Page 2 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“We’re coming!” Julie answered. She turned and motioned at Zoe to follow.
“Good beers, good fries and nice people. What’s not to love about this city?” Zoe said excitedly. She started walking and immediately tripped on a cobblestone, nearly spilling her entire cone of fries. She saved herself just in time by grabbing the only thing close by - Julie. They were both way more drunk than they’d thought.
“Sorry about that.” Zoe brushed Julie’s arm hurriedly, as if she had stained her jacket by holding onto it.
“That’s alright.” Julie smiled.
The girl was straight anyway. Julie kept telling herself that as they walked towards their group of friends.
Chapter 1
The present day
“Are you sure you wantthatmany flowers?” Julie pointed at a picture in the magazine spread on the coffee table in front of her: some sort of socialite celebrity wedding that was drowning in a luscious white and pink jungle. Hopefully, none of the guests had allergies. Yasmine nodded emphatically.
“Absolutely. It’s only one day in my life and I want it to be perfect.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.” Julie raised a brow. The problem with Yasmine, she thought, is that she always wanted too much. Or maybe it was more that Julie always settled for much less. But it wasn’t Julie who was getting married, so for now, she’d be a good bridesmaid and go with it. Yasmine was already pouting at her and they had only been in this café for 20 minutes.
The place was blaring harmless pop through its speakers. Julie and Yasmine were settled in a corner on two armchairs with a round coffee table in between. Magazines, laptops and phones were spread out everywhere - if one of them spilled their coffee, it was game over. Julie looked around. The other tables were full of college students chatting, recovering from a night out, or both. The place hadn’t changed a lot since their university days, but the ways in which it had - the USB plugs in the walls,the wi-fi that was actually fast and reliable, the baristas who looked barely older than children - were enough to remind Julie of her own age. She and Yasmine had graduated from college 10 years ago. It was hard for Julie to believe that they had been friends since their first day at uni. Yasmine had picked that place for today out of pure nostalgia, and Julie had gone along with it. Now she wasn’t feeling so comfortable being the two old women in the corner, planning a wedding like grown-ups.
“You know what? You’re right. It’s your special day and I’ll support you no matter what.”
“Julie, the way you put it makes it sound much worse than it is. There’s no need to ‘support me’ because this is a great idea. If it’s good enough for Meghan Markle, it’s good enough for me.”
Julie chuckled. “Alright Meghan Markle, do you have a florist yet?”
“I was thinking that Meghan Markle’s friend could help out with one of her many contacts?” Yasmine shot a look at Julie with her brown doe eyes, batting her lashes. She knew full well that Julie could never say no to that face.
“Fine. I’ll look through my contacts, I think we should go for a florist who’s based in the region.”
“I’m pretty sure there are plenty of good florists in the Ardennes. They have so much wood and nature. Flowers are nature, right?” Yasmine vaguely gestured with her hand.
“Spoken like a true city-dweller. This is why they think all Brusselers are posh snobs who would die if they got lost in the woods for one hour, you know.” Julie put her face in her hands. Yasmine was right though, there were plenty of good florists in the Ardennes. It was a popular location for weddings, which made total sense, considering the number of beautiful old castles and lush forests that the Southeast of Belgium had to offer.
“What are your thoughts on catering?”
Julie snapped back to reality. “I don’t know. Good food? What areyourthoughts on catering?”
“I think we should have several options, for vegetarians, allergies and whatnot. Do you think three is enough?” Yasmine tapped her finger on her cheek, looking in the distance. “I think three five-course menus will be alright.”
Julie blinked, her hand running through her short curly light brown hair. “Three menus? The cost is going to be insane.”
Yasmine gave her a smirk. “Did you forget who I’m marrying?”
“Fair enough. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it sometimes.”
A journalist for public television, Yasmine had been sent two years ago to interview a famous French musician - Adam - who had decided to base himself between Brussels and Paris. He’d fallen in love with the Belgian capital, and by the time Yasmine’s interview was over, he was falling in love with one of its top journalists as well. Sparks flew, a whirlwind romance followed, and now they were two months away from tying the knot. A real fairy tale.
Julie nodded. “Three menus it is, then!” She picked up her phone and went through her contacts. “What kind of atmosphere are you looking for? I certainly have some contacts that will be happy to give you a budget.”
“Put one or two names aside.” Yasmine had a smile which lit up her entire face. “I might have a famous name already, but I need confirmation. It’s going to be huge.”
“A famous name?” Julie asked. “One of your fiancé’s acquaintances?”
Yasmine chuckled mysteriously. “I’m not telling you anything yet. It’s a surprise.”
Julie didn’t like the sound of this. The more she knew about the wedding, the better. Julie was a professional event plannerby trade, and as a bridesmaid, she was more than happy to put her skills and network to good use pulling off the wedding of Yasmine’s dreams. But part of what made Julie so good was that she avoided surprises at all costs. Surprises meant things that you couldn’t prepare for, things that could jeopardise what shehadprepared for.
