Distinction: The Distraction Trilogy #3 (12 page)

“Isaac!” Hayley squeals with delight and spins in her large, sparkly white dress. “How do I look?”

Isaac steps into the large changing room where Hayley stands in the centre on a platform. He walks slowly around her and scans every inch of her and the dress. In reality he probably isn’t interested but he also knows how important this is to Hayley, so he’s making the effort to truly give a genuine opinion. I notice Jocelyn’s eyes following him and they look hungry.

She catches me looking at her looking at him and smirks at me. That was a challenge if ever there were one.

She likes him.

“You look absolutely stunning, Hayley.” Isaac’s voice is firm and genuine.

“Told you so,” Jocelyn says, stepping up beside Isaac as Hayley looks at herself in the many mirrors that line the walls.

“I’m in agreement. This is your dress,” I put in and Hayley places her hands on her face and begins to sob.

Oh dear.

“I feel like a princess!” She cries into her hands. I pull her to me for a hug and her mascara stained face crumples again before pressing against my neck.

“You look like one too.” I hold her tight with one arm and point behind her back to the champagne with the other.

Isaac nods and refills Hayley’s glass.

“How’s the bride to be?” The dressmaker, Lauren, asks, stepping back into the room after leaving us for a moment to discuss the dress in private. When she sees Hayley in tears she claps her hands together. “We have a winner?”

Nod. “We have a winner.”

“Wait…” Jocelyn raises a brow. “This outburst is normal?”

“Yep.” Lauren grins. “Tears are always a good thing. Unless it’s a week before the wedding, in which case they’re always a bad thing because they usually mean the bride has gained weight and can't fit into the dress she had made for her.”

“That sucks…”

“Yep.”

Isaac stands awkwardly holding two glasses before him. Hayley peels her body from mine and takes hers. She stares at herself in the mirror, her eyes puffy and swollen, her face blotchy and pink, her makeup in clumps around her eyes, but she still smiles a genuine smile. Then she downs her champagne and throws her arms up in the air.

“I’m getting married in this dress!”

“That you are,” I say and look at my best friend. “Is it our turn now? Because we’re getting hungry and I think Lauren is ready to close up the shop for the day.”

Lauren shakes her head and holds up her hands. “Take as long as you need. I’ve been paid for the day.”

“See?” Hayley grins. “Help me out of this thing.”

We do so behind a partition as Isaac browses the dresses, pretending to be interested. I can’t help but giggle when he holds up a dark blue dress that is half his size and says, “It matches my eyes, don’t you think?”

Winking at me, he places the dress back on the hanger and picks up another. “This one would show my ankles and I just
hate
my ankles.”

That one has us all in hysterics. For the first time today I’m actually happy that he’s here.

“Maybe you should shave them,” I suggest.

“Waxing keeps the hair away for longer.” Jocelyn puts in unnecessarily.

“She would know,” Hayley adds and I want to throttle her. “Try on the dark ones first. I’m loving the colour against your complexions. You’re both so pale.” She then picks up her phone and grins. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you…?” She darts from the room before I can finish. “Going?”

“I’ll go first,” Jocelyn says, snatching the dress from the hanger.

“The neckline is a bit awkward on that dress. You have to twist it before you pull it through the loop.” Lauren calls as Jocelyn disappears behind the partition.

“Isaac, are you coming to the wedding?” Jocelyn asks loudly.

“Probably not.” He responds and I see his eyes scan for an escape route. “My dad is though.”

“You should go. It’ll be fun. Won’t it, Eloise?”

Am I missing something? “It’d be a bit awkward. Wouldn’t it, Isaac?”

His brow quirks. I don’t know what he’s thinking but the look he’s directing at me isn’t one I want directed at me.

“Not at all. It has been four years after all. We can’t really avoid each other.”

That’s not what he was saying earlier. Is it wrong of me to not want him there solely so I can enjoy myself with Silas?

I’m an awful person.

“If you take a date, Isaac, it won’t be awkward, will it?” Jocelyn suggests and my heart starts beating heavily.

“I guess not,” Isaac agrees. “But that’d be rude. The invitation doesn’t say we can bring another person.”

