44. Jeanie
44 /
jeanie
Backstabbing Witches
Before dawn, Nathan and I wake to someone banging on our hotel room door. The knocking becomes louder as I roll out of bed and stretch.
Nathan turns away from the commotion and shoves a pillow over his head. Between going to the hospital, making up, and our very kinky, very enlightening make-up sex, we’ve barely slept.
I open the door, ready to yell at someone, but come face-to-face with Sophia. Her puffy red-rimmed eyes make it look like she hasn’t slept all night either, but for another reason.
Oh no.
“Fifi, are you okay?” I ask, concerned.
“Don’t you Fifi me!” Sophia stomps in, her arms swinging.
She’s wearing pink silk pajamas with the words I’M THE brIDE embroidered on the back. A matching night mask rests on her forehead, holding back a mound of tangled blonde hair. I’ve never seen her this wrecked .
Nathan sits up and rubs his eyes. Thankfully, he’s wearing boxers, but as angry as Sophia is, he could be naked and she wouldn’t notice.
“What happened?” I ask, though I already suspect the cause of her angst.
Roman. The jerk.
Last night I was certain he would never break up with her, regardless of his side-piece action. I thought I had time to give Sophia the bad news gently. Clearly, I’m too late, and he’s already broken her heart.
She paces, her shoulders tightening like her frustration’s building. She pauses, stares at me, and then erupts.
“I know why you’ve been so nice. Roman was right, you came to sabotage my wedding! Nathan isn’t even your real boyfriend!” Sophia swings her arms accusingly in his direction. “Natasha told me everything.”
The blood drains from my body, leaving it ice cold. My head swings to Nathan. He told Natasha the truth for business reasons, and then Natasha ran and told Sophia.
“Oh shit,” Nathan says. He mouths the word sorry , but it’s too late. The damage is done.
“First of all ...” I hold up my hands.
I’m unsure how to spin this. Any excuse for my bad behavior is a jumbled mess in my head.
I inhale before letting it out. “You’re right. I did want to sabotage the wedding. And yes, Nathan was pretending to be my boyfriend to make Roman jealous. But?— ”
“You backstabbing witch!” Sophia lunges before I have time to explain the rest of the story.
Slender fingers squeeze my neck, cutting off my air supply. This is not the hand necklace I was dreaming about last night. She angles me toward the dresser, and I bend away, trying to breathe.
Nathan springs out of bed. He slides one gigantic arm around Sophia’s waist and drags her away. Her arms flail through the air, desperate to reach me again. She’s so exhausted, though, she tires out and dissolves into an all-out cryfest.
“I trusted you,” she whimpers. “You betrayed me.”
My heart breaks. I ruined Sophia’s happiness because I couldn’t make my own.
“That’s how it started, Fifi, but it’s not how it’s ending. It turns out I like you more than Roman. In fact, I’m happy to have you over him. I’m sorry it took me this long to figure out how awesome you are and how terrible he is.”
The adjoining door opens, and we look up.
“I told you two to keep it down. I need my beauty rest—” Mom’s words halt when she sees the three of us. “You didn’t get this sister kink from me.”
Annoyed, I groan. “Mom, please. Stop.”
“Let me go.” Sophia squirms free of Nathan’s restraint.
“So, you told her about Roman cheating on her?” Mom asks.
“What!” Sophia’s mouth draws tight.
Olympic-level mental gymnastics take place behind her crystal-blue eyes. The realization plays out on her face like a triple-flip gone wrong, but like a crotch slamming into the pommel horse gone wrong. Then her laser gaze focuses back on me.
“You!” she screams in a rumbling voice, then catapults across the room with renewed energy.
“It wasn’t with me!” I race past Mom into her suite to avoid the oncoming beat-down.
Sophia follows and chases me around the room. When there’s no other choice, I jump from the floor to the sofa, raising myself above her, wanting to gain the upper hand. I swipe a pillow, looking for anything to protect myself.
In the chaos, Freddie, still unconscious, rolls onto the floor with a loud kerplunk.
“How could you!” Sophia screams at the top of her lungs.
“It was the florist. Well, I don’t know if she was the florist, but she’s kind of short. That’s all I know. Wait, and she had glasses!” I frantically try to describe the woman as Sophia chases me.
