Page 87 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“If needed? You don’t think I need one?”
“I think that you went to a wedding alone and were more than capable of taking all decisions for yourself.”
A car behind them honked. Zoe and Nicki both jumped.
“Shit, I better get out before someone wants to physically fight you.” Zoe finally opened the car door.
“Bye boss! Good luck!” Nicki said without looking at Zoe as she started the car.
Zoe apologised with a wave of hand to the unimpressed driver behind them and hurried towards the entrance of the train station. Inside, commuters were running around amidst confused tourists with their luggage scattered everywhere. There were families trying to figure out train schedules and fancy business people in smart suits walking as if they had blinders on. Zoe advanced towards the Eurostar turnstile, wondering what all of these travellers’ stories were. Were any of them also about to turn their life around like she was? Maybe what she was doing truly was crazy. Maybe she’d regret it in ten years. Or even this time tomorrow. But it was her own choice, and that was enough.
Chapter 36
Julie paced back and forth in her living room, in the exact same spot where Yasmine had stood a few nights ago when she’d given her a much needed dose of tough love. Her phone was glued to her ear and each ring chimed like a church bell at Zoe’s wedding. Yasmine was right. Zoe deserved the benefit of the doubt, and Julie owed it to her to hear her out. And Julie needed to try one last time to really tell Zoe how she felt about her. How Zoe made everything better. How she was the seasoning of Julie’s life. It might not make up for whatever Zoe’s explanation might be, it might not make her drop everything in a heartbeat to be with her, but at this point, Julie couldn’t imagine any other way forward, without getting this off her chest once and for all. For real, this time.
Julie had been trying to call her for days now but it kept going to voice message. Her messages and emails had gone unanswered, but Julie needed this to be a real conversation, so she had just pleaded with Zoe to pick up the phone. And now she was hoping that she would. Each time she heard Zoe’s voicemail, she jumped and almost thought that she finally got an answer before realising that it was a recording. By now, she knew it by heart. This was her seventh time calling in the past half-hour.
This time, someone picked up.
“Hello?”
“Zoe? Ca fait des jours que j’essaie de te joindre-”
“Um sorry, can we speak in English?”
Julie realised that it wasn’t Zoe’s voice at all. Not even remotely close. “Yes, sorry.” She paused confusedly. “Is this Zoe Lang’s number?”
“Yes, I’m Nicki, her personal assistant.”
Julie had never considered that Zoe was fancy enough to have a personal assistant, but now was not the time to think about that.
“Hi Nicki, I’m Julie, an old friend of Zoe and-”
“Wait, you’retheJulie?” Nicki exclaimed. “The college friend?”
“The…?” Julie was thrown for a second. Not only did Zoe have a personal assistant, but she’d told her about Julie? What had she said?Focus, Julie,she told herself sternly, “Yes, that’s me. I’ve been trying to reach Zoe and I just can’t seem to. This is the number she gave me.”
“Oh god. Sorry, we’ve had an insane week with the wedding and not a lot of calls were getting through. Zoe’s number is being redirected to mine at the moment.”
Julie’s heart leaped at the word ‘wedding’. “I understand. Can I speak to Zoe please?”
“Not really.” Nicki sounded panicked on the phone. “Oh god, you’re the actual Julie.”
Julie heard rustling and a dull thud, like the phone had almost fallen.
“Listen, I can’t connect you with Zoe right now and, well, I don’t think I should tell you why. However, I can promise you that it’ll make sense in about two hours from now.”
“Two hours? What’s going on?”
“I really can’t tell you,” Nicki repeated.
Julie tried to absorb this. Was she about to see Zoe’s wedding on TV? Or could it mean…
“Julie?” Nicki interrupted her train of thought.
“Yes?”
“Wear your best outfit for me, will you?”
