~*~
Later when we are getting ready to leave for dinner, we’re still waiting in the lobby for Abby to join us. She was on the phone again.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! What are they doing here?” Sienna exclaims. When I look across the lobby, I’m unpleasantly surprised to see Ellie and Stephy. How did they know we were here? I can’t help but wonder if all of these unwelcome party crashers are more signs that my wedding/marriage is doomed?
“How would they even know we were here?” she adds as she tries to duck behind a magazine.
I was wondering the exact same thing until I notice Craig’s reaction. Oh. My. Gosh. Why did we bring him again?
“Craig?” I ask.
“I’m so sorrrrry,” he says dramatically. “I checked in on Facebook, tagged you all. Don’t be mad, I had too. I couldn’t exactly come here and not brag to all my friends.” I close my eyes and shake my head.
“So let me guess, you’re friends with my cousins on Facebook. That means they saw your post and came down here.”
“I’m afraid so,” Craig whispers. He drops his head and pretends to feel guilty. He really should pursue his acting career. But I know he doesn’t feel guilty, he lives for this kind of drama
“We won’t let it ruin our night,” Sienna interrupts and grabs my hand. “Maybe they won’t even see us; we could go out through the garden. Let’s go.”
Just as we are trying to make a run for it, they see us. “It’s too late; we’re spotted,” I say in a loud whisper.
“Madie, wait please,” Ellie calls out. “We really need to talk to you.”
The three of us stop in our tracks. I try to think up a story as to why we can’t stay. Unfortunately, I can’t think that fast.
“Um, we were just leaving for our dinner reservations,” Sienna says as if reading my mind. Craig doesn’t say anything but is watching us intently. I really want to blame him for this, but it’s really my fault for avoiding the situation. I need to stop running and face them.
“It’s OK, Sienna; we still have a few minutes,” I tell her. She raises her eyebrows but does as I ask. She grabs the sleeve of Craig’s sweater and pulls him away.
So here I am facing my arch nemesis since childhood. Once again, it’s two against one, but for some reason it doesn’t bother me as much anymore.
“Well, let’s hear what you have to say,” I say as I sit down on one of the huge wingchairs in the lobby. They give each other a look and both sit down.
“Madie, I swear to you that I didn’t do anything to ruin your wedding. You have to believe me,” she begs. I look back and forth between the two of them. They seem to be a little more sincere, definitely not as smug as usual.
“What about you?” I ask Stephy. “Maybe it wasn’t Ellie, maybe it was you all along.” I figure I might as well get that out also. It wouldn’t be a shock because she has always seemed to fly below the radar.
“Me!” Stephy shouts. “How dare you accuse me! I would never do . . .” Ellie holds up her hand to stop Stephy’s rant.
“Madison, I can’t believe that you would really think these terrible things about us. We just heard from Grandmother that the wedding is no longer at the Four Seasons. This is . . . horrible,” she spits out in disgust. She then takes a deep breath and rubs her forehead.
“It’s time I . . . or . . . um, we were honest with you.” Now this should be interesting, finally some honesty.
“Initially, we didn’t want to be a part of your wedding.” Shocker, I think to myself. “Don’t take that wrong; it wasn’t because we don’t care,” she trails off trying to make up for the foot that she just put in her mouth. I look over at Sienna, Craig, and Abby who has finally joined them watching from afar. No doubt they are dying to know how this is going. So far, there hasn’t been any yelling, hair pulling, or food on anyone.
“Anyway, Grandmother wanted us to be together and said you would be asking us. We know you always wanted to be close to us when we were young, you know, having been an only child.” She looks at Stephy and she nods.
“Then we started looking for dresses, and we started getting excited,” Stephy chimes in. “It really seemed like we were getting closer, we were even going on a trip, and then you went BALLISTIC on Ellie at the hotel.”
Seriously, the way she describes it you would have thought I went after her with a knife or something. That was a definite exaggeration.
“I’m telling you the truth, Madie. I had NOTHING to do with all of this.” She looks me in the eye, and for the first time, I actually believe her.
