Page 24 of The Wedding Pact

‘Okay, I’m all set if you are,’ Ida says, turning away from the mirror and looking at me expectantly.

I swallow past a hard lump in my throat and give her a nod. ‘Right. Let’s do this thing. Then we can come back here and hang.’

She presses her lips into a smile, but there’s less warmth in it this time.

Shit. Did my expression give away what I was actually feeling in those moments?

Yeah. It probably did.

But whatever, right?

The good thing about bringing a virtual stranger with no ties to my real life is that I can leave all this shit behind me once we’ve got through our week here.

I really don’t have the capacity right now to worry about what any of this might mean.

It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Getting through the first social occasion with everyone has to be my focus right now.

Ida leads the way out of the villa, leaving me to close the door and follow her as she makes her way carefully along the long, wood-decked walkway in her heels.

I catch her up and we stroll in silence towards the main hotel where the party is being held.

We’re running a bit late so my stepbrother and Margot will no doubt already be there greeting people. I want to check in with them right away so we can then move to the outskirts of the group and Ida and I can slip away early without it being noticed.

Glancing over at her as we walk through the dense, lush greenery of coconut palm trees and frangipani plants that border the path leading to the main building of the hotel, I take a moment to congratulate myself on what I think is turning out to be a good decision. She’s being super cool about all this and has made a huge effort to fit into this crazy situation at the very last second.

Seeming to become aware that I’m staring at her, she turns to look at me. Her smile is wide and relaxed and her eyes are alive with what I guess is intrigue. She’s about to meet my extended family and find out a lot more about me.

They’ll all be intrigued to meet her too, I’m sure. Because I don’t turn up to many family events now, they’re going to be all over the fact I’m actually here and desperate to know who I’ve brought with me.

But at least I won’t get endless questions about who I’m seeing and when I’m going to settle down, like Darian, and have kids now I have Ida at my side. At least, I hope not.

Why is the older generation so obsessed with younger people’s futures? I guess they like to live vicariously through us, now they’ve made their own choices and are having to live with them.

That’s exactly why I’m in no hurry to settle down. How can you possibly know whether the person you’ve chosen to be with is going to be in it with you for the long haul?

‘You okay?’ Ida asks me as we reach the doors to the main entrance to the hotel. ‘You seem a bit tense.’

I shoot her a nonchalant smile, though she’s not wrong. I am tense. I really don’t like walking into big gatherings and I always feel a certain amount of stress in the minutes before I do. Once I’m there and I’ve scoped out the place and done the first round of chatting with everyone, I can usually relax into it. It’s the not knowing how it’s going to play out that gets to me.

‘I’m fine. Just psyching myself up for the onslaught of questions from family I’ve not seen for a while.’ I take a breath, then flash her a smile. ‘Okay, let’s get this over with.’

Her brows pinch together. ‘You realise how ominous that sounds. It makes me wonder what you’re leading me into.’ She’s joking, but I sense an underlying tone of concern.

Which is fair.

I grin. ‘Ignore me. I’m just a bit cranky after not sleeping much.’

‘Oh. Okay.’ But the look in her eyes tells me she’s not entirely bought my lame excuse.

We take a couple of steps into the lobby, then I stop again, holding up a hand to ask her to wait for a second. ‘Also, look, I’m sorry if people act a bit strangely around me when we first talk to them. Some people get a bit weird about wealth. At least, that’s been my experience since we sold the app.’

‘Right,’ Ida says, with a glint of humour in her eyes.

I let out a breath of laughter. ‘I know, I probably sound like a total tool saying that.’

‘No, I get it. People do get weird if they feel like you’re out-leaguing them.’