Chapter 10 #2
“Oh sorry.” Zoe looked up and grinned before Julie could start miming her lack of understanding. “ Est-ce qu’il y a un t-shirt dans ton sac pour moi?”
Zoe’s pronunciation was perfect. Had she kept on learning French after she’d left Belgium? And why was her slight British accent so cute? Julie wanted to scream. Zoe lifted a brow and moved forward. Too close. Julie forced herself to snap out of it.
“Um” she cleared her throat. “Of course. I counted you in the group when I made these,” she replied in French.
No point in torturing herself further when Zoe clearly understood.
She handed Zoe her shirt and could barely feel her own arm any more.
Her entire body was numb. Zoe took the shirt, her hand brushing against Julie’s.
Zoe laughed as she unfolded the t-shirt.
Julie felt a piece of her heart break off and fly away as soon as she heard that crystal laugh for the first time in years. She knew she was a goner.
“This is brilliant! Did you make it yourself?” Zoe looked at Julie. A soft warm look.
“Yeah. A graphic designer at work showed me some tricks.” Julie added without thinking, “To thank me for helping her build her IKEA couch.”
Zoe chuckled. “Her IKEA couch?”
“Yes, you know? They’re kinda tricky if you don’t follow all the steps properly.” Julie was amazed that she was talking to a woman she had an absurd crush on and who was a famous celebrity. And the topic she chose was… IKEA couches? She had no idea what else to do as Zoe continued on the subject.
“I remember that you were not that great at following IKEA instructions. Like that time Yasmine and I bought a cupboard and you had to build, unbuild and rebuild it all afternoon.”
Oh god. She remembered that day very clearly.
It was an unusually warm and sunny day somewhere in mid-October.
Zoe had asked her for her help and Julie had very gallantly said yes.
But she hadn’t imagined that Zoe would be wearing tiny denim shorts for the entire afternoon.
Needless to say, Julie had been quite distracted from the building instructions.
“I guess I’ve gotten better?” This was going very badly.
Julie tried to remember Claire’s advice from lunch time.
Just avoid her at all costs. You’re so doomed.
What else was she supposed to do? Even having small talk about building Swedish kit furniture with Zoe made Julie weak in the knees.
She couldn’t stand it for another second.
She spun away from Zoe, taking no notice of whether Zoe was responding to what she’d just said.
“Sarah! Where are we going next?” Julie called to another one of Yasmine’s cousins, who had also studied with them in university. Sarah knew what her role was here. She stood up with her hands in the air.
“OK girls! Who’s ready for a pub crawl?” A chorus of cheers answered her and Yasmine was pulled out of her seat by two hens. The hen do was officially on its way.
The group left the restaurant and headed towards their first bar on the list. Julie tried to keep up with the head of the group, painfully aware that Zoe was walking behind her alongside Maria, another of their university friends.
Julie laughed along with whatever the people in front of her - Yasmine, Sarah, Leila and Marion - were saying, even though she couldn’t hear all of it.
She jostled in behind them as they entered a cramped bar.
It wasn’t anything special, really, but it somehow had an effortlessly laid-back atmosphere that helped Julie relax her shoulders just a tiny bit.
Everyone else headed to an empty table in the back, but Julie diverted towards the bar to order 7 - wait, 8 - shots, plus a half-pint of beer for herself.
Everyone else had gotten a head start on her at the restaurant, and Zoe’s presence was enough to make her limbs tense up.
She needed something to help her relax. The group loudly cheered as she walked back with a tray with tiny glasses filled with tequila on it.
They were all sitting around a small wooden table with chairs and stools that they had grabbed from other parts of the bar.
Julie was extremely relieved to see that the only spot available was far away from Zoe.
She deposited the tray on the table, grabbed her beer off it, and moved towards the empty chair.
“Wait! Julie!” Alice, yet another friend from college, waved at her and stood up. “You should catch up with Zoe!” Julie cursed inwardly but couldn’t be mad at Alice. She was just being nice.
“Oh thanks Alice! That’s very kind of you.” Zoe exclaimed as she shifted to make room for Julie to sit next to her.
Julie slowly walked towards her, trying hard to smile and be as relaxed as possible.
“A half-pint of beer and a shot of tequila? You’re drinking like we’re still in college.” Zoe had entirely switched to speaking French. She seemed totally comfortable with it, like she’d never left Brussels.
Julie nodded as she gulped her beer. She was saved from having to answer Zoe as Leila handed her a shot.
Julie knew this was the worst idea ever.
They were all in their thirties, they would regret this so much tomorrow.
But she licked her hand covered in salt, drank her shot in one go and chewed on her slice of lemon like a good sport.
She still couldn’t help but pucker her mouth at the taste.
It tasted like being 21 years old. She felt Zoe shudder next to her.
“Oh god. I’m still a wuss after all these years.” Zoe was shaking her head, her full shot glass still in hand. She turned towards Julie. “You drank that all at once. That’s impressive.”
Julie nodded again, without adding anything.
“So, what are you up to these days?” Zoe asked.
Julie hesitated. She couldn’t be a jerk and completely ignore Zoe just because she had feelings for her. She would try to keep the conversation short. “I’m an event planner and designer.”
“Oh really! That doesn’t surprise me. In spite of your lack of punctuality, I remember you were quite good at organising things.”
Julie’s aloof act crumbled immediately. “I’m on time when it counts!”
“Really?” Zoe lifted a brow.
“Yes, I’m on time for important meetings at work.”
“Impressive.” Zoe seemed to genuinely mean it. She paused for a second. “Wait, are you on time because you’re tricking yourself into being on time by pretending the meeting is 30 minutes ahead of the actual time?”
