2. Sick

Serena Vale

~•~

My rehearsal dinner was to start at four o’clock. It was currently eleven thirty in the morning. Douglas had left early this morning, saying he had to run some errands before the dinner in the evening, so I was left at home with several name cards that needed to be confirmed with fresh flowers littering the house.

Everything was confirmed last night but when I woke up this morning, I had the urge to select new flowers, so I did. Then I rearranged the name cards based on the flowers for each table.

Everything had to be perfect.

Tessa was sitting cross-legged on my couch, her dark curls tied in a messy bun with some of them framing her face. Her laptop was open as she typed furiously on it. She’d been having a bit of writer’s block. She suddenly got inspiration this morning but she had also promised to come early, so she brought her laptop with her.

A writer of five best sellers, yet here she was, helping me pick a seating arrangement that made sense.

Well, she was barely helping. She just inserted a few words here and there as Noelle and I discussed it.

“No one should sit beside your aunt Ruth,” she said without looking up. “She’ll criticize the food, wine, and probably your dress when she sees it.”

I laughed. “You’re exaggerating it.”

“She called your engagement ring modest. I’m being generous.”

Noelle perked up at the mention of my engagement ring. She was sitting on the floor, arranging flowers. “Really? She called a huge diamond ring modest?”

“It’s Rena’s fault for inviting her to her bachelorette party,” Tessa responded, her fingers flying across her keyboard. I didn’t know how she managed to write and gossip at the same time.

My aunt Ruth was only seven years older than I was. It made sense to invite her since I invited my older cousins as well, some of whom were the same age as her.

“There’s a reason she isn’t still married yet.” Noelle mocked as if she had a husband in contrast.

Noelle worked as a luxury real estate consultant, which meant she was always working with rich people. Because of this, she was usually invited to galas and other rich people's events. She was used to rich people with no soul, especially the ones who came from old money.

The only rich person I was used to was Douglas.

I glanced at my phone. He’d left around six in the morning and he still hadn’t texted yet.

“He’s late,” Noelle murmured, somehow sensing where my thoughts had strayed to.

“He said he was running errands,” I said quickly. Maybe too quickly.

“Errands? On the day of the rehearsal dinner? Your makeup artist will arrive in an hour.”

“Well, that has nothing to do with him.” My tone was getting defensive. “Besides, isn’t it better if the makeup look is a surprise?”

They didn’t argue but their silence said enough. I wished Lila were here. She would assure me that nothing was wrong with him being out as long as he wasn’t missing anything.

For the next hour, we busied ourselves. Tessa continued on with her writing while Noelle and I went through all the details again, triple-checking the schedule. Everything was calm and predictable. But that was until my phone buzzed.

It was a text from an unknown number; an attachment. Wondering if I’d forgotten to save a vendor’s number, I clicked on the message.

My fingers went cold and for a moment, I was certain blood stopped flowing in my veins.

It was Douglas inside a cafe, holding another woman’s hand. I knew all his siblings. I knew most of his cousins, at least the ones he was close to. I knew his female friends. I’d met them. I knew his exes. I stalked them two years ago. The person in the picture wasn’t any of those people.

I blinked, unable to process what I was seeing. “What the…”

Tessa’s eyes finally left her screen. “What’s wrong?”

I considered not showing them the picture as it was going to make it look real but before my brain could catch up, I was already turning my phone towards them.

Noelle moved forward, staring at the screen with a frown on her face. “Where was this taken?”

“I don’t know.” My voice was smaller than usual. “But an unknown number sent it to me. It has to be fake, right? Someone is trying to mess with me. Someone is trying to ruin things for us.”

Tessa hesitated. “Maybe, but that looks like Douglas, Rena.”

I forced a laugh. “Someone is messing with me on purpose. It could be an old picture from before we even met. They probably just want to stir the pot.”

Douglas had been faithful to me throughout our years of dating. He’d never raised his voice at me even when we fought. He always made sure I was happy and never went to bed angry. Douglas couldn’t cheat on me. He was the perfect partner. He was the love of my life. He was the man I was going to marry in less than forty-eight hours.

Noelle and Tessa exchanged a look but neither said anything else.

My hands were shaking as I tried to focus on my tasks. I had to finish arranging the flowers. Lila would be coming to get the flowers soon so she could take them to the location.

Then, another buzz came.

I froze.

Tessa and Noelle stared at me. They were just as nervous as I was as I picked up the phone again. I was relieved when it was just a text from Lila asking if she should pick up anything on her way to my house.

My relief was short-lived though. As I responded to her, telling her not to bring anything, there was another text from the unknown number. This time, it was a video.

I should have deleted it immediately. I should have tossed my phone across the room or something, but my curiosity compelled me to open the video.

I pressed play and the world stopped.

It was him. Douglas. This time, he wasn’t in a cafe holding a woman’s hand. He was naked, moving against an equally naked girl underneath him. Her face was blurred but I knew damn well that wasn’t me.

My stomach churned at the sight and my breakfast threatened to come back up. I couldn’t believe it!

I could have easily dismissed it as a tape from his past but the tattoo on his waist was a dead giveaway. He had gotten it on our first anniversary. It was a tattoo of my initials yet there he was, moaning a woman’s name and it wasn’t mine.

My hands were trembling so badly that I didn’t even realize when I dropped the phone on the floor.

As Noelle picked up the phone, I stood up from the floor and rushed to the kitchen, puking out everything I’d eaten in the past twenty-four hours.