Page 1 of The Boss and the Wedding Mess
Prologue
London
I stared at my best friend sternly. It’s so stern that she finally comes clean after I've been trying to get her to open up in the car for almost an hour.
"It's theSt Mary the Virgin, Mortlake."
She hangs her head, and her blonde curls fall partially across her face, hiding her flushed cheeks and tear-stained eyes.
"Okay." I turn the key in my car's ignition, start the engine, and give her a determined look. Then I tie my long dark hair up in a ponytail and drive off. "We can still make it in time!"
She’s previously admitted that this unfaithful jerk's wedding is taking place at exactly 3 PM, so we still have a whole twenty minutes to warn his fiancée about this creep. She absolutely must not marry him!
"Not so fast," Vanessa gasps nervously, holding onto the grip above the passenger door while I floor it and race down the main road.
"If you’d just come clean right away and told me which church they're getting married in, I could drive slower now."
At least the roads aren't so crowded, even though it’s Saturday, allowing us to make good progress.
"I just don't want us to crash," she stammers, clutching her bag with her other hand. A lipstick flies out when I have to take a curve and we're both pushed to the side like we're on a roller coaster. "London!"
"Just let me handle this," I answer confidently. "It's fate that you just found out he's getting married today, and it’s fate you told me about it. Whatever planet’s responsible for this, it wants us to stop this wedding!"
"I don't even want him back," she says with a sob.
"Us women have to stick together! A man like that should never be allowed to marry. He'll cheat on her too. Just imagine what she'll go through when she finds out who’s really her husbandwhen it’s too late? I would want someone to tell me the truth. Wouldn't you?"
"Yes, I suppose..."
“There you go.” We’re coming up at a traffic light. Just as I hit the gas, it flips.
“London? Hey! The light’s red. Red! Bright red!” Vanessa yells, staring at me in shock as I fly through the intersection.
“It was still yellow.”
“No, it was already red!”
“Dark yellow. Orange at most.”
“Oh, London…” Vanessa looks like she’s about to have a heart attack, so I ease off the gas a little.
She’s not totally wrong. Safety first. But I’m furious. When Vanessa found out her boyfriend was getting married today—and that she’d only ever been the mistress—her whole world fell apart. I can’t even imagine how much she's suffering right now.
Good thing I know this church. A friend of ours got married here two years ago, but that marriage is on solid foundations and they’re still happy to this day, at least from the outside. But really, you never know what goes on behind closed doors.
It's 2:57. We have three minutes left. I'm a little out of breath and my cheeks are burning.
“Do you really want to go in there?” Vanessa asks nervously, staring out the window. There are at least fifty cars in the parking lot. The doors are already closed, and organ music is spilling all the way out to the street.
Okay, now that I’m here, my courage briefly wavers. In my head, I pictured myself storming right in without hesitation.
"I have to. Nobody treats my best friend like that. Nobody gets to break your heart the way he did."
"Oh London..." I manage to coax a small smile from her. I quickly unbuckle and lean over to Vanessa so I can hug her. "You're such a fighter. I'm really grateful that you're here for me..."
"Through thick and thin. We promised." I pull back and hook my pinky with hers. “And now I’m going to kick that guy where the sun don’t shine."
I leave the key in the ignition and step out of my little red speedster—Tomato, as I call her. My face is nearly the same shade. With purpose, I slam the door shut and head toward the church. It’s old, and the walls yellowed with age, but the path is lined with white roses as I walk past. They really went all out, I have to admit.
