Chapter 18
J ulie pulled into the villa parking lot.
The main building was a huge old farmhouse that had been renovated with a contemporary feel.
One side was made of the original bricks and stones and the other looked like a pile of enormous glass cubes, overlooking a vast field going off into the distance.
Julie hadn’t been told how much this wedding venue cost, but she knew enough about these things to know that it would be astronomical.
She parked her Golf and took a breath before stepping out.
Zoe was already there. She knew it. Because Zoe had texted her this morning saying she couldn’t wait to see her.
Julie still couldn’t believe that she had pulled off that stunt the other night.
She recalled her sweaty hands as she masked her number before calling the castle.
Then how her entire body was trembling when she spouted French nonsense at a famous actor.
She didn’t know where her bravery had come from, but imagining a sleazy good-looking man all over Zoe made her uneasy.
She was tired of finding handsome British actors between them.
At least she’d been able to do something about this one.
A sound took her away from her thoughts. A text from Claire.
“Hey pal, how’s everything going? Did you survive the hen do? Are you at the wedding yet?”
Julie sighed and answered her friend with a string of skull emojis. Another text came in immediately.
“Does that mean you’re head over heels for your famous friend?”
“You’ve no idea… She said that she also had a crush on me in college and now my brain won’t shut up.”
“What??? Whoa Julie that means that you could’ve dated a famous person before they got famous! Maybe you’d even be married to her by now!”
Julie lightly hit her head against her steering wheel. How did she always forget that Claire was the absolute worst friend to get advice from? “ Thank you, Claire! This isn’t at all what I’ve been thinking about 24 hours a day for the past week!”
“Really? You didn’t think about that?”
“That was sarcasm. Anyway, I just arrived in the Ardennes for wedding preparations.”
“OK! Keep me updated!” Claire punctuated that message with three popcorn emojis.
Julie hesitated but at the same time, who else was she going to keep updated about the situation? Yasmine? She texted back.
“ I will. Stay tuned.”
After taking a long breath, Julie braced herself and left her car. She was promptly greeted by an excited scream. Yasmine had just walked out of the villa into the front yard and was running towards her. She gave her a big tight hug.
“How was the drive? Are you hungry? Zoe made pancakes for breakfast and she has this amazing Italian coffee.” Yasmine grabbed Julie by the arm.
“Wait, I have some stuff in my trunk for the wedding preparations.” Julie dragged her feet. It was a desperate attempt to put off seeing Zoe for a few more moments.
“It’s alright, we can take care of that after pancakes.”
Julie let herself be hauled inside the villa.
The entirety of the house was absolutely opulent, with stylish exposed beams and a coat of white paint that seemed like it had been applied just last week.
Everything was a trendy open space, with the living room, the dining area and the kitchen all mixed up in a huge room.
It was all furnished with the latest high-tech equipment.
Julie heard a sizzling sound coming from her left and turned to see Zoe, standing behind the stove, with a cute white blouse and faded blue jeans.
A casual outfit that somehow seemed like the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
Julie was already unimpressed with herself and tried to gather her thoughts as Yasmine took her over to the kitchen island where she plopped her into one of the tall chairs before sitting next to her.
“Look who I’ve found in the parking lot!” Yasmine gently patted Julie’s shoulders, who did her best to smile but only managed to do a weird grimace. Luckily, Zoe didn’t seem to mind and smiled back at her.
“Can’t believe Julie is almost on time for once.”
“Wait, I’m not that late?”
“We told you to show up at 10 am and it’s now 10:10. I’m proud of you, champ.” Yasmine grinned at her.
Indeed. Julie looked at her phone. She didn’t want to admit that she was too excited to see Zoe that she had actually managed to leave her apartment almost on time. Oh well.
“Is it because you were too excited to hang out with us?” Zoe asked playfully.
Julie wasn’t sure if Zoe knew the extent of what she was asking or not, but she nodded. “Nothing beats hanging out with my two college best friends!” She meant it.
Yasmine was beaming. “Look at us! It reminds me of that weekend we spent in the Ardennes.”
