He read the card aloud to the camera, “For everything you’ve done, from your friends back home.”
“Aww, looks like they miss you in New Jersey!” she added sweetly, her excitement building audibly.
When he cracked open the top of the package, there was a loud pop and red glitter exploded over everything in a ten-foot radius. The employee in on it stepped back enough to evade the glitter herself.
Scott’s new boss also witnessed the whole thing and was livid, firing him on the spot and making him clean up every speck of glitter he could. Of course, he couldn’t, because glitter was the herpes of arts and crafts.
Anne also managed to find his wife on social media and contacted her using an anonymous account. It turned out the wife was already suspicious about some of the things he’d done over the years and was in the middle of building a case against him for divorce. Eventually, she found the drugs he was hiding in their house and she said her lawyer practically salivated at the discovery. He also made it possible for Hailey to submit her medical resultsof the same drugs in her system in some kind of anonymous way that Scott could never discover. The man was fucked.
Mike told Hailey to take as much time as she needed away from the restaurant, but the revenge plot made everything a little easier. She only took off her next shift and by the time her next scheduled work day came around it had been five days anyway, so Hailey went back in with the prerequisite that she could leave early if it was too much.
She wished everyone had that kind of support at their work. The stress of it all was the toughest and Hailey found herself struggling to get out of bed some days. Bridget and Rick gave her time off from the gym, too, and she let herself wallow a bit while burying herself in reading, writing and sleeping. Avery texted her every day with memes to make her smile or songs he knew would put her in a good mood. He even stopped by with something called a “home-cooked meal” that Hailey had briefly forgotten existed. She had been living on cereal and delivery pizza.
They watched a funny movie together while eating the fettuccine alfredo with shrimp Avery cooked for her. Hailey missed hanging out with him like they used to. Gage had been against it when they started dating and she pulled away out of respect for the relationship, but things were getting back to normal and she had her bestfriend back.
She didn’t remember falling asleep, but she woke up in her bed fully dressed with a text from Avery on her phone.
AVERY:You fell asleep during the sequel so I carried you to bed. Figured you would get uncomfortable on the couch. There are leftovers in the fridge for you. See you soon :)
Hailey put her phone back on the nightstand before falling back asleep, unable to wipe the smile from her face and having absolutely no desire to ever let it go.
21
TIME NEVER SEEMS to go the speed you want it to and the past month absolutely dragged for Hailey.
It felt like forever for her to get her test results: all negative! And she got her period two weeks ago so she wasn’t pregnant either. It was a weird feeling to consider herself lucky after what Hailey went through, but other people have endured way worse.
Marley definitely helped her a lot and taught her some coping mechanisms to get through everything. She spent the past month using them when she would wake up in the middle of the night after another nightmare.
Avery helped a bunch, too. He offered some resources like support groups she could join, even some private anonymous ones where she could talk to people in chat rooms. Both he and Marley suggested journaling to work through feelings, which did work for a littlewhile. Then, Hailey realized something that worked even better. Scott became a character in her book that just so happened to die a horrible, painful death thanks to a fire-breathing dragon. Writing that chapter was pretty cathartic.
Sure, violence was not the answer, but fictional violence had many benefits.
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As the wedding approached, Hailey was getting more and more nervous for her night with Avery. It was something she had fantasized about a lot lately, but she didn’t think he was on the same page. He mentioned talking to another girl for the last couple months but not sealing the deal yet, so Hailey figured he was just going with her as a good friend.
If only that weren’t the case.
It was the first time in forever they were single at the same time, not that she had ever thought of him that way before. How did she miss it? It was hard to ignore the butterflies multiplying in her stomach whenever she thought of him. Hopefully, she could keep a clear head at the reception. And at night. In the hotel room.
The chances of something happening were next to nil, but that didn’t keep Hailey from thinking about it.
When the day finally arrived, Hailey was already atthe venue the night before for the rehearsal dinner and night-before-the-wedding drinks with the bridal party. Avery would meet her at the reception and they could drive home together the next day. If things didn’t go well, she could always ride home with another bridesmaid. She was hoping this night wouldn’t do anything to make their friendship awkward.
For now? She had to focus on getting Bridget married to the love of her life.
Hair and makeup started at an ungodly hour considering the wedding wasn’t until 5 p.m. It was crazy how long this shit took. It helped Hailey decide that eloping would be the way easier path to take.
Once everyone was dolled up in the two-bedroom suite that overlooked the Delaware River, the bridesmaids started putting on their dresses so they could help Bridget put on hers.
Hailey thought she loved Bridget before, but when she chose a bridesmaid dress for her that was not only comfortable to wear, but she could wear a regular bra with? Damn, Hailey was ready to marry her herself.
She shimmied the rose gold dress up her body and pulled the straps over her shoulders. They took turns zipping each other up and then the other girls started taking two hundred selfies. Hailey, meanwhile, looked in the floor length mirror trying to decide if she lookedgood or not.
The front of the dress was a V-cut and showed off a good amount of cleavage, but not an “I can’t talk to your creepy uncle wearing this” kind of cleavage. Who was she kidding? Creepy uncles would still be creepy if she wore a potato sack.
The dress also had a slit in it that reached mid-thigh and she had to admit the heels she was wearing did show off her legs pretty good. Soccer definitely affected your legs and Hailey’s were toned. The dress was form-fitting to just under her ass so this dress showed off everything she possibly had. All she was wondering while she looked in the mirror was what Avery would think.
