Maid of Honour (The Wedding Series #1)

Three

The front door hit the wall with a thud. The sound made me flinch, and I raised my shoulders to my ears, but there wasn't much I could have done to stop it, because my hands were full of shopping bags.

After I texted Layla, I didn't want to risk going home and sitting there, twiddling my thumbs, just waiting for her to respond. So, as a way of calming myself down, I decided I would head to the local supermarket to do the weekly food shop. James and I would usually order our food shop online, for delivery to our apartment. But I had to give my mind something else to ponder about, so I forwent the order and bought the food myself. You know, to shake things up a bit. Someone calm me down. I'm going off the rails.

Plus, if I got the food myself, I could buy as many gigantic bags of crisps as I wanted, without James' judging eyes.

I was nearing the end of putting all the food in the correct places, humming along to a song I had stuck in my head, when my phone started buzzing on the kitchen countertop. Knowing exactly who it would be, I haphazardly threw the last few bags of crisps in the cupboard and answered the FaceTime before it had buzzed more than twice.

I waited impatiently for FaceTime to connect, blaming my crappy yet somehow expensive Wi-Fi. When it did; it looked like Layla was walking through what I only assumed was a Chinese airport. No wonder it took so long to connect.

I mean, I didn't think she would phone me this soon after exiting the plane, but I wasn't complaining.

"Okay, I know you want to ask all the questions right now," she started by saying. She still looked incredible and appeared calm and collected after a stupidly long flight. "But can I at least jump in a taxi first?"

"Oh, of course," I said, walking around to the sofa and sitting on it. I was a lot calmer than I expected I would be, but I had waited all day for answers, I was sure I could wait a couple more minutes.

It wasn't long before she had bravely fought her way to a taxi, and I admired her strength and speed. With little help from the driver, she threw her suitcase in the back of the car. All one-handed might I add, because she still had her phone. She slid into the back seat and with a sigh and a fix of her almost perfect hair; she smiled at me.

"Fire away," she said. Layla looked like she knew exactly what was coming, and she was prepared to take it.

"It's okay. I only have one question." I smiled sweetly. Then my face contorted into something gruesome. "WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU ASKED THAT... THAT... THAT GOBLIN TO BE MY MAID OF HONOUR?"

Layla remained calm as she let my words sink in. "Goblin?" Was all she said, with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk. A smirk that unnervingly reminded me of her brother's. Sometimes they both liked to remind me they were twins. And it was awful, considering I loved her so much and, well, I felt the exact opposite about her brother.

"Yeah... well, I'd already called him a few choice words in my head, and I didn't want to repeat myself." I defended my choice of words. "I don't just want to be a one-trick insulting pony, you know?"

"Fair point." She muttered, sighing, but her slight smirk made me giggle. "But that's my brother you're calling a goblin."

I rolled my eyes. She knew about my negative feelings towards her brother, so she should've expected this name-calling. Knowing Layla, she was definitely doing this to wind me up. This explained my slightly harsh tone. I couldn't stop it from coming out of my mouth.

"Stop stalling and answer the damn question." I then caught myself. "Please."

Layla sighed, frustrated. I wasn't sure who or what she directed her frustration towards. Me or the situation. I hoped it was the latter. I didn't want us to argue, especially when she was so far away, so making up would be difficult.