The Bridesmaid

Chapters Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, and Twenty

                Hey everyone! I want to start off by saying THANK YOU to everyone who voted, commented, and fanned. You are the best. Second of all, I had a SERIOUS typo in the last installment. Chapter Fourteen was supposed to be from Finn’s point of view, not Grant’s. I hope everyone wasn’t totally confused. From now on, I will double check before I post online. As usual, if you like this next part, vote, comment, and fan. It really gets me in the mood to write more when I see that people like what I’m doing. Here’s the next part. Hope you like it!

-MKate

Chapter Seventeen:

JANE

                I woke up in my hotel room bed. I had no memory of how I’d gotten there. I quickly searched around the room and the bathroom to make sure no one else was there. The room was empty. I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked down at myself and realized that I was still in my fancy dress from the night before. Suddenly, I had a flash of a memory. I remembered the bar and standing near Finn, but I was very drunk. Oh no. Had I passed out on Finn? Even worse, had he CARRIED me up to my room and put me in bed?! I was horrified. How could I have let him see me like this? I was trying to look confident, not punch-drunk and needy. He probably thought I was a total loser now. I would make sure to avoid him for a few days. Maybe he would forget it happened… Who was I kidding?? He would never forget it happened! This is Finn we’re talking about! He notices everything! I groaned out loud. I needed to stop thinking about Finn. He was driving me crazy.

                I hit myself in the head with a pillow…and still thought about Finn.

                I did sit ups and push-ups on the floor…and still imagined Finn’s face.

                I took a long, hot shower…and wished Finn was in it with me.

                I finally decided to go to the beach. Alone. Maybe if I were away from the chaos that is my friends, I could think for a little while. So I went. I took a taxi out to the public beach in Kingston. It was crowded with both locals and tourists. I laid my towel out and took out a book. The sounds of the waves soothed the headache that I had from the terrible hangover. I read my book and tanned in peace. This was the most relaxed I had been since arriving in Jamaica. The whole time, I’d been so worried and stressed about Finn and Cynthia and the wedding that I had forgotten to relax and enjoy my time here. That was my new goal, to relax.

                Soon, it got dark and I went back to the hotel. I had left my cellphone in the room and I had 13 texts from Cynthia. I texted her that I was ok and that I needed a day alone. She understood, of course. I quickly fell asleep that night, just as confused about Finn and my feelings for him as I was when I woke up that morning.

Chapter Eighteen:

FINN

                I hadn’t seen Jane all day. Exteriorly, I was calm and collected. Mentally, I was freaking out. I knew she must be mad that I had carried her up to her room. She didn’t like me; I was sure of that. But, for some reason, I couldn’t stay away from her. I didn’t want to be so attracted to her. The old me used girls and never thought of them again. Life was so easy then. Why did romance have to be so complicated?

                Suddenly, I was angry with myself. Why should I be so broken up over this one girl?! I was a man, not a twelve-year-old girl! I decided that I would stop being so concerned about her. I would treat her like I treated any other girl. Maybe this way I could convince myself that I didn’t like her near as much as I thought. My old self would be confident, and not care what Jane thought of him. I should be that guy again. I WOULD be that guy again. I needed to control my life and my emotions.

                I didn’t feel like being around other people that day, so I spent it in my room, watching movies. Jane would just have to wait another day to see me. I would have to come out the next day because it would be the day before the wedding. Cynthia had scheduled the wedding in the middle of the two weeks so that everyone would have a week to relax afterwards. More people would be coming in for the wedding the next day. I didn’t know whom, but then again, I didn’t really know anyone here except for Grant.

Chapter Nineteen:

CYNTHIA

                I woke up the next day stressed. It was the day before the wedding, and so much had to be done. That morning, the rest of the family would be arriving, and Jane had agreed to pick them up at the airport. She was excited because her dad and her brother, Dave, were coming. They were like family to me, so it only made sense to invite them. My parents as well as Grant’s parents would be arriving, too. Neither of us had any siblings, so our parents meant a lot to us. We were close.

                Another source of my stress was the rehearsal dinner/party that we were throwing that night in a special room at the hotel. We weren’t having a rehearsal of the wedding, but we were having a nice dinner for everyone. We wanted everyone to be able to get together before the wedding the next morning. I just hoped that everything would go as smoothly as I had planned…

Chapter Twenty:

JANE

                I woke up excited. My dad and my brother would be here today. My dad was my rock. After my mom died, we became super close. I did the same with my brother. He was my only sibling and we took care of each other after my mom was gone. I got up and got ready. I took a cab to the airport. I arrived early. When I finally saw them walking towards me I ran to them. I stopped suddenly when I saw that my dad was holding the hand of a pretty woman about the same age as him.

                “Hi, honey!” My dad exclaimed. We hugged and I did the same with Dave.

                “Jane, this is Trudy, the newest addition to my life. Trudy, this is my daughter, Jane.”

                “Hi, Trudy. How are you?” I asked politely. I didn’t know how to act. My dad had not dated once since my mom died all those years ago.

                “I am well. Thank you for being so kind and letting me tag along. I was afraid of how you would react to your father and me, considering what happened with your mother,” Trudy said kindly. I liked her. She wasn’t homely, but she was the right amount of comforting and humble.

                “It’s no problem at all! And I hope you didn’t worry about what I would think! I know you would never try to replace my mom.  I just want my dad to be happy.”

                My dad smiled, as if he were relieved. We all talked about various things as we made our way to the hotel. I was happy. My dad had finally opened up to a woman again, and I knew Trudy would make him happy. She would fit perfectly in our family, if they decided to make things permanent.

                We all went to our rooms to get ready for the dinner that night. It was formal wear, so I took extra care in dressing. I chose a classic black dress with a sweetheart neckline. The dress was short, but not too short. I wore heels and elegantly curled my hair. I was ready for anything this party would throw my way.

                When I made it to the special room for the party, everyone was already there and participating in conversations. I carefully avoided Finn’s gaze as I walked toward the bartender and got a glass of champagne. I walked toward Cynthia and was speaking to her when I heard the door open. When I saw the figure walking in the room, I loudly choked on my drink. I managed to keep my cool, but internally I was screaming, “WHY WOULD THIS PERSON COME!?!”