chapter 2 - champagne

Amelia run sweaty hands down her dress again. Breathes deeply, she waits for her legs to stop shaking. Slowly, she walks out of the lift and into the ground floor. People move about hurriedly, unaware of what just happened in the elevator. Still slightly breathless, Amelia stumbles to the open bar where she orders a tequila shot and a red wine. She downs the shot and gulps the red wine, savouring the feeling of the tequila burning down her throat. 

It calms her, making her thoughts quiet.

Amelia sees her sister make a beeline straight to her, and she tries to leave before she reaches her. Too late. Her sister squeals and jumps up and down in her silk bridal dressing gown. Her hair is already put back into a pretty bun, with loose curls falling beside her face. Her makeup is done, her eyelids gold and glittery. Becca giggles and pulls Amelia into a tight hug. Amelia feels sick rise in her throat as she inhales her sisters perfume. Silently gagging, the sisters pull away from each other. 

"AMELIA?! What the hell????????" Becca says, looking her up and down.

"What?"

"Why aren't you wearing your bridesmaid dress?"

"Oh. Um. So, i kinda lost it. But don't you think that this dress is so much nicer?"

Becca stands with her hands on her slim hips, her eyes welling and her face twisting with range. "YOU LOST IT????" She shouts.

"Well, no. Not exactly. I know where it is. But, you see, i may have thrown up on it, so i can't wear it."

Becca begins to cry. Amelia hold her breath and pulls her little sister into a hug again. They pull away, as Becca lets Amelia's hand wipe away her tears carefully, trying not to smudge her makeup.

"Come on, lets go and get you ready," Amelia says, silently thanking whatever God helped her to not get killed by her sister for ruining her dress last night. The two sisters walk, arms linked, into the bridal suite. Amelia sits on the bed, helping herself to the champagne that rests on a tray. 

"So, did you see Zack?" Becca asks hopefully, smiling over her shoulder as she drops her dressing gown to the floor. 

"Sorry, who's Zack?" 

"Zack. Oh you know, Zack. Amelia. You're joking. Zack, my childhood best friend. Zack, the newly single man. Zack, who only wears black. I think he's staying on your floor, maybe even the room next to yours..." Becca says with a mischievous grin. 

"Oh fuck no" Amelia thinks, her stomach dropping at the thought of her little incident in the lift. So that was Zack, her once best friend. Well, he definitely developed since she saw him last.

"Amelia!! Did something already happen?" Becca asks expectantly, as if she already knows.

"He told you, didn't he." Amelia doesn't know how, but she just knows that Becca already knows.

Becca giggles like a little girl. "Yes. He might have mentioned it when he walked to me first instead of the bar."

Oh, that's how he did it. 

"Well nothing is going to happen," Amelia says, her tone firm and unwavering, but her mind is racing. The man is black is Becca best friend, she can't date him, or have sex with him. But all she can think about is his giant hands on her waist. The way he felt pressed against her. The way lust pounded through her body. The way his eyes hold a darkness that is both intoxicating and eery.

"I think he'll be good for you. And if you're sure that he won't be an issue, then i won't move him from sitting next to you."

Amelia's mouth is dry, her throat scratchy. Her head is filled with the things he might say to her if he saw her again. Her body longs to feels his against her again, her heart beats faster just thinking of the possibility of him doing the things she wants him to do to her. To touch her, to kiss her, to make her beg-

"Amelia? You okay baby?" Becca says, her tone worried as she waves a manicured hand infront of her face. 

Amelia forces a smile and gets up off the bed. "You nervous for the best day of your life?" She unzips her sisters gown, white skirts explode out of the small bag. Both the sisters pull the dress free, laughing when Becca almost falls over. They quiet, eyes taking the in beautiful dress. Becca sobs and Amelia panics, unsure of what to do to make her feel better. She hugs her sister, patting her back awkwardly. They pull apart, Becca sniffling and Amelia eyeing the dress. 

"Let's get you in this thing, hey?" Amelia says cheerily, trying to lighten the mood. Her sister has always been overly sensitive about the girly things. 

Becca steps into the gown, Amelia pulling it up and fastening the corset bust. Once it's all laced up, Amelia turns her sister round to face the mirror. Becca tears up again, so Amelia says, "Zack and i kissed in the lift. And now i can't stop thinking about him. I mean, who gave the right to make that man so goddamn hot?! THE MAN IS A GOD. Agh, and the way he smells. The way he looks at me. The way his lips feel against mine- Becca i think i'm in trouble. I seriously can't stop thinking about him." Amelia pants, her words just spilling out of her mouth at a hundred miles an hour. 

Becca stares at her, her mouth hanging open in shock. "Um. Okay, wow. Sooo. Right. WOW."

Amelia begins to laugh, flopping herself onto the king sized bed. Her head buried in the white fluffy pillows, she feels her sister sit down next to her. Becca strokes her back. 

"Look, Amelia. It's not the end of the world that you care about someone. I know you think it's a sign of weakness, but it's really not. Love makes you so strong. Love makes you happy. Love makes you melt. And it's okay to melt. Evie makes me melt every single day, that's why i'm marrying her. Love is not a weakness. You can give into it. You're allowed."

Becca always knows what to say. Amelia sits up on her side, smiling at her little sister. "Okay, i know you're a year younger than me, but you are officially smarter than me. And thank you, because i always forget that my views are strange and warped and i need someone to smack me once in a while to get some sense into me. So, you'd be okay if i dated Zack?"

Becca giggles lightly, "I would love you too, Amelia. Because i know he's never find anyone nearly as fantastic as you."

Amelia smiles, glad that her sister is taking this well. 

"Come on, let's get you married."