“It’s the perfect wedding gift,” Leo points out, to which Ruby gasps and then nods along vigorously. “Thank you, Freya, for your words.”
“I see, taking the piss, are we? Very classy.”
“It was so meaningful and sincere,” Ruby says, grabbing Leo’s arm and squeezing it. “She really opened her heart.”
“Proof that she has one,” Leo remarks, prompting me to glare at him.
“We should remember what she said and get it printed on a tea towel,” Ruby suggests.
“You’re both evil,” I tell them grumpily.
“Not that evil,” Leo protests. “Your final Wedding Season task is actually quite a positive one, if you want my opinion. We could have been much nastier.”
“It was really Leo’s idea,” Ruby says, giving him a dreamy look. “Truly inspired.”
“It was a joint effort.”
“Okay, okay,” I jump in, rolling my eyes. “Time to put me out of my misery.”
“You tell her,” Leo says to Ruby.
“No, you tell her! It was your idea!” Ruby insists.
“Someonetell me, please.” I fold my arms. “This is my grand finale. I’m waiting in great anticipation here.”
“All right,” Ruby says, grinning and taking charge. “The last task of the Wedding Season is this: ask him out on a date.”
I blink at her. “Ask him out on a date? That’s my task? That doesn’t even make any sense.”
“Makes perfect sense to me,” Leo claims. “Does it make sense to you, Ruby?”
“Oh yes,” she nods. “It very much makes sense to me.”
“What are you talking about? Who is ‘him’?”
Ruby nods to someone over my shoulder. Frowning in confusion, I swivel in my chair to look out across the guests on the dance floor. I have no idea who they’re talking about. There are so many guys at this wedding, they’re going to have to be a bit more specific. One of them dancing right there in front of me is Ruby’s uncle, who has wrapped his tie round his head and is doing the chicken dance move with great aplomb. I bloody well hope they’re not expecting me to ask him out on a date.
“I don’t understand,” I say, looking at Ruby and throwing my hands up in exasperation. “Who?”
“Him,” Ruby insists, biting her lip and pointing behind me again.
I turn back around for another look, following the direction of her finger. This time, the crowd parts a little. And that’s when I see him.
Jamie.
He’s standing at the entrance of the marquee, looking a bit lost as though he’s just arrived. Dressed in suit trousers and a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up, he’s craning his neck as though looking for someone. He spots me. A smile creeps across his lips.
And suddenly it hits me. I’m ready for a new chapter.
I don’t know what that chapter looks like or how it will pan out, but that’s okay. Whether it turns into something, whether it’s nothing at all, whether it’s a little bit of something, whatever happens ahead. I’m ready to find out.
A conversation I had at Obi’s wedding with his uncle, Chido, right at the beginning of the season, springs to mind.
“It will get better. It doesn’t feel like it. But, with time, it will. One day, you’ll be somewhere, could be anywhere, and suddenly it will hit you. You won’t be expecting it. It will come out of nowhere. Bam.”
“What? What will hit me?”
“The realization that you really are okay.”
