S'more to Lose

by Beth Merlin

  A collective awwwww reverberated throughout the room.

  “That’s sweet,” Annabelle mumbled before throwing back her second glass of champagne and shuffling to the next index card. “Where did Alex say you shared your first kiss?”

  “It was our second year of university. This is so embarrassing, but we were all out together at a pub and my roommate bet me I couldn’t get Alex to kiss me. I didn’t even like him, but I wanted to win the bet, so I walked right up and laid one on him.”

  Annabelle read off the card. “University. She came out of nowhere and kissed me hard. I was completely blown away by her confidence.” She looked up and around the room. “Two for two. Pretty impressive. Now let’s see if you get this next one right. What did Alex say is your worst habit?”

  Victoria scrunched up her nose. “Probably that I run about ten minutes late for almost everything?”

  Annabelle looked down and read, “He said you snort when you laugh really hard.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” Victoria said through a shrieking laugh.

  Annabelle passed Victoria the bowl of gumballs. “Take a piece.”

  Victoria popped a piece of gum in her mouth and Annabelle reached for another champagne. Jamie made eye contact with me and held up three fingers representing the number of glasses we’d seen Annabelle down in just the last few minutes. I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Last question. What does Alex love most about you?”

  Victoria motioned toward the bowl of gumballs. “Pass ’em over, I have no idea how he answered that one.”

  Annabelle went to pull out the next card and instead dropped the entire pile on the floor. Jamie jumped up to help her pick them up. She was clearly tipsy bordering on totally drunk.

  “Sorry, just give me a second,” Annabelle said.

  Annabelle took another glass of champagne and finished it off while she reorganized the cards. Then she pulled a card out from the pile and waved it around. “Alex said, ‘Fish n’ Chips.’ No that can’t be the right answer. Where’s the bloody card?” She asked looking back down at the ground.

  I stood up to help her. I flipped through the pile until I found the card with the correlating response, then read it aloud. “Alex said he loves absolutely everything about you. From the way you cry at happy and sad movies to the way you light up a room. He loves that you still sleep with your baby blanket under your pillow and that you know all the words to Spice Girl’s Wannabe. He loves the small freckle on your right shoulder and the one piece of hair you can never get to stay in place. He loves how kind and generous you are and the graceful way you’ve already managed to navigate the realities that come with marrying him. He loves that he fell in love with you at six or seven years old, but that it took another twenty years before you gave him the time of day. He’d gladly wait another hundred years if that’s how long it took to make you his wife.”

  My eyes welled up. Victoria was blotting her eyes with a tissue and Annabelle had tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away and polished off one more glass of champagne. Gemma came in and announced the end of the game and that dinner was being served in the sunroom. Annabelle stayed behind to pick up a few more of the cards that’d scattered under Victoria’s chair. I bent down to give her a hand.

  “Here, I think these are the last of them.” I handed the stack to Annabelle who was now leaning up against the wall. “You should probably try to eat something. Want me to bring you a plate?”

  “I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” she said.

  “You sure? I know firsthand how those champagne bubbles can sneak up on you.”

  She nodded and suddenly asked, “How are things going with you and Gideon Cooper?”

  “Umm, good. We’ve been seeing each other a few months now. He asked me to be his date to the wedding.”

  “I’m happy for you. He’s a solid guy. Things haven’t been going so great with me and Perry,” she said, taking a seat in the chair I pulled over to her. “Nobody knows. I didn’t want anything to spoil Victoria’s wedding and God knows, I don’t want the press getting wind of it.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. With all the recent pictures of them out together I’d just assumed I’d be seeing their wedding announced as soon as Victoria and Alexander’s was over.

  “I’m sure whatever it is will work itself out.” I headed to join the others for dinner, but Annabelle placed her hand over mine and held it firmly in place.

  “He doesn’t want me to move to New York with him,” she said, lowering her voice. “He thinks he’ll be too busy with the show for anything or anyone else. He’s worried I’ll resent him for it down the road.”

  “You have your job here. Your family. Maybe he doesn’t want to take you away from all that.”

  “He was engaged to someone a few years ago back in New York. He’s never told me much about her and I never pressed. He told me it was completely over and I believed him. But, what if it isn’t over?” She looked up at me.

  My breath caught in my throat as a million different thoughts raced through my head. Why didn’t he want Annabelle accompanying him to New York? Sure, he’d be busy and Broadway was a different beast to conquer, but still. Wouldn’t he want his girlfriend by his side?

  He couldn’t still have feelings for me, could he? As quickly as the notion came to me, I tried to push it back into the recesses of my mind. We hadn’t spoken once since that moment out by the hedge maze all those months ago. I was moving on with Gideon and he was seeing Annabelle Ellicott, the most eligible woman in all of England. We were over. My heart had finally come to accept what my brain had known all along—we weren’t meant to be.

  “I’m sure he just wants to focus on Elizabeth. You know how fanatical he can be about his work,” I said.

  Annabelle tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at me. I quickly covered my tracks. “He’s notorious for his work ethic, right? All the articles written about him this year mentioned that fact.”