“OK,” I say softly.
They both look taken aback. “You believe me?” Ellie shouts.
“I’m trying to, but regardless of that, we need to have a talk.”
I did it; I can’t believe I finally did it. I spilled everything from the bullying when we were kids to the recent insults and snide comments. I told them I had had enough and that I wouldn’t stand for it any longer. Some of their reactions were surprising; they seemed to have forgotten a lot that had happened or at least pretended to. And then I was honest when I told them that they were welcome to come to the wedding; however, I would prefer them not to be bridesmaids. I don’t think that went over to well, but they didn’t argue. Hopefully that won’t come back to bite me later.
A half hour later, I’m sitting at dinner with my friends. “I want to make a toast,” Abby says loudly.
“Cheers to Madie! I’m so proud of you,” she slurs. Poor Abby has had three glasses of wine. Craig ordered a bottle to celebrate, and I don’t think she has had a drink in a very long time. I cover my mouth to keep from laughing. I look at Sienna who is also amused; she too has been sipping her wine. She isn’t a drinker either, and I can already tell that this is going to be a fun night.
After dinner, we head out to Have a Nice Day Café, the best dance club ever. I’m shocked to say that both Abby and Sienna are drunk. They are in the middle of the dance floor trying to dance like John Travolta. Craig is busy recording their dance; no doubt that will be all over social media by tomorrow. I’m just watching carefully to make sure neither of them does anything they will regret tomorrow. I didn’t notice Sienna drinking other than a few sips, but I guess I was too busy watching Abby. All of a sudden, I feel someone’s arms around my waist and then kissing on my neck.
Oh, hell no; those days are over. I turn around ready to drop-kick some frat boy, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see that Cole and his best friend Jeff are standing behind me. My fiancé just crashed my bachelorette party.
“Hold on, you are not suppoooosed to be here mister,” Abby interrupts before I can say a word. She throws her arm around me and starts to hang on me. “This is a bachelorette partay, no boys allowed.”
“What have you guys done to her?” Cole says, laughing.
“Nothing, I’m fiiine!” She starts poking his chest.
Sienna and Craig have now joined us also.
“Jeff!” Sienna yells and practically leaps into his arms.
There’s a bit of a story behind Sienna and Jeff. Cole and I had tried to set them up after she broke up with Luke. She agreed to go out with him as a favor to me, but they ended up having a great time. I think things could have progressed for them except for the fact that Jeff lives in San Francisco. They agreed to be just friends, and then things started to move forward for Sienna and Ace, well sort of.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Cole after a long, passionate kiss. I know this is supposed to be my bachelorette party, but I don’t care. I’m so happy to see him.
“Craig kept posting on Facebook, so Jeff and I decided to drive down. We were kind of bored.” I need to make a mental note to unfriend Craig on Facebook.
“Dance with me,” Sienna says as she drags Jeff out to the dance floor. Abby and Craig are now trying to do some kind of line dance that doesn’t go with the song that is playing. I giggle; at least everyone is having fun.
Cole and I start to slow dance to
the very quick up-tempo song. I tell him all about Carrie and the stepsisters randomly showing up. I also tell him how I was worried that all of their appearances were more signs that our marriage is doomed. He reassures me that everything will work out fine.
All of a sudden we hear the crowd chanting, “Go Abby, Go Abby, Go Abby.” We look over to see Abby doing some kind of crazy dance in the middle of a circle of people. She is going to be mortified tomorrow. I explain to Cole that she was really struggling being away from the baby. I guess I’m not completely surprised that she had too much to drink.
“Whoa.” Cole’s mouth drops open. I turn to look and see Sienna totally grinding on and kissing Jeff. No way. I have to try to stop her, or she will be so pissed at me. I start to walk over to her when Cole grabs my arm.
“Let go, I have to stop her,” I tell him.
“Why? They’re having a good time.” Cole shrugs his shoulders. “Let them have fun.”
