An uncharacteristic growl escaped Kayleigh's lips as she struggled to raise her bright yellow luggage over her head.

"Do you need help, Mademoiselle?"

A young steward who could have easily been David Franco's younger cousin materialised next to her, and before she could consider his offer, he reached up and tucked her case neatly and safely into the overhead compartment. She gave the man a shy smile and mumbled an incoherent thanks, turning away quickly before anyone could notice the instant heat rising to her cheeks. What she didn't anticipate was that she was turning towards five flabbergasted faces.

"What?" Kayleigh asked Jean Luc, Abigail and her model friends.

Greta snickered from behind her, and Victoria gave her a coy smile.

"Leave her alone, girls," she warned gently.

Kay's face only burned hotter when Jean Luc not-so-subtly instructed, "You need to tag him so he can take care of us for the rest of the flight. He is très, très cute!"

"What? What do you mean tag him?"

She turned around to look at the young man who was now helping a woman with a non-compliant baby a couple of rows down. His eyes flitted towards her direction, and he shot her, them, a polite smile. Kayleigh looked away like a fifteen-year-old girl caught staring at her crush.

"I think my ovaries are going to explode!"

"Calm down, Chels," Abi said patting her red-headed friend on her forearm. "Save it for Paris. Besides, did you not see Kayleigh walk in with the hottest man in London? After my darling Mark, of course."

"Of course," Kayleigh affirmed with a somewhat sour tone before she could catch herself.

Jean Luc's eyes widened before pushing her into her seat next to Greta.

"Pas de probleme! I'll tag him, then."

He adjusted his blue blazer and walked down the aisle as the women watched in awe. Jean Luc casually fell into conversation with the beautiful man.

"Do you really think he swings that way though?" Victoria asked curiously and Greta nudged her in the ribs.

"Doesn't matter. Look!"

Sure enough, two seconds into their interaction the man disappeared into the cabinet that separated the business class seats from coach and returned with a bottle of champagne and a tray of flutes.

"Here you go, Girls. The first round is on me! Thank you, Gabriel. Isn't it a coincidence?" Jean Luc sang happily. "Gabriel is from my old neighbourhood!"

Gabriel smiled as each of the girls and Jean Luc took a flute. Kayleigh waited until everyone took theirs, but there was still one remaining on the tray after she reached for the crystal.

Abi's.

"You can leave the bottle here, sweety" Maxine Azera smiled at the steward.

It was a genuine, kind smile, but Kayleigh couldn't help but notice the slight tinge that rose to Gabriel's cheeks.

"Okay," he conceded handing her the bubbly and the remaining glass to Abigail, who took it then stood frozen beside him. "But I will have to ask you all to sit down soon. We will be preparing for take-off in a minute."

"That's okay, Gabriel, emptying that bottle won't take that long," Maxine assured him as she poured the champagne among the group.

"D'accord. Bon voyage," he returned with a polite nod before disappearing behind the curtain.

"Bon voyage, indeed! To Abigail's last days as a Kilton!" Maxine announced as she raised her glass in front of her.

They all cheered and downed their drinks. All of them, except the bride.

Abigail Kilton stood there like a deer in headlights, holding her flute in front of her and staring at it in horror as though she was waiting for it to catch fire. Before anybody else could notice, Kayleigh jumped to her feet, snatched the drink from her hand and threw it down her throat. The sugar and the fizz hit her harder than the alcohol and she pressed a hand to her lips to suppress a hiccup.

For the second time in less than ten minutes, Abi's entourage gaped at her as though she had grown a second head on her neck.

"I'm... uh..." She twisted the ends of her hair around her forefinger three times, trying to think of a reason as to why she would steal the bride's drink. "I'm really nervous about flying."

Kay knew that nobody believed her, not even remotely, but there wasn't much they could do about it, was there? So she plastered on a nervous smile and downed her own drink as well. "Cheers, Abi!"

Determined not to let anyone ruin her toast, Maxine lifted the bottle to refill the two glasses in each of Kay's hands.

"Don't worry, there's still a bit left-"

But Kay snatched the bottle from the model's dainty hands, attached it to her lips and gulped down the contents like it was water. As the last drop slithered down her throat, Kayleigh's head was spinning, her stomach was bursting and her gut was yelling at her mouth for agreeing to go on this stupid trip. She sank into the closest seat and groaned, holding her head with both hands.

"That's okay, ladies," she heard Abi say. "I'll take care of her. She'll be fine."

Kayleigh slid over to the window seat to make room for Abi, who sat next to her wordlessly and remained very still while everybody found their places and settled down. Gabriel was back at the front of the plane and ready to start the flight safety demonstration. When everyone's attention was focused on him, Abigail Kilton sought out Kayleigh's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. 

