Charlotte’s jaw tightens. Across from her, Riley awkwardly shuffles in her chair.
“What about us?” Charlotte asks defensively, taking a large bite of her waffle.
“How do you feel about the big day? The first guests will arrive soon, so you’re gonna have to get to work.” Gabi looks genuinely interested.
“Oh!” Charlotte exclaims, quickly correcting herself for sounding too relieved. “Oh.” Luckily, Riley takes over.
“I think we’re prepared,” Riley shrugs. “We each have our own responsibilities, and that's been going great so far. Right?”
Charlotte nods, wiping the corner of her mouth with her thumb.
“I’m just so excited to see you at the altar together,” Riley continues, smiling excitedly. “I can’t wait to see your outfits. You’re gonna look amazing. I made sureto have wet towels on hand, because everyone will faint when they see you.”
Lou snickers, touched by Riley’s words. “Thanks, love,” she says, putting a hand on top of her friend’s. Her eyes travel over to Charlotte.
“So everything has worked out in the end?” she asks cautiously. “Between you two, I mean. At some point I was convinced we were gonna have to do everything by ourselves, but you don’t seem to be getting… in each other’s face anymore.” Lou’s lip twitches.
“No, we’re not…” Riley clears her throat. “...getting in each other’s face anymore.”
“Yeah, we can be civil,” Charlotte adds.
“Like grown ups,” Riley nods.
“Doing grown up things,” Gabi pitches in.
“Exactly.” Charlotte squints at Gabi. “Like writing those goddamn speeches again. You’re quite content with yourselves, huh? Wanting us to hype you up twice.”
“You didn’t exactly hype us up the first time, dare I remind you,” Gabi cocks her head with a stern look on her face. Charlotte wants to counter, but the server shows up to bring Riley her omelet. An awkward silence follows while Riley digs in.
“Well, I’m happy for you,” Lou eventually says, focusing on her own meal again.
“Yes, me too,” Gabi says warmly. “Ecstatic, even.”
Riley, sensing the tension, jumps in. “What about the rehearsal dinner? Have you picked your outfits for that yet?”
“Of course.” “Yeah.” The couple answers simultaneously, after which another awkward silence follows. The scraping of cutlery on plates is clearly audible.
Then, after taking a breath, Gabi says: “We’re actually looking forward to that day a lot. We got an upgrade to the wedding suite for our last few days here.”
Riley’s eyebrows shoot up. “Mm, that’s great!” she says while chewing her hot food. “Where is it? Have you already seen it?”
“Ninth floor,” Lou answers. “So far away enough for—oomph.”
“To get ourselves some privacy,” Gabi sweetly interjects. Lou puffs up her cheeks and reaches down to somewhere beneath the table.
Charlotte keeps staring straight ahead, knowing that she’ll break if she looks at Riley now.
“And we’re gonna need it,” Lou mutters under her breath.
“It’ll be amazing,” Gabi quickly adds. “Because there’s a bathtub, a small living area… we can open the windows,” she sums up dryly.
“We can open the windows!” Lou sighs in relief.
Charlotte blinks at them, her fork coming to a halt in front of her mouth. “I cannot put into words how over the moon I am about the both of you… getting some fresh air,” she deadpans.
At Riley’s audible snort, she whips her head around. “What?” she snaps, but Riley shakes her head and keeps eating, so Charlotte flips her off.
“That actually reminds me,” Gabi says, pointing at Charlotte’s middle finger. “We’ve got a manicure booked. Lou, we’ve got to go.”
