Page 56 of The Last Saturday In July
‘Jesus Christ, Jess, I’m not in the habit of blaming other people. ‘I let Liam down. I let the firm down.’
Poor Simon, she thought. He was so obsessed with making partner, he was prepared to do anything. No matter how ridiculous.
He pushed his fringe out of the way. ‘If it was just this, it wouldn’t matter so much.’
Jess frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t feel I have your support.’ He gave her a long look. ‘I know you think I was mad to offer to do this, but you agreed to help and then you forgot.’
Jess wasn’t sure what to say. ‘I said I was sorry. Of course I support you.’ The words tasted hollow in her mouth.
Simon looked like he didn’t care anymore. ‘I’m going to rest for a while.’ He went back out to the hall and, a moment later Jess heard him close their bedroom door.
‘Shit.’ Jess took her wine into the living room, curling up on the sofa and pulling the woollen tartan throw over her. Two weeks ago, everything had been fine. Not perfect, but pretty perfect. Except for the whole baby thing. Which was quite important, now she thought about it. Briefly, she wondered how different her life would be if she were single. She’d never have met Adam on the Isle of Man, but she’d still have met him in work. Would he have asked her out?
What was she even thinking? A one-night stand was nothing, less than nothing. It was just ... sex. Jess put down her wine and picked up the TV remote, flicking around until she found an episode ofFair City. How could Simon accuse her of not supporting him? There was no point even asking about his work, because he was never allowed to talk about it. As for the dinner party, she’d just have to find some way of making it up to him.
Chapter 22
JESS threw herself into work the following day, hoping it might help her forget the night before. She and Simon had stayed out of each other’s way, and Jess could practically feel disappointment radiating from him. This morning, he’d still been upset and had barely spoken two words. She felt bad, but she wished he’d put things in perspective. Although by the sound of it, his boss and their potential client also needed a bit of perspective.
She’d always talked through her problems with Kate, because she seemed to understand Simon in ways Jess didn’t, and always gave brilliant advice. But she couldn’t turn to her anymore. She was frustrated that Simon had dragged Kate into this, and annoyed that Kate had taken Simon’s side.
She cheered up slightly when she saw the positive reaction online to Linford’s virtual tours, with hundreds of retweets and thousands of views on Instagram and TikTok. The only irritation was TMZ’s latest story.California Girlfriendshalf-sisters, Chelsea and Brandi, have massive fallout at Chelsea’s hen party.
Jess skimmed the short article. Chelsea had invited the whole cast ofCalifornia Girlfriendsto Leo’s Malibu beach house for a few days, and a video of her shouting match with Brandi had gone viral within the last hour.
She opened TikTok and found Chelsea’s latest video. Dressed in a short, floral beach dress, the bride-to-be looked solemn.
‘Hey, everyone, I just wanted you to hear the truth about me and Brandi. I worked so hard to make sure that everyone had an awesome time here in Malibu, and I’m gutted that my generosity was abused. Holding grudges is totally toxic, but I need to do what’s right for me. Remember, never make your life about the other person. Ask yourself: what do you want? What do you need? So, what I need is to cut toxic people out of my life.’
Chelsea crossed her hands on her chest as Jess had seen her doing in Linford. ‘Find your truth, live your truth, be your truth.’
Who actually believed this crap? Apart from a couple of million followers, obviously. Curious, Jess found Brandi Oliver’s latest TikTok.
‘Hey, y’all.’Brandi gave a sad smile.‘Thank you soooo much for all your messages and healing vibes. The last twenty-four hours have really sucked, and I’ve suffered deep emotional abuse from someone I’ve always looked up to. But when bad stuff happens, I look at the good stuff in my life, especially all my followers. And I totally get that not everyone is as blessed as I am, and I’m so grateful for what I have.’
Maybe she was being cynical, but she could probably take a few marketing tips from Brandi, Jess thought as she clicked out of the site.
There was a WhatsApp from her mother in the family group:Don’t forget hair appointment at lunchtime for tomorrow’s bridal shower.With everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, Jess had completely forgotten about it.
At least nothing could go wrong at a bridal shower, and it might be exactly what she needed to get her properly in the mood for her wedding. She popped some love hearts and champagne glasses emojis into the group.
Carmel waved to her from one of the low sofas in the hairdresser’s.
‘You’re just in time, pet.’
‘Hi, Mam.’
Jess came over and collapsed into the sofa beside her, leaning her head back against the soft leather with a sigh. After their row last night, both she and Simon had slept badly, and Jess was pretty sure that she’d only drifted off just before dawn.
‘You’ve big dark circles under your eyes, Jess.’ Carmel clicked her tongue. ‘You’ll need to get plenty of beauty sleep between now and the wedding.’
‘Yeah, because Simon’s going to completely wreck you on your honeymoon.Oops, my bad, Simon’s too busy for a honeymoon.’ Zoe didn’t look up from her phone.
‘Behave yourself, Zoe,’ Carmel said. ‘Now, I made sure that we’re all sitting together to get our hair done.’
Jess twisted around to face her mother, tucking one leg underneath her. ‘How’s Nana?’
