Page 28 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
Julie didn’t need to know this. She didn’t need to know that things were not going as well as she thought with Tom. She had looked at pictures of this man, repeating to herself that it was the man she was losing Zoe to. Julie worked to keep her face neutral.
“Sorry.” Zoe looked away. “I shouldn’t say that. I’ve had a bit too much to drink-”
“Why don’t you care?” Julie interjected. She shouldn’t ask for more information, but it was too late, she was too curious to know.
A look of surprise crossed Zoe’s face. “I don’t really know. I love Tom.”
Julie’s heart crumbled into a million tiny pieces.
“I just don’t want to organise this wedding. And for a while, he didn’t seem to either. It made me mad. But then, he started planning it and now I don’t want it any more. I feel like I’m completely nuts.” Zoe put her fist to her forehead. “I don’t have any reason not to want it. Tom’s really great. He’s so nice, he’s so considerate.”
Julie’s mind was screaming for help. She swallowed.
“He’s like my best friend.” Zoe glanced back at Julie. “But not like you though. I mean, not like you were. Sorry, I’m just rambling.”
Not like Julie? What did that mean? Julie felt like she was on a roller coaster.
Zoe’s hand settled on her back. “It’s just that… We haven’t seen each other in so long and we’re just clicking back together so well. It feels like we’ve never been apart. At least, that’s how I feel. I hope I’m not wrong.”
Julie shook her head. “It’s great to see you again.” The warmth of Zoe’s hand was making her entire body tingle.
Zoe bit her lip. “About that-”
“There you are!” Leila and Alice suddenly crested the dune and appeared right beside them. “We were looking for you!”
“Is something wrong?” Julie frowned.
“No, we’re just done. Yasmine kissed all of the cute guys and now we’re ready to go home. We want to have a beach villa after-party.” Leila grinned.
Julie stood up, relieved that Zoe didn’t have time to finish her sentence. She could feel that it had been going in a direction she wanted to avoid.
“Let’s go, then.” She thought for a second then turned around and extended her hand to Zoe. “Are you coming?”
Zoe looked a bit disappointed, but upon seeing Julie’s hand, she smiled and took it, helping herself stand up. From their vantage point on the dune, they could see Yasmine already outon the street with the rest of the hens, still dancing and shouting and drunkenly singing. Julie was happy that her friend was enjoying her hen do so much, but she felt drained just looking at her. She was really too old for this. Zoe squeezed her hand, and Julie snatched it away, realising she hadn’t let go after helping her up.
“Isn’t the villa also on the seafront?” Zoe asked. “Why don’t we walk home via the beach instead of the road?”
Alice gazed at Yasmine, who was laughing uproariously at something while nearly falling over. “It’s a nice idea, Zoe, but I don’t think we’d have much luck guiding Yas back through the club and up the dunes in this state. It was already a job to get her out onto the street, and I’m not going to undo that.”
Zoe laughed. “Understood! Why don’t Julie and I take the beach back? We’ll meet you at the house. I just need a bit of a breather still, if that’s okay.” She turned pleading eyes to Julie, who groaned inwardly. She’d been relieved to have their conversation cut short, but Zoe was still intent on finishing it. Julie was not sure her heart was ready to hear what Zoe had to say. And yet, part of her was desperate to know…
“Why not?” She shrugged and smiled at Zoe. “I remember which house it was, I’m sure I can find it from the back. We’ll see you back there soon.”
Leila and Alice quickly acquiesced; their main mission for the moment was clearly just to get Yasmine home in one piece, and they didn’t need Julie and Zoe for that. They turned and went back the way they came, while Julie and Zoe went down the opposite side, toward the dark beach below.
As soon as they were properly on the beach, Julie started to regret agreeing to this. The dunes blocked most of the light from the buildings in town, but the moonlight glittered on the waves and provided just enough light to keep them from tripping in the sand. It was ridiculously romantic. Julie had drunk quite alot, but she still knew that none of this was good for her sanity. A romantic walk on the beach with Zoe at two in the morning? She was going to overthink it for days. They strolled quietly for a while. Zoe’s arm eventually brushed against hers several times and Julie’s breath was cut short each time. Her drunken mind kept wandering to less chaste situations. Like her hands running under Zoe’s shirt.
Zoe exhaled. “Julie, I wanted to ask you something earlier.”
Oh god. She knew it. “What is it?”
Zoe stopped walking. The water was only a few metres from them. The sound of the waves, the smell of the salt and the fresh wind were all adding to the fact that Zoe was the most beautiful woman on Earth. To see her standing there, searching for her words, was one of the most dazzling sights Julie had seen in her life.
“You know…” Zoe hesitated. “A bit before I went back to England…” She stopped, looking straight into Julie’s eyes. “You know what I mean?”
Julie slowly nodded.
“Do you remember what happened?”