  Annabelle softened her stance. “He is. I’m pretty sure he’s still trying to prove to his father that he amounted to something.”

  “Well, there you have it. I’m sure he’s just worried about how the show will play in the states. We Americans aren’t as up on our British history as we should be. Let him get settled and I’m sure he’ll change his mind about wanting you there.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “He’s coming to the wedding to keep up appearances, but after that I guess we’ll see. The worst part is that I really do love him. He’s the most infuriating person I’ve ever met, but I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone as much.”

  “Maybe absence will make the heart grow fonder?” I said, worried the hurt in my voice would betray my outward emotions.

  She smiled. “You know what, I think I’ll take your advice and go get something to eat. This is Victoria’s night to act like a fool and embarrass herself, not mine.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “I’ll come join you in a minute.”

  Annabelle left to join the rest of the party and I sat down on the couch to collect myself. Jamie found me sitting there a few minutes later.

  “You’re missing all the fun. Gemma just pinned the crown on the “little prince.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone turn that shade of red.”

  “I’ll be right in,” I said.

  Jamie slid down beside me. “What’s going on, Gi?”

  “Annabelle told me she and Perry are on the outs. He doesn’t want her moving to New York with him. She thinks it might have something to do with his former fiancée. The one she knows almost nothing about. I should’ve told her it was me. I should go tell her, right?” I crossed my arms over my stomach. “Did it just get really hot in here? God, I feel sick.” I started to stand up but Jamie yanked me back down to the couch.

  “The wedding is in three days. I’m sorry your conscience is eating at you right now, but take a Tums and deal with it. We are too far down this road for there to be
any other option. Go get some air or wash your face. Do whatever you need to do, but I better see you in the other room for bridal bingo in five minutes, got it?”

  “Got it,” I mumbled.

  “Good,” he said and walked back into the other room.

  Though Jamie’s tough love act was a hard one to swallow, he was right. We both had too much to lose. We were in the final inning and keeping quiet was really the only option. I took Jamie’s advice and returned to the party where bridal bingo was underway. Victoria’d changed into Jamie’s gold-fringed design and was calling out wedding-themed words that the rest of the guests were furiously scratching off their cards. Annabelle was in the corner eating a plate of pasta. She’d switched out the champagne for a bottle of Perrier and already looked steadier on her feet.

  After a few more rounds of bingo, Gemma announced there were cars waiting outside for anyone who wanted to continue the party.

  Gemma tapped me on the shoulder. “Alex, Perry, and a couple of Victoria’s other friends are at that new club in Soho, so we’re heading over. They have a private VIP entrance in the back, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle if you’re up for it.”

  “I think I’m gonna head back to the hotel. It’s been a long couple of days and the next few will be even longer.”

  “What about Jamie?”

  I looked over to the doorway. Jamie had slipped on his blazer and was following Victoria out of the room.

  “He’s always up for a night on the town.”

  “Feel free to grab one of the cars outside to take you back to The Savoy.”

  As soon as I got back to my room I kicked my shoes off and slithered out of my dress. I wrapped one of the hotel robes around myself and called downstairs to order a burger and fries from room service. I popped the television on, turned up the volume, and went to the bathroom to wash off my makeup.

  The Graham Norton Show was just beginning on BBC One. Graham Norton was my favorite talk show host, bar none. I loved the format of the show―celebrities casually hanging out on a couch, drinking and chatting with Graham while also interacting with each other. Graham liked to bring together different personalities, always resulting in funnier and more spontaneous exchanges than you tended to see on American late-night shows.

  The voice-over announcer listed off the night’s guests starting with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Radcliffe and ending with the one and only Perry Gillman. After I finished applying some facial moisturizer, I peered out from behind the bathroom door and watched Perry give Graham a bear hug before sitting down on the big red couch next to Daniel. I tiptoed out and sat on the corner of the bed to keep watching.

  Graham went through his usual spiel asking the guests about whatever project they were promoting before sitting back and letting the guests talk to each other. Daniel Radcliffe gushed over Elizabeth and asked Perry if he could write in a role for him for the Broadway transfer, even offering to play a piece of scenery just to be in the production. Perry laughed and said he might need to write a narrator into the show since the Broadway investors were pushing him to add in more backstory for American audiences.

  Nicole Kidman jumped in, asking Perry what he knew about New York theatergoers and if he’d spent any significant time in the States. I held my breath as he talked about the summers he spent working as a camp counselor in a small town in Pennsylvania. He regaled the studio audience with stories about the Color Wars, Gordy, and his small but pivotal role in the annual Camp Chinooka production of Fiddler on the Roof. Then, Graham changed the subject to the royal wedding and the role Perry was set to play in it. He coyly answered a few questions about Annabelle. Just as he was turning the conversation to the performance he and the Elizabeth cast were planning for the after party, my hotel phone rang.

  I reached over to the nightstand to answer it.

  “Miss Codswild?” the operator asked.

  “This is she.”

  “We have a Napoleon Cheshire in the lobby asking to see you? Is it okay to let him up to your room?”

  “You can absolutely let him up.” I leaned over to the remote and shut off the TV.

