Chapter 68 Sarah
SARAH
Jess and Theo’s wedding day was finally here.
I was in Jess’s bedroom watching as Kara put the finishing touches to Jess’s hair. She was insistent that she wanted to look like herself on her big day, so Kara was enhancing Jess’s natural curls, which she’d opted to wear down instead of in a fancy bridal updo.
Jess agreed to let Kara do her make-up and we even convinced her to take up the generous offer of getting her nails done by celebrity nail technician Halle Remington.
I couldn’t believe it when the offer came through. Theo’s billionaire friend Nico was apparently pally with the famous rockstar Jake Myers, who was dating Halle, so Nico’s wife, Cassie, had suggested that she do Jess’s nails.
And that wasn’t all. Jake had agreed to sing at the wedding too!
When Theo told me, I almost shat my knickers with excitement. We were going to have an actual famous person singing in our library.
I’d been sworn to secrecy, though, just in case it didn’t happen, but imagine if it did?
Halle was lovely. Super down to earth. She was a Londoner who moved to New York years ago, then met Jake at that famous matchmaking resort, the Love Hotel, in California. Apparently, they both hated each other at first, but now they were inseparable.
Hearing Halle and Jake’s story reminded me of Ben. Funny to think how much I couldn’t stand him in the beginning. It was ironic that I’d begged Jess and Theo to get rid of him and now I was distraught about the fact that he was leaving.
It was so hard dragging myself back to the library after we’d had that difficult conversation about him going. And coming up with the concepts for those videos, then filming them was even harder.
The idea of making me the one that was getting rejected in the videos instead of Ben was probably a reflection of how I felt. I wanted to be with Ben and he didn’t want me.
But I knew people didn’t watch reels to feel sad, so I needed to end our series on a high, which was when I thought about creating one last video of us sharing a kiss. It was what our followers had been begging to happen for ages, so you gotta give the people what they want, right?
The kiss was only supposed to last a few seconds, but Ben did it with such gusto and I loved every second, so I went along with it.
I reasoned that it could be the last time we got to lock lips, so I should make the most of it. But halfway through, the intensity dwindled, so I figured he’d lost interest and pulled away.
So that was that.
We were really over.
After leaving, I’d gone to do all the wedding prep.
Thanks to our well-coordinated teamwork, Jane, Celeste, Jess and I finished everything early, so Jess said I should go home and get some rest before coming to hers later that evening to sleep over.
So I’d used the opportunity to work on my book outline. And I finished it!
Not the entire book, obvs. That’d take months. But the outline was pretty much done.
Well, everything except the ending.
I’d written one, but if I was being honest, it was a little depressing. The couple realised they couldn’t find a way to make it work, so they went their separate ways.
I knew if I left it like that, I’d get crucified by the romance community. Everyone knew that a book wasn’t a true romance unless it had a happily-ever-after, or at the very least, a happy-for-now.
But I was stumped. I’d tried suggesting that they got married, but it didn’t ring true, so now I wasn’t sure how to finish it in a way that would satisfy the reader.
Normally when I got stuck like this, I’d ask Ben for his thoughts. Chatting to him always helped me to work out exactly what to do next. I couldn’t do that anymore, though. I had to find a way to live without him.
My stomach tensed and my eyes watered.
‘You okay, hon?’ Jess asked.
‘Yeah!’ My voice shot up several octaves.
‘I’m fine! Just emotional about today, that’s all.
You look stunning! And you haven’t even put on your dress yet.
You’re going to be such a beautiful bride.
Has anyone called an ambulance? When Theo sees you, he’s gonna pass out, so we need them on standby! Ha!’
I laughed but Jess didn’t.
In hindsight, telling a bride that her husband was going to be carted off in an ambulance on their wedding day wasn’t the smartest thing to say, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.
And I absolutely, one hundred per cent was not going to tell her about what I was going through with Ben. Not on her wedding day.
I knew Jess and if she caught wind of what had happened, she’d start worrying about me and trying to make me feel better. Today was about her and Theo. To hell with anyone or anything else. I had to make sure this was the most perfect and memorable day of her life.
‘Something’s wrong…’ Jess’s eyes narrowed.
‘I’m fine!’ I insisted. My phone buzzed and I thanked the heavens for the interruption.
When I looked at the screen, my eyes bugged out.
‘Mia and Liam have arrived early and asked if there’s anything they can do to help?’
Both of them were celebs in their own right, yet they were offering to muck in. So cool.
‘They’re such sweethearts!’ Jess said. ‘We’ve got everything sorted, though, haven’t we?’
‘Yep! Thanks to the community, everything’s in place.’
As soon as word spread that Jess and Theo had set a date, everyone in Sunshine Bay sprang into action.
Maddie had created a cake masterpiece, Candace was ready and waiting to fry the fresh fish and chips for the wedding reception, Babs and Bob from the pub were providing the drinks as their wedding gift; Kara was obviously part of Jess’s glam squad and Edwin, who sold the building to Jess to enable her to bring the Romance Library to life, was going to be the wedding officiant.
Jess and Theo agreed that without Edwin doing his scheming (or matchmaking as he preferred to call it), they wouldn’t have got together. So it was only right that he married them in the place that meant so much to all of them.
It was going to be perfect.
‘You’re all done.’ Kara beamed. ‘You look incredible, babe.’
‘You really do,’ I agreed. ‘Let’s get you in your dress, then over to the library. We can’t keep your future husband waiting!’
