The sun was still relatively high in the sky as Kayleigh made her way out of Bakerloo station. The days were getting longer and she couldn't have been more thankful. Summer was always her favourite time of the year.

Her phone rang, and seeing her brother's name on the screen, Kay pursed her lips before taking the call.

"You are dead to me, Leon Moore," she announced sounding more serious than she felt. There was a four-year difference between Kayleigh and her big brother, but they had always been close. Inseparable, some may say. So despite her being angry with him, she was excited to hear his voice.

Unsurprisingly, her sibling didn't miss a beat before diving into one of his long explanations.

"I know. Marcus called me and I'm sorry. In my defence, I didn't hold back the information on purpose. I simply didn't think you cared. I mean, it's been six years and you never even mentioned Marcus since he left."

Only because it hurt too much to say his name, she thought.

"The three of us used to hang out all the time," she said instead. "Now he's getting married, you're his best man and I don't even know about it!"

"You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I didn't think much of it. It wasn't a secret or anything. I mean, Mum and Dad know."

"They do?"

"Of course, they're invited."

"They're what?" Kayleigh bumped into a large man and her phone almost fell out of her hands. She mumbled a quick apology and returned to her call. "Do you mean to tell me I'm the only one who didn't know about this?"

Leon hesitated. "Yes... but not on purpose, Kay. You're invited too. The subject just never came up in front of you, that's all. Look, I'm sorry this is how you found out, but how could I possibly know you'd run into the bloke on your first day? I mean, what are the odds, huh?"

She stopped with a jolt at the corner of the road.

"Wait a second. Leon, what exactly did Marcus tell you?"

"Everything! He said he saw you outside the train station looking pretty lost-"

"I wasn't lost!" she interrupted. Kayleigh worked very hard not to get lost and Marcus Burrows did not get to make that assumption.

"Whatever. He said you guys caught up a bit but he didn't really get the chance to tell you about the engagement. Then the next day you happened to be at his girlfriend's workplace-"

"My internship is with her brand!" Kayleigh exclaimed getting impatient.

"Small world, huh?"

"I've been going on and on about Kilton's House of Fashion for weeks! How did you not make the connection?"

Leon paused and she could imagine him getting red in the face as he realised his mistake. "Honestly, I don't listen to what you say so much as I let it go over my head."

"Oh my gosh, Leon!" Kay gritted, her grip tightening on her phone as she continued her way down the street.

"Come on, Kay. Did you really think I'd remember where the girl works? I met her twice and it was before Marcus got all serious about her. I would never have guessed he'd end up marrying her so I didn't pay much notice. All I know is that she's a model or something and that she's very rich."

"She's not a model she's the... anyway, it's not important," Kay sighed closing her eyes. She was getting dizzy. "Did Marcus say anything else?"

"Nope. Oh yeah! He said you're designing the wedding dress, which is amazing, by the way. Super, super cool!"

She heard the hopefulness in his voice and knew the compliment was his way of saying he was sorry. She was still upset with him but more than anything, Kayleigh was relieved Marcus hadn't really told her brother everything.

"So, how are you?" Leon asked after a while.

"Upset and tired," she replied matter of factly. "But okay. I'm just getting home from work."

"It's almost seven-thirty!" Leon exclaimed.

"Well, yes!" Kayleigh laughed. "But it was a good day today. I have the best manager in the world. The team really respects her. And thank God for that because they hate my guts for obvious reasons."

"They'll come around. Nobody can hate our Baby Kay."

That nickname. She hated it with a passion, but she never had the heart to tell him. Leon was a very protective big brother. Between him and Marcus, Kayleigh practically grew up wrapped in cotton. She couldn't get a date until she was fifteen, and even then, they sent poor Austin Fletcher running for the hills.

Finally reaching her building, Kayleigh opened the front door and removed her heels before starting her journey up three flights of stairs.

"I still can't believe any of this. It's so surreal. The internship was already nerve-wracking. Now, Abigail Kilton is going to be wearing my dress."

"She's a human being like everyone else. Hey, don't think of her as Abigail Kilton. Just think of her as Marcus's girlfriend! She's like your sister-in-law!"

Every word he said just made things worse. But Kayleigh couldn't tell him that, could she?

"I didn't know you and Marcus were still close. You really should have told me, Leon," she frowned.

