AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jenna,” Charlie says, and his face has changed, too. He looks as irritated with Brett as I feel. But it’s not for the same reasons. “Who is this guy?”
“You better take a walk, buddy,” Brett says.
“Stop it,” I say to Brett.
“From where I’m standing, you’re the one making life harder for her,” Charlie claps back.
“Oh, big guy, huh?” Brett says, taking a threatening step forward.
I put my hand on his chest.
“Stop it, both of you.” I glare at Brett. “I know you’re trying to be a hero, but sometimes, what makes you a good guy is not punching someone else in the face.”
Brett clenches his jaw.
“And you,” I say, turning to Charlie, “you need to leave.”
“But—”
“I’m serious. I can’t do this. Go home.”
I turn around and walk away, leaving the two men side by side in the dark.
When I walk back into the reception, the guests are starting to leave. I don’t know what Stacey said to Laura or what’s happening to the rest of the event, but it’s not how it was supposed to be.
I know I’m supposed to be the planner, the one who has it all under control and takes care of it all. I should probably oversee the event until the end, make sure that something about this can still be salvaged. But I don’t know how. I feel like I’m coming undone at the seams, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.
When I spot Laura, I walk to her.
“Is Stacey…?” I don’t know how to start. I don’t know what to say.
“I’m going to give you a piece of advice, Jenna,” Laura says. “You need to know when to give up. I think it’s best if you leave for the evening, too.”
I want to argue, but she’s right. And I think it’s time I bow out. I nod. I hope she doesn’t hate me, but I’m pretty sure she does. And Stacey, too. I wish I could go back in time and fix it all. I wish I could stop this from happening in the first place. But it’s all happened. I made mistakes.
We all did, I guess.
And there’s no way to change how things worked.
I ride the elevator to my room and close myself in. It takes a while to get out of my dress, unpin my hair that’s been sprayed into submission, and take off the layers of makeup that have been applied. When I’m finally dressed in pajamas, I lie in bed and scroll through my phone to try to distract myself.
When I open social media, it’s all over the news. The Jackson wedding was a disaster; guests were told to leave early. They’ve posted photos where Brett and Noah are arguing with me looking shocked and confused. They even took photos of me, Brett, and Charlie. Different places posted different headlines, but they all talk about how what should have been a fairytale wedding just short of burned to the ground.
I’m glad there isn’t much about Stacey and Marc’s relationship. Whatever happened between them, they managed to keep it out of the way of the paparazzi, and that counts for something. At least their hearts will be broken in private. Having that splashed all over the news will just make things infinitely worse.
The more I scroll, the more articles I see, and it makes me feel sick to my stomach. Eventually, I put down the phone. Seeing the destruction I caused—not alone, but still—just makes me feel like crap, and I can’t change anything.
I lay in the dark, trying to fall asleep, trying to block it all out. Maybe tomorrow, in the new light of day, everything will look different and I’ll be able to deal with everything that had gone wrong.
I hope so. Because right now, everything has crashed and burned. I have no one I can turn to, no shoulders to cry on. Stacey hates me. I have nothing to say to Brett. I can’t believe Charlie wormed his way in where he wasn’t wanted. And Noah…damn it.
What should have been a happy ending for my best friend and the love of her life has turned into a nightmare. I wasn’t the cause of it all—Marc is fixing games?. Brett kept things from me and lied to Noah. I kept things from Stacey.
We’re all to blame.
But I feel like this is all because of me, and I don’t know how this will ever sort itself out.
This romance turned into a horror.