I won’t dare share how Roman attacked me on the beach. She’ll never believe the truth now.
“The florist is a man!” Sophia cries.
She picks up her own pillow and swings. It collides with mine. In the violent mayhem of bashing each other, my pillow breaks open, and an explosion of feathers rains over the room.
“I’ve got proof!” Nathan slips between us, shaking his phone.
Sophia halts her assault. Her gaze darts between us, but her pillow remains poised for further attack. She’s jittery like she can’t decide what to do.
Nathan scrolls through his phone’s photos in a panic.
“Hurry,” I tell him.
“I can’t find it. It was here last night. I must have accidentally deleted it.” He groans.
I gape at him. “Nathan!”
“Sorry!” he says with frustration.
“You guys lie about everything. You’d lie about this to try to break up my wedding.” Sophia picks up where she left off and smashes her pillow into my thigh.
With my pillow flattened, I retreat, taking a defensive crouch against the wall. I guard my head with my hands as Sophia whales on me. Nathan restrains her for the second time.
“I promise, Sophia, I took the video last night. Everyone in this room saw it, even Dex,” he says.
Poor Sophia finally runs out of steam, and Nathan lets her go.
“Why should I trust any of you after what you’ve done?” She spins in a circle, pointing to each of us. “You all pretended to be my friends, my maid of honor, my family.” She wipes her face with her sleeve. “And the thing is, Jeanie, I would have chosen a relationship with you over Roman any day, but you didn’t want me. I’ve always tried to be nice to you, but it was never enough. I was never enough.” Her words become watery and slurred.
“No, no, no.” I rush to her side. “You’ve always been enough. I’m so sorry, Fifi. You’re right. I want to fix this. I want us to be closer. I promise, we’re telling you the truth.” I rub a hand over her shoulder.
“It’s too late. I don’t care what any of you say. I’m marrying Roman. It’s my day. You will not ruin it.” She shrugs away.
She still doesn’t believe us.
“Okay.” I swallow. “But there’s one last thing you’ll have to forgive me for. Mom, Nathan?” I give them each a look.
We talked about this last night, what we would do if we couldn’t convince Sophia to call off the wedding. It started out as a joke, but now it seems like a solid backup plan. Shoulder to shoulder, the three of us form a wall and edge toward her.
“What’s happening here?” Sophia’s eyes widen as she lifts her hands like she’s trying to balance.
She steps back several paces but stumbles over Freddie, who hasn’t budged from his sleep-athon. She rights herself, though her eyes never leave ours, like she’s too scared to turn her back on us.
And she should be.
“Are we really doing this?” Nathan asks, sounding nervous.
“She’s leaving us no other choice,” Mom says.
“Fifi, remember the time I trapped you inside Grandpop’s steamer trunk and tried to mail you to Alaska?” I offer her a shaky smile, but I’m sure it only comes off as threatening.
Sophia frowns, looking even more worried. “I smelled like mothballs for a week. ”
“I promise to send you someplace warmer this time.”
It’s a joke. Mostly.
“What?” Sophia trips and falls into an open and empty casket.
When her butt hits the pillow-soft lining, Nathan grabs her feet and shoves them flat into the box. I wrestle her shoulders down and do the same. Mom stands behind, inching the lid closed until all of Sophia’s flailing limbs and digits are safely inside. Then we tie it closed by looping a belt through the handles, making sure to leave enough give for air.
Sophia screams bloody murder from within. She beats her fists against the case. Frantic feet bang the padded walls.
“We’re protecting you, Fifi,” I yell. “It’s only temporary.”
“Well, that went well.” Nathan sits on the lid and wipes a bit of sweat from his brow.
I plunk down beside him and lean my head on his shoulder.
“I need a drink.” Mom heads for the kitchen to pour another glass of water. Two days in a row is a lifetime record.
“What’s all the noise?” Dex appears from his room, looking rumpled. “Did Freddie get stuck in the coffin again?” he asks with a yawn.
“Just Aunt Sophia.” I cross the room to check his forehead. The knot is looking better, at least.
“Do I even want to know what you’re all up to?” Dex asks in his parental tone .
Nathan ushers him toward his bedroom. “Maybe you should go back to bed a little bit longer.”
“Who’s going to tell Roman the wedding’s off?” Mom asks.
“When I find him, that’ll be the least of his worries,” I say.