Page 49 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
The other bridesmaids pouted.
“I should’ve listened to you guys… But the dress was just too pretty.” Maria sighed. “Anyway, I’ll have the biggest piece of tiramisu, yes please.”
They all laughed.
“Zoe, you should at least sit down and have dessert with us.” Alice pleaded.
“Yes, you’ve been working way too hard, come and have some fun.”
Zoe knew it would be futile to resist. “I guess I can call it a night. Just give me a minute to finish up”. She stepped back into the kitchen and called her team to attention.
“Thank you for everything today! Go home and get some sleep, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” The caterers started to scatter, and she headed back out as they called their goodbyes.
Back under the tent, the bridesmaids hurried to make room for her, inviting her to squeeze in at the table.
Zoe stopped in her tracks. They had cleared her a seat next to Julie. Or was it Julie that had done that? She tried not to think about it. She sat down, being careful not to look at Julie, or at least not too long or too much. Julie didn’t seem bothered by any of this.
“This is ridiculously good, Zoe. What’s your recipe?” Sarah spoke through a mouthful of dessert.
“I can’t tell you, I got the recipe from someone else and they made me promise to never tell.” Zoe winked at her. It was true, it came from an Italian chef she worked under when she was still training.
“Fair enough.” Sarah didn’t seem disappointed, she was too busy licking her fork.
“What can we say, Zoe is a mysterious woman with secrets.” Alice chuckled.
Zoe blushed. What did Alice mean? She shifted on her chair, and her leg accidentally brushed against Julie’s. It almost startled her but she froze as Julie didn’t move her leg away. A shiver of excitement ran through Zoe’s spine. Did Julie notice what was going on? She didn’t look like it.
“What type of secrets?” Sarah raised a brow.
“Oh!” Yasmine exclaimed. “Back in college, Zoe was the talk of the town. People were saying that she was related to the Queen of England.”
“Or that she had a famous boyfriend back in her home country.” Maria chimed in.
“Well that one turned out to be true!” Alice was delighted.
Zoe gently put more pressure against Julie’s leg. She almost yelped when Julie put some weight back against her, but took a deep breath instead. A warmth was spreading from her right leg through her body. Eventually, Julie moved away. Zoe shot her a quick look but she wasn’t giving anything away. It could’ve been an accident, it could’ve been on purpose. And Julie was a bad liar… So this was probably all happening in Zoe’s mind, right?
“They were all baseless rumours.” Julie shrugged. “You know how college students are… When something new happens, everyone is overexcited.”
Yasmine scoffed. “Don’t act like you were above all that. That’s the reason why you wanted to be friends with her. You said you heard that she was a London socialite.”
Julie went still and glared at Yasmine.
“Don’t give me that look. You were the one telling me ‘You need a new flatmate! You should ask the mysterious new girl! Then we can all be friends!’ Over and over again.” Yasmine continued.
“I don’t remember that.” Julie’s face was an interesting shade of crimson.
“Julie, is that true?” This was news to Zoe. She recalled thinking Yasmine and Julie seemed very fun and nice when she’d sat next to them on the first day, and had been thrilled when Yasmine had asked her to room with her, but Zoe had always thought it was just a question of practicality, not because Julie had badgered Yasmine into doing it.
All eyes were turned towards Julie. She opened her mouth and it took a moment before a sound came out. “Maybe?”
Laughter erupted.
“To be fair, Julie was right. We did all become friends and it was great!” Maria said as Julie uncomfortably fidgeted with her glass of wine.
“Sorry Julie, we’re bullying you because we love you.” Yasmine chuckled.
Zoe was trying to catch Julie’s glance, but she was avoiding eye contact with her. Her face was still red. Zoe put a hand on her back.
