Oliver Sykes | The Bully
Oliver would recognize those green eyes anywhere. Seventeen years might have gone by, but that didn't matter, he knew exactly who the tiny brunette was that he'd gotten the bottle of wine down off the self for. Charlotte Reed. The surprise was evident on his face when she turned and they locked eyes, recognition also rather evident as well. It was enough to make him sober up a great deal, and he was also able to tune out the drunken laughter of his mates for the time being. What was she doing here? When had she gotten back to Sheffield? Was she back for good? All of those questions, and many more, were swirling around in his head, and he didn't know which to ask first.
Instead, he stupidly uttered her name, and he was certain that he couldn't come off as more of an idiot as he did right then and there. Oh well. It wasn't like he could turn back time or anything like that. He opened his mouth to say something else when she spoke, the cold edge behind her words confusing the singer slightly. What was that all about? He couldn't have said something wrong already he, right? He'd literally just said her name, that was it, though he supposed her correcting him and telling him that her name was Charlotte, not Lottie as he'd always called her when they were little, could be the reason. Maybe she didn't like the nickname anymore. Maybe there was a reasoning behind that, and he really had said the wrong thing already. It would be just his luck, wouldn't it? He'd fuck things up after not seeing her for seventeen years within the first five minutes of reacquainting himself with her.
He continued on, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she clearly wanted nothing to do with him at all. He was still in shock over the fact that she was there, standing right in front of him. He hadn't seen or spoken to her since they were kids. When she moved to the States, something he remembered quite clearly to this very day, he was certain that he'd never see her again. His mum had tried telling him that he would, that she and her mum would probably be back to visit every so often, but, even as a ten year old, he knew better. He knew that she wasn't coming back, and, while he was pretty gutted about the whole thing for a while, he did move on. He'd had a bit of a crush on her when they were kids, but they were just kids at the time, nothing more. A great deal of time had passed since then, and a lot had happened in those seventeen years. Nothing could have really ever prepared him for seeing her again. He just hadn't seen it coming at all. "How've you been? When did you get back to Sheffield?"
And then she was pushing past him, starting back down the aisle towards the till, and Oliver was more confused than he'd ever been before. Something was definitely up, either that or she was just having a really off day today. Regardless of what it actually was, he couldn't help wondering if he really had said something to piss her off, even if he hadn't said much of anything to her at all just yet. It certainly seemed that way, and, although it was fairly obvious that she didn't want anything do with him right now, he followed after her, ignoring the questioning looks that everyone was sending him as he did so.
"Lott--er, Charlotte, wait up!" He called after her. It didn't take him long to reach her at all, she was much smaller than he was and he had long legs, not to mention the fact that it was only a short distance to the till anyway. "Did I do something?" He asked curiously, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. He still didn't think that he could have said something wrong in such a short amount of time, but he wasn't about to act all high and mighty about it right now. If he'd said something to piss her off, he was going to try to make things right. Of course, the last thing on his mind was that her cold demeanor was caused by something, or rather a lot of things, that he'd done seventeen years ago. Why would he think that? After all, seventeen years was a long time, nearly two decades really, and certainly no one could hold a grudge for that long, right?
Elizabeth Kingsley | The Bride
"No, it's fine. Honestly. Your mom and I were just going to make a final decision on the floral arrangements anyway. You would've been bored to tears." Effy said, running a hand through her recently-dyed brunette locks. She was kind of hoping to get some other things done as well, but she didn't want
Sam, her fiancé, to feel bad or anything like that. She could only hope that the disappointment wasn't all that evident in her voice. This was one of the downsides of being engaged to a doctor. He was on-call 24/7, so there was really no way of telling if he'd be called in or not. And today was no exception, even if it was only just shy of seven in the morning. "I'll see you tonight. Love you too." She hung up the phone, letting out a soft sigh. She was going to need a drink, or maybe five, after spending the morning and a good portion of the afternoon with her soon to be mother-in-law.
It was moments like this where Effy found herself thinking about Josh. She didn't know why, she hadn't seen or spoken to him in quite a while now, but he still managed to plague her mind. And it was always times when she was alone, or Sam bailed out on something because of work. She told herself that she was over Josh though. He'd only ever seen her as his best friend, nothing more, nothing less, and she was over him. She'd sent him an invitation, she really didn't know why though. Of course, she'd sent one to his sister, mum and dad as well, but she didn't really know why. She hadn't spoken to them in years, though her mother had told her it was the right thing to do. She'd received an RSVP from everyone she'd invited, Josh' mum, dad and sister included, except for the one person who, though she wouldn't openly admit it, she was truly waiting on.
She really needed to stop doing this to herself though. She needed to stop thinking about him. She was engaged. She'd be happily married to the love of her life soon enough. And this wedding was going to happen whether Josh came or not. She'd moved on when she didn't return to Weybridge the summer before she started college. She was going to marry Sam whether he showed up or not, and they were going to live long, happy lives together. Quickly shaking the thoughts from her head, the petite brunette stood up, figuring that she might as well go make herself some breakfast and get started with her day. She wasn't due to meet up with Sam's mother for a couple more hours, so she had time to relax and maybe get some things sorted that she was certain wouldn't get sorted when she was with her mother in-law.
Even though the wedding was just a short six weeks away, there was still so much that she needed to do. She had never really realized just how stressful planning a wedding could actually be. Now she could see why all those women she saw on TV turned into bridezillas. Thankfully, she didn't think she'd reached that point, though there were a few times when she'd come pretty close.
As much as she was dreading today, she knew that it was going to happen regardless, might as well make herself look presentable and prepare for the torturous day that was in store for her. Just as she went down the hall to finish getting ready, her phone started going off. "Who the hell has radar on me?" She spoke aloud, letting out a soft sigh as she headed to her room to grab her phone. She froze when she saw the name flashing across the screen. He hadn't tried calling her in ages. She honestly didn't know why his number was still in her phone but it was. She stood there for a moment, letting it ring for a few seconds, before answering it. "Hello?"
Taking those few extra seconds to compose herself before answering the phone didn't really help much at all. "Uh...hi..." She mentally cursed herself for coming off so awkward. "I'm doing alright. How're you?" That was an understatement. She was getting married in a month and a half, she was more than alright. She didn't really know what to say though, they hadn't spoken in years, let alone seen each other. This phone call was unexpected, regardless of the fact that she'd sent him an invitation to the wedding. It was past the RSVP date, so why was he calling her? And then he brought it up. There it was. He hadn't received the invitation until last night. She hesitated for a moment, her lower lip catching between her teeth. "No it's not too late at all. You're coming then?" She hoped she didn't sound too eager about it. The thing was, despite everything, she really wanted to see him. She'd missed him a lot over the years, and, whether she'd admit to it or not, deep down she knew that she was still in love with him.