About an hour earlier, Yaya pointed to her and said, “You look so pale. Like the Casper. What is wrong with you?”
“I’m okay, I just think I ate something bad yesterday at the rehearsal dinner,” Poppy assured her as she sucked on a strong breath mint.
Thankfully, Poppy had hit a nerve since Yaya had wanted the rehearsal dinner to be held at her home. She’d wanted to cook for everyone. Frankie vetoed that idea, stating she wanted Yaya to enjoy the dinner and get to visit with her family.
“See, this is what I say.” Yaya’s hands flew up in the air. “I cook, no one is sick today!”
The only flaw with Poppy’s theory was that Pippa had ordered the identical meal that Poppy had. She looked absolutely fine, or maybe she was just better at disguising it.
“Pip,” Poppy spoke quietly, just loud enough to get her attention.
She turned head to Poppy.
“Are you feeling okay?” Poppy asked.
“Yeah, fine. Why?”
“I’m just…nauseous and I thought maybe it was the salad dressing.”
“Oh no, I’m okay. Oh…?” Her face lit up, and she dug into her bag and pulled out a beaded wristband. “But I have something that might help.”
“A friendship bracelet?” Poppy questioned.
“No, it’s an anti-nausea relief-band. I got it when I was pregnant with Freddie and it worked so well, I kept it. It really helps.”
Pippa got up, walked over and slid it on Poppy’s wrist.
“Thanks.”
Poppy didn’t want to be a naysayer or Debbie Downer, but she seriously doubted the validity of these things. There was zero scientific proof that they did anything other than offer the placebo effect, but at this point she would take all the help she could get. The last thing she wanted to do was upchuck as the I-dos were being exchanged. It would be just her luck that the moment would be recorded for posterity, and it would be her viral moment.
A few moments later, neither the bracelet’s power nor the placebo effect had taken hold, and Poppy knew that she needed to find a bathroom STAT. A sudden cold sweat broke out across her scalp, prickling at the nape of her neck. The room started to tilt, or maybe it was her vision, or maybe it was the universe. Poppy blinked hard and realized she was about to lose it, right then, right there, in front of the entire matriarchal Greek chorus.
She shuffled out of the sunroom, past the arrangement of white peonies and eucalyptus in the corridor and down the narrow hall to the powder room. She shut the door quietly behind her, slumped against it, and then proceeded to dry heave over the pale blue sink until her chest hurt and her eyes watered. When it was over, she slumped down to the tile floor and pressedher cheek to the cold porcelain of the tub. She let herself shiver there for a minute, trying not to cry, and then forced herself to her feet, rinsed her mouth with mouthwash, and popped in one, then another mint just to be safe.
She took a long look at herself in the mirror, and what looked back was frightening. She was as pale as “the Casper,” as Yaya put it, with dark circles and bloodshot watery eyes. Knowing that she just had to make the most of it, she patted her cheeks, applied a little color to her lips, and brushed through her hair.
“You’re fine,” she told the mirror, mirror, on the wall, trying to convince herself that she might not be the fairest, but she would be the finest of them all. “You’re fine, you’re fine, you’re fine.”
After several deep breaths, she opened the door and barreled straight into a wall of muscle and aftershave. When she realized that the muscle and aftershave belonged to a person, she noted that her fingers clung to his chest like they were holds on a rock-climbing wall. Her eyes lifted, and she saw it was AJ. A mix of relief and humiliation washed over her.
“Are you okay?” His voice was soft but vibrating with urgency.
She could tell from the worry etched in his face that he must have heard her dry heaves.
“Great, just pre-wedding jitters,” she joked as she thanked two-minute-earlier Poppy for deciding to pop in an extra breath mint.
AJ did not seem amused by her quip.
“Have you been drinking?” His tone turned even more serious.
“What?” She shook her head. “No, I haven’t had any…I think I might have food poisoning.”
“Do you need to go home?” he immediately asked. “I can take you home.”
“No.” She shook her head and realized the motion made her dizzy, so she stopped. “I can’t miss my brother’s wedding. And you can’t miss your sister’s wedding.”
There was a very long pause, he just continued holding her gaze. When he finally spoke, it was a confession that looked as if it pained him to say. “I didn’t like waking up without you.”
