Laughter ripples as the clips roll. First up is Maria, performing a TikTok dance challenge on a yacht deck, her hair whipping in the wind as she nails the moves with flawless precision. She waves dramatically at the camera at the end, earning a cheer from our table. Next comes Harrison, launching himself off the side of a yacht into the sea, flipping twice before hitting the water with a perfect dive. More laughter, a few impressed whistles. Then Max appears, shirtless and grinning, leaping from a rooftop into a glittering swimming pool below while people cheer around him. The crowd roars.
I grin, glancing at Rhett. “I can’t wait to see yours. What did they dig up?”
“I dread to think,” Rhett says with a laugh.
But the smile freezes on my face as the next clip begins. My own face fills the screen. I am wearing that ridiculous sequined dress – yes, the Jessica Rabbit dress. I look like I am all cleavage. God, there I am, strutting like Jessica Rabbit, my hips swaying in an exaggerated, vulgar manner, as I approach Rhett and ask him out. Someone has put the chorus ofDa ya think I’m sexyby Rod Stewart, and it just makes it all so much worse. It echoes in my ears as my stomach drops straight through the floor.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, heat flooding my cheeks.
The laughter around me carries on. Some of it is delighted, some are surprised, and some people just watch in stunned silence. I can barely even look. All I can see is myself on that screen, cartoonish, obscene, in the middle of what is supposed to be the classiest wedding of the year.
I want to crawl under the table. I want to disappear. They all saw it, every guest, every friend, every stranger. Rhett’s parents. Oh God, Lois and Wayne. My skin burns as I imagine them watching this, judging me. They must think I’m trash. A cheap joke among their polished set.
My champagne glass trembles in my hand. Around me, people laugh, whisper, and clap. The screen fades to black, the montage over, but I can’t breathe. I can’t look at anyone. Not Rhett, not Maria, not Max or Harrison. Especially not Rhett’s parents, who are at the table next to ours. My cheeks flame hotter and hotter, the humiliation coursing through me in waves.
In the glow of chandeliers and laughter, surrounded by glittering gowns and tailored tuxedos, I feel like the butt of a cruel joke. Like they’ve been laughing at me all along, waiting for this moment to prove I don’t belong here. They’ve pretended towelcome me, and the whole time they have been planning to do this to me.
I press my clutch bag hard against my lap, praying for the floor to open up beneath me. Because in this glittering world, under all these lights, I’ve never wanted to vanish more than I do right now.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Rhett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OFnMa84aSk
-something stupid-
The laughter all around me is still echoing in my ears when Pippa bolts. One moment she is there, sitting beside me, the warmth of her hand in mine; the next moment, she is gone, dashing past the tables and out into the cool night air.
I feel the blood drain from my face, leaving behind a hollow ache. I can only imagine how she is feeling right now. I can’t believe my friends did this to her. I can hear Maria’s voice in the background of my anger, trying to apologize, her voice grating on me like fingernails on glass. I turn to her, my eyes hard, and when I speak, my voice is flat and icy.
"What the fuck were you thinking? Why did you choose that clip?"
Maria opens her mouth, and stammers, starts to explain, but I don’t wait. I jump up and cross the tent. I feel like my legs are moving before my mind can catch up. I have to find Pippa. Thetent seems to stretch out, the chandeliers blurring overhead, the music fading into a distant hum. I have to find her.
I burst through the tent flap and out into the night. The ocean air hits me, bracing and sharp. I scan the edges of the garden and the driveway, the paths illuminated by faint strings of lights. There she is, near the end of the driveway, standing near the curb. I start towards her. Her fingers are flying across her cellphone screen, and her face is lit up by the bluish glow from it. She looks frantic and smaller somehow.
“How the hell am I supposed to order an Uber in this stupid place?” she curses, and I am shocked to hear that she sounds close to tears.
“Pippa,” I call softly.
She flinches and drops her phone into her purse. I see the tension in her shoulders, the way she tries to hide her face, to vanish even further into herself. I close the distance between us, moving quickly. When I reach her, I take her into my arms before she can react.
For a brief second, she melts into me, and I think she’s going to be ok, but then she freezes, and wrenches herself away from me, pushing at me with shaking hands.
"Don’t," she whispers, her voice tight, controlled enough that I can no longer hear the tears behind it. "Please. Don’t touch me. Let me go."
I know I could hold onto her, and she couldn’t wriggle free, but I drop my arms at her request, even as confusion and hurt twist inside of me.
"Pippa, listen. I’m sorry. I had no idea that clip was being shown. You have to believe me."
She shakes her head, a small, sad smile pulling at her lips. "It’s fine. I believe you. Really. But it doesn’t matter, does it? Our work here is done. George wants me back, and Vanessa has taken the hint and moved on. We can drop the act now. And theway everyone laughed at me tonight is the perfect excuse for why I left when your friends ask why we split up."
My chest constricts. She gives me another sad smile, and then she reaches for her ring. I watch, numb, as she slips it off her finger and extends it toward me. The diamond catches the moonlight and gleams with cruel mockery.
“Time to give the ring back,” she says softly, almost tenderly. "Here. Take it. Your jeweler will be wanting it back."
I don’t move to take it, and when I speak, my voice barely emerges. What does come out is rough and low.
