Speak Now

XXI

Today has been a mixed bag kind of day. It was the last dress fitting ahead of the wedding and while I wanted to enjoy the experience, I was constantly at the end of a death stare from Nina Taylor. I wasn't sure what her problem was (lie) and to be honest, I didn't care enough to ask (true). She so inconsequential that she means absolutely nothing to me. We're here for Keira and that was what I wanted to focus on, giving her all the support she deserved in the run-up to her wedding. Still, this is me we're talking about and I just couldn't help but utter some snide comments whenever Nina looked at me the wrong way, which, unfortunately, was quite often. 

My highlights included: 'World population, 7, 584, 145, 542. Just in case someone is acting irreplaceable,' when Nina started to grumble that he dress wasn't fitting quite to her liking. In all honesty, the dress fitted perfectly and showed off her enviable figure but she was fixated on the fact that her arse looked flat and the seams needed letting out around her waist.

'Oh, go step on a lego,' was another classic when she moaned about the shoe choice Keira had made. They were a pair of four-inch stiletto heeled sandals that would definitely cripple us by the midway point during the day that even I looked at and thought, 'Yeah, no.' 

And finally, my favourite thing to say whenever she was speaking to someone was, 'I do hope I'm interrupting.' For the most part, I had legitimate reasons to break up her conversations but there had been a few instances when I did it deliberately just to see Nina's reaction. She never disappointed. 

Eventually, my remarks got to her and taking me aside, Nina asked if I had a problem with her. I scoffed and said, "What do you think?" I was vaguely aware of Keira and Aoife hovering around us, watching us both like hawks, not that Nina particularly cared. She looked ready to pounce at me given half a chance if her glowing eyes were any indication. 

"I think we need to sit down and finally hash this out," she replied, her voice was low, almost threatening. But really, this is Nina Taylor we're talking about, she wouldn't hurt a fly. I guess that's why I nodded in agreement when she suggested that we go to a near-by pub once the fitting was over. What was the worst that could possibly happen? "You've clearly had your say this morning, now it's my turn."

The Frenchies left just after midday, going back to a nearby hotel to make the final alterations to the gowns, and as soon as they were out the door, Nina was dragging me-kicking and screaming- to the village pub. We'd received a number of odd looks from our housemates when we announced that we were going out- yes, together- but none tried to stop us or questioned us about where we were going. In fact, I heard Keira mutter to them, "Just let them go. Maybe it'll help." 

I wasn't entirely sure that it would but I was willing to be open-minded about it. That was until we were sitting and Nina began to speak. I was taken aback by her first sentence. 

"You think you're better than everyone else when, in reality, you are the worst of the worse," Nina seethes. Her face twists with contempt as rage radiated off her. Her composure was long gone and I was left looking at a woman on the verge of unleashing hell towards me. Her entire body was shaking in fury. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't the tiniest bit scared of her right about now. "Martha, you are. A. Bitch. Really, you are. You go around with this superiority complex and you look down on people, judging them like you're the benchmark for morality. You haven't got a clue what peoples' truths are, yet you're happy to criticise them. Hell, you'll even criticise them for doing the same things that you do! The double standard really is incredible.