Page 58 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
Julie hit “send” then waited for an answer. After five minutes, she realised that Claire wasn’t probably going to answer for at least two hours. She sighed.
She glanced at the window, where Zoe and her had stood only hours ago, sharing a kiss that she hadn’t thought possible. She’d been waiting for it for ten years and it had been better than she’d ever imagined. She could still feel the softness ofZoe against her tense fingers. Their bodies pressed against each other. A warm feeling settled below her stomach and Julie stood up to think about something else. She walked to the window and glanced towards Zoe’s balcony, but no one was there. There was no reason for her to be there, come to think of it. Zoe was probably fast asleep, just metres away.
Julie thought she might as well get this day started. She could go through her checklist before everybody was awake and review the plans once again. She could also go look if the flowers needed to be freshened or if any of the structures needed replacing. Later today, she’d also have to deal with Adam’s documentary team. Surprises were always the worst for event planning, but this took the cake. At least that would be a funny story to tell to Yasmine’s kids. Julie smiled at the idea. She took a big long stretch then headed towards the shower.
Once clean, dressed and ready, Julie grabbed her laptop and headed downstairs. She forced herself to march past Zoe’s door without stopping, much as she wanted to linger. She tiptoed down the stairs, taking in the quiet eeriness of the house. It was strange compared to the chaos of the day before, but the intense peacefulness was calming to Julie’s nerves. Julie headed into the living room, plopped herself down on the sofa, and opened her computer. This wasn’t a bad thing at all to start working so early.
* * *
A hand pulled on Julie’s sleeve, and she started awake.
“Oh sorry! I didn’t want to scare you.”
Julie looked up to see Leila standing over her.
“Did I fall asleep?” Julie rubbed her eyes and looked around, getting her bearings. She was still on the sofa. Her laptop was neatly put away, on the coffee table in front of her.
“You were sleeping like a baby when we came downstairs.”
Julie was annoyed with herself. How much work had she managed to do before falling back asleep? Probably not that much. She’d just have to figure things out on the fly today if any issues arose.
“I just wanted to check if you wanted to join us for brunch. We’re setting up outside.” Leila was already walking away.
“Yeah of course, thanks. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Julie sat up and tried to pull herself together. She could hear everyone else already chattering down the hall, moving chairs and dishes between the kitchen and the terrace. The sofa she’d been napping on was right next to the stairs. Zoe would have had to walk right past a sleeping Julie when she came down, Julie realised. Probably she was just being nice and didn’t want to wake her up. Or maybe Zoe was pretending nothing had happened, just like she’d done the last time. Julie felt her shoulders tense up. That was a very real possibility. It didn’t feel great, but she couldn’t very well demand that Zoe acknowledge in front of everyone that she was cheating on her fiancé, could she? Julie rubbed the back of her neck, where Zoe had put her fingers last night. This was ridiculous. There were ten million other things to worry about today. She stood up and walked out in the garden.
Yasmine sat at the head of the table surrounded by the rest of the bridesmaids, looking relaxed and radiant. It was hard to believe that she’d spent a good part of the previous evening dealing with Adam’s nonsense. She waved to Julie and pointed at a seat next to her. Julie glanced around as she took her seat. Zoe was absent, probably taking care of brunch in the kitchen.
“Sleep well? So well you needed a quick nap right after waking up?” Yasmine smiled.
“Ah yes I um.”No, I didn’t sleep at all because Zoe and I shared a passionate kiss in my bedroom.Julie was trying hardto wave away that thought. “I had a hard time falling asleep. You know, the stress of the documentary team and the rest.”
Yasmine gave her a sympathetic look. “Same. But I got Adam on the phone late last night.” She took a sip of her coffee.
“And what did he say?” Yasmine had a talent for drawing out stories in the most suspenseful way possible, Julie thought. It was part of what made her a good journalist, but sometimes it drove Julie up the wall.
“He said that it was just going to be a cameraman and a journalist. It’s a really small documentary team for a French music magazine. They just want some shots of me and Adam today, and a few more tomorrow after the wedding,” Yasmine said, relief evident in her voice.
“Good to know.” Julie wasn’t convinced. Dropping this in their lap at the last minute was still a totally unnecessary trick to pull, but she’d try to keep positive for Yasmine’s sake. “They don’t need anything in particular from us?”
“No, they have their own material and will make do with natural lighting. Adam also said that they could mention that you were the event planner.” Yasmine fixed her with a wide smile, and Julie guessed that she wasn’t the only one working to stay positive. “Isn’t that cool?”
“That’s nice.” Julie forced her own smile. What would have been nicer is if Adam had been there to help plan his own damn wedding, instead of leaving Yasmine to think of everything and Julie to pick up his slack, but that was too much to ask.
`“Can I ask you to welcome the documentary team with Adam and me? You’ll be better at answering their questions about the set-up.”
“Of course. Anything for my best friend.” Julie meant it. Her smile became more genuine and reassuring.
Zoe appeared in the doorway, discussing something with one of her staff members. Julie gulped. Zoe’s crisp blue Oxford shirtneatly tucked into her black jeans was probably having a more intense effect on Julie than Zoe would have ever expected. Julie looked away and took the chance to ask Alice to pass her the orange juice.
“So you’re awake. At last.”
Julie almost spilled orange juice everywhere. Her cheeks warmed like a bonfire. Zoe was standing next to her, her hands behind her back. For some reason, she had expected Zoe to ignore her for most of the morning, and certainly not stand that close to her.
Zoe smiled warmly down at her. “Do you want some coffee? Espresso, cappuccino, latte?”
“Espresso’s perfect, thanks.” Julie quickly spluttered. Why had she said that? She’d been craving a cappuccino since waking up from her nap, but Zoe’s proximity and her raspy voice was making it hard to focus.
