Page 39 of Running from Drac
“Please, Pippa, I need your support right now.”
She mocks me. “You need my support right now, blah blah blah. All bullshit. All of it. You don’t give a fuck about me. Never have. If you go through with this wedding, consider this friendship done.”
“Pippa, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
Her mouth pulls into a sneer. “Nothing. I’m not the one about to make the biggest mistake of her life. That’s all you.”
My phone picks that exact moment to ring, and I look down at it to see Eddie’s name.
“Go ahead, answer the damn thing, your corrupted prince awaits.”
She marches towards me, shouldering me into the wall as she moves past me to get out the door. “Where are you going?” I shout after her.
“To get some air and clear my head.” The door slams behind her, my phone still ringing in my hand as I stare at Poppy in disbelief. “What the hell is wrong with your sister?”
Poppy shrugs. “Just give her some time, Amber. She’ll get over whatever is bothering her, eventually.”
The phone stops ringing, then immediately starts up again. There are tears sliding down my face, and I’m still spiraling from the chaos of it all.
“Hello,” I ask, sniffing as I move tears from off my cheeks.
“Baby? Are you okay?”
Somehow, I find my way to the couch, plopping down on one of the cushions in frustration. “No. Pippa just went off on me for getting back with you.”
Silence filters in from the other end of the line.
“I see,” he finally says. “What exactly did she say?”
“She said that you and I are destined to fail. That if we get married, I’ll be making a huge mistake. She said once a cheater always a cheater, and that you and I are wrong for each other.”
He lets out a breath, one that almost sounds like relief. But I brush it off, too hung up on the Pippa situation to really pay attention to him. “Just ignore her, Amber. Obviously, there’s something going on with her, and whatever it is, it’s affecting her ability to be your friend. If she goes to the wedding, then great. If she doesn’t, that’s okay too. Do you really want someone there that’s just going to ruin your big day?”
He has a point, but that still doesn’t change how her words stung. “I don’t know. I’ve just always imagined the twins standing up there with me when I say I do, alongside you, Wesley, and Rich.”
He laughs. “Oh, they’ll definitely be there. Just give Pippa some time. She’ll come around before the wedding, I’ll make sure of it.”
“How?”
He doesn’t immediately answer. “I just will, okay? Stop worrying about what she’s doing and focus on us. That’s all that matters right now. I love you.”
“I love you too, Eddie.”
Another long pause ensues before he clears his throat. “I have to do something really quick, but I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Sure, sounds good.”
He says I love you a few more times before he finally hangs up, leaving me alone with Poppy.
“Tell me the truth, Poppy, am I making a mistake?”
Poppy shrugs her shoulders. “You really don’t want my opinion, Amber. You know that I’ve never really been Eddie’s biggest fan, so I’m probably the last person you should ask. I will ask you this though. Can you picture your life without Eddie in it?”
I try.
I really do.
The thought pops into my head and I do my best to picture a future that doesn’t involve Eddie, but all I’m met with is chaotic darkness. A future without Eddie, is no future at all in my eyes.
