, the hook and eyes at the back of the underwear because I can’t get it off and I can’t really reach it and something’s beginning to tear.’
‘All right, love, well, let’s have a look, then.’ Callie sat back like a punter at a striptease.
‘Don’t laugh, okay?’ August cautioned.
‘Bloody hell, what is it under there, a mankini?’
‘No … ’ August stood up and shyly removed her robe, revealing what was underneath.
Callie didn’t laugh, she didn’t even make some sordid comment, which August half expected, and wouldn’t have blamed her for. Instead she said, ‘Hon, you look beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. That’s a lovely dress, I’m guessing, when it’s on properly, and that’s some pair of undercrackers. Flynn’s a lucky guy.’
‘It’s at the back, around the middle. I can’t really see … ’ August changed the subject but then added, ‘Thank you, though.’ Callie was a good friend, way more than August felt she deserved. In the spirit of this new and improved August, she was going to tell Callie the truth. Soon. Just as soon as she’d spoken to Flynn and given him the heads up.
Callie got up and had a look, then bent down to scrutinise further. ‘I see what the problem is, the hook on your undies has gone through the fabric of the dress right where one of the ribbons crosses in the centre of your back here. It’s completely mangled.’
August’s heart dropped. ‘Do we need to cut me out?’
‘No,’ Callie said. ‘I can get you out of this, I’m sure. And I reckon I can save it so you’ll be able to put it back on again afterwards, but I might need to make a couple of little adjustments.’
‘You can?’
‘I can. Have you got some little scissors, maybe nail scissors, and a needle and thread and maybe … a spare button?’
‘Yes, probably, one moment.’ August threw her robe back on to run into her bedroom, where she kept a medical kit with some sewing supplies and small scissors. She also made Callie a quick cup of tea to go with their cake.
And while this was going on, she didn’t even notice how Callie’s eyebrows raised and her gaze lingered on the open door of her bedroom.
Back in the living room again, robe on the floor, August stood with Callie kneeling behind her, the dress pulled up with the skirt hooked under August’s arm. August was rather aware of how close her neighbour was having to position herself beside her bottom.
‘Thanks so much for this Callie, I owe you one.’
‘It’s no problem, hon,’ Callie replied, holding a needle out of the side of her mouth. ‘I had a look on your Instagram the other day, by the way. I was showing Mrs H your new headshots.’
August froze, feeling a chill cross her skin that was nothing to do with being half naked.
‘They’re lovely,’ Callie commented from behind her. ‘You don’t show Flynn much on there, do you?’
‘No … no, he’s not a big social media person,’ August replied. How could she have been so stupid? She knew Callie had sent a follow request back when her Instagram account was private, she just forgot when she made it public. And no, Flynn was not on there much, in fact, he wasn’t on there at all before six months ago. Before that, James certainly was featured though.
August tried to take a calming breath and change the subject, relieved when Callie seemed to move on too. ‘How’s your mum doing?’
‘She’s good, thanks. She’s so into yoga now, I’m telling you, she’s been talking about doing this Bikram course where you do it every day for, like, a month and go off on a retreat with the whole class. She wanted me to do it but I was like, Mum, I don’t even like staying in the bath too long if it’s too warm, I would not cope well with steaming-hot exercise.’
August was so focussed on listening to Callie talk, and the feel of being lightly jostled from the back, that she didn’t hear anybody coming up the stairs or nearing the door until it opened.
