Chapter 6: The Ghost of What Was

Sera Voss walked into the room, cool and poised in all white. Her auburn hair was styled in a flawless bob. Her shoes worth more than my rent. I knew she was Sera Voss, Zane’s fiancée, despite not seeing any pictures of her beforehand. Some presences are not hard to decipher.

And also… I knew her. Sera Voss. A change of name didn’t change the fact that I knew her. I got up from my seat in shock. My legs felt like jelly. Another reunion five years in the making. My belly turned. I felt like throwing up.

“Sera,” Zane said, standing up. “I didn’t think you would come.”

She smiled. The air in the room shifted. My chest felt tight. She looked right at me. “Oh, I didn’t know we hired outside help.”

The audacity.

“Amara Ibe,” I responded with as much cool I could muster. “Wedding planner.”

She smiled wider. Innocent. I won’t fall for that. “Brilliant. I believe we would work together perfectly.”

It all made sense – why Zane said the bride insisted on hiring me, why I was the wedding planner after all. Revenge. A power play. She couldn’t get him five years ago, so she’s gonna get him now.

Zane watched us both, his face blank. “Do you both know each other?”

“We’ve met in the past, yeah,” Sera replied casually.

My head was about to burst, but I tried not to let my emotions show. My face was a perfect mask, but my fists clenching by my side betrayed me. Soon, my body began to tremble, and I tried so hard to keep still. Best to not let Sera see how much this revelation affected me.

This wasn’t just an accident or a coincidence. Sera, no Rosa, my ex-best friend, was getting married to my ex-fiancé. The couple seemed picture perfect. Handsome groom, sexy bride. Complementary complexions and skin tones. Both inheritors of large hand-me-down fortunes from their parents. Both extremely wealthy and influential with thriving businesses. This was to be the wedding of the century. And I was to be the wedding planner.

I felt like throwing up.

##

The sun had barely risen when I arrived at the glass garden again. The staff were already up and about, although that’s usual for the working class. I could’ve been in my hotel room, getting an hour or two of extra sleep to even out my eye bag, but here I was in a knee-length blue gown with heels, deliberately early to avoid Zane and Sera. Anything to avoid Zane and Sera.

“Good morning Ms. Ibe,” an assistant said. She was a timid girl with ginger hair and wide eyes. “Uh… are you working with Mr. Blackwood today?”

“Yes I am. Why?”

She glanced around and lowered her eyes. “Just… be patient with him. He’s not been the same after the accident.”

“What accident?” I asked, despite knowing what she meant.

She leaned close. “It was a road accident five years ago. They said it affected his head and memory in turn. His memory has been all over the place. He even calls his assistant by the wrong name at times.”

“Hmm. Okay. Thank you.”

I smiled politely and walked away, but my chest was buzzing. So the memory loss was real. Damn. If he doesn’t remember anything about our past, he doesn’t know about the strained relationship I had with Sera due to him.

We were friends, me and Sera, best of friends even from middle school. Went to college and met Zane. I hit off immediately with Zane, and we started dating soon after. And that’s when Sera changed for the worst. She started sabotaging my relationship with Zane, trying to have deep conversations with him in the ruse of doing it for my best interests. Our friendship took a turn for the worst when Sera tried to seduce him on a night when I had traveled back home.

And now? She’s stolen him from me. Taking advantage of his memory loss, perhaps rewriting the past so that she becomes the saint who had always loved him and cared for him, and worse yet, writing me off from Zane’s life completely.

And then she hires me so I can watch in close range how she gets the guy in the end.

Such a terrible person. I can’t believe that I once called her my best friend.

I stepped outside to clear my head. The rooftop view was beautiful and serene, but it’s calming effect lasted for a minute. Soon, a sleek black car pulled up below, and my heart flipped the second I saw the lady that came out.

Rosa.

No, Sera. She went by Sera now.

A picture of elegance, Sera was dressed in cream trousers and designer sunglasses. But I knew that walk, that chin tilt, that slight smirk, that cool dismissal that used to follow me everywhere after our friendship shattered.

She was here, in the flesh, as Zane’s fiancée. I still couldn’t believe it. My fingers gripped the clipboard hard enough to crease the pages beneath it.

Zane appeared beside her, and Sera looped her hand through his. Her fingers brushed his slightly, and something in my heart twisted. They seemed like the model couple, with her picture perfect smile and his unreadable expression. They walked toward the building like they belonged together. And my heart broke even more.

##

Later that afternoon, I took a wrong turn while searching for Leah to talk over some decisions about the food and I ended up in one of the upper hallways. The corridor was quiet, and the oil paintings that lined the walls were a much welcome distraction from the whole Zane-Sera situation.

And then I heard it, soft laughter. Hers. His.

I froze.

Zane and Sera stood by the tall windows. Their posture was picturesque, her hand resting on his chest, his fingers curled round her waist, their silhouettes bathed in golden light. She tilted her head up towards him, a welcome invitation. And he learned his head towards her.

My heart thudded. Oh my God! Was he going to kiss her?

Zane leaned in closer.

And then…