Page 40 of The Boss and the Wedding Mess
“I’d love some.”
“I bought the peppermint tea you like so much.” Even the brand she mentioned. It wasn’t easy to find, but I wanted to make a good impression. “And all the ingredients for a vegan lasagna.”
“Well then, let’s cook,” she suggests.
Perfect. That way we’ll both have something to do instead of just staring at each other while chatting. I hand her a flower-print apron while I take my pink one.
“You must have a lot of questions about me showing up at the church?”
“Yes, though Marc already told me quite a bit. Alex too. But I’d like to hear your version. Honestly, I’m still not fully convinced your friend wasn’t having an affair with Marc…”
“Actually, I can put your mind at ease about that. The idiot’s name is Dominic, and he got married on the same day. I even found the wedding announcement.” It’s lying on the table. “He’s forty-one and works as a banker here in London. Nessa and he—well, that’s short for Vanessa—Um, they met only a few weeks ago. I was really happy for her but only knew him from her stories. She said he’s shy, didn’t have much time, and wanted to get to know her discreetly before meeting family or friends. Honestly, I found that strange. After all, he works at a bank. How can someone be shy in that profession?”
I sigh and start taking the ingredients out of the fridge and my shopping basket. “But she’d been single for so long and seemed happy, so I kept my mouth shut. Well, until the drama started and she found out he was getting married. Then I was furious immediately. How dare this jerk treat my best friend like that? So, I said, ‘We’re going there now and crashing that wedding.’”
I snort angrily and slam the vegan ground meat onto the counter, then wash my hands. Stephanie does the same.
“But Nessa was afraid to face him, so she sent me to the wrong address. She didn’t know there was another wedding happening there. She was completely intimidated and well… then chaos commenced blew up. You know the rest.”
“And Marc doesn’t know her?”
“No. I didn’t know him either. And finding out Alex would be my new boss really threw me. When he showed up at the office on Monday, I told security not to let him in.”
“You’re kidding.” Stephanie laughs and dries her hands.
“No, I’m serious. I thought he had tracked me down. I panicked…”
“Yes, he said he was totally surprised to see you there. What a crazy coincidence.” Stephanie glances at the newspaper, which I find a little odd. “So, there isn’t a single photo of your friend with Dominic?”
“She secretly took a few pictures of him. I still have them.” I point to my phone. “Go ahead, open Nessa’s chat. Just look at the last few pictures she sent me.”
Letting her snoop through that chat is me showing trust. I don’t have anything to hide anyway.
"Really?"
"Of course." I start opening packages and pulling out pots and pans. "This’ll be my first vegan lasagna. I’m curious how it’ll turn out." I glance briefly at Stephanie, who’s on my phone.
"There are great substitutes these days. They taste almost like the real thing."
"How long have you been vegan?"
"About a year. It works for me. I don’t force it on anyone, though. Marc loves his meat, and I’d never forbid him that."
"Did you find the pictures?"
"Mmh, yeah..."
I leave her to it and focus on the recipe I printed out beforehand. "Are you getting along with Alex?" she asks while still looking through my phone.
"Not at first. But I think it’ll be fine. He’s a good guy—we just got off on the wrong foot."
"Are you single, by the way?"
"Yes. For ages," I admit sheepishly. "My last relationship was three years ago. He wanted marriage, kids, a little house on the edge of London, and I was supposed to play housewife. But Iwanted my career and didn’t want to depend on a man. Now I regret it. I mean, I love my job, but back then I thought family could wait. And now that’s exactly what I want." I sigh softly, then glance at her inquisitively. "It’s strange how we long for what we could’ve had but didn’t appreciate at the time. If I could go back, I would’ve said yes. I’d probably be a mother by now." I sigh quietly.
"I know what you mean. I resisted marriage for a long time too. But when I met Marc..." She trails off, absorbed in my phone, I assume she’s reading through more of my chat with Nessa.
I let her be. It’s only the last three months, anyway, and I deleted the worst bits during my lunch break.