“I guess you’ll have to take somebody who is already going to the wedding.”

Isaac’s eyebrows shoot up faster than mine do at her audacity. “I guess I will.”

“I can think of a few people…”

“I’m going to find Hayley.” I say, frowning so deeply I’ll have wrinkles come the morning.

Pushing past Lauren, I try to slow the beating of my heart and the ache in my chest. I’ve moved on… I don’t care. So why does this fucking hurt like it does? I don’t want to see him with a date! I don’t want to see him flirt in front of me! I don’t want to see somebody else flirt with him!

It’s unfair. I tried to keep Silas from him. I tried to avoid catching him at his dad’s. I stayed away for four years for him.

“You have a face like thunder,” Hayley tells me, covering the mouthpiece to her phone with her hand.

I cross my arms over my chest and wait for her to hang up after saying about a hundred ‘I love you’s.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Hayley?” I snap. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jocelyn is all over Isaac…”

“So?”

“So?” I scoff. “What do you mean ‘so’?”

“You’re not together anymore.”

My mouth falls open as she checks her makeup, using her phone screen as a mirror. “Whether or not we’re together is not the point. This is fucking cruel.”

“Jealous?” She shoves her phone into her bag and raises her brow at me.

Yes. “No. That’s not it. It’s just…”

“Get over it. He’s not yours. You aren’t his.” Her narrow shoulders shrug as she pinches my cheek like a grandma would a child. “What’s the big deal?”

“What game are you playing?” Why is she doing this to me?

“I didn’t know Jocelyn would like him… it’s not like you two are friends so there’s no sisterhood being broken here. What do you want me to say?”

“I can’t believe you invited him here. Why would you do that to me?”

“I’m sorry.” She looks sincere. “I thought it would be good for you both. For four years I spied on Isaac’s dad for you and visited him to keep him company, though not as much as you wanted. There are things… things I learned about Isaac that I didn’t tell you.”

“Like what?”

She chews on her lip and looks through the window panes on the door to make sure nobody is listening. “Have you ever noticed how there are no pictures of him as a child anywhere?”

I open my mouth to argue this fact but I can’t. She’s right. I just never noticed. “I…”

The door opens with a jingle and Lauren pokes her head outside. “We really need to get you fitted, Eloise. I’m sorry to disturb you.”

I nod and place my hand against the door before turning back to Hayley. “What did you find out?”

“He was in rehab after you broke up.”

“What?” I squeak, choking on the word.

She nods, her eyes wide, imploring me to believe her. “I know. I don’t know why but I overheard a voicemail left for John from Isaac. He said that Warrick Retreat was nicer than expected. I googled it. It’s a rehabilitation facility.”

I don’t even know how to process this information. “What does that have to do with you inviting him today?”

“Nothing. I just felt like it was time for you both to put shit behind you.”

“Well…” I give her a pointed look. “In future, don’t!”

We head back inside and the sound of Isaac’s laughter and Jocelyn’s girly giggle carries through to the shop area.

“Fuck my life,” I hiss and Hayley puts her hand in mine and whispers, “I’ll have a word with her.”

The day, surprisingly, has been a fun one. After the girls decided on pale green dresses, I took them to a restaurant on the way home for something to eat and drink.

The food was good and the company, though tension floated between them, was also good. The girls were loud, giddy and drank way too much. They enjoyed themselves, though, and that’s the main thing.

I’m a little disconcerted about the fact Jocelyn’s hand found my leg on more than four occasions. I wasn’t really sure how to react and nobody else saw so I couldn’t use their eyes as an excuse to push her away. She’s not subtle. That’s for sure.

Eloise seemed to be cool towards her though she didn’t voice whatever was on her mind. It’s not until I’m about to drive them back to their homes that it clicks.

She’s jealous.

I’m not sure why this satisfies me to no end. It unleashes a flutter in my chest that spirals into my stomach. I find myself wanting to grin. If she’s jealous then she still…

“I’m calling shotgun,” Jocelyn calls and Eloise’s eyes shoot to her. I see her frown and again that flutter takes a hold of my chest. I bite hard onto my lip to stop myself from grinning like an idiot.