"I see him every time I go up to London. We're not as tight as we used to be, but I guess he's still my best friend. I'm sorry, Kay. Really, I am."

She sighed resignedly as she finally reached her apartment door. Her eyes zeroed in on a small dent about a foot above her height. It was the exact shape of her watch. Memories of her hands being lifted over her head flashed before her eyes. Marcus pressing into her, backing her into the wall. Tight grip on her wrists. Hot gasps of wine rushed her blood to her head.

Kayleigh was the opposite of wild in any given situation. She did not consider herself particularly adventurous or passionate. Maybe that was why she couldn't flush that night from her system. She could still feel him over her, around her.

"Kayleigh? Are you still there?"

Her brother's voice startled her out of her trance and she fiddled with her keys, trying to find the right one.

"Yes! I'm sorry, I don't want to make a fuss. It doesn't matter, I guess. I know now." She closed the door behind her, dropped her bag on the floor and lay on the couch. It wasn't her brother she was angry at and she knew it. "It's alright."

"Really?"

No.

"Yes."

"Thanks. Okay, well, I have to go. I'm supposed to get dinner ready before Mum gets home."

Kayleigh smiled at the idea of her brother replacing her on kitchen duty.

"Don't burn the house down, okay? Say hello to Mum and Dad for me. I'll call them tomorrow."

"Love you, Baby Kay."

"Love you too, Leon."

She heard the line cut off and Kayleigh squeezed the bridge of her nose. She couldn't understand how she managed to make such a big mess in such a short time. But Greta was right. There was no time for pressure and somehow, she had to pull this off.

Her phone went off again, this time showing an unknown number on her screen. She didn't like unknown numbers, or anything unknown for that matter, but she answered anyway, thinking it could be someone from work.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kay Kay," a familiar gruff voice fired back.

Kayleigh sat up, heart racing and eyes wide.

"Marcus? How did you get my number?"

"Leon gave it to me," he replied casually.

Kayleigh slapped a hand to her forehead. Those two really were like brothers.

"Yes. He told me you called," Kayleigh groaned.

"Don't worry, I didn't tell him anything about... you know."

Yes. She did know.

"Why are you calling, Marcus?"

So many beats. She couldn't even count them!

"I was just wondering how your day went."

She wanted to tell him her day went well, that she was going to be fine and that she would find it in her to move away from this sticky web she found herself in the midst of. But suddenly, she wasn't so sure.

"Marcus..."

"I just want to know we're cool. This is weird for me too."

The break in his voice triggered the reel of emotions she'd been keeping suppressed. The instant spark in the air when they met outside Marylebone was still electrifying her body. His laughing face as they drank wine, so different from the one she remembered on the day he left Southwold, made her heart quiver. 

But the nights she spent crying on her own after he left were not completely gone from her mind either. They almost overshadowed the days he spent consoling her when she was bullied in secondary school. How he held her and kissed her hair. She remembered all too well his words of comfort. His arms, his eyes. His hands. His mouth. His body. Their agreement never to mention what happened.

They were good at that. Not talking about what happened.

"Yeah," she said finally. "Yeah, we're cool."

#

One week later, Kayleigh felt anything but cool.

She stared at the mannequin, patient, waiting under the chandelier, dressed in an advanced toile for the AK Project. They had added a couple of layers for the skirt, but the silhouette was far off from what it was meant to be and Kayleigh didn't have a clue how to make it look like she pictured it.

Greta was right. The team did make her life hell, questioning her every decision and only following through when Greta intervened. To make matters worse, the Great Jean Luc, and he was indeed Great, was so offended by the turn of events that, once he got back from his leave, that he didn't want any part of the wedding preparations.

Everything was going to shambles, and with Abigail expected in just a few hours, Kayleigh found herself in a nightmare rather than the dream she had mused about for months.

"Staring at it won't make it better."

His French accent cut through the noise in Kay's head like a sword.

"It's six thirty in the morning. What are you doing here?" Kayleigh asked without turning to look at the handsome young man.

"I could ask you the same thing." He sipped his mochaccino and sat on her desk.

"Everything about it is wrong," Kayleigh confessed caressing the chiffon samples in her lap. "The material, the colour, the bust-"

"What's wrong with the bust?"

Kayleigh heard the sneer in his voice. He knew exactly what was wrong with it. "It won't fit right. This dress was designed with someone curvier in mind."