Kay looked at her but saw that Abi's eyes were firmly focused at the flight attendant.

"How long have you known?" she said in a low voice so that nobody would hear them.

Kayleigh heaved in a deep sigh. She wasn't sure she was ready for this conversation.

"Since yesterday. I heard Marcus ordering you a virgin drink and I put two and two together."

It wasn't a complete lie, right?

"Ah..."

An awkward silence settled between the two ladies, but Kayleigh had no idea what else to say. She had been so upset about the news herself she hadn't stopped to think what this meant to Abigail. She suspected the pregnancy wasn't planned, but she had no idea whether it was wanted. Abi didn't really strike her as the maternal type. She couldn't imagine the picture-perfect princess with a big, pregnant belly or looking anything remotely different from the classy barbie-doll that she was. Not to mention she was getting married in less than a month. How far along was she? What if her dress didn't fit her on the day?

"Oh my gosh!" Kayleigh gasped.

Abi turned to her curiously and Kayleigh found she was too upset not to say anything. She had to ask, even though deep down she knew the answer.

"The dress," she said, the hurt already cracking through her voice. "That's why you chose my dress, isn't it? The silhouette will hide your bump if you start showing!"

Abi tried her best to put on a flawless display of shock on her features, but Kayleigh saw the guilt in the woman's blue eyes.

"What? No, Kayleigh, I love your dress!"

"I know you love it. But now I understand why you changed from Jean Luc's to mine."

"It wasn't just that, Kay. There's some something about that dress that makes sense. I can't imagine myself marrying Mark in anything else."

It was like Abi knew exactly where to hit her so that it would hurt the most. 

That dress wasn't designed for her. It was designed for Marcus. It was designed while Kayleigh was doodling freely, daydreaming about the great afternoon they'd just had riding around the pier on their bikes, those five minutes when she managed to make him laugh while her brother went to get them popsicles. That dress made sense. Just not for her.

"How far along are you?" Kayleigh asked at last.

"According to the doctor, I'm just into my twelfth week," Abi confessed.

Kayleigh was trying to focus on the counts of her heart beats when it suddenly stopped and a deafening silence filled her ears. 

"What? Abi, how have you been hiding this for so long?"

"I don't know, I didn't want to admit it. Not even to myself. I only took the test, like, two weeks ago."

"Two weeks ago? What the hell, Abi?"

"I know, I know. I was scared and kind of hoping..."

"Hoping what?"

"I don't know, Kay, alright? I'm scared. I only told Mark last week. Nobody else knows and I have no clue what I'm going to do!"

So he didn't know. At least he didn't lie about that, Kayleigh thought. Not that it brought her any consolation.

"I've seen you drink yourself stupid night after night, Abigail!"

"I'm not proud of it. I guess it was just me thinking if I don't acknowledge it, then it won't be real."

"And yet you chose a wedding dress that would hide your baby bump just in case it was!"

Kayleigh heard the contempt in her voice. She knew she was being unfair. It was not her place to be angry at Abigail. None of this was her fault. She wasn't even sure why she was so angry. There were too many things to count. 

"Okay, Kayleigh, I'm an idiot," the heiress hissed back. "I know that now. I knew it the moment I saw that second line on the pee stick."

The guilt and utter heartbreak was so evident in her voice, Kayleigh felt terrible for giving the girl a hard time. 

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Abi, I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you okay?"

Abigail wiped the single tear that escaped her bright eyes before it could cause a streak on her cheek. 

"It's better now that I told Mark but... I'm scared. We never talked about having children. It was a shock for him too but I think he took it better than I did."

Did he? A nasty little voice snarled in Kayleigh's head as the memory of the large, blond man wreaking havoc in his dental clinic while he was drunk as a pirate sprung to Kay's mind.

"You can't tell anyone, Kayleigh," Abi pleaded.

All Kayleigh wanted to do at that moment was to crawl back to her little hole in Southwold. She thought of Jack and how he would laugh at her if he knew what she was thinking. She was on a business class trip to her most dreamt-about city, holding hands with the heiress of her favourite British label and with the great Maxine Azera forming part of their kinky group. Everyone kept saying how she fit right in, but they had no idea how in over her head she was.

"Of course, I won't," she told the girl holding onto her fingers like a lifeline.

An announcement sounded in the cabin as Gabriel the hot, French steward folded his life jacket and demo belt and walked down the aisle again. The engine rumbled beneath them and Kayleigh's stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch.

"That champagne was not a good idea," she heard herself saying and Abi laughed beside her.

"That was a terrible idea! What the hell were you thinking?"

🥖🥐✈️

What was Kayleigh thinking? I don't think this is going to be an ordinary girl's trip... do you?