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

Chapter 42 - Loading...

The sun shone over them way too soon. Kayleigh and Marcus were entangled in Kay's sheets, the air pungent with bittersweetness. It was still early, but their time was running out. They knew they had to move quickly before the traffic outside clogged the streets and bored drivers would have time to notice the strange, hooded man walking down Gloucester Place.

Kayleigh shivered against Marcus's light touch as his fingertips slowly trailed her body. She suppressed a giggle or a sob. She wasn't sure which would make it to the surface first if she didn't keep herself in check.

"Let's do it tonight," Marcus suggested suddenly. "There's no point in waiting. This is what I want, Kay Kay. Waking up like this every morning. With you. Only with you, I'm sure of it. I want to make you breakfast and drive you to work, even if it's at the other end of the world. If you want to go back at the end of the summer, we'll go back. If you want to stay we'll stay. I don't even care anymore, Kay, as long as I get this."

Kayleigh looked at him for ten whole seconds. Maybe even longer. She wasn't so confident she was accurate at keeping time anymore, relative or otherwise. She wasn't even sure if this was real. How could it be? She had dreamed of this for so long, she wouldn't even recognise the dream from reality.

At that moment, that was all she wanted too. Waking up with Marcus. Having coffee with him, blocking out his nagging about the insane amount of caffeine she consumed. But then she reflected on his words.

They had to do it tonight.

She had to talk to Jack.

He had to talk to Abi.

Tonight.

"I hate this," she found herself confessing. Then, seeing the look on Marcus's face, she quickly added. "Not this. I like this. I mean, our situation. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Marcus gave her a somber smile as he pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.

"I know. But we have to... Right?"

Kayleigh nodded. She knew he was right. But her guts twisted in her belly just the same.

#

"Hey," Kayleigh said as soon as she heard a click on the other end of the line.

"Hello."

Rosemary didn't sound much better than the last time she saw her, but the fact that she even picked up made Kayleigh feel better. She shut the door behind and kicked off her shoes before walking over to her small kitchen. "How are you?"

"Bored," the girl answered without missing a beat. "Everything seems so bland after London. I don't know how you're going to fare when you come back after a whole summer. You are coming back, aren't you?"

The genuine fear in her friend's voice made her smile. "Maybe you should come here," Kayleigh suggested. "We can live together. I'm sure you'll find a job. You'll need it because Abigail Kilton will probably make sure there won't be a trace of me left in the fashion industry."

"Oh no! What happened?"

"Nothing yet." Kay sighed heavily as she filled the kettle with water and fitted it back onto its base. She knew Rosemary wasn't going to approve of her next words. "Marcus is calling off the wedding. He's with Abigail now."

A loud gasp reached Kay's ears.

"You're kidding! He's breaking up with her? For you?"

"I don't know. I asked him if it was because of me, but he wouldn't give me a straight answer. I'm not comfortable with this, Rosemary. Obviously I don't want him to marry Abi. But I don't want that to be because of me. I don't want to stand in the way if he thinks she's The One for him."

Kay's words were met with silence and she could feel the tension despite the many kilometers between them.

"Do you really think she could beThe One for him?"

"No," Kayleigh said truthfully. Just thinking about someone else being Marcus's The One made her sick. She poured the hot water into her mug and carried it off to her sofa. "Even if I didn't still have feelings for him, I'd say no."

"So why are you saying that?"

"I don't know."

Rosemary clicked her tongue before diving into a very fast confession. "If this is about what I said to you on Sunday, I'm sorry. I was upset and I wasn't thinking straight. I did not mean to be hurtful, I just don't want to see you lose your head over that idiot again. It was pretty bad last time. But I still think I was out of line."

"You weren't out of line. It just wasn't what I wanted to hear at the time. But you were right, Rosemary. I always blow things out of focus when it comes to him."

"That's because you love him."

There it was. The L-word again.

A long, strained pause filled the seconds and Kayleigh took a sobering sip of coffee until Rosie spoke again.

"So? He's talking to Abigail right now? When will you be telling Jack?"

"I already did," Kay replied, her voice sounding to unconcerned for her own liking. "Just now. I had to do it over the phone. I just knew I wouldn't be able to in person."

"Oh. How'd it go?"

"Alright. Better than I thought it would. Of course, I really didn't have much to say that I hadn't said before. I had already told Jack I need time to think. This just... affirmed it."

Another long pause. Another sip of coffee.

"Are you sure about this, Kayleigh? You know it's not going to be easy whichever way this goes."

The knots in Kay's stomach tightened. "Yes. I mean, I know deep down it's the right thing to do. I don't think I will ever move on from him. We have to explore this or we'll always have doubts."

"Yes, I suppose," Rosemary mused thoughtfully. "But at what cost?"

A steep one, Kayleigh thought. But she had to take that risk, right?

"We agreed to try and cause the least damage possible," she replied slowly. "We really don't want to hurt Abigail, though I don't see how we can do that. She's bound to find out sooner or later."

"Well, good luck," Rosemary sighed finally. "I hope it all works out, and if it doesn't, I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Rosie. Hey, listen, can you not mention anything to Leon for now? This is complicated enough without my brother flipping out on me."

Rosemary let out a short, sarcastic laugh. "Are you kidding me? Everything is so strained between me and your brother right now, causing more tension is the last thing I want."

"You're still not talking?"

Kayleigh didn't know why she was so surprised. They were both as stubborn as they come.

"We're talking," Rosemary exhaled. "We went to the pier together last night. He apologised but he still doesn't get it. And I don't really want to explain it to him either, so I guess, it's not entirely his fault. But it hurts, you know? Being around him, knowing he doesn't think of me the way I think of him, hurts."

"I know," Kay answered. She felt sorry for her, and also for herself because, boy did she know!

"I'm hoping I'm just confusing my ability to tolerate him with love because it happens so rarely. I mean, how would I even know what love is? I dated a handful of guys, and left half of them halfway through the date."

Kayleigh laughed at her friend's reasoning, but she had to admit. She had a point. "Marcus is convinced that Leon is madly in love with you, but he's not ready to admit it."

"No offense, but Marcus Burrows is the last person I would take love advice from."

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