Page 23 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
Julie’s aloof act crumbled immediately. “I’m on time when it counts!”
“Really?” Zoe lifted a brow.
“Yes, I’m on time for important meetings at work.”
“Impressive.” Zoe seemed to genuinely mean it. She paused for a second. “Wait, are you on time because you’re trickingyourself into being on time by pretending the meeting is 30 minutes ahead of the actual time?”
Julie froze. How did Zoe know that? It suddenly hit her. Of course, Zoe was aware of this. She was the one who had tricked her into doing that in college. Wait, Zoe still remembered that? How often did Zoe think about her?
Marion suddenly stood up “The night’s still young and we have plenty of bars to visit! Let’s go!”
Julie took it as an opportunity to escape before getting her hopes up. She quickly downed her half-pint and joined the rest of the group, leaving Zoe in her wake. From the corner of her eye, she could see that Zoe’s face dropped when she left. It made Julie feel bad, but she couldn’t not do it. Her heart felt like it was twisted in barbed wire ever since she saw Zoe at the restaurant. As the group left the bar, they were met by Leila at the door, who had a plastic bag filled with water bottles. She pressed one into each woman’s hand and urged everyone to drink some water before going any further. That was a suggestion from Julie that had been warmly welcomed by the rest of the group chat. They didn’t want all the hens to be hungover dead after night one of the hen do.
Zoe was trailing behind Julie once again. Alone this time. Julie could feel Zoe trying to catch up to her. She sped up. Zoe’s pace accelerated as well. They were almost walking next to each other but Julie pretended she hadn’t seen Zoe. It was rude and it was killing her but she knew the pain of falling for Zoe Lang once already, and she didn’t want to reiterate the experience.
Zoe touched her arm. “Julie… Are you alright?”
“Yeah I’m fine.” Julie flashed the best smile she could offer. “Oh we’re at the second bar already.” She shuffled forward, escaping from Zoe yet again.
Their second location was a jungle-themed cocktail bar. They had booked a table here so they didn’t have to steal chairs fromother tables. Julie sat down and dreaded Zoe’s presence next to her, but she saw Zoe sitting away from her with Maria and Alice. Good. Great. This was what she needed.
“This round’s on me girls!” Yasmine exclaimed and it was followed by laughter.
“Yas, you don’t know it yet but we’re invoicing you the entirety of the hen do.” Julie shouted across the table. More laughter ensued. Zoe was smiling at her but Julie simply looked somewhere else. Another piece of Julie’s heart crumbled away, but what else could she do? She was finally succeeding in keeping a distance and would keep it that way.
* * *
Julie woke up without a headache. Her plan had worked - she had downed at least two litres of water last night and was thankful for that. She emerged from her small room in the city centre duplex loft that the hens had booked. Good thing there were enough rooms for everyone. Julie had feared for a moment last night that they would have put her in the same room as Zoe and she would have had to probably fake being a sleepwalker or having night terrors to escape it. But the night had ended without incident. Zoe was looking a bit down at the second bar of the night but by the third, she had totally given up on talking to Julie. Sure, she still glanced at Julie more than often but at the same time, Julie knew full well she’d been extremely rude to Zoe. If she was in Zoe’s situation, she’d be mad at her too.
Julie walked around the huge living room with bay windows overlooking the entirety of the city centre. She took in the spectacle and started spotting the landmarks she could see through the window. There was the big Town Hall at GrandPlace. The cathedral. Was that Mont des Arts? She was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
“Enjoying the view?” Yasmine stood next to her.
“Yeah… This place is gorgeous. I’m so happy we found it. This is the level of luxury I deserve in life.”
“I think you do deserve that. You should marry a rich woman of some kind.”
“I’ve been working on that.”
Julie chuckled at her own joke, but Yasmine only lifted a brow.
“Do you want a coffee or something? I think all the others are still recovering from the night before.” She yawned.
“I’d love a coffee.”
Yasmine walked towards the open kitchen area and rummaged through the cupboards in search of whatever coffee the place had. She started the machine and waited patiently for it to pour two strong coffees. Julie walked into the space and leaned against one of the black marble counters.
“Did you have fun last night? Is this hen do all you ever wanted?”
“Oh god, I haven’t been that relaxed in months. It’s exactly what I needed.” Yasmine took the two cups and handed Julie hers. “What else do you have in store for me today?”
“I can’t tell you. Everything’s a surprise this weekend.” Julie said, with what she hoped was a cryptic smile.
Yasmine eyed her friend for a moment.
“OK, Julie. I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
