joking, Rosalind, if you fuck up our free drink situation, I will never forgive you.’
‘Oh, you shut up and get the cake out the car,’ I ordered, slithering along the backseat, heart pounding as I tried to work out just exactly what I was going to say to John.
Since the rain had stopped, the sun had come out, brightening the sky to a bold blue but with none of the stickiness we’d been suffering all summer. It was a perfect day.
‘Morning, Cammy,’ Sumi sang as the bartender opened the back door to us.
‘Morning,’ she said, grabbing one of the buckets of flowers out of my arms and carrying it inside. ‘The cleaner’s already been in so it’s spotless for you and I’ll be working the bar.’
‘Oh, we don’t need you to do that,’ I said from behind a jungle of dahlias. ‘We’ve got a load of wine, we’ll just leave it out the side for everyone to help themselves, we don’t want to be any bother.’
‘No way,’ Camille said, shaking her head. ‘John says you’re VIP so you’re VIP. Chef’s making mini quiches as we speak.’
Adrian batted his eyelashes at me and made a not-at-all-attractive kissy face.
‘You can’t, it’s too much,’ I insisted, following her up the stairs into the private room. It was even more beautiful than I remembered. ‘I’ve already sent my sister to Costco for a platter of sandwiches.’
Very much against her will, I added silently.
‘Food’s all arranged,’ Camille argued, holding up her hands to let me know it wasn’t her doing. ‘Do you think your parents would prefer mini burgers, mini fish and chips or a mix of both?’
‘Both,’ Sumi and Adrian said together. I rolled my eyes and fumbled for my phone, shooting a message to Jo, telling her to stand down from sandwich duty.
‘Both it is,’ Camille confirmed. ‘Right, I’ll leave you to get the flowers where you want them. Sound system and speakers are all plugged in, you can connect your phone to the Bluetooth and we’ve got microphones over there if you need them. Didn’t know if you wanted chairs or not but they’re stacked in the corner. I’ll get rid of ’em if you don’t want ’em. If you need anything else, I’ll be in the kitchen.’
‘Is John here?’ I asked, attempting nonchalance but ending up somewhere in between ‘shrill’ and ‘hysterical dolphin’.
Camille stopped halfway down the stairs and shook her head. ‘Nope.’
‘He’s not?’ I breathed out slowly. Was I relieved or disappointed? I couldn’t tell. ‘Good. I mean, oh. I mean—’
‘Why don’t you start getting ready?’ Sumi suggested. ‘Me and Ade will put the flowers out, we’ve got the cake, Jo’s with your mum. All you need to do is put your frock on and have a quiet minute.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, feeling flustered all at once. ‘You’re amazing.’
‘We are, it’s true,’ Adrian replied as he began unstacking chairs and placing them in rows, facing the front of the room. ‘Now get out the way before I push you down the stairs.’
‘Best friends ever,’ I whispered, doing exactly as I was told.
At least I don’t have to use the gents this time, I thought, letting myself into the ladies with a pair of heels in one hand and a garment bag in the other. I sat down on the pink leatherette bench in front of a large, well-lit mirror and took in the woman who looked back at me.
Once my hair was up in a twist that more or less looked as though I’d done it on purpose, I shuffled out of my mum’s leggings and Dad’s T-shirt (all my clean clothes having been lost to the great flood) and unzipped the front of the garment bag. I’d been worried about the bridesmaids’ dresses, given Mum’s recent sartorial adventures, but she had outdone herself. My dress was pale lavender, floor-length, sleeveless and truly beautiful. The material was soft, slipping between my fingers as I held it up against me before stepping into the gown and pulling it up around my waist. Checking my reflection, I picked up the two long sashes that fell from the waist and held them out like wings. What was I supposed to do with these? Letting them float back down to the floor, I turned my attention to my bra, unhooking it under my dress and slipping my arms out the straps.
‘Ros?’
The door opened right as I whipped my bra out from inside my dress, the bodice and its wings flopping down around my waist.
‘Don’t