Some of the women wave half-heartedly. I nod back, faking a smile. I have to see them at the weddings, so being a bitch isn’t worth it. Getting my feelings hurt over the pointed insults on my weight and repeated shock over my ring and disbelief I was in fact engaged to Ivan was pointless. Only a handful of the women were actually nice. Whatever, I was an outsider, it wasn’t a big deal.
Outside, I’m almost to the street when I hear my name. I turn to see Hannah.
“Where are you going?”
Surprised by her outrage, I take the smallest step back. “Home. I’m tired, and I have a headache. Sorry, I don’t do late nights often.”
“You can’t go home.” Her hand goes around my arm as if she’s not about to let me go.
“Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, yes, please, I need your help. There’s this guy, Alfie, I’ve been dying to shag him for weeks. He’s turned up here and invited me back round to his place. I can’t go alone, though his mate is with him and in a bad way after a breakup. Please, please come with me. Keep the mate occupied while me and Alfie have some alone time.”
I’m shaking my head. I want to go home.
“Christina, I’m begging you. I am in love with this man. I’ll do anything for you. An hour, that’s it.”
Two men approach, both taller, one guy looking like he’s on steroids, smelling as if he swam in cologne yet still has horrible underlying body odor. The other is thin, blond, way too pretty and well aware of it.
“You coming?” the blond asks Hannah.
Her eyes go wide with pleading. I give in and nod.
“Yes, meet my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Christina. This is Alfie and his mate Roger.”
Alfie nods at me with disinterest. Steroid guy, Roger, leers at my breasts with an evil grin. My skin crawls as I try to step back but run into Hannah. I’m wearing a plain black dress that Ivan picked out. It covers everything, it’s a little loose, and it belongs at a funeral. But Ivan wasn’t happy when he found out we were going to a club, he thought it was a party in the hotel room. Since I couldn’t care less, I was more than happy to let him pick what I wore.
Unease builds inside me over the next twenty minutes until I feel like something is very wrong. Only how could it be when Hannah is only ten feet away from me, making out with the Alfie guy on the couch?
Roger is in a chair across from me, and I’m doing by best to ignore him, clinging to the edge of the uncomfortable ottoman I’m sitting on. Then what I’ve been waiting for happens. Hannah and Alfie excuse themselves.
“Just twenty minutes,” Hannah says.
“More like five, mate.” Roger laughs and high-fives Alfie.
Ew. I pull out my phone, desperate to pretend I’m busy.
“So, you really Ivan’s bird?”
“Bird? What?” I notice he’s gotten up to sit on the couch.
“You going to marry Ivan?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Have a seat, fancy a smoke?”
“What?”
He offers me a cigarette.
“No thanks, I don’t smoke. Can you please not around me?”
He lights the cigarette and blows a ring of smoke. Ass.
“You almost done with your drink yet? Want another?”
I shake my head. The can of coconut water tasted funny. I managed all of two sips before giving up on it. I’m only pretending to drink it to have something to do with my hands.