‘Afternoon. There’s a parcel—’ The postman stopped as he looked up and saw my outfit. ‘Oh! Umm, congratulations. I’d better not keep you. I just need a signature.’ He held out the machine for me to sign.
‘It’s not real,’ I said. ‘It’s for a blog thing.’
‘Oh. OK. Right.’ He gave me a smile that showed he didn’t understand in the slightest and returned to his rounds. I closed the door.
‘Is that Charlie?’ Tilly came out from the bedroom where we’d prepared the ‘set’ for the shoot.
‘No. Just the postman. Who now thinks I’m some weird and desperate woman who dresses up in weddings gowns on a summer afternoon for no reason.’
‘I’m sure he doesn’t.’
‘You didn’t see his face.’
‘Ah, who cares?’
I stood for a moment. She had a point. ‘That’s true. I’m going to get some drinks. Back in a sec.’
The door chimed again and Tilly answered it as I disappeared into the kitchen. I heard Charlie’s deep tones rumble through. Tilly said something and he laughed. I appreciated her helping to make this a less awkward experience for all of us. That said, it seemed I might be the only one who was feeling awkward as I heard Charlie and Tilly laugh again. Best to just get it over with and hope that it didn’t show too much in the photos. I put the three glasses on a tray, and plopped a couple of eco-friendly straws in two of them to help keep our make-up intact, then picked it up and entered the living room.
‘Hello, sleepyhead.’
‘Hi, Libs,’ Charlie replied. He was crouched on the ground, pulling his gear out of his camera bag. Standing, he turned and made a step towards me, before stopping abruptly.
‘Bloody hell.’
I raised my eyebrows.
‘Sorry.’ He shook his head. ‘I just… I didn’t expect… umm.’ A hint of colour was forming around the collar of his blue and white checked shirt, altogether making up quite a patriotic mix.
‘OK. But was it a good bloody hell or an oh my God bloody hell? Because if it was the latter I’d rather know now before posting it online for a tonne of people to have the same reaction.’
‘No, it was good. Honestly.’ Charlie seemed to have composed himself and was back to fiddling with his camera lens. ‘Just took me a bit by surprise.’
I flipped out a hand to Tilly. ‘See what I mean? I’m not even going out with him and he’s freaked. Now you know why I can’t have Alex seeing any of this.’
‘I’m not freaked. I’ve just never seen you in a wedding dress. Although I think you’d be better off with a bouquet than a bar tray.’
I put the drinks down. Tilly was standing near Charlie, swishing the dress she had on. I still wasn’t convinced a song was entirely out of the question. Best to get this done as soon as possible.
‘Let’s put some music on,’ I suggested.
‘Great idea!’ Tilly agreed, scooting past Charlie to her computer. A moment later, Little Mix began filling the room, and Tilly was off dancing around. Charlie turned his head to me, both amused and bemused. I shrugged, a wide smile breaking on my face as Tilly caught my hand, pulling me along as she danced past me.
A couple of hours later, we’d both had three changes of dress and make-up looks and were pretty much winding down. It had been a lot more fun than I’d anticipated. It was hard not to be infected with Tilly’s excitement, not only for the shoot, but also for her impending real wedding. I’d temporarily forgotten my hang-ups and just relaxed, enjoying the music, the laughter, and the company. I’d even forgiven Charlie for sneaking a shot when Tilly had insisted on making me wear a garter and I’d bent to adjust it. My protestations were countered with his and Tilly’s claims that he was supposed to be capturing the feel of getting ready for a wedding.
‘It’s not a real wedding.’
‘And I’m not a real wedding photographer, so that’s perfect.’
I stuck my tongue out at him. And he snapped a picture of that too.
‘I’m beginning to think encouraging you in this hobby might not have been one of my better decisions.’
Charlie widened his eyes and did a maniacal laugh. ‘You’ve created a monster!’ he cried, scooping me up with his free hand, and swinging me round.
‘I think I might have!’ I laughed, happy to see Charlie so relaxed. ‘Now put me down, you big lump!’ Charlie’s arm had wrapped itself under my bum and my feet were now dangling some way above the floor. I steadied myself with one hand on his shoulder as the other rested on his chest. As I brought my gaze up from studying how far down the floor was, it connected with Charlie’s.
‘You’re looking at me funny.’
