Along The Way

Chapter 2

Hey everyone! You've chosen option 1- Owen forgot to grab Audrey's pink bag with her Maid of Honor dress and her sister Sofia's (the bride-to-be) bracelet, and they can't turn back. So, enjoy this chapter and let me know which option at the end you think should happen next!

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Owen refuses to meet my gaze. "Well the good news is at least I remembered the rings."

"Owen!"

"I'm sorry!" he winces. "I didn't see your bag when I was loading them all into the car."

"It's bright pink! It was like 3 feet away from the rest of my bags!"

"I can go back for it?" Owen suggests, but even he knows it's not an option.

"No. We'd be late."

He frowns and doesn't say anything as he stares out the windshield. The trees flying by us blur together as panic squeezes at my throat. I don't have a dress, or Sofia's tennis bracelet!

Okay, breathe, Audrey. It's not the end of the world, just a complete misstep. It can be fixed. I can fix this.

"I'm going to call everyone I can think of who hasn't left yet and ask them to pick it up." I say, struggling to keep my voice even as I pull out my phone and find the wedding guestlist.

Owen's voice is small when he says, "But didn't everyone leave yesterday or this morning?"

"I know everyone left yesterday, Owen!" I snap, then take a deep breath to reign in the panic. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I need to figure this out. Just keep driving. We need to make it to the store to get Sofia's dress before they close."

Owen sends me a sheepish look but doesn't say anything or offer any suggestions. This is so like him! The bag was right there! But maybe that's on me. I should've known he wouldn't have looked 90 degrees to his left to see the pink bag sitting right there. I should've grabbed it instead of letting him pack the car like he insisted.

I need a dress. I can't stand beside my sister on her wedding day in front of all her guests and be immortalized in photographs in a tank top, jean shorts, and flipflops! This shirt even has a hole in it!

Owen is quiet for the rest of the drive as I desperately call everyone on the guest list, but by the time Owen turns off the highway two hours later, I've exhausted every option and come to the realization that I'm royally and utterly screwed.

We pass a Tims billboard for their Cold Brew coffee, and it makes me yearn to go back in time, to two hours or so ago, when I got my Salted Caramel Cold Brew and was blissfully ignorant of the impending disaster.

I'm going to ruin Sofia's wedding. After all that planning and organizing and stressing and dress fittings, I'm going to stand beside my big sister in a tank-top with a hole in it.

I'm too busy banging my head against the passenger side dashboard to properly hear whatever Owen's saying.

He taps my shoulder. "Audrey? We're here. We've gotta grab Sofia's dress."

I glance up to realize we're stopped in a parking lot, a brick building surrounded by trees in front of us. "Right. Sofia's dress." I undo my seatbelt and step out into the blazing heat. "At least the most important dress is still fine."

"That's the spirit!" Owen cheers, then cringes when I shoot him a look.

The air conditioning hits us like a wall when we enter the store, and I have to stop myself from audibly sighing in relief. The store is small, which is understandable since it's in the middle of nowhere, and there are wedding dresses on display around the main floor. I have no idea how Sofia found this place, but it was carrying the 'perfect dress', and she had to drop it off the other day for last minute alterations.