Forty minutes later, I was standing in the library’s corridor with Jess, waiting to walk her down the ‘aisle’.
She was wearing a simple white silk slip dress. It was understated and elegant and suited Jess perfectly.
‘Nervous?’ I asked her.
‘Nope! I’m excited,’ she said without a shred of hesitation. ‘I’ve never been more sure about anything or anyone in my life.’
I loved that.
I’d always heard about people being nervous on their wedding day, but I guessed that saying was true: when you know, you know.
Then again, that was how I felt about Ben and that went tits up, so what did I know?
‘Jackson asked if you can wait at the top of the aisle?’ Jane stepped out into the corridor.
‘Ready?’ I looked at Jess.
‘Sure am!’ She beamed.
Jess looped her arm in mine and Jane opened the double doors, allowing us to step inside.
Whoa.
The library looked incredible.
Although it was amazing when we’d set everything up last night, somehow it didn’t compare to seeing it with all of the guests seated on either side of the pink carpet we’d laid in the centre of the library to represent the aisle.
Maybe it was the addition of the white and pink flowers that the local florist had decorated the chairs with this morning that gave it that extra va-va-voom?
We’d thought about having a typical floral arch, but then we were like, ‘Hello? This is a bookish-themed wedding’, so Jane and I had created a book-stack arch instead. It was tricky and time-consuming to do, but it was well worth it.
When I looked at the arch, my breath caught in my throat.
Oh my good Lord.
Ben looked so, so, so, so, sooo good.
Did he pop hotness pills overnight or something? Because I didn’t know how, but he just seemed to get better looking every time I saw him.
I was going to miss staring at him every day.
But more than that, I’d miss his hugs, the way that he looked at me, his encouragement, his kindness, his…
I needed to stop.
Not least because my job right now was to deliver Jess to Theo.
I was so chuffed when Jess asked me not just to be her maid of honour, but to walk her down the aisle, so I couldn’t fuck this up.
‘There’s a photo of Mrs Davis!’ Jess smiled.
‘Yeah.’ I squeezed her hand. ‘Theo thought you’d like that.’
‘My future husband knows me so well! If it wasn’t for Mrs Davis, I would never have met him, or created this library. We all owe so much to her. I wish she could be here to see it.’
‘She’s here in spirit. And she’d be so proud of how brilliantly you’ve honoured her wishes by bringing her dream to life.’
‘Thanks, hon.’
I waited for the final signal.
Whilst Jess was getting dressed, Jackson had texted to say that Jake Myers was in the building.
Allow me to repeat for emphasis:
Freaking Jake Myers was here.
And he was going to sing at Jess’s wedding.
What was even happening? How was this my life?
This had turned into an unplanned celebrity wedding.
Knowing that megastar actor and producer Liam Stone was in attendance was already a big deal. But the fact that we had one of the world’s biggest musicians here too was mind-blowing.
I couldn’t wait to see Jess’s face.
Plus, Theo’s billionaire mate, Nico, was seated with his wife, Cassie. I recognised them both from articles I’d read online.
I waved at Stella, our web and graphic designer, who was seated next to her partner, Max. They were exes who, with great reluctance, were also matched at the Love Hotel. That place definitely seemed to have a flawless track record.
Maybe in fifty years’ time when I was over Ben I should apply.
Who was I kidding?
I doubted a lifetime was gonna be enough to get over him.
He’d ruined me. I didn’t want any other man. Ever.
What was the point when I knew they’d never even begin to compare?
My jaw dropped again when I spotted D.D.
Desire seated near the front. Holy macaroni.
I knew she’d RSVP’d to say she was coming, but I didn’t actually believe that my favourite author would be here.
Hopefully if I got to meet her later, I wouldn’t make an idiot of myself by fangirling too hard.
Unlikely, though. I’d wanted to meet her for so long that I knew I’d have zero cool.
The sound of the most beautiful singing voice echoed around the hall and Jess’s head spun around. Jake appeared from where he was hiding behind a bookshelf, strumming his guitar. And when Jess spotted him walking towards the book arch, she squealed.
‘Oh my God! Sarah! Look! It’s fucking Jake Myers!’ she shouted.
‘Language!’ scolded Mrs Templeman, one of the elderly residents.
‘Sorry! But look! Did you know about this?’ Jess turned to face me.
‘Yep!’
‘This is amazing!’
It was. And it was also my cue to deliver Jess to Theo.
As Jake sang his version of Ed Sheeran and Stormzy’s ‘Shape of You’, complete with Stormzy’s rap, which was pretty impressive, Jess and I danced down the aisle. She even stopped midway to do a little booty shake.
That was Jess all over. She was never gonna sashay like a prim princess. She always kept it real.
Theo burst out laughing, then beamed with joy as he admired his beautiful bride shimmying towards him.
Then as Jess got closer, Theo also started swinging his hips in time to the music, then opened his arms out to greet her before dipping her backwards and snogging her right in front of the guests, who cheered with delight.
‘Er…’ Edwin cleared his throat dramatically. ‘We haven’t quite got to that part yet.’
Everyone erupted into laughter.
This wedding was already brilliant and it hadn’t even started properly yet.
Now that I’d safely delivered Jess to Theo, it was time to sit down.
But when I looked at the seat that was originally reserved for me, Glenda was already in my place.
The only empty chair was on the other side.
Next to Ben.