  I quickly brushed my hair and spritzed on some perfume. I changed into a T-shirt and pair of jeans and straightened up the room. As I was stuffing the last carry-on suitcase into the closet, Gideon knocked on the door.

  “Room service,” he said, carrying a tray into my room. “I rode up with the bellhop, so I offered to bring it to you.”

  “Service with a smile. I like it,” I teased.

  “I waited for you at the club, but Jamie said you’d gone back to the hotel.”

  “I was tired from the week,” I answered.

  “I thought it might have had something to do with the fact Perry was also there?”

  “I just wasn’t in the mood to dodge paparazzi. I didn’t even know you’d be at Alex’s stag party. You never said anything.”

  “I think I was a last-minute addition, but how do you refuse a prince? I don’t know why, but I got the feeling Perry was hoping you’d show up too?”

  “He and Annabelle are having some issues. I’m sure he just wasn’t himself.”

  Gideon raised his eyebrows.

  “Annabelle had a little too much champagne and decided to unload on me,” I said.

  “Ahh, I see.”

  I pulled Gideon toward me. “Can we not talk about them tonight? I don’t want to talk about Perry or Annabelle or Victoria or Alexander. I don’t want to hear any more about weddings or royalty. I need a few minutes reprieve. If that’s okay?”

  “Of course, it is Miss Codswild.”

  “Thanks, Gid.” I leaned up to kiss him.

  “The name’s Napoleon Cheshire,” he said, picking me up and carrying me to the bed.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  For the next few days, Jamie and I basically shifted into autopilot, jumping from one fitting to another—hemming, trimming, and cinching bridesmaid gowns and the remainder of Victoria’s looks. Our workspace was a revolving door of the who’s who of British society. I knew Jamie well enough to know he was still annoyed from our spat at Victoria’s hen party. He punished me for my bad behavior by leaving for a coffee run right when Annabelle showed up for her final fitting. Maybe he hoped that by leaving us on our own I’d better appreciate the bind we were in because of the reckless decision Perry and I had made to keep our past relationship a secret.

  Annabelle’s maid of honor dress was really something special. Jamie’d taken the lead on it and absolutely outdid himself. The final product was elegant and sophisticated with a touch of bohemian whimsy. It was the palest shade of blush organza with similar jeweled embellishments to Victoria’s dress placed only around the waist and down the back of her small train. It complimented every one of Annabelle’s features without detracting from the bride. It was perfect. I unzipped it from the garment bag and brought it to her to try on.

  She looked around the room. “Should I go behind there to change?”

  “Sorry. Yes, of course.”

  A minute or two later, Annabelle came out from behind the curtain. She turned her back to me. “I need your help zipping up this last bit.”

  I pulled the zipper up the tight track and she turned around to face me.

  “What do you think? It doesn’t need much of anything, does it?” she asked.

  I examined the dress from all angles. It fit her like a glove. Jamie really had nailed it.

  I grabbed a pair of crystal-covered Louboutins off the table. “These are the shoes you’re planning to wear right?”

  She nodded yes and slipped them on. I lifted the bottom of the dress off the ground. “Maybe I’ll shorten it another quarter of an inch just to be on the safe side. It’s a long way up the aisle at Westminster.”

  “Ever been there? Westminster?”

  “About a billion years ago on one of those greatest hits through Europe tours with my parents,” I answered.

  Annabelle stepped up onto the pedestal. “It’s bea
utiful, but so the opposite of the type of place in which I’d want to get married. I used to tell Perry I wanted to elope in some exotic locale like Fiji or Bali. No obligations. No fanfare. Just us.”

  I thought back to the dozens of conversations Perry and I had about where we should get married. New York or London? In the city or the country? A big wedding or more intimate one? We could never agree, and after several rounds of arguments we always ended up tabling the discussion for another time.

  “He humors me, but deep down, I think he’s more of a traditionalist. He might even like a little fanfare,” she added.

  I smiled and knelt on the floor to begin pinning around the bottom of the dress.

  Annabelle looked down to me. “Hey, Gigi, I wanted to apologize for laying all that stuff on you the other night at Victoria’s hen party. We barely know each other and I could tell I made you uncomfortable. I had way too much to drink.”

  “We’ve all been there,” I said, remembering the night I danced on the bar at Rosie’s.

  “It’s not like me to come undone like that. I was upset about the fight with Perry and didn’t have a chance to process my feelings about it. Anyway, he wants to table any more conversations about me moving to New York until after the wedding. I think it’s probably for the best.”

  Jamie walked in balancing a coffee carrier in his hand. “What’s for the best?”

  “Just some girl talk,” Annabelle responded.

  “I’m all ears,” Jamie teased.

  Annabelle laughed and stepped down from the pedestal. “Are we done?”

  “All pinned. Just be careful taking it off,” I said. Annabelle went back to change and Jamie passed me a coffee.

  “What’s for the best?” He leaned in and whispered.

  “Annabelle and Perry are tabling their issues until after the wedding.”

  Jamie raised his eyebrows. “Think we can do the same, Gigi?”

  I put my hand on his shoulder. “Yes, of course, and I’m sorry,”