From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: re: re: re: re: re: HEN DO JUNE 2022
Hi Sophie,
Don’t forget we also offer the ALL ABOARD PARTY TOUR: HEN DO SPECIAL STRIPPER PREMIUM PACKAGE!
For a small extra fee, it is a fun-filled excursion down the canal on your very own party boat, with a bottle of prosecco for every hen…twobottles for the bride!
And a stripper… performing CIRCUS SKILLS!*
*We cannot guarantee the circus skills your stripper will choose to perform on the day.
Best wishes,
Tina
CHAPTER TWO
“Daniel invited you to his wedding?” Cara shrieks, staring at the invitation I’ve just handed her. “Is heinsane?”
I shrug and take a gulp of wine. “Maybe it’s a gesture.”
“A gesture ofwhat?”
“A gesture of… I don’t know. Goodwill?”
“He issucha wanker.”
I swallow more of my wine. Cara takes a deep breath, watching me closely, and slides the invitation back across the table. We’re in a fancy near-empty bar a few doors down from her office. We tend to end up here whenever something big happens to one of us, like the day after Cara had her wedding meltdown, or the time when I landed my first professional-bridesmaid job, or today, when my ex-boyfriend sends me his wedding invitation.
“What are you going to do?” Cara says, folding her arms.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to reply?”
“Of course.” I frown, shoving the invitation into my bag and out of sight. “It’s a wedding. It would be unacceptable not to reply.”
She snorts. “But it’s totally acceptable for him to send the invitation in the first place.”
I shrug and pour myself another glass.
Her expression softens. “Are you OK?” she asks gently.
“I’m fine,” I say, as confidently as I can. “I’m fine.”
“But it wasn’t that long ago you broke up and…” She trails off.
I know what she was going to say. Everyone knows. Daniel was the love of my life. He broke my heart. I haven’t met anyone since. I haven’t even been on a date since. And he’s getting married. To Francesca, the girl he met in June last year, two months after breaking up with me.
Oh, God. I’m going to need tequila.
“We’re going to need tequila,” Cara says, getting up to go to the bar.
I met Daniel in my first year of university. We were in the same halls and became close friends, along with everyone else in our block. He was the one who admitted it first, on a drunken fancy-dress night during the second term. I was dressed as a grasshopper. He was dressed as a ham and cheese sandwich. We were outside chatting with some of our friends, and they slowly drifted away until it was just me and him. We were in the middle of talking aboutHigh School Musical 2when he blurted out his feelings for me. I was so stunned, I didn’t say anything. I just stared at him. Then one of our friends came out of the bar and threw up into the plant pot by the door, and I had to take her home.
