Page 63 of Red Queen
I let out a big sigh, and then give in, laying down next to her. I pull the covers up on me, then lay my head on the pillow facing her. We’re just watching each other for a couple minutes before she reaches for the lamp, but I stop her. I want to see her more. Just to make sure I sleep well and won’t have another nightmare.
“You…didn’t have nightmares before.” She means the couple of times I slept beside her. It’s not like I can control them, but it’s thanks to her.
“Yeah. I guess…sleeping beside you has helped.” I smile a little, searching for her eyes, trying to read her reaction.
I don’t know why I had one tonight, though. We were sleeping in the same room, slightly further away. Maybe that’s the problem. I was too far. I couldn’t see her, smell her, or feel her. Last time we were only a nightstand away, but now it was more than that.
“I’m glad I could.” She smiles, then reaches for the lamp again, and this time I let her turn it off. “Good night,” she says, then turns back to me.
I thought she was going to turn away, but she stayed like this, facing me. Shit. This is dangerous. But even all the worry doesn’t stop me from reaching out to her and locking her hand in mine. I ain’t letting her hand go until we wake up in the morning. She’s my anchor tonight. And with a content smile, I fall back asleep.
41
ROSA
“NOOO!”
I jolt up in bed, blood stopping in my veins as I hear the deafening scream from outside. Is there a murder happening or what?
I chuckle at how Mateo didn’t even wake up to it; he just continues to sleep peacefully beside me. I carefully get out of bed without waking him up, then peek outside the hall, noticing other people’s heads popping out from behind the doors. I tremble when I hear another scream, although it’s about one decibel quieter, thankfully.
I slip out the door and then make my way toward the bride’s room, since I’m guessing that’s where it came from. I knock softly, and then open it when I get the okay to come inside.
“Did you just scream a couple of seconds ago?” I step closer to the bed, seeing that Julie is still lying in bed, her mother rubbing her arm in a soothing way. Oh no. She’s crying.
“I’m the unluckiest woman on Earth,” she mutters between sobs. I sit on the edge of the bed.
“What happened?” I ask, not knowing what else to do, so I just sit there in silence, waiting for her answer.
“I just got my period.” She starts sobbing again, and I let out a sigh.
“Well, that’s a good thing, right? Means that you’re not pregnant. That would be worse.” I crack a smile, trying to cheer her up, but the way she looks at me, I doubt I succeeded.
“We’re trying for a baby,” she says, and I immediately regret being born on this planet. Great. I’m humiliated for the rest of my life. “But that’s not just it. I’ll have to be in a white dress—in a wedding dress all day, and all I’ll do is worry about whether I bled through it or not.”
“Look, I have some pads on me. You’ll shove up a tampon, put in two pads, and I’ll even go out to buy you a period panty if you want. Triple protection,” I say, once again attempting to lift the mood.
“No. I need you more here. I think the two pads and tampon will be okay,” she answers, her breathing calming down at my proposal.
“Okay. Then get out of bed, Julie. It’s your big day. The makeup artist will be here in…38 minutes. I’ll be right back with the pads, and try to calm down, eat something. It’ll be a long day.” She nods, and with another sigh, I step out of the room. Fuck me if I don’t survive this day.
You know what’s good about having multiple women in one place? They’ll help each other no matter what. Doesn’t matter if they don’t get along; if a woman needs something, the others are there to help.
The rest of the day went smoothly, thanks to the power of the female guests; everything fell into place, and Julie didn’t bleedthrough her wedding dress. Her dress looked incredible, and she was beautiful in it. I was even a little jealous. I want to be so loved that one day a man decides he wants to officially spend the rest of our lives together.
Now we’re at the reception, waiting for Julie and Arden to start their first dance. The place is decorated with carnations and light bulbs, the sweet scent of the flowers filling the room. People are murmuring, waiting for the newlyweds.
I let out a big sigh when they appear, anxiousness slowly leaving my body as the night goes on. It’s been a long day, but I can’t complain.
I even got along with Ethel, Julie’s mother. Both of us apologized and decided it’s best that we’re going to be nice to each other from now on. No need to cause any more drama than there already is.
Mateo’s sitting next to me in his perfectly tailored suit; he was getting all the attention today, especially from women. I’m glad they helped make Julie’s big day nice, but I don’t need help with checking out my boyfriend, especially not flirting with him. I do that pretty well.
His hands find mine under the table, intertwining our fingers, then squeezing them. He smiles at me when I look up to him, and that’s all I need to relax.
I find it a little funny how easily he can calm me down, making my anxiety disappear with only a look, but god, he can rile me up even easier.
At the beginning, we were having lots of arguments, we were mad at each other, and while that was fun, it sometimes hurt as well. We both said some hurtful things, and they still linger around us, however much we’d like to forget about them.
