AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Shut up and mind your business," I said as I put it away and then returned to fixing the bangs she had just complained about not being pronounced enough. We'd changed her hairstyle twice, wiped off her too-smoky makeup, and almost had to handle a mental breakdown because her dress was too tight.
Now she was fully dressed in her white gown for her wedding, and both my mom and I were suffering thanks to her anxiety but taking it all in stride. My mother was amused as she met our gaze through the mirror, but she was busy and on her phone. Before she returned to her screen, however, she shared a look with me, and I wondered what it was about.
I continued fixing Sophie's hair, but suddenly something occurred to me. As though she could read my mind, she lookedup just then, and our gazes met again. "What?" I asked, but she shrugged.
"You two are making me even more nervous," Sophie said, and I wished I could tell her that she was nervous not because of us but because she wasn't sure of who she was getting married to, but it was too late.
"I need a nap," she said, and it almost made me laugh. But then the urge to go to the bathroom suddenly overrode this, so I set the curler down and turned around to leave.
"Bathroom?" my mom asked, and I nodded.
"I'll come with you. We'll be back in five minutes, Sophie," she said, and my sister nodded.
"Scar," she called out before I left. "Can I get a flat glass of that champagne you've been drinking? I need it."
"No," I replied. "I need you to be clear-headed throughout the day. Or else you're going to get drowsy and irritated. You do not know how to hold your alcohol."
She pouted in annoyance at me, but she just looked cute. So, myself and mom left, laughing.
We remained silent as we headed over to the bathroom, and it just made things even more awkward, especially since I didn't understand why they were awkward to begin with. When we got to the bathroom, it was more or less empty, so we took stalls next to each other.
It was quiet for a little while, although I was the only one doing the peeing, and it sounded like she was just sitting there.
"Are you alright?" I asked, but she directed the question back to me.
"Are you?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" I said, but she didn't respond. Not until we both came out and met each other at the vanity.
I immediately looked away so that she wouldn't see how distraught I felt in my eyes. How forlorn I had been feeling forthe past few weeks since I had found out. Or even earlier, since that night he had turned around and just walked away. One minute he was all I could think about, and in the next, it was almost as though he had never even existed.
Sophie had been put on punishment for a whole two weeks, and in that time, she had nearly lost hair wondering about her fate. To our relief, he had called her back to work, and although things had more or less gone back to normal, I had felt even more hopeless then.
Because no call whatsoever I understood was ever going to come to me. "You know he's going to be here, right?" she asked, but I didn’t respond at first. I focused on washing my hands, but she didn't let it go.
“Is he?" I eventually asked and went over to dry. The noise drowned out whatever she wanted to say, but I couldn't avoid it or her any longer. "Mom, all of that happened months ago. And only for a few days, everyone and their mom has moved on. You, of course, should too.”
She wasn't amused at this.
"If you have moved on, then why have you been so gloomy? Or you think we wouldn't notice the change?" I sighed, then turned to her. "Mom, I'm fine. He'll be here, yes, I'm a bit nervous, but we didn't know each other for long, and I keep hammering this into everyone's head, but no one's listening to me. I’ll see him, I'll say hi, or maybe not. After all, he's just a wedding guest, and he's not my boss or anything, so please focus on the daughter who's getting married today and not the one who isn't?"
"Alright," she said. "I'll take your word for it, but what about your drinking? It's been at least six champagne flutes now, and I seriously wonder why you haven't collapsed yet." I gave her an incredulous look.
"It's six tiny flutes and I’m not Sophie." She narrowed her gaze at me.
"Is this just a one-time occurrence because you're nervous, or is this a habit of yours?”
At the immense concern on her face, I was amused.
"No, Mom, I'm not turning into an alcoholic, I just like this particular brand of sparkling cider, and I, of course, want to drink it from a champagne flute because why not?"
She seemed confused. Again, I leaned forward and blew my breath at her face. "No alcohol. For one, it's ten am, and secondly, in case you missed what I said the first time, it's sparkling cider. It's sweet, I'm starving, and it's available, so why not?"
"Oh," she said, and I watched as all her concerns drained away from her face. They, in turn, drained away from my heart, but I tried my best not to show it. "Alright then," she said. "You're fine, but Sophie's doesn’t seem to be, so wait outside a while longer. I want to talk to her privately."
"Alright," I replied, more than grateful for the space and reprieve. The wedding was starting anytime now, and most of the guests had already arrived. All the bridesmaids had long come and gone, and now it was the final moment, and it was just us three. I thought of going out to meet my dad, but I was sure to run into friends and relatives, and I needed the quiet anyway that I could get through the day.
No, I wasn't drinking champagne, but that wasn't because I didn't want to. All I wanted was an entire bottle of it, but I couldn't because I had something to hide. It was both fortunate and unfortunate, and it had sucked the soul out of me for the last few weeks ever since I had discovered it. And so all I could do was bide my time until I could eventually make up my mind on what to do, but every day that passed made things more difficult.