"Mhmm," he hummed as he eyed her fuller figure. "It's the design the bride chose."

"It's crap, Jean Luc. I need your corset."

He narrowed his dark-lined eyes in a way that made him look as deadly as he was beautiful.

"It's perfect for her!" Kayleigh insisted. "We can change the pattern of the crystals to reflect this design. But the heart-shaped neckline here will make her look like an eight-year-old playing dress-up."

Jean Luc snorted and Kayleigh thought she saw his eyes soften.

"She won't like that you changed the design without telling her. Do you know how often I tried to talk her out of the ball gown? She doesn't listen. Then I take a couple of days off and bam! We're into faerie dresses."

There was no ignoring his bitter tone. "I'm sorry," Kayleigh muttered. "I thought your dress was perfect."

"Oui. But she should be in an A-line, like Kate Middleton. Or a billowing off-the-shoulder, like Paris!"

"It's the upper half I'm worried about. I think your bodice would work just fine" Kay sighed. "But I understand if you want to keep it."

Jean Luc observed the poor excuse of a dress in front of him and Kayleigh did her best not to cry at the disgust twisting his lips. "What else do you think?"

"Think?"

"About this!" Jean Luc waved his hand dismissively at the mannequin. 

"Well," she started hesitantly. "The colour is all wrong, but we couldn't find the right shade of silk. And it's too late to import now. It's supposed to have a light, rosy glow and the closest we could find was either this or peach! And the chiffon! We have sixty-four types of chiffon and none of them flow the right way. The skirt should have multiple layers of feather-light material, all varying shades of ivory and nude so that when she moves, it gives off an ethereal vibe, cloud-like, almost. I pictured a dress made of crystal, pearls and air, and instead, I have mismatched silk and a lumpy skirt!"

Kayleigh hid her face in her hands. She was failing the heiress of Kilton's House of Fashion, and even worse, she was failing her favourite concept creation.

"Ugh. Do you know why you are so pathetic?" Jean Luc drawled. Kayleigh shook her head. She didn't particularly want to find out either. "You believe everything these idiots tell you."

Kay looked up in surprise.

"You know exactly what you're doing. You just need to do it. Take my bodice! Take the crystals for this elaborate necklace thing you have here," he said pointing to the original design. "You don't need to import silk. Materials can be dyed to get the shade you want. And you need to experiment more with the skirt. Mix in tulle at the top and organza at the bottom."

Kayleigh gasped at the man in wonder. "You're a genius."

"Yes, I am. What time is Monster Bride coming?"

"Ten."

"Well, giddy up. We don't have much time."

#

The screens were dragged back and all eyes fell on Abigail Kilton.

"What is this, Kayleigh Moore?" Abigail demanded in a low voice.

Kayleigh thought she was going to faint. Victoria Weston shuddered on one side, and Greta Borg stepped closer on the other.

"I... I..."

"This is incredible!" Abigail said clasping her hands in front of her chest. "I was worried about the neckline because, well, because I'm basically a flat Franny. But this works perfectly! And the skirt! It looks lighter than air!"

It took a while for Kayleigh to register that words of praise were coming out of Abigail's mouth and that they were directed at her.

"This is wonderful, Kayleigh, thank you!"

"Oh. Don't thank me. Your team is incredible. Especially Greta and Jean Luc," Kayleigh added shyly.

Abigail gave her a broad smile. "Can I try it on? I know it's not even close to being finished but... can I?"

So many eyes were on Kayleigh. Greta's, Ms Weston's and Jean Luc's. Abigail Kilton wanted to try on her dress. Her dress!

"Um.. yes. Sure."

"No photos though," Victoria jumped in. "We can't risk a press leak."

"Right. No, of course not," Abigail agreed, downing her champagne and heading towards the dressing room. "I wouldn't want Mark to see either."

Mark.

The Marcus Burrows she knew hated being called Mark. She wondered what changed. But a moment later, Jean Luc and Greta were kissing her cheeks and whispering hoots of congratulations in her ear and so, she happily pushed Marcus, Mark, out of her mind.

👜👗👒

Hmm... Maybe Kayleigh found a new friend!

Maybe Leon (what do you think of him, by the way? 😉) is right. Nobody can hate Kay Kay!

And maybe Marcus is cool as a cucumber knowing Kayleigh is sooo cool herself... Right?

Ah! Don't forget to vote if you are enjoying this ;)