A Storm Is Brewing

Bridezilla

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"
"Sophie? What's wrong?" Paula panicked as she sipped her coffee.
"Why are there literally no hairdressers or make-up artists in London?" I growled.
"Em, there are?"
"None that are free on New Year's Eve!"
"Wait - you aren't seriously telling me that you haven't booked your wedding hair or make-up, Sophie?"
"Well, obviously that is what I'm telling you."
"Sophie Kelly, you will be the death of me. I will search, as usual." She facepalmed in front of the cafe full of people.

Imagine what she would say if she knew I had yet to pick a dress. Leah, on the other hand, had everything picked out, from the dress to the jewellery. For the first time since our second engagement, our energies about the wedding didn't match. Leah was excited, balanced, and relaxed; I, on the other hand, was not. Laura's antics had thrown my schedule off track, and time was running away from me as I tried to play catch up.

Things didn't get any better; after our coffee meetup, Paula informed me that she couldn't find anyone acceptable, telling me that doing it myself would be fine. I didn't want fine; I wanted perfect. This was my wedding day, my day to marry the love of my life, and instead I was dreading every second of it.

Dinner was awkward that night; Leah and I barely spoke as I silently stressed about the planning I still had to do, the dress I still had to find, and the shoes I couldn't pick because I didn't know what my dress would look like. I played with the food on my plate, spinning my fork around in the spaghetti, and watched on as Leah tried to decipher my mood.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't like it."
"Sorry. It's not the food; I'm just not hungry."
"Has something happened, Soph?" She reached for my hand.
"Just a long day."

She knew I was lying; all I'd done was meet Paula for coffee.

Leah lifted both plates, disappearing into the kitchen for a few minutes before making her way to the sofa. I moved up to let her sit down, scrunching my face up when she placed a kiss on the top of my head and made her way back to the door.

"Where are you going?"
"To bed. Night, Soph. Cuddle me when you come up." She said softly.
"Bed? It's 7.30."
"I don't want us to argue."
"We won't."

Leah sighed, taking steps towards the door before stopping with her hand on the handle.

"Cuddle me when you come up, yeah?" She whispered.
"Always, Le."

I listened to the bedroom door close before making my way upstairs, opening the door again, and shuffling my way towards the bed. As I moved closer, I could see Leah's smile growing slightly, even though her body was doing everything it could to fight it. I climbed into her arms, stroking her hair back from her face and gazing into her eyes for a few seconds before she let out a giggle.

"What is it?"
"You said cuddle me when you come up." I smiled.
"I thought it was too early for bed."
"It was—until I heard that you were in it."
"Smooth, Soph." She chuckled.
"I'm sorry, Le. I'm just really stressed. The whole stalker thing meant I didn't have the energy to prepare my things for the wedding, and now I feel like I'm miles behind." I sighed.
"All you really need is a dress, and to show up. The rest are silly extras that don't matter."
"Yeah." I swallowed.
"You do have a dress?"
"I have many dresses. None of them are white."
"Soph!" She facepalmed.
"Now do you see why I'm so stressed?"
"I do. We can go tomorrow if you want."
"No! You can't see it!"
"Well, I definitely won't see it if it doesn't exist." She chuckled.

We continued to lay intertwined in one another's arms until I eventually fell asleep, and I thought Leah had too. I woke a few hours later to find the bedroom completely dark and a noticeable gap on Leah's side of the bed. Making my way downstairs, I could already hear the noise of Leah's fingers hitting the keys on her laptop before I even got to the living room.