“Charlie, you look gorgeous. That color is amazing on you,” she says, nervously.
Kate looks stunning wearing a navy off-the-shoulder chiffon dress. With her hair cut shorter into a bob, it’s styled to the side with a French braid and colored in a lighter shade of blonde.
“Thanks, Kate.” With my hand clutching my stomach, I try to calm my nerves again, willing to get out my apology. “Listen, I’m so sorry for allowing this to come between us.”
Her shoulders instantly relax as if she has been holding in her breath just like me.
“Charlie, seriously, we are both at fault. How did we not figure out we were talking about the same guy? I’m sorry for being distant the past month. It’s been difficult handling everything on my own. I’ve been pushed beyond my limits, but I suppose what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?”
“I can imagine, and yes, it certainty does…” I pause, unsure if I should delve even further into this topic, but my heart desperately needs some sort of reassurance that I’m not about to walk out into a battle zone unprotected. “Kate… I love him so much it hurts to breathe without him. But you know it was me who pushed him away. This is all a mess. I’m hoping he’ll give me another chance.”
With a sigh, she shakes her head. “Charlie, he loves you. Mr. Edwa… I mean, Lex… has never looked at anyone the way he looks at you. Trust me, I’ve been around. Bollocks, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.”
I laugh, placing my hand on her arm, reassuring her. “It’s okay, I get it, he has a past. One day on a drunken rant you can spill all his dirty little secrets to me.”
“Oh God, he’d fire me if he ever found out I spilled the beans.”
“You really love your job, don’t you?” Curiosity gets the better of me. She has voiced on several occasions that her boss was a pain in her ass. I wonder what it is about Lex that makes her enjoy her job. I personally can’t imagine working for such an arrogant prick, but then again, I’m stubborn and want things my way, especially when it comes to work so I can’t talk.
She hesitates before answering, “You know, I do love my job. I actually look forward to waking up every day and going to work. It’s such a challenge, and I love the interaction with some of the most intelligent and powerful people in the business world. Mr. Edwards… Lex… is such a great mentor, if you ignore the fact that he has mood swings like a lady waiting for her Aunt Flow.”
I laugh out loud, it’s so him. Pulling her into an embrace, we squeeze each other tightly. “Thank you, Kate, for being a great friend. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Charlie.” She smiles, her blue eyes radiating. “You deserve to be happy. You both do. You know he’s here already?”
“He is?”
“Yes, he arrived not long ago.”
“How does he look?”
“Um… nice… in his suit,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “Clean… he looks happy to be here.”
“Okay, I didn’t ask you to describe his dad. How does he look?”
“Oh, Charlie, that’s kinda awkward for me to answer…”
Pouting my li
ps, my eyes widen as my stare fixates on her.
“Don’t give me that puppy-dog look. No fair,” she complains, checking herself quickly in the mirror beside us. Turning around to face me again, she crosses her arms in defiance. “Okay, fine! He looks hot, the tux is top-notch against his body. His face is cleanly shaven after that ridiculous fisherman’s beard he had been sporting the last few weeks. His hair has been cut kinda like that hot vampire dude from those movies. He looks pretty content. There… are you happy now?”
I’m happy, and although he could’ve grown the biggest beard known to man, I’ll always think he’s beautiful. There’s no other man who can measure up to him in my eyes.
“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” I tease.
Adriana walks into the room with Eric. We gasp as she stands in front of us, her face beaming. She looks like a princess. Her dress is ivory, not the traditional white, but it’s a showstopper. The bodice is strapless and has lace embroidered all around it. The skirt is full like a ball gown, the middle section accentuated with a silk bow. She’s everything I imagined she’d be on her wedding day. My eyes begin to water, and I blink, trying to avoid ruining my makeup.
“Adriana… you look…”
“I know, right?” Her smile is contagious. “But don’t you cry and mess up that beautiful face of yours.”
“Adriana, today is all about you.”
“No, it isn’t, Char.” She squeezes my hand, staring into my eyes with a hopeful expression. “I need this to finally happen just as much as you two. You’ve always been special to me, and I know why… because you’re a piece of Lex.”
I don’t want her to have to focus on anything but her and Elijah. With that in mind, and my nerves consuming me, I offer a soft smile and admire her standing in front of me for the last time as Adriana Edwards.