Page 48 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
There was a small pause, before Tom flatly said: “Well, I feel like I’m mainly doing it alone these days.”
Zoe’s eyebrows shot up. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Nobody asked you to do this alone, Tom.” She swallowed. “I’m on a work trip. I just didn’t have time.”
“Let’s talk about this later.”
“Fine.” She ended the call before she said anything she’d regret.
Zoe wanted to slam her phone on the ground. This entire situation was ludicrous and Tom was acting like a child. She buried her face in her hands and repressed a groan. She couldn’t let this get to her, she had a job to do and the venue was starting to get crowded. The rest of the bridesmaids had arrived a bit before lunchtime and Zoe had prepared a light salad buffet for them. But tonight, full catering would be required, complete with starter and dessert. It wasn’t every bride that Zoe worked for who requested meals not just for guests on the day of the wedding, but also for the bridal party beforehand, but Yasmine had insisted. Part of her plan for a perfect wedding was to have everyone at their best on the big day, and a fully-catered experience from a celebrity chef for the bridesmaids was part of that.
She looked up to see her catering team manoeuvring an enormous freezer off of their truck, looking around for where to put it. She hurried over and herded them into the kitchen.
“You can put it in that corner,” she directed them, pointing to an empty space next to an outlet. “And then put a screen in front of it, so we still have the professional facade.”
“Wait no, don’t put that there.” Julie walked into the kitchen through the main hall. “We still have to run some cables through here for the lights.”
The delays from the day before had made the whole organisation a chaotic mess. Everybody was stepping on everybody’s toes.
Zoe sighed. “Does that mean that I have to wait for everything else to be done before we can set up the kitchen?”
Julie scratched her head. “Yeah… Sorry, I know it’s a bit nightmarish right now, but we should be done with the electrical stuff in an hour.”
“I have to prepare an entire three-course dinner for nine people, we’re almost mid-afternoon and I don’t have anything ready.” Zoe tried to not take it out on Julie. None of this was her fault.
“It sucks. I’m so sorry.” Julie looked embarrassed. “But worst case scenario, I can cook a giant omelette for nine people if you want.” She turned around and grinned at Zoe.
Zoe tried to repress a smile. She was still annoyed at the situation, but Julie always knew how to make her feel better. “That sounds great, but I’d rather you get the electrical stuff done. You already made breakfast, I wouldn’t want you to overwork yourself.”
“Thanks, I’m happy you recognise that cooking is hard work.” Julie looked at Zoe, before looking back at the freezer. “I’ll tell people to prioritise work in the kitchen so we can clear that area for you and you can do your thing.”
The fight with Tom hadn’t helped Zoe tame her growing attraction to Julie. She was just checking all the right boxes today. If she was trying to win Zoe over, she was on the right track. Julie had taken charge of a group of workers near the doorway, gesturing and pointing authoritatively while referring to her copious notes. Zoe watched her, a smiling tugging at the corners of her lips. She’d never really seen Julie in “work mode” before. It was a bit strange to see her laid-back friend look so serious and dedicated, but it suited Julie very well. A warm feeling lingered in Zoe’s stomach.
Julie walked back with a man who had an impressive number of pockets on his trousers.
“Zoe, what do you need for your kitchen? This gentleman here - Marcel - can make things faster and install the electrical for your kitchen at the same time as the rest. It will look tidier this way.”
“Oh that would be amazing!” She looked at Julie who seemed very proud of what she had pulled off, the same look on her face as with her fried eggs earlier this morning. Zoe didn’t realise how long she’d been staring at her friend until Julie nodded at her, encouraging her to talk to Marcel.
She snapped out of it. “If you can follow me, I’ll show you what’s in the catering van.”
For the first time today, things were looking up.
Chapter 22
The bridesmaids were all eating dinner under the tent, a fancy setup with wooden poles and an asymmetrical canopy. The cross-beam was festooned with flowers and greenery, and a string of giant bare lightbulbs was draped artfully over it. The extra-long dinner table was similarly decorated, with floral arrangements spilling across overlapping multi-coloured tablecloths. Rows of chairs were already lined up in front of the flower arch, surrounded by more lightbulb strings, colourful bright flowers and tropical leaves. The rest of the long wooden tables were set up against the garden fence on the side, with black walls behind them. More strings of lightbulbs were hanging from the trees. There was a small bar shaped in a half-circle with a tall shelf ready to welcome liquors and other cocktail ingredients. Yasmine’s decoration style encapsulated summer: bright colours against dark lush green with a touch of pampas grass, which Julie had balanced with enough class to make it not gimmicky. Zoe could imagine lying down in the grass with a coconut cocktail. She was impressed with everything Julie had pulled off. The whole thing looked fun and exciting, yet stylish.
Exactly like Julie.
Zoe couldn’t stop glancing at her all evening, all dressed up in her white short-sleeved button down linen shirt and nice tan trousers. She felt that Julie was doing exactly the same. Everytime she caught her glimpse, Julie’s eyes were lingering on her. Was there any sort of mutual attraction? The question kept popping in Zoe’s head but she tried to remember that it didn’t matter. She still needed to call Tom later to discuss the catering catastrophe. Maybe that would clear her head.
A good thing was that she’d had dinner with the catering team in the kitchen - which had ended up looking amazing, without any cables running in the way, thanks to Marcel and Julie’s great work - away from the bridesmaids. Zoe wasn’t even sure at this point if hanging out with Julie in group settings made anything better. She’d just try to avoid any superfluous interactions with her for the rest of the wedding.
When dessert was served, the bridesmaids all sighed in one voice. “You’re feeding us tiramisu right before the wedding? We need to fit in our dresses!”
“Sorry girls! If you need to be mad at someone, it’s Yasmine.” Zoe nodded at the bride.
Yasmine put her hands up, in an apologetic gesture. “I know it’s bad, but I’m seriously so fucking done with dieting to look good in pictures. I say, we do whatever we want from now on.”
“I agree.” Leila said. “But that’s because Julie and I don’t have to worry about fitting in any sort of dress.” She grinned. She and Julie had eschewed traditional bridesmaid dresses, and ended up with classy jumpsuits in a looser cut.
