XOXO
Standing under the shower spray, warm water cascading down my body, I drifted in my thoughts, recalling how just eleven days ago I was practically crossing the dates out in my calendar, impatiently counting down until I could finally go home. Now look at me , wishing I had more time.
The downstairs was empty and quiet when I got there. Where was everyone?
“Everyone headed to town,” a throaty voice broke in.
“Chantelle?” I whipped my head around.
“On the couch!” An ostrich feather decorated her sleeve as she raised her hand in the air.
“Oh! Hey!” I walked towards her.
Chantelle was lying on a vibrant mustard sofa wearing a dark, asphalt-silk robe with a few olive-green pillows around her—the whole bohemian image was giving me decor magazine vibes. “I love the…plumage,” I said.
“I try,” she laughed.
“Why are you here alone?”
“Well,” she sat up, clearing her throat, and—getting straight to the point—“your sister thinks I’m sleeping with Miles.
And, no offence, but she’s been pretty annoying, trying to get to the bottom of this.
” You don’t say , I thought, a shiver running down my spine.
“And, apparently, he is sleeping with someone, but that’s sadly not me. ” Sadly?
“He is?” I asked, not entirely surprised, wondering what else she had to say.
“Yeah,” she sighed, unamused.
“But how do you know that?”
“So,” she drawled with a sigh, “Jo told me about that morning Mark overheard someone in Miles’ bedroom.
Definitely not me,” she added with an eye roll.
“Then, today,” she lowered her voice, “Blake told me in secret that he discovered some seriously lacy underwear in Miles’s room. But don’t tell anyone I told you.”
“Huh, sure,” I said, letting out a quick breath as I nestled into the arm of the couch.
“Oh!” Then she suddenly grinned at me. “Blake told me something else.”
“Did he?” I forced a smile. Could anyone actually keep their mouth shut in this house?
“Yeah. I know about the ‘date.’”
“Um, well, it’s not really a date.” I let out a soft chuckle.
Chantelle bluntly studied my face for a moment then reached for the jug of water and poured herself a glass. “You don’t really seem to be into him.”
My face uncomfortably flinched but I chose not to comment, trying to change the subject. Luckily, Chantelle did that for me. “So,” she asked, “is the cute brother still coming for the wedding?”
“You mean Mark’s brother? Aaron?” I didn’t know he was cute.
“Yeah.”
“It seems so,” I said. “What’s he like?”
“Hmm,” Chantelle mused. “I only met him once, since, you know, Mark and he aren’t very close, but the impression I had was…
” She paused, searching for the right words.
“Well, he’s got this book-character vibe that makes him seem almost unreal.
I don’t know, like he’s the type of guy who’d shag your brains out but also cook you a lovely breakfast in bed the morning after.
Make you feel special.” She suddenly laughed, then quickly added, “He’s very down-to-earth, too.
” So, I wondered, why did Jo dislike him so much then?
“I was kind of into him,” Chantelle admitted, taking a sip of water, “but your sister said he was off-limits.”
“She did?” I asked, surprised.
“Yeah.”
“Did she say why?”
“Hmm, I can’t remember now.” A slow frown grazed her face.
As for me, I was now very much looking forward to meeting this…
Aaron. More than anything . “Oh—” Chantelle cleared her throat.
“—there was this thing about him,” she added with a thrill in her voice that instinctively drew me to sit closer beside her.
“Extraordinary, really.” Taking another quick gulp, she glanced at me and finally said, “His eyes. They were different colours. One is green and the other is,” she continued, but that was where I stopped listening.
Please don’t say blue. Please don’t say… “Blue,” she said.
Oh my God! No! That couldn’t be right. It just couldn’t.
My palms instantly turned clammy, processing everything that had just been said and everything that I was slowly coming to realise.
Just think about it…how many people with heterochromia do you really know?
I mean, unless you’re an ophthalmologist, it’s pretty rare, right?
And then, it hit me…could Aaron be the same guy my sister met that night?
Could Aaron be the guy she thought she fell for? A little?
“Shit!” I gasped, my jaw dropping as it all suddenly clicked—my sister slept with her fiancé’s stepbrother!