04

TESSA COLE

Tessa stirred her drink. The ice had long back melted.

Everything was going just fine back at Kayla’s place. They had set up lights in the backyard. She even had a pool.

Kayla Summers had cooked what she called finger food. Tessa and every other woman had thrown caution to the wind and had hogged the fried food in minutes.

They had even lounged in the pool, in their bikinis. After a couple of margarita’s and a glass of awfully sweetened cocktail by Sydney, Lexi had suggested to go to a bar since she couldn’t drink anything other than her bourbon. Alexis and her bourbon. Pffft. Tessa had believed that at first. And then she knew why Lexi was so persistent. All because that woman couldn’t control her hormones for a night.

Anyways, it was her bachelorette party. And if that made Lexi happy, then so be it

But she didn’t know why she wanted to get drunk. She just wanted to drown in whiskey. She didn’t know when she had turned towards it.

One day she had been in her office crying her heart out at night and Cal had brought a bottle of Jack Daniels and she had finished the whole bottle all by herself.

She liked the burn she felt as it went down her throat.

Shaking the thoughts of day, she steeled herself. No more crying. Even if today, after seeing him, she did want to shed a few tears… But still.

« No crying » she muttered to herself

The party had finished the moment Sydney had gotten herself drunk. Thank god, Kayla had agreed to drive her home.

Tessa couldn’t finish her drink at the bar after she saw Dave there.

So she had come home and opened a bottle of Glenlivet that once Logan had brought there.

Pouring a drink for herself, she kept stirring her drink. She sat down on her bed and kept thinking of the moment she had seen Dave, Sean hanging on his shoulder.

That moment Tessa wanted to go and talk to him. But she remembered every detail of that night. The night she had gotten her heart broken. The night when Dave had said she was useless, that she did nothing but follow her sister like a lost pup.

That she was worth nothing to him.

Nothing more hurting than a guy telling you, you were useless.

Tears stung. But she kept them at bay.

Swallowing down the contents of the glass she sat on her bed and put on her headphones.

*****

Tessa woke up with a jolt. She ran her hand through her hair and found her headphones tangled in her hair.

The sound of somebody pounding the door jolted her from her place.

« What the hell ? » She screamed and then winced.

Somebody was pounding at the door. And that somebody was certainly going to get killed.

Tessa threw back the covers and was out of her room. Her stomach churned and she wanted to throw up. Placing a hand on her stomach she told herself later

Because first she was going to kill the person who was trying to break her door. Moving as fast as she could she opened her door and found the familiar platinum blonde beauty standing there in a peach gown with her reflectors on. One hand on her hip and the other curled in a fist which was pulled back as if to strike.

« Good morning princess. » Sydney, the top model and the face of Mirage said sarcastically and pushed in.

« Are you nuts ? »

« Yes. Because I was the one who agreed to get you up and ready. Now go get ready. The weddings in a few hours. God alone knows why a top fashion designer have idiots for friends » Sydney said and walked towards the kitchen

« What wedding ? » Tessa cut in

« My wedding. » Sydney snorted. The girl was just full of sarcasm.

Tessa’s eyes widened as what Sydney said, registered in her mind. Wedding. Lexi’s wedding. Shit. How could she forget the wedding day. Her sister’s wedding day.

She let Sydney’s sarcastic comment slide and rushed towards her room.

Showering within five minutes was her new record.

She donned a white floral sundress and rushed out to see Sydney sitting on the counter, crumbs sticking to her lips and cheeks.

« What are you doing ? »

« Busted. » She muttered raising both her hands.

Tessa scowled.

« That was my dinner, you doofus. »

« Not my fault. You shouldn’t cook so good. I mean, I gained a few pounds because of you and Summers. »

Yeah Kayla Summers was the reason why Tessa had developed a liking to cooking. Chef Summers was one person that Tessa adored when it came to cooking.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, she snatched the now empty bowl of chicken rolls from the model’s hands and placed it in the sink to wash it later.

Grabbing Sydney’s hand, she yanked her out of the house and into Sydney’s car before the girl could empty her whole kitchen. For a slim girl, Sydney ate a hell of a lot of food.

« Where’s your car ? » Syd asked as she put her car into gear.

« Not in a mood to drive. » Tessa muttered as she put on her aviators and rested her head on the glass window.

Before she could fall asleep again, they had reached the resort that Lexi and Logan had built together. It was originally a mansion inherited by Lexi from her late grandfather who had been one of the richest man.

Sydney parked the car into the parking lot and they took the elevator to the top floor.

The moment the elevator doors opened, there was a loud deafening shriek.

They both hauled their asses towards the first room to the left.

« What ? What is it ? « Sydney yelled as the door opened.

« My hair » Lexi sobbed. From the sobbing, they discovered Lexi must have been sitting in front of Kayla.

Kayla was standing with her back towards Tessa and Sydney.

Kayla groaned loudly. « I’m so sorry. »

The sob turned to a loud anguish cry.

« Take Kayla out. Get her downstairs in her kitchen and see to the groom. Let’s hope he didn’t hear the shriek. Don’t come in or let anyone in unless I tell you. »

« Yes, ma’am. » Sydney gave a two fingured salute and pulled Kayla out of the room.

Closing the door behind her Tessa turned and finally registered the disaster.

Lexi’s dress was askew, half of her hair were clipped up, the other half was short. More like burnt. Her make up was ruined. And Lexi looked more like a ghost from one of the horror movies.

« What happened ? » She asked quietly.

Lexi stood up and threw herself in Tessa’s arms.

« Disaster. » She sobbed. « I think I should call-«

« Don’t you dare complete that sentence. Now stop crying. We have…. » Tess looked up at the clock. « .. an hour until the wedding. »

She dragged Lexi towards a queen sized bed that was pushed against the wall. Grabbing the tissues from the dressing table, she sat down beside her sister.

« Kayla.. curling my hair. And.. and something came up. She.. downstairs. Left my hair. Burnt. »

Tessa understood what must have happened. Kayla must have gotten called downstairs for an emergency in the kitchen. And she must have left Lexi’s hair. And Lexi wasn’t in her right mind to notice the iron.

While Lexi told her story, Tessa wiped all the make up from her face.

« C’mon. Get up. Go and wash your face. Can you do that for me ? »

Lexi nodded and ran towards the bathroom. While she was in there, Tessa called the one person she knew she could rely on. Thank God he was her date for the day.

She got her cell out

« Get your ass upstairs. I need you. NOW !! »