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Her face smooths over like a cold stone. “How dare you?”
“Well, I was cheated on, and I know I would have wanted someone to tell me before I walked in on them—
“This must be some sort of joke.”
“It’s not.”
Missy stares at me, shaking her head. For a second, she looks like she’s going to cry and then she collects her thoughts and turns toward the mirror.
I try again but she cuts me off.
“I need to be alone right now.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Why did you have to come and tell me something like this?” she asks when I reach the door. “I mean, are you trying to ruin my wedding?”
I turn around, dumbfounded. What is she talking about?
“Look, I know this must come as a shock but it’s better that you find out now rather than after the wedding, right? I wish I had,” I say.
“Well, that’s you, not me.”
“Missy…did you know about this?”
She turns, facing the mirror to touch up her makeup and make sure her mascara isn’t running. “What I know about is none of your business.”
“Look, I’m not here to judge. I just thought—
“You thought I would want to know this? You thought wrong.”
I do not know what to say to that. “My mistake. I will just get back to work—
“No. You won’t. You’re fired.”
I chuffed a laugh. “You cannot be serious, Missy. Your wedding is tomorrow. You won’t be able to find another photographer on such short notice.”
“Like so many other things, that is my problem. Not yours. Get. Out.”
In shock, I slowly turn to the door. But then Missy jumps in front of me in a blur of anger. “Um—
“If you tell anyone, I swear to God himself, I will ruin you. I will tell everyone in Somerset about how you tricked my poor husband into taking those photos as a joke and tried to use them to break us up because you want him for yourself—
I laugh. Hard. In her face. “I wouldn’t touch Arthur Lawrence. I know where he’s been. Do you?”
“Every person in Somerset will know you tried to steal him away from me, and you can’t prove otherwise, so back off and never speak of this again. Do you understand me? My mother is the Clerk of Courts in our county, Autumn. She knows every prominent person in this county. We will ruin you if you ever breathe a word of this.”
“My god, Missy, why would I tell anyone? I don’t care what you do. Go. Marry the cheater. I hope you have a long, miserable life together. You deserve it. Don’t expect your deposit back.” I brush past her, and outside the powder room is Delia with a glass which she presumably had pressed against the door. “We’re going. Get the equipment and don’t tell a soul.”
“You got it, boss.”
I had lost out on jobs before. I had even been fired due to overbooking and miscommunication. But fired because I tried to do the right thing? This is a new one for me.
Delia tracks me down to let me know the car is packed, and we watch as the groom picks hay out of the maid of honor’s hair when they giggle their way back to the reception hall. Then he sits next to his steaming bride and kisses her.
Delia snarls, “What a pig.”
“Yes, well, a match made in Hell, if ever there was one. Let’s go.”
