Page 34 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“Did you enjoy yourself? You seemed like you did.” Julie sat back on her chair, taking in the warm and dry evening on the café’s patio.
“I did! I haven’t had that much fun in years.” She stopped. “And it took a lot of the wedding stress away.”
“Were you stressed about the organisation? I think we’re doing a pretty good job.”
“We are.” Yasmine ran a hand through her wavy black hair. “It’s not just about the organisation… It’s just general wedding stress.”
“Between you and Zoe, I have to say that all of this is making me extremely anxious about eventually getting married.” Julie made a terrified face.
“You’ll figure it out when you meet Ms. Right.”
“But wasn’t that the whole point? That you meet someone you really want to marry and then things just go well from there? I don’t understand why weddings need to be so stressful.”
Yasmine touched her friend’s arm. “Oh Julie. You’re so pure. Of course they should be like that. But the reality is that there’s going to be so much pressure, no matter who you’re marrying. I need to make my family’s side happy and compromise with Adam’s family as well. I needed to lose weight to look good on wedding pictures-”
“Wait what? Yas, you’re absolutely fine as you are.” Julie’s face was more horrified.
“People will talk. It’s sad but true.” Yasmine looked dejected, then brightened. “But it will be a great day! And the pictures will look great.”
“So this thing we’ve been planning for months is basically a photo shoot?”
“In a way, yes.” Yasmine chuckled. “But you’ll understand when you get there.”
Julie softly nodded. She was unconvinced. “How are things going with Adam?”
“It’s fine.” Yasmine sighed. “I was a little bit annoyed at him since you and I were doing almost everything for this wedding, but we talked on the phone and he’s agreed to get more involved from now on.”
“That’s good news, considering that it’s in a week.” Julie grinned.
“Hey! Better late than never.” Yasmine stayed silent for a moment. She opened her mouth but then hesitated.
Julie didn’t say anything. Weddings were really weird.
“You and Zoe seemed to have rekindled your friendship.” Yasmine finally said after a moment of silence.
“What?” Julie panicked for a second before remembering that Yasmine had no idea what happened on the beach. “Oh yeah. We did. It’s good.”
“It’s nice to see you two back together. Reminds me of those good old college days. When I didn’t have to do seating arrangements.” Yasmine smiled, basking in the nostalgia.
“It’s never too late to run away, Yas. People leave other people at the altar all the time.”
“Who do you know who’s left someone at the altar?”
Julie considered. “I guess not real people. But it happens all the time on TV shows and in movies.”
“Perfect. TV shows and movies always give the best advice.”
Chapter 16
Atruck honked as it passed the car parked on the side of the road. Zoe jumped and turned around. She almost flipped the lorry driver off but he was already too far ahead of her. Zoe sat in her stopped car on a small winding road in the Belgian countryside, somewhere between her hotel and the racetrack. Nicki’s voice came through the speakers of the rental car.
“What was that?”
Zoe took a calming breath, resting her forearms on the steering wheel. Her heart rate had gone up too fast. “Just a prick driver. I’m parked on the side, there was no reason for him to do that.”
“Do you miss having me there to drive you around?”
“You know it.”