“That’s fine,” Hayley tells Elle, giving her a pointed look.

“Sure.” She agrees, but even I can see that it’s reluctant.

We climb into the car and Jocelyn immediately starts playing around with the radio. She and Hayley start to sing along loudly but I don’t hear Elle in the choir.

Not my problem.

I turn the radio up and join in, making sure to nod my head in time with the music, laughing when they both start singing parts to each other and then to me.

“Where is everyone going, by the way?” I ask when we finally enter my hometown.

“I’m staying at Hayley’s,” Jocelyn tells me. “You know where that is, right?”

“Elle?” I ask, looking at her in the rear-view mirror. She’s looking out of the window, clearly unhappy. “Elle.”

“I’m staying at home.” She replies, though she doesn’t look at me.

“Okay. I’ll take you last then.” Her house is between my dad’s and Hayley’s so it makes more sense this way.

Jocelyn pouts at me but doesn’t argue. I thought she would but I’m kind of glad that she didn’t.

She does, however, kiss me on the cheek and slide her neatly scribbled phone number onto my thigh with the palm of her hand. “Thank you for a great day, Isaac.”

Shameless. She’s shameless.

Hayley thanks me too and they both wave as they walk to her house. I wait at the curb for Eloise to move from the back of the car to the front. She doesn’t even shift her position, so I pull away after adjusting the mirror so it’s aiming solely at her.

I want to say something… anything. I just don’t know what. Because of this, the journey to her house is silent.

“Thanks for the ride,” she says softly, almost sweetly, when I pull up at her parents’ driveway.

“Do you want me to pick you up tomorrow and take you to your car?”

She still doesn’t look at me. Instead she pushes open the door. “No, that’s okay.”

“Elle…” Her head slowly turns and her sad, tired eyes come to mine. “I’m sorry for today.”

“Don’t apologise. You didn’t do anything wrong.” And then she stands and closes the door behind her.

The urge to climb from the car and chase her down overwhelms me so I kick the car into gear and speed away.

Only one thing lingers through my mind the entire night.

She got jealous.

She still cares.

I sleep with a smile for the first time in a long time.

“I behaved like a child yesterday.” I admit to my mum as we walk down the long road that leads to Isaac’s dad’s home.

“Yeah. Though I understand why you felt the way you did. It was wrong of them to force you into that situation. I’m actually really disappointed in Hayley.” She frowns, highlighting the wrinkles I’ll be sure to have in a few years. “Not only did she risk causing problems between you and Silas…”

“He trusts me.”

“She put you in a situation that you weren’t comfortable with yet couldn’t really back out of without letting her down and looking like the bad guy.”

“Exactly!” I cry, glad that she agrees. “But whatever… I shouldn’t have acted like the spoilt ex bitch, you know? Isaac deserves to move on.”

“Just not right in front of you. He had to have known how you’d feel.”

“He didn’t really instigate the flirting though.”

“True.” She links her arm with mine. “The sooner you’re both divorced, the better. When is your next appointment?”

“We’re meeting with our solicitors in a couple of weeks to discuss finances and how everything should be split. I want it solidified so it can’t be called to attention in the future.”

“You think he’d do that?”

“No, but I’m not taking any chances. We do this properly or not at all.”

“Good girl.” Her smile is warm and full of pride. “When did you get so smart?”

“Not when I eloped, that’s for sure.” I snort and she laughs with me. “I’ve always wondered…”

“What?”

“Why has dad never moved us from Lily Hill?” I’m not sure why the question comes to mind.

“He has little dog syndrome.”

I let out a bark of startled laughter. “What?”

“You know? Big fish, little pond. In a city he’d be swallowed up by all of the businessmen who own way more property than him. Here he has so much standing and respect because he owns twice as much as anyone else.”

“Oh.” I guess that makes sense. “Do you think I should do that? Stick to one place? Is it a wiser investment?”

“I don’t think so. I think you were meant to make your mark on the world as a whole, not just a town.”

I grin, hoping that she’s right. “I graduate in a month. How did that happen?”

“I know…” She taps her head against mine for a moment. “I’m so proud of you for not getting pregnant.”

“Mum…”