Page 27 of Happily Ever After
This is not what I imagined myself doing the day before my wedding.
Rhia disappears to go back to the mud pool. I keep scrubbing at Ade's back while he's still busy rubbing his legs.
When Rhia returns, she's strangely quiet, and not meeting my eyes.
"Rhia, why aren't you talking?" Oh, that's never a good sign.
More silence.
The guys now turn around too, studying her.
"Oh no, El," is all she says.
"What?" I ask.
"What have you done, Trouble?" Lex looks at her quizzically.
More deafening silence.
Hmm.
My eyes fall onto the spray bottle she's holding in her hand. It's like a lightbulb turns on in my head.
My gaze shoots to hers.
"I think I've just worked it out, too."
"I'm so sorry, guys," Rhia squeaks.
"What's going on?" Ade asks, looking between my best friend and me, puzzled, while Lex studies his girlfriend with a raised brow.
"Crap," is all I have to say, staring at my swollen fingers and then Ade's red back.
"Yep. I sprayed some of this oil on my hands and then rubbed the skin on my elbow because it felt dry, and…"
All our eyes go to Rhia's elbow.
"Don't tell me…" Lex huffs.
"Yep. The goop came right off."
"You're freaking kidding me, right?" I throw my hands up in the air in simultaneous disbelief and belief.
"Nope," she replies, grimacing.
"L'olio essenziale" I read out loud from the label on the spray bottle. "Essential… bloody… oil alright. So it's 'essential' to use the oil. Dammit, Rhia!"
"Alright, Einstein. Well done for working this out." Ade adds, digesting all the implications of Rhia's discovery.
I'm not that gracious.
"Rhi, we just spent two hours scrubbing! Two hours!"
She winces again. "Well, at least it will be a breeze to get the rest off… and it was a great exfoliation treatment."
She walks to where we're standing and begins generously applying the oil to Lex's and then Ade's skin. And within minutes, they're sparkly clean, if somewhat blotchy.
Wow!
