Designing Abigail Kilton's Dress - #1 The Wedding Dress

Chapter 9 - Let them eat cake

The office light exploded in Kayleigh's eyes with the power of a thousand white suns. She tried to shield it with her palm, hoping to get some relief from the splitting headache she'd woken up with.

"You look like you've seen better days," Mario mused as he leaned against the doorframe of the pantry.

Kayleigh groaned as dread and acid churned in her stomach. "Well, you look bloody fantastic. Do you always party so hard on a Thursday?"

The boy's face split into a wide grin. "You know it, Babycakes!"

Kayleigh forced a smile and walked on.

"Do you want some coffee?" he called after her.

"No, thank you," Kayleigh replied begrudgingly. She had no idea how she would function without her usual dose of caffeine, but she doubted she'd be able to hold it down.

Out in the bridal hall, Greta and Jean Luc looked worse than she felt, if that was possible. Jean Luc had his head in his hands and Greta was flicking through some designs with a grave expression.

"What's up?" Kayleigh frowned as she made her way towards them.

"We have a problem, Doe," Greta announced without looking up. "The designs for the wedding party just came in along with the fabric samples."

Kayleigh noticed that her accent was slightly more prominent this morning. Yet, she still couldn't place it. For sure, it was European. Something that sounded like German but not quite.

She inspected the material her manager pushed towards her and her insides curled. "Oh, crap!"

"Crap on crab cakes!" Jean Luc added, looking like he was going to faint any minute.

"What is it with the cakes this morning?" Kayleigh muttered. She waved off Jean Luc's confused look and tried to control the internal storm that was taking over her. "Who chose this colour? It clashes horribly with AK's gown!"

"Yes. But it would have gone beautifully with Jean Luc's," Greta pointed out bitterly.

Kayleigh studied the designs. The dresses were elegant and sleek. They had absolutely nothing to do with the glam bohemian princess work in progress displayed in the middle of the hall. More than that, they were a lovely shade of nude that would have truly, worked wonders with a gold and ivory dress. But Kayleigh had finally perfected the material to a hue that gave off the desired blushing glow.

"The photos are going to be horrific. What stage are they at?" Kayleigh asked trying her best to stay calm.

Greta sank into the nearest chair. "The bridal party is coming for their first fitting on Monday."

Kayleigh let off a curse that was fortunately covered by her phone blaring in her bag. She reached for it but hung up the moment she saw the name on the screen. Marcus Burrows was the last person she wanted to speak to at that moment.

As much as she tried, she couldn't get his forlorn face out of her mind. Her wrist was still burning from where he grabbed her and it made her sick that she'd spent the night tossing and turning, while he went home to his smoking-hot girlfriend. Her fingers began to flex restlessly as her thoughts spiralled to darker places. Then, the sound of her name dragged her back to the bright, albeit glum, room.

It was Ms Weston, with her signature fresh looks and impeccable hair. Only her red eyes betrayed that she'd been partying with them the night before.

She strode towards them, oblivious to their woes and held out a small, dark blue bag with a gold ribbon and a big gold letter K on the side.