Rêveuse

Chapter 7.

"Sorridi," Smile, Charlotte said, aiming the disposable camera towards me.

Instead I stuck my tongue out, crossing my eyes together, holding my mimosa up. She laughed and I heard the click of the camera, so I relaxed my face and started laughing.

Carla, Charlotte and I were in the couple's suite, having breakfast in bed together. Eating toast, fruit and drinking mimosas in their bed. Lorenzo had been kicked out to have breakfast with the rest of the guests while the bride got to have breakfast in bed with her bridesmaids. They had brought a bunch of disposable cameras for the wedding, and we were passing one of them around, taking pictures of each other sprawled across the bed in our matching pajamas.

"Non posso credere che siano passati tre anni da quando eravamo qui in vacanza e ora ti sposi qui!" I can't believe it's been three years since we were here on vacation and now you're getting married here, Carla says as she fills her glass up with another mimosa.

"Lo so!" I know! Charlotte agrees.

"È per questo che avete scelto questa location per il vostro matrimonio?" Is that why you chose this location for your wedding? I ask, smiling at Charlotte who is looking down at her engagement ring, soon to be joined by her wedding band.

"Si," She replies, "Lorenzo dice che è stata la migliore vacanza che abbia mai avuto," Lorenzo says it's the best vacation he's been on, she says.

"E allora, che mi dici della tua luna di miele? Come sarà Aruba all'altezza della Corsica?" So what about your honeymoon? How will Aruba live up to Corsica? Carla asks with a smile.

Charlotte just shrugs while she shakes her head, not being able to stop smiling in her white silk pajamas and the big ring on her finger. I bet it's not long until Carla is in that position. I just need to kickstart Arthur to get on with it. He's taking time for granted.

I don't like thinking about that vacation though, because it just makes me sad. It was my final vacation with Charles, and it was a lot of wishful thinking that everything could work out despite it all. We both thought we were fine, as it seemed we had never been better during that time. We were here with Charles' whole family, Carla and Charlotte, and we were so happy together.

We were both naive, living in the moment for the week, hoping it was all getting better after previous events. Clearly, it didn't. But for the moment it worked. Being surrounded by other people in love around us. Three brothers with their three girlfriends who immediately became like best friends. It was a paradise to us. But we kept ignoring the dark clouds in the horizon.

"Da allora è stato deciso chi sarebbero state le mie damigelle," It has since been decided who my bridesmaids would be, Charlotte says, smiling at us. I smile back at her, grabbing her hand. "Domenica siamo praticamente una famiglia... purché Arthur riesca a rimettersi in sesto," We're practically family on Sunday... as long as Arthur can pull himself together, she adds.

Sometimes it's like they forget I'm no longer with Charles. I'm not going to marry him and become a Leclerc like the two of them. I know it was a shock to them when Charles and I broke up. We didn't really talk about our issues with anyone or show that anything was wrong. So I get that they were confused, but they also kept believing that they were going to get back together. They were convinced it was just a bump in the road, and it took a long time for them to stop pushing for something that wasn't going to happen.

"Techniquement, vous êtes Leclerc... même si vous n'en êtes pas marié," Technically, you are a Leclerc... even though you're not marrying one, Carla says to me, nudging my knee which was the closest bodypart to her. I just laugh while shaking my head.