“Oh yeah! That was so fun!” Zoe said as she turned around to stack the last pancakes onto a plate.
“I don’t even know what you two did that night, but I remember that Julie had one hell of a cold the next morning. She sneezed all through breakfast.” Yasmine laughed.
Julie nervously chuckled. She glanced at Zoe and could see her cheeks colouring. Of course Zoe remembered that night she’d fallen asleep on Julie’s shoulder in the grass. When they’d probably both had feelings for each other but didn’t know about it.
“Pancakes are ready!”
Julie stood up. “I’ll get some plates.” The subject change was very welcome.
“Wait, they’re here.” Zoe stood behind her and reached for the cupboard above Julie’s head. Julie could feel Zoe’s warm breath next to her face.
“Whoops.” Zoe lost balance for a second and steadied herself by putting a hand on the small of Julie’s back. “Sorry.”
What was left of Julie’s heart slowly melted away.
There were two red spots on Zoe’s freckled cheeks. Was Julie imagining things or was Zoe just as distracted as she was?
“Will you be able to get these, shorty?” Zoe smiled and tapped on Julie’s head as she nodded towards the plates. She always made fun of Julie for being a tad shorter. But today, this light banter was charged with tension.
“Size doesn’t matter, Zoe.” Really? A sexual innuendo? Julie wanted to slap herself.
“You should show me then.” Zoe was looking straight into Julie’s eyes. She also seemed unsure of her answer.
“When you two are done flirting, we can maybe have some pancakes?” Yasmine laughed.
“We weren’t flirt-” Julie stopped herself, knowing that denying it looked even worse. They were absolutely flirting. What was going on? A clunking sound interrupted her train of thoughts.
Even for Zoe the cupboard was pretty high.
This house was clearly built by and for Flemish men, Julie thought.
She hurried to help Zoe carry the plates down without breaking them.
Her hands had accidentally gripped Zoe’s, but she couldn’t let go before the plates were safely on the counter. Zoe’s hands were soft and warm.
Finally, all three friends sat down to their delicious vanilla-infused pancakes, another classic from Zoe.
Julie gripped her knife and fork eagerly, ready to dive in. “I can’t believe we get pancakes made by a celebrity chef!” She grinned at Zoe, until another thought occurred to her. “You don’t mind, do you Zoe? I don’t want you to feel like you’re just here to feed us, or like we’re taking advantage.”
Zoe looked a little surprised. “I mean, I am here to feed you. Yas did hire me to cater her wedding, even though I’m giving her the friends’ discount -”
“- Which Adam and I will be declining to take,” Yasmine jumped in.
“ Right, so in any case, I’m here to work.”
“And that includes vanilla pancakes for just the three of us?” Julie asked with a grin.
“It does when I want it to,” Zoe grinned back. “Really Julie, you’re sweet to worry but I love cooking for you. If cooking for people could be my entire job, I’d be the happiest person alive.”
Julie and Yasmine exchanged a look. “ Is that… not what a celebrity chef does?”
“Ha! You’d think, wouldn’t you? But these days I’m more celebrity, a lot less chef.
There’s all sorts of other work involved in being on a TV show, and while the recipes are based on my own ideas, they need to be edited beyond recognition before they can get onto the show.
And not much actual cooking takes place on set, of course.
And that doesn’t even begin to cover the press appearances, promotion schedule, planning meetings, every other kind of meeting, photography…
” Zoe looked stressed as she listed off these points, but then smiled at her friends again.
“I think I’ve cooked more on this trip than I have in the last four months combined.
It’s been lovely. Now, eat your pancakes! ”
Julie didn’t need to be told twice. She relaxed into her chair and started eating as she looked around.
“When is everybody else arriving?”
“Zoe’s team is only coming tomorrow. The rest of the event planning team is coming this afternoon though. Adam and his family will be there the day after tomorrow.”
“If your team is only coming tomorrow, what are you doing here, Zo?” Julie put a forkful of pancakes in her mouth. Maple syrup dripped from her chin but she was fast enough to avoid it spilling on her jeans.