This isn’t the first time Cole and I have disagreed about those two. He really wants them to get together, but I know she really wants to be with Ace. I’m about to yell at Cole when I see Abby vomit all over the dance floor. Crap! Cole, Craig, and I go out to her.
“I don’t feel good!” she says. “I want my baby and Matt.” She starts crying. I tell Craig to go get Sienna and Jeff. It’s obviously time for us to leave.
“Yeah, baby! Get it, girl,” Craig yells to Sienna, and I punch him in the arm. “Stop! Don’t encourage that.”
What a night! When we get back to the hotel, we clean Abby off and get her into bed. Not before she calls Matt crying, telling him how much she misses them. Sienna continues to be all over Jeff. Thankfully, it’s not as bad as it was at the club. She tells me to mind my own business when tell her to stop. At least I can say I tried. Jeff doesn’t seem to mind at all despite my hints that she won’t remember any of this tomorrow. The rest of the night goes OK; we order room service and play blackjack for hours. Once Craig is over his tantrum that Cole shouldn’t be at my bachelorette party, even he has fun.
“So, Sienna, are you choosing Jeff or Ace?” Craig asks after taking another sip of his drink. With all of the excitement of Abby and Sienna, I have no idea how much he’s had to drink. Holy crap, this is so awkward! Leave it to him to add to the awkwardness, and technically, this is his fault. Although, I don’t exactly mind being curled up in Cole’s arms tonight. Frankly, I’m over being a bachelorette.
“Why is everyone always in my business?” she says, laughing. “I will choose when I’m ready.”
I notice a smirk spread across Jeff’s face. Oh this isn’t going to end well, and now I have both Jeff and Ace in the wedding party, and I’m down two bridesmaids. Sienna was right; I really should have never asked Ace. Those damn cousins messed everything up.
“Just ignore him,” I tell her, giving Craig a dirty look. Cole and Jeff finally leave at about 4 a.m. Craig is passed out on the floor with one leg up on the couch. Sienna is barely awake but still talking. We lay on the balcony lounge chairs staring up at the stars.
“I don’t remember everything that happened earlier tonight,” she says as she’s starting to fall asleep. “I’m probably going to regret it,” She mumbles. I figure I’ll wait until she’s completely sober to break the news of her PDA display at the club. “You’re getting married, Abby’s married, and I’m still . . .” She falls asleep midsentence. Poor Sienna.
~*~
When I wake up, Sienna and I are still on the balcony. It’s a beautiful morning, so I don’t move. I can’t believe I’m getting married in six days. I start to daydream about my wedding. At least I can tell my mom and Grandmother that I’m on speaking terms with my cousins. I don’t know if they will end up coming to the wedding, but at least I invited them.
“Ohhhh,” Sienna moans. She turns over, opens an eye, and looks at me.
“Morning, sunshine,” I say cheerfully.
“Why?” she whines. “Why did you let me drink? You know I can’t drink.”
I apologize and explain, “I had no idea you were drinking that much! I thought you were sipping your wine. Besides, Abby was making a much bigger scene—throwing up all over Have a Nice Day Café.
“No she didn’t! Oh wow, I’m so glad I didn’t do anything like that,” she says, covering her eyes with her arms.
“Mmmhmm,” I mumble. I may as well tell her now to give her time to let it sink in. “Um, so do you remember Cole and Jeff showing up last night? They were at the club and then came back here with us.”
She still has her arms covering her eyes. Did she fall back asleep?
“Sienna?” I ask.
“No, no, no!” she cries out. She jumps up off the lounge chair. “I do remember them being here, and I remember sitting on Jeff’s lap. Please tell me that’s all.” I cringe as I tell her about their PDA at the club and then again here.
“Do you remember Craig asking if you if you were going to choose Jeff or Ace?” I ask.
I can tell by her reaction that she doesn’t remember nor does she remember her answer.
“No, this isn’t happening.” She dramatically falls back down on the chair.