Julie froze. How did Zoe know that? It suddenly hit her. Of course, Zoe was aware of this. She was the one who had tricked her into doing that in college. Wait, Zoe still remembered that? How often did Zoe think about her?
Marion suddenly stood up “The night’s still young and we have plenty of bars to visit! Let’s go!”
Julie took it as an opportunity to escape before getting her hopes up.
She quickly downed her half-pint and joined the rest of the group, leaving Zoe in her wake.
From the corner of her eye, she could see that Zoe’s face dropped when she left.
It made Julie feel bad, but she couldn’t not do it.
Her heart felt like it was twisted in barbed wire ever since she saw Zoe at the restaurant.
As the group left the bar, they were met by Leila at the door, who had a plastic bag filled with water bottles.
She pressed one into each woman’s hand and urged everyone to drink some water before going any further.
That was a suggestion from Julie that had been warmly welcomed by the rest of the group chat.
They didn’t want all the hens to be hungover dead after night one of the hen do.
Zoe was trailing behind Julie once again.
Alone this time. Julie could feel Zoe trying to catch up to her.
She sped up. Zoe’s pace accelerated as well.
They were almost walking next to each other but Julie pretended she hadn’t seen Zoe.
It was rude and it was killing her but she knew the pain of falling for Zoe Lang once already, and she didn’t want to reiterate the experience.
Zoe touched her arm. “Julie… Are you alright?”
“Yeah I’m fine.” Julie flashed the best smile she could offer. “Oh we’re at the second bar already.” She shuffled forward, escaping from Zoe yet again.
Their second location was a jungle-themed cocktail bar. They had booked a table here so they didn’t have to steal chairs from other tables. Julie sat down and dreaded Zoe’s presence next to her, but she saw Zoe sitting away from her with Maria and Alice. Good. Great. This was what she needed.
“This round’s on me girls!” Yasmine exclaimed and it was followed by laughter.
“Yas, you don’t know it yet but we’re invoicing you the entirety of the hen do.
” Julie shouted across the table. More laughter ensued.
Zoe was smiling at her but Julie simply looked somewhere else.
Another piece of Julie’s heart crumbled away, but what else could she do?
She was finally succeeding in keeping a distance and would keep it that way.
* * *
Julie woke up without a headache. Her plan had worked - she had downed at least two litres of water last night and was thankful for that.
She emerged from her small room in the city centre duplex loft that the hens had booked.
Good thing there were enough rooms for everyone.
Julie had feared for a moment last night that they would have put her in the same room as Zoe and she would have had to probably fake being a sleepwalker or having night terrors to escape it.
But the night had ended without incident.
Zoe was looking a bit down at the second bar of the night but by the third, she had totally given up on talking to Julie.
Sure, she still glanced at Julie more than often but at the same time, Julie knew full well she’d been extremely rude to Zoe.
If she was in Zoe’s situation, she’d be mad at her too.
Julie walked around the huge living room with bay windows overlooking the entirety of the city centre.
She took in the spectacle and started spotting the landmarks she could see through the window.
There was the big Town Hall at Grand Place.
The cathedral. Was that Mont des Arts? She was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
“Enjoying the view?” Yasmine stood next to her.
“Yeah… This place is gorgeous. I’m so happy we found it. This is the level of luxury I deserve in life.”
“I think you do deserve that. You should marry a rich woman of some kind.”
“I’ve been working on that.”
Julie chuckled at her own joke, but Yasmine only lifted a brow.
“Do you want a coffee or something? I think all the others are still recovering from the night before.” She yawned.
“I’d love a coffee.”
Yasmine walked towards the open kitchen area and rummaged through the cupboards in search of whatever coffee the place had. She started the machine and waited patiently for it to pour two strong coffees. Julie walked into the space and leaned against one of the black marble counters.
“Did you have fun last night? Is this hen do all you ever wanted?”
“Oh god, I haven’t been that relaxed in months. It’s exactly what I needed.” Yasmine took the two cups and handed Julie hers. “What else do you have in store for me today?”
“I can’t tell you. Everything’s a surprise this weekend.” Julie said, with what she hoped was a cryptic smile.
Yasmine eyed her friend for a moment.
“OK, Julie. I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“Will you answer me honestly without dancing around?”
Julie frowned. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.“Uh. It depends?”
“Just say yes.”
“Yes.”
Yasmine took a breath. “What the fuck happened between you and Zoe?”
“What? Nothing. It’s all fine!” She frowned and feigned being offended. She would just deflect at whatever Yasmine would ask her.
“It doesn’t seem like nothing to me. You haven’t seen her in more than ten years and you were acting so… weird yesterday night? What’s going on?” Yasmine looked unimpressed.
Julie scratched her head. She sighed and sipped her coffee. “Nothing, really. Nothing happened.” She was not really lying. Nothing had happened indeed. Except for that night. And that was the whole problem.
Yasmine looked upset. “I see. I don’t want to start any drama during this weekend, but Zoe was a bit let down last night and thought you were maybe mad at her or something.
” Julie opened her mouth but was interrupted by her friend.
“I’m not going to push to know whatever happened between you two - sometimes things are none of my business.
” She walked towards Julie. “But I’m warning you, I don’t want any drama happening today, tomorrow or at my wedding.
Can you promise me that?” She wagged a finger.
Julie nodded frantically. “Yes, of course. Sure. I promise.” Hell.
She’d really gone too far last night, hadn’t she?
Julie was not thrilled at the idea of being nice to Zoe but the idea of ruining Yasmine’s hen do and wedding because she was an idiot was not great either.
She’d have to take it in stride. And after how she acted with Zoe last night, she’d be surprised if Zoe still wanted to be friendly with her.
Maybe all of her problems were solved?