Page 92 of The Layover
‘Of course I do! It’s only a birthday card, though, it’s not that deep.’
It’s more than Kay has remembered lately, but I don’t point that out. I just roll my eyes, and when Gemma sniffles and throws her arms around me, I give her a hug back, and don’t let go until she’s ready.
It’s not replacing Kay, because I really do mean it – Gemma’s been like part of the family since Kay met her, too entwined in Kay’s life for her not to become part of ours, too. And besides, if Kayleigh can move on and build her own sort of family, shouldn’t Gemma be allowed to as well?
‘Thanks, Leon. I’ll take you up on that.’
‘You’d better.’
She kisses my cheek before swanning off to pull up a chair by my parents. They light up when they see her, even though they’ve spoken a few times already over the course of the day. Dad laughs at something she says, and Mum’s getting her phone out to show her photos of something while Gemma responds animatedly.
I catch Myleene’s eye across the room, and she jerks a head in their direction quizzically. I shrug, she shrugs back, we end up caught in an elaborate, silent shrug-off until Myleene is too busy laughing to keep it up, and gives me the middle finger before heading off to chat to some of Marcus’s work friends. I’m a bit worried she’s got a mind to chat themup, but we’ll deal with that later.
On the other side of the room, Kayleigh has a glass of champagne in her hand and is showing her rings off to some people I don’t recognise. She looks totally in her element. She’s hardly stopped smiling all day; she’s glowing.
I really am glad she’s happy.
But it’s nice to finally accept that her happiness doesn’t have to be at the expense of ours, and I head over to join my family with a smile on my face and a lightness in my chest.
I pass by the table with the couple of photos commemorating the loved ones who couldn’t be here. There’s one of Nana on her seventieth birthday at theMamma Miaexperience she went to with some friends, draped in a bright blue feather boa and wearing a giant badge and plastic heart-shaped sunglasses that match Myleene’s, her wrinkled face beaming out of the photo at me.
Nana, I hope I did you proud.
A warm breeze skitters along the terrace, ruffling my hair. I decide to take it as a sign.
Time after ‘I Do’
10 hours
Chapter Forty-two
Francesca
It really is a beautiful wedding, and Kayleigh has such immaculate taste. The venue is made soft and romantic with flower garlands and lanterns and candles, the turquoise accents tasteful and understated (with perhaps the lone, garish exception of Gemma’s dress …) and the band play acoustic covers of love songs. It’s pleasantly warm without being swelteringly hot, a nice breeze rolling in off the sea. The signature cocktails are delicious, the cake is to die for, and the food is some of the best I’ve ever tasted.
It is such a perfect day.
Apart from the fact that … I would rather be anywhere else.
It feels like I’ve stumbled into the wrong place – the wrong life, wrong body – and I’m just waiting for someone to notice that I’m a fraud and I don’t belong. I can’t believe I waseverplanning to try to break off the wedding. I can’t believe I ever thought it was a good idea to come here at all, or that Marcus thought it was even halfway acceptable to invite me in the first place.
It’s a beautiful wedding, but I shouldn’t be here.
The main subject of discussion at our table throughout dinner is the arrival of David the stripper. I find myself blurting out that we saw him in the airport, which causes a riot of laughter as everyone wants to know more, even though I haven’tgot much to say. I don’t mention the sparkly thong; it doesn’t seem very fair to humiliate him further, even if he’s long gone.
As if I didn’t already feel silly enough for the feelings I was clinging to for Marcus, the entire embarrassing display David made proclaiming his love for Kayleigh was sobering, to say the least. A wake-up call that yesterday’s version of me desperately needed.
Every time I look over at Marcus, it’s like I’m seeing a stranger. Did I really find that smarmy smile so charming? His coiffed hair is always styled so pristinely and he frequently jokes about how long Kayleigh takes to get ready, but he surely can’t be much better. And hedoesconstantly interrupt; his voice is the loudest in the room, most people can hardly get a word in edgeways. Did I really find him so endearing?
Not just endearing, but soeverythingthat I was willing to put my dignity, my heart, my soul on the line to see if he returned my feelings?
I keep looking over at him as the day goes on, trying to find a hint of those emotions, remember that spark – but there’snothing. And I breathe a sigh of relief each time I don’t find it, glad that it seems to have vanished without a trace.
I’ve wasted more than enough of my time and my feelings on Marcus. I don’t need to waste even more in getting over him.
Even the crowd from work have lost their usual lustre: I’m normally so happy to be included and feel part of the cool, popular gang that I get swept away in their bawdy jokes and heavy drinking, but throughout the day I can’t help but realise that I’m not truly having any funwiththem.
The girl from Marcus’s uni days is lovely, though, and her husband is really interesting, so I spend a lot of time chatting to them. And Kayleigh’s family are brilliant, all good-humoured and smiley, so I spend a while with some of her cousins and aunts. I catch Gemma a couple of times, but always only brieflybecause she’s so busy tending to an endless stream of wedding tasks for Kayleigh, and …