“Mmmmm . . . when can we go home?” I turn to see Abby standing in the doorway, and she looks horrible. I try to hide my smile because here I am with my two best friends, and for the first time in my life, I’m not the one with the hangover.
She pushes Sienna over and lies down next to her. I have to take a picture of this because no one would ever believe me without proof.
“I have to say that you girls look really bad.” I laugh and snap a picture with my phone.
“Stop!” Abby says.
“You better not show anyone that,” adds Sienna.
“Of course I won’t,” I lie. You never know when this picture will come in handy.
~*~
A few hours later we’re heading home after we finally get Craig to wake up. When we dropped Abby off, she started sobbing as soon as she saw Matt and Ace. It was kind of sweet even though I’ve never seen her fall apart like that.
When we get home, Sienna immediately goes into her room and shuts the door; she didn’t say much on the way home. She’s either really embarrassed or she feels guilty because of Ace.
I wander into my room and sit down to check my email. I’m immediately excited to find a message from Bev until I read the entire message.
She says she received the change of venue notice and wants to discuss. Crap! I probably should have called to explain. I leave her a voice mail. I guess this does kind of interfere with my Four Seasons cookie theme. I’m still sitting holding my phone when Sienna comes out of her room.
“Are you OK?” I ask cautiously. She looks like she’s been crying.
“Yeah. I just talked to Ace. I told him that we needed to talk. I’m meeting him for dinner. I have to tell him what happened.” I can tell she’s nervous. “I feel so bad, and I don’t want to lead Jeff on.”
I remind her that she had been drinking and that Jeff knew that. He didn’t exactly push her away either.
“Ace may be done with me after this,” she says sadly. “I need to be honest with him though.”
“Hopefully he will understand, and if you want, I will tell him that we don’t need him in the wedding party after all.”
“Oh no, the wedding!” she whines. “I keep forgetting that Jeff will be there too, and I’ll have to face both of them.” She drops her head on the counter.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I got a message from Bev. She didn’t sound happy about the change of venue card that she got. Believe me, I’m just as ready as you for this wedding to be done and over.” I don’t know what to expect from Bev, hopefully she won’t make a big deal out of it. I guess I could always change the theme of my feature if I had to. I start to panic thinking about starting over.
~*~
It’s Monday morning, and I’m exhausted. I packed all night and waited up for Sienna to get home from her date. I
fell asleep before she got home, but at least I have a huge load of boxes in my car to bring to the new house.
“How did it go?” I ask her. I can tell by her reaction that it went better than I thought it would.
“Surprisingly, it went well,” she says calmly. “I told him everything. At first he was really mad, but not at me, at Jeff.” Oh great, the next thing to go wrong. I imagine a fight breaking out at the wedding between Ace and Jeff over Sienna. They will throw each other around and someone will fall on the cupcake tower. I imagine my Grandmother smiling because she already hates the cupcake tower.
“He thinks Jeff took advantage of the fact that I had been drinking. Anyway, I calmed him down.” A smile spreads across her face. “He told me this hasn’t changed anything about the way he feels.” I have to wonder, though, if Ace is too perfect to be real. Either that or he is not used to not getting his way. Sienna is probably the only girl who hasn’t thrown herself at his feet. She’s the ultimate challenge for a guy like him.
“So, is Allyson still hanging around all of time?” I ask. Sienna rolls her eyes.
“Apparently she’s doing a bang up job, whatever that means.” She sticks her tongue out. Hmmm . . . yeah, what does that even mean?
“By the way, I talked to Ace about not being in the wedding party, and he was totally fine with it.”
Yes! I was hoping she would take care of that. I feel so terrible about this. I think I’m slowly learning my lesson about minding my own business. Well, maybe.
Chapter 13
I tell myself not to panic. I mean I’m probably overreacting. I have left three messages for Bev, and she hasn’t returned any of my calls. So what do you do when someone doesn’t return your calls? Well, in my case, I start stalking her and show up at her bakery unannounced to talk to her.
Wedding Haters (Event to Remember Series-Book 2) Page 12
