Page 19 of Grasp The Moment

As soon as the phone connects, I scream, unable to contain myself as he grimaces, showing my other best friend, Sienna, sitting across from him on their hotel room balcony.

“Dude, it’s eight fucking a.m., why are you?—”

“I fucked up!” I shout, holding up my left hand to the camera. The gigantic emerald sparkles as it catches the light, and my heart tightens in my chest.

“I don’t know what happened last night, but this?!” I shriek, and as I’m about to continue screaming about my problems to my friends, the door to the bathroom opens, and the line cuts.

Tina stands in the doorway, her expression soft as she gives me a small smile.

“Ma’am, the gentleman at your table was wondering where you went, and I decided to do a wellness check of my own—I can get you out of here if you’d like, we have an escape latch inthe handicap stall…” she says, her eyes apologetic as she takes a full step into the bathroom.

My heart drops as her words sink in.

Derek is looking for me?

“Uh… No, I’m—I’m okay, that’s my…husband.”

Tina tilts her head, her brows dipping before she nods, leaving me alone in the bathroom. With a sigh, I run a hand through my hair and take a look at myself in the mirror.

I did something incredibly stupid last night, but maybe some good can come from it. The vibrations of my phone pull me from my reflection; Denver’s calling.

Without hesitation, I answer the call and try to smile when her face pops up on the screen. She must sense the freak-out brewing in me because the first thing that comes out of her mouth is, “You’re okay.”

Taking a deep breath, I try to relax, but I can’t. I got married to a man whom I barely know. Sure, Derek and I are friends, but we met only six months ago. What’s to say we don’t regret this? What’s to say we don’t end up ruining one another's lives?

My hands are shaky as I reach into my bag, pulling out a singular card from my wallet and showing it to the camera.

Denver grimaces. “You’re using the get out of jail free cardnow?You just got it less than a week ago.” She tries to joke, but it falls flat when I don’t laugh.

How could I laugh? I’ve gotten myself into some serious shit.

“Den…” I whine, but she isn’t hearing any of that.

She waves a hand in the air, silencing me with a smile, “You can use the get out of jail card today, but there’s nothing to be upset about, G. Sure, you’ve done something crazy, but it’s not the end of the world.”

“Sure feels like it is.”

She chuckles and moves around in her hotel bed. Ryan’s shirtless behind her, peering over her shoulder.

“What happened, Peach?” he asks, and the use of my childhood nickname has the waterworks beginning to brim all over again.

Denver grimaces before whispering to him away from the camera. All I can hear is him shouting, “What?!” before she walks out of the room and onto a balcony.

“Listen, Georgia, everything will be okay. If it had been anyone else that you woke up married to, I wouldn’t be saying this, but Derek is genuinely a great guy. You two will get through this, annulment or not—you’ll be okay. Okay?”

I gulp before nodding. “Okay… thanks, girl.”

“Of course. Now, go call Cleo. She should know what her best friend got up to last night.”

When Denver hangs up, I open my messages with my best friend and sigh. She’s the person who I’m most afraid to tell anything to. Cleo’s always been the perfect one between the two of us. Where she excelled in school, I barely passed because of my faulty brain. Cleo’s always put together… and then there’s me. Georgia, the girl whose father stepped out on her mother. Georgia, the girl who wasn't good enough for Eden Marlowe to notice. Georgia, the girl who tried drowning her sorrows in liquor and woke up married.

I love Cleo, but I can’t burden her with this?—

A voice note comes through in our text message.

Clicking on the text exchange between Cleo and me, my heart swells as her drunken voice plays from the speakers.

“Girl… Why the fuck did Zola just tell me that you got married?! Where the fuck was I? Did you at least wear a cute dress—who am I kidding, it’s you! Of course you did. But what the fuck is she talking about? Call me now.”