If, Buts and Maybes

C H A P T E R - 3 2

"Are you nervous?" I ask Sapphire. She's been fidgeting around the whole drive to the boutique. "A little, I just think because everything has been moved forward. There's less than 15 days before the wedding. Sam has everything sorted out, but it's just the dress" she explains before standing in front of the boutique door.

My eyes stare at her with concern. There's something going on, but she's not telling me. Sapphire will tell me when she feels comfortable to do so, I can't rush this out of her. She takes a deep breath and walks into the boutique. I follow her and my eyes fall on all the beautiful gowns. "Wow." I managed to say.

"Hunter really is a magic genie, isn't he?" she asks while staring around.

I scoff and laugh. "Yep." A lady walks up to us and greets both me and Sapphire. "When's the big day?" the lady asks.

"In two weeks." Sapphire states harshly. I look at her with a glare that says 'be nice.' She takes a deep breath again and apologizes to the lady. "Everything's so last minute and I'm stressed." Sapphire explains. The lady gives her a reassuring smile and walks us to the back of the boutique. "So what style were you thinking?"

Sapphire walks up to the rack filled with wedding dresses and grazes her fingers gently. It's like she can't hear us. "Sapph?" I ask with concern. She gets out of her trance and looks at me. "Um, sorry. I was thinking of mermaid style. Lacing around the shoulders." Sapphire answers her question.

"Perfect, I'll get some dresses out."

Sapphire and I sit down, drinking our champagne. "What's going on Sapph? And don't tell me this is stress for the wedding, because it clearly isn't."

She looks at me wide eyed, as if she is questioning whether to speak to me or not. She opens her mouth to speak but before her words can be voiced, the lady walks in with three beautiful wedding gowns in her hands. "Ready to try them on?" the lady asks.

Sapphire shoots up out of her seat and walks into the changing room. While the staff help her try the dress on, I scroll through my phone. I promised myself no work today, so I'm sitting here, in a Vera Wang wedding boutique, playing 8 Ball Pool. I lost the game due to the fact my phone started ringing. It's Hunter.

"Missing me already?" I ask

"Yes, yes I am." he replies.

"We had the whole day together yesterday, thought you'd be sick and tired of me already." I giggle through the phone, trying to be quiet.

"Me? Get sick and tired of you? NEVER."

I laugh loudly and hear him chuckle from the other end of the phone. "You seem very cheery today."

"Yeah I am, mind you my buzz is being fucked by watching Eric mope around the office." he states.

I sit up on my seat and look at the changing room curtains. "Really? That's weird. Sapphire's being really weird too. Do you think something happened?"

He remains quiet on the other end of the phone, not answering my question. "Hunter?" I question back, louder.

"Mackenzie, I can't tell you. I promised Eric. I thought Sapphire would have told you."

"Tell me what? Hunter?" I badger him

"Mackenzie, I can't. Sapphire will tell you, when she's ready to tell you."

"Okay fine don't tell me, but how bad is it?"

"Really bad."

I rub my palm on my chin. Just as I'm about to speak, my eyes follow the ivory white dress from the bottom to the top. "Hunter, I gotta go." I hang up before he can say anything.

"Oh my god." I whisper with tears pooling up in my eyes. "Sapph...you look...wow." I manage to form. The dress hugs her body perfectly and her veil makes her look like a princess. "Wow, Mack Brown speechless. That's a first." Sapphire laughs nervously.

I rub the tears away from my cheek and smile at her. There are no words for how gorgeous she looks right now. She turns around and looks at herself in the three mirrors in front of her. She just observes the dress and her eyes fill with tears. "I'll give you two a moment alone." the lady says before walking away.

"Sapphire." I whisper

She just looks in the mirror and cries. A part of me believes it's not because she's emotional about the wedding. "I look...beautiful. I'm getting married. I'm getting married." She keeps repeating the same sentence and begins to pant, heavily.

"Okay, okay." I shush and grab her hand and help her sit. "What's going on Sapphire?"

"I'm getting married...and Eric told me he loves me." she cries in her hands.

My eyes widen and my mouth drops. "What?" I whisper.

"Eric. He told me he loves me. He's never said that to me before Mack, and he said it, but I'm getting married."

"When did this happen?" I question

"The day we had chinese at yours. Remember I had to leave to see a friend. He got drunk in a bar somewhere and rang me to go help him. Before I put him in a cab, he told me he loves me, but I shut it down." she defends. "I told him that I love Sam, and I DO! It's just Eric has never said any of those words to me before. Ever."

I wipe her tears away, and caress her hair. "Okay. That's a lot of information. Sapph I have to ask, do you want to get married?"

"Of course I do. I love Sam. He gave me commitment when Eric couldn't. He's the best thing for me."

I nod. "Then keep thinking about that. Eric told you he loves you, yes, but Sam is showing it. He's going to promise to love you for the rest of your life. Now if you don't want to do this, I will support your decision 100% but if you do, I will support that too."

She looks at me and I watch her facial expressions. "I want Sam." she whispers.

"Okay." I whisper back. I know her heart is still hurting but I won't push her any further. "You wanna try on more dresses now?" I ask

"Yeah." She laughs while she wipes her face and nose. "I wanna see you speechless again."

I hug her tightly and laugh with her. My best friend is getting married.