Cruel Sanctuary

Chapter 30

Who knew that Watford station would be so busy and it isn't even rush hour yet! As we wade through the crowd, I can't understand why we are in London. The nightlife of London consists of nightclubs and bars: that's not my style. However, I trust in Emma's judgement and place my hope in her knowing me well.

"Em, I'm not being funny but I'm stood in the middle of a busy train station without the foggiest idea of where I'm going," I turn to her as my friends stare at me, expecting me to carry on, "How am I supposed to know where to go next?" 

Suddenly, Emma looks at me foolishly, realising they were all trailing behind me, expecting me to lead them to our destination, "Fuck, sorry. I'm just so used to you knowing everything," She fires a backhanded compliment with a snide smirk as I reach out and shove her backwards playfully, "In all seriousness, can we go?" I butt in and they nod, dragging me by my wrists to a taxi waiting outside for us. 

As much as I'm curious as to where we're going, I'm biting my tongue from screaming in anticipation: I know that Emma has worked hard, "Emma, I hate surprises," I groan, sat next to her in the car. She chuckles, "No, you hate the wait, not the surprise," She points out and I nod my head, "Touché," I shrug, realising that I'll have to hold onto my frustration until we arrive. Who knows, maybe it won't be a nightclub infested with sexually frustrated teenagers and underage drinking. 

Irritated, I sit squashed between Emily and Emma; Isabella insisted on being the passenger since she becomes incredibly travel sick when being shoved into the back like the rest of us. Impatience bubbles through me as the red light sticks at the cross road shines for the longest of time. Gritting my teeth, I roll my head back and groan, "Is there a problem, Miss?" The taxi driver turns to me with a warm smile on his face. 

Raising my eyebrows, I realise how disrespectful I must've sounded, "Oh, yes, definitely! I'm just excited to find out our destination," I smile back. He nods in understanding before beginning to drive, "You don't know where you're going? You're going to the H-" He starts but Isabella is quick to silence him, "We don't want her to know, it's her bachelorette party," She informs him and he chuckles, "Ah, yes. We've been seeing a lot of those lately," He shrugs, "There must be something in the air." 

Rolling my eyes at how far from the truth this stranger is, I cross my arms and relax into my seat, "Something in the air, my arse," I mumble intended only for myself but, much to my luck, Emma hears over the chatter coming from Emily and Isabella and elbows me. I snap my head towards her to see her eyebrows raised expectantly, "I thought everything was good," She states, beckoning me to talk to her, "It is, I just wish it was on other terms," I shrug. 

Emma's eyes soften and she grabs my hand with a little squeeze of encouragement, "Hey, where'd you get the jewellery?" She asks, lifting my wrist up and inspecting the charm bracelet before moving on to poke at my necklace from Owen. However, she questions much too loudly as both girls stop gossiping and look at us both, questioning gazes in their eyes, "Owen got me the necklace a while ago, before everything," I tell them and they coo. Waving them off, I start again, "He bought me another charm to go with it," I confess and they all look between each other, pouting in reaction to the 'cuteness'. 

Emily leans over and lifts my wrist from it's comfortable rest, "What about the bracelet?" She wiggles her eyebrows and I scoff, "What is this? A court case?" They blink at me, waiting for a response so I sigh, "Owen bought it me for our honeymoon but he wanted to give it to me now. He gave me the charms with it." 

Sympathy arises in me for the unsuspecting taxi driver as my friends begin to bombard me with questions, each getting progressively louder to speak over the other. At this moment in time, I realise that the perfect job for my friends would be members of paparazzi.