Beauty and the Bridesmaid

Chapter Thirteen

“How did his face look again?” Anna asks. She tosses back her hair and pouts her symmetrical lips like a super model.

I can’t help but laugh at her as she tries to recreate Damien’s expression after he asked me out last night. I’ve recounted the story to her so many times now, I no longer feel the same sense of excitement about the reality of it. I’m finally on track with my wedding date plan! Even though I don’t know if I can truly forgive Lela and go to her wedding.

“How did he say it then? Was his voice all like sexy and husky?”

“I don’t know! It was normal I think. All he said was did I want to go for a drink. He didn’t even say it was a date.”

“Oh, Jade.” Anna shakes her head at me. “It’s always a date. Men don’t always know it, but that’s what they mean when they ask you to go pretty much anywhere with them.”

I frown, not sure that she’s entirely correct about that. But, since she’s the one who’s never short of a date on a Friday night, I don’t question her. “So, what does going for a drink entail?” I ask, trying to steer Anna into a territory that she’s very comfortable with. “I mean, is a cocktail dress too much?”

“A cocktail dress is rarely too much,” she answers. “Not at establishments that serve alcoholic drinks.”

“What if it’s just the pub? Won’t I look an idiot if everyone else is there in jeans?”

Anna looks thoughtful for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. “Men don’t invite you on dates if they just want to see you in jeans. We should pick out your dress now!”

I just hope that she finds something viable in my wardrobe, rather than trying to dress me in anything from hers instead.

After managing to convince Anna that I don’t need to borrow any of her clothes and that one of my dresses will do fine, I decide to tell her about tomorrow’s bridal shower.

“Don’t they have them in America?” she asks, mirroring my first thoughts.

“Yeah, I didn’t even know the Brits celebrated them but apparently Kerry and Steph do.”

Anna wrinkles her nose at the mention of the bridesmaids from hell. “Any excuse to talk about how wonderful Lela is.”

“I don’t even know if I can go to this wedding,” I admit. She already knows most of the story with Ash and Lela, and her feelings have been pretty clear right from the beginning.

“But what about Damien?”

“Anna, having a possible date to the wedding isn’t a reason to go.”

“Makes it easier though, doesn’t it?” She grins and flops down onto the sofa.

I guess she’s right. Finding a hot date to turn up to the wedding with, despite how ridiculous I might look, had been my ultimate goal before I finally realised how selfish Lela had been. I wanted to show Lela that Ash doesn’t matter to me anymore. But that was when I thought they’d bumped into each other in the street or something, and I didn’t know that the reason neither of them had bothered to tell me at all is because of how much easier it made it for the two of them.

“And think of it this way,” Anna continues, “if you start seeing Damien, Lela and everybody else might finally realise that you lack any sort of romantic feelings for Ash.”

“Lela already knows that,” I say informatively.

Anna’s brow lifts. “Does she?”

“Well, I think she does.”