For the Ten Years I Wasted

It was the photo we took at the bridal shop last week.

Vicky Yeager was helping me fix my veil while chatting with me nonstop. In the mirror, she was smiling even more brightly than I was, as if she were the one getting married.

"Zoe Evans, you're so beautiful. Josh Clark is really the luckiest guy." Her voice choked suddenly.

Josh stood not far away, looking down at his phone. When he heard his name, he looked up and gave us a gentle smile.

Somehow, I found a hint of reluctance in that smile.

"You're exaggerating." I held Vicky's hand. "If it weren't for you insisting on bringing me here to try on wedding dresses, I might have just bought a random one."

"How can that be?" Vicky widened her eyes. "My dearest baby's once-in-a-lifetime wedding has to be perfect!"

She turned to look at Josh. "Don't you think so?"

Josh put down his phone and walked over, naturally placing his arms around my shoulders. "How could it not be? Zoe looks stunning in whatever she wears, but this dress is indeed perfect for you."

He looked me up and down, his tone full of affection and his eyes filled with admiration.

Before heading out for the outdoor shoot, Vicky suddenly took a photo of us in secret.

The flash was not turned off. I turned to look at her, and she merely said she wanted to capture the moment as a memento.

At the bachelorette party the night before the wedding, I was completely drunk, and Vicky naturally took over caring for me.

When Josh came to pick me up, she was carefully wiping my forehead with a damp towel.

She said to Josh, "Leave Zoe to me. Tonight is her bachelorette night. As the soon-to-be groom, you can't bother her."

Josh just stood at the door and did not come in. His gaze was fixed on Vicky, complex and unreadable.

I leaned back on the couch, looking at them through blurry, drunken eyes.

"Josh..." I mumbled his name.

He finally looked at me, came over, and pulled me into his arms. "Why did you drink so much?"

Vicky replied with a smile, "It's because she's happy that she's getting married, of course! Zoe said in college she would drink herself into oblivion at her bachelorette party, and today that wish finally came true."

I did say that while watching a romantic movie with Vicky at the time. We even made a promise to be each other's bridesmaids. Later, I started dating, but that promise remained unchanged.

Josh gently picked me up and said to Vicky, "Thank you for taking care of her."

"It's nothing." Vicky's voice suddenly lowered. "After all, this is the last time."

I was too drunk to understand the deeper meaning in her remark.

The next morning, I woke up in the hotel and saw a notification on my phone for a new update from an account I followed. I groggily clicked on the post. Instantly, my hangover headache vanished.