Page 48 of The Best Ex of My Life

‘Wow,’ Teddy utters.

‘Yeah. Wow,’ Karina agrees.

They try to get more information, but I stick to the vaguest of explanations and eventually they give up, knowing it’s pointless to push for more right now. The conversation moves back to Teddy and what a shit her boss is.

‘The problem is, he’s not just a knob, he’s a vindictive knob. If I was to try to get another job at another estate agency, he’s the kind of prick who will give me a bad reference out of spite because he’s pissed off I’m leaving,’ Teddy is telling us as we make our way down High Street, walking in single file on the narrow pavement as we try to find Lace and Lavender.

‘I get that, but you can’t spend the rest of your life being blackmailed into staying, can you? We’ll figure something out, I promise, but I think that’s the shop up ahead.’

The white oak front door of Lace and Lavender is surrounded by a white flower arch. Inside, there are rows of silk dresses and pink velvet chairs in the middle next to gold tables and vases of white flowers. It’s beautiful, but Karina doesn’t open the door to rush in, instead she turns to us.

‘I’m sorry you’re having such a shit time at work, Ted, and I’m sorry about you and Jordan, Lizzie, I really am, but do you think we could possibly put all that on hold for the next hour while we’re in here? I know it’s selfish of me, but this is something I’ve been looking forward to since I got engaged, and I’d really like it if, for the next hour or so, my two bridesmaids could be ridiculously, over the top excited about this, too.’

Teddy and I exchange a look. ‘Bridesmaids?’ I repeat.

‘You’re asking us? Not your sister or your cousins?’

Karina rolls her eyes, but there’s a twitch of a smile too. ‘Of course I’m asking you two. There’s no one else I’d want but the two of you. I kind of thought you’d have worked that out by yourselves.’

‘I’d love nothing more than to be your bridesmaid,’ I tell her before wiping away the tears that have pooled in the corners of my eyes.

‘Me too,’ says Teddy, also wiping her eyes.

‘That’s more like it,’ Karina tells us. ‘Now keep that energy up when we get inside.’

‘Deal,’ I say, laugh-sniffing.

We walk in smiling and emotional and as soon as we enter, the magic of the shop weaves its way around us. The owner, a platinum blonde woman in her fifties called Christine, beams as she walks over the greet us. We’re presenting as the exact opposite of level-headed negotiators this afternoon, and she must be sure she’s going to make a killing. After serving us all a glass of champagne, which I’ll likely only take a sip of due to being the designated driver, she whisks Karina away, guiding her through the racks of full netted meringue dresses to dresses that are half material, half sheer lace to slinky silk numbers that will cling to every curve.

Karina picks out at least half a dozen dresses all in different styles and orders us to sit on the pink chairs while she goes to try them on. We’re instructed to be honest, but I already know they are all going to look amazing.

‘I’m sorry things are so tough with work right now,’ I say quietly to Teddy when Karina is behind the velvet curtain of the changing room.

‘It’s fine,’ Teddy tells me, but she lets the smile drop off her face for the first time since we came into the shop, and I notice how tired she looks.

‘What does Elliot think you should do?’

I know I’m going completely against my plan. I wasn’t going to mention his name at all today if I could help it, but one thing I know about Elliot is that if he knows Teddy has a problem, he’ll do his best to come up with a solution.

‘He says the same as you guys, that I need to leave, that I can’t be beholden to Ed for the rest of my life, but I don’t know.’

‘What?’

‘It’s not just the job. I don’t know what it is, but I’m not sure he sees how unhappy I am.’

Her words are a punch to my gut. I hate that she’s feeling unhappy. It’s not just Elliot who hadn’t seen that, and my stomach twists when I realise that I hadn’t noticed. Yes, there’d been a few times we’d met recently when she seemed a little down, a little low on energy and she told us she was tired, but I’d not read anything into it other than general work stress. I should have done, though. ‘I’m so sorry, Teddy. I didn’t know things had got so bad.’

‘No, I don’t think I did either. I can’t help but feel it recently. I’ve got you guys, I’ve got Elliot, and I’ve got my family, but most days I come home and feel miserable.’

I reach for her hand and squeeze it tightly. ‘What can we do to make you feel better?’

‘I don’t know. I guess I need to figure that out. Something’s not right, but I won’t know what to do until I know what that is.’

‘We’ll figure it out then. We will. Does Elliot know this?’

She lowers her head and gives me a look as if to say are you out of your mind. ‘It’s not exactly the cheering news you want to share with your relatively new boyfriend, is it?’

‘You should tell him,’ I say gently. ‘He’ll help.’