The One with the Engagement Party. Erin Lawless

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       Chapter One

       I was surprised to be asked to be a bridesmaid for someone I would have considered more a friend-of-a-friend. I realised really quickly that it wasn’t the honour it had first seemed – she had twelve bridesmaids. Then the emails started. Until the wedding was over we were banned from dying or cutting our hair, getting any tattoos or piercings, putting on weight (losing it was apparently fine). The wedding at this time was two years away. We took it as just a bad joke … until one maid cut in a fringe and was promptly fired and replaced with someone from the “bridesmaid bench”.

      Erika, Poole

       Please Save the Date

       for the wedding of

      NORA EILEEN DERVAN

       and

      HENRY ROBERT CLARKE

       New Year’s Eve

       THE MAIDS

      Beatrice Milton

      Cleo Adkins

      Daisy Frankel

      Sarah Norris

       THE MEN

      Cole Norris

      Archie Clarke

      Elliott Hale

      Barlow Osbourne

      Sarah was there first, as Nora had expected, armed with a half dozen glossy bridal magazines and good-natured excitement. Bea and Cleo arrived pretty much at the same time, each having to hug Nora five or six times before they could take their seats. Daisy completed the group, having stopped off at the bar en route to the table to order a bottle of something bubbly and expensive.

      ‘So, go on,’ Cleo urged, the second Daisy had taken her coat off. ‘Give us the story.’

      Nora laughed, holding both hands to her face to feign shyness; the solitaire diamond ring they were all there to celebrate winked at them from her left hand. ‘I’ve already told you!’

      ‘Then tell us again,’ Daisy demanded. ‘Get the practice in, you’re going to be telling this story a lot.’

      ‘For the rest of your life,’ added Sarah, smiling. ‘Trust me – I’m still asked to tell my proposal story all the time.’

      ‘Okay, okay, fine!’ Nora made a show of agreeing, still laughing. ‘If you insist. So, you know, Harry was away with work for most of February, so we had a really belated Valentine’s Day dinner booked.’

      ‘Valentine’s Day,’ Bea repeated, rolling her eyes, but her smile was wide.

      ‘He’s such a cutie pie,’ agreed Daisy, moving slightly to the side to allow the arriving waitress to place the ice bucket in the middle of their table.

      ‘But, you know, there was a Tube strike. And it was going to be a complete pain in the arse to get across to London Bridge, where the restaurant was,’ Nora continued, still idly fiddling with her new accessory. ‘So I said, let’s leave it, too much hassle, love, let’s just get some takeaway curries and stay in and watch Netflix.’

      The girls all started to giggle as they imagined Harry’s panic at that moment. He was a great one for a plan, was Harry, and now there he was – on arguably one of the most important nights of his life – scuppered, stressed, cursing the railworkers’ union for ruining his chance at eternal happiness.

      ‘And Harry was … shall we say, uncharacte‌ristically insistent,’ Nora carried on, giggling too. ‘He was banging on about how it was our first proper Valentine’s Day as a couple. Then he told me we simply had СКАЧАТЬ