Page 22 of Falling Hard
“Men aren’t supposed to see the gown before the wedding, but I’m not the superstitious type,” Soda said as she walked into the showroom with Luke and the designer.
Hector didn’t answer her; his mouth fell at the damage to the dress. "Oh my god ... what happened?"
Nervously, I stated the obvious. "It accidentally got ripped ... and a little burnt."
Soda squinted, and Luke marched over to me.
"What did you do?" he demanded, pointing at the lighter.
"It was an accident," Jacqueline added.
Hector circled the mannequin like he was mourning a corpse. "How's that possible? You were playing with matches and scissors?"
I watched as he dramatically clutched his chest in shock, eyes widening as he got a closer look at my handiwork.
Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw tears in Soda's eyes.
"Liv, what's wrong with you these days?" Luke yelled, louder than I'd heard in years. "Why the hell would you do this?"
I turned to Jacqueline. With the others here, I couldn't speak without incriminating myself. Thankfully, after years together, we could communicate with glances, and my sister knew the look I gave meant one thing.Help.
"She didn't make the mistake, I did," Jacqueline said.
"Who cares who did it? The dress is ruined!" the designer cried.
Anger grew inside me. Luke. My Luke had yelled at me on behalf of a woman he barely knew. His best friend since diapers. A woman he'd met merely months ago.Yes, I was guilty as sin, but he didn't know that. He had no proof.
"Olivia, let's go," Jacqueline said, wrapping an arm around me and steering me out of the showroom.
"It's ruined. My masterpiece is ruined," Hector whimpered.
Jacqueline spoke. "Hector, I apologize for my carelessness. You’re a talented designer. One dress won't define you."
"Liv–" Luke started.
But I marched out of the showroom before he could finish. I didn't want to hear anything from him.
We were halfway down the hall when Jacqueline spoke. "Start explaining."
How could I? I had no reasonable way of explaining my behavior. I just lost my mind.
"Temporary insanity?" I muttered, even though the words made me cringe. Jesus, I needed to get my shit together.
"Is that supposed to be funny?"
We stepped into my office, and I poured myself some water. "That dress sucked."
"I agree. It was one of the ones you shouldn't have approved, but burning it seems a bit extreme."
I hated how reasonable Jacqueline sounded. I was the older one.
"This is about Luke, right? You don’t want him to marry her."
"He's making a mistake," I choked.
"Have you told him this?"
I slammed my glass onto the tray. "Sort of."