“I told you, I’m just here to make you pancakes.” Zoe smiled and seeing Julie’s confused face, she added: “I’m here to scout the area and coordinate with my team. They’ll bring everything we need tomorrow.”
“Makes sense.”
“There will be lots more people tomorrow morning, don’t worry. The other bridesmaids are coming as well.” Yasmine chimed in. “I have to say, I’m happy to just have the two of you for now. I don’t want to get emotional, but you’re still my favourite people.”
“Aw.” Zoe stood up and wrapped her arms around Yasmine.
Yasmine shot Julie a look. “You’re not touched by what I just said?”
Julie pondered for a moment. “Sure, I’m touched to be your favourite people, but I’m not sure you’re my favourite people.”
“Be nice to her, she’s getting married.” Zoe gently punched Julie’s arm.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“What? No, I mean it’s a special occasion!”
Yasmine sighed. “Let her be, Zoe, she wouldn’t understand…”
“I agree, non-engaged people can be so rude sometimes.”
Julie didn’t know why, but she felt offended by all this. “Fine! Come here Yasmine, I’ll show you that single people can be good people!” She hugged Yasmine so tight that Yasmine had to tell her to let go.
* * *
The rumble of the events team and their trucks shook the entire house. Julie ran outside to supervise the vans pulling into the lot. One, with Fleur du temps emblazoned on the side, was trying to turn around to back into the spot next to her own car.
“Hey! Be careful!” She waved and raced towards it, but it was too late. Her left rear brake light shattered as the vehicle backed into it.
“Oh shit. Sorry ma’am!” A bald man with a light beard and a strong Walloon accent answered her through his rolled-down window. Once his car was properly parked, he jumped down. “I’m so sorry! You have a Golf? That’s a good car. My brother-in-law has the same one.”
Julie put her face in her hands. Only in Wallonia would the man who just hit her car simultaneously apologise and try to make friendly small talk.
Normally she would find it amusingly charming, but this was the last thing she needed right now.
She could see that the damage wasn’t too bad, but it was going to be annoying to have to fix this once she got back to Brussels.
“Wait a minute, I’ll go get my insurance papers in the van.” The bald man scurried away.
Yasmine and Zoe appeared outside. “What’s going on? Is everything OK?” Yasmine surveyed the scene with a frown.
“The florist van hit my car. My brake light is gone.”
“Ouch. Well, at least you still have the other one!” Yasmine tried to stay positive.
“I guess…”
The man reappeared with a grin. “Here! I have all the paperwork.”
Julie sighed. There was nothing she hated more than paperwork. She was almost tempted to tell the man that it was fine and that she’d just get it fixed, but she knew that wasn’t reasonable. She felt a light touch on her arm.
“I can take care of it if you want.” Zoe smiled and pointed at the other people milling around the lot. “Your time would be more valuable taking care of event planning.”
Julie wanted to kiss Zoe. But in a friendly way. Because Zoe was offering to help her with paperwork, not because her heart was stupidly pounding every time Zoe was looking at her.
“You’d do that?” She thought for a minute. “But can you even do that?”
“Of course, just give me your insurance papers and it’ll be fine.”
“O-ok. I’ll go get that.” Julie opened her passenger door and crammed a hand into her glove box, praying that the papers she hadn’t given a single thought to in years were in there.
She breathed a sigh of relief as her hand closed around the folder, and she passed them over to Zoe.
“There you go, everything should be there.”
“Perfect. Now go do your job.” Zoe winked at Julie then turned to the man and spoke in her cute French with a slight British accent. “ Monsieur, on peut aller à l’intérieur pour régler les papiers?”
The man opened his mouth then closed it. He swallowed before nodding. “Euh oui oui… Je vous suis.” He followed Zoe inside, a look of amazement on his face. Julie knew what that meant, because she had the same look in her own eyes. Zoe just had this effect on people.
“Thank you so much Zoe.” Yasmine shouted. “Now we can get this wedding started!” She grinned and grabbed Julie by the arm.