Alec

Excuse me?

I felt my insides churn. "Today? Can't this wait until Monday?"

Aideen shook her head. "No, you leave for the Bahamas within the week and we have to go shoppin' for your holiday clothes so you’ll look gorgeous at all times. Then we need to book your flights and call your job and tell them you’re sick and will be off for a week. We have a lot to do, and I won't have you lookin' anythin' other than stunnin' at that disgrace of a weddin'. We also need Alec on board as soon as possible."

I swallowed down the bile the suddenly rose up my throat.

"Oh, God... I don't think I can do this."

Aideen grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the kitchen and straight into the bathroom. "You're just takin' a shower, that's it. One step at a time."

"Yeah, but-"

"Stop talkin'," Aideen cut me off. "Take a shower, and don't over think this."

With that said she up and left the bathroom leaving me alone in the room. I groaned as I began to undress. I turned on my shower and waited a minute for it to heat up. When I was sure the temperature wouldn't give me hypothermia I stepped under the flow of water and closed my eyes.

I didn't move from under the water for a few minutes because I was thinking, as you do when you're in the shower. I thought about what I was going to do and say when I came face to face with Alec. I couldn't exactly think of what to say after my encounter with him last night so I decided to just wing it. If I thought about it too much I wouldn't go and that would piss both myself and Aideen off, because once I gave my word on something I wouldn't back out.

I wasn't a chicken shit, I would one hundred percent go through with this and ask Alec to be my date to this farce of a wedding. The worst he could say was no. Plus, I've seen him once in my entire life and he has lived near my area for more than three years. It's not likely that I'd run into him anytime soon if he rejected me.

I hoped not anyway.

Twenty minutes after I entered the shower, I exited it sopping wet but extremely clean. I scrubbed myself raw making sure no dirty or dead skin was left behind. I moved to my sink and looked into the mirror; I rubbed the steam away and looked at my body. I didn't look below my chest because I hated my stomach, I had this little kangaroo pouch thing that never went away no matter how hard I dieted or how long I worked out in the gym!

I sighed as I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste, I applied the paste onto my brush, wet the brush then went to town on brushing my teeth. I was a bit OCD when it came to brushing my teeth. My teeth were very crooked when I was younger so my mother got me braces and when I had my braces removed and found I actually had lovely straight teeth, I made sure to take extra good care of them. They were my favourite feature about myself, I liked my smile.

After brushing my teeth and gargling some mouthwash, I grabbed a towel off the rack and dried myself down. I used the same towel to towel dry my hair then dropped it onto the floor to soak up my footprint puddles. Yeah, I used the one towel for everything. I hated when Aideen showered in my apartment, she used three towels just to take one shower and that pissed me off. A lot.

Next up was my moisturiser, I grabbed my favourite tub of strawberry body butter and rubbed it all over my body, then I did a little bit of a naked waving dance to help it dry faster. I probably looked like a dope, but it was effective and that's all the mattered.

When I emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel I was pounced on by Aideen. "Come on, I've got an outfit picked out for you."

She pulled me down to my bedroom by my arm and I stumbled a little when she let me go. I balanced myself and looked to my bed where Storm was passed out cold again and snoring.

"He is worse than a man."

Aideen snorted. "I would say he portrays males perfectly."

I snickered as I moved towards Aideen who was now practically inside my wardrobe. "I've picked out this blue knee length dress and a white pair of Converse for you to wear. It's on the end of your bed."

I looked at the dress and nodded my head in approval. I bought it a few weeks ago in Pennys for the summer months because it was a great length and fitted nicely.

"It's lovely but me boobs aren't big enough to fill it out though."

Aideen grinned. "That's why God invented push up bras."

I gave her a get-real look. "God didn't create push up bras, man did."

Aideen shrugged. "True, but God planted the idea in man's mind. Put it on."

I chuckled, and dropped my towel. Aideen was already turned and back inside my wardrobe looking for my right Converse since the left one was already on the floor. I put on the bra then grabbed a pair of white knickers from my underwear drawer. I pulled my dress on over my head and looked down at my chest just as Aideen turned around and gave me a thumbs up.

"See? Instant jugs."

I snorted and held my hand out for my Converse. Aideen wrinkled her nose at me and shook her head before moving to my chest of drawers. She opened the bottom one, and grabbed a white pair of ankle socks.

"I hate when you don't wear socks with shoes, it's disgustin'."

I stuck my tongue out at her as I took the socks from her hand, I put both of them on then put on my Converse and stood up. I did a little twirl.

"What do you think?"

Aideen tilted her head to the side as she looked at me and frowned. "You've lost weight, your love handles are virtually gone."

I clapped my hands together like a happy seal. "Best news ever!"

Aideen shook her head. "No, it's not, you shouldn't lose weight as fast as you are. Are you eatin' three full meals a day?"

No.

I wasn't starving myself, but I tried my best to limit my food intake if I could help it.

"Yes, mother," I teased.

I didn't tell her the truth because Aideen wouldn't understand, she would just nag me about 'not eating properly'. I didn't hold it against her though because she cared about me and was only looking out for me, but she didn't know what it was like growing up with a mother like mine. One who scrutinised everything you put in your mouth and made you feel like crap about yourself. I barely loved my ma, she is not a nice person. Not even to me and I was her only child.

Aideen smiled at me as she believed my lie. "Well, lucky you. All your hard work is paying off, the Jason fat is nearly all gone. Woohoo."

I snickered and high fived her.

When I found out who Jason was and that he wasn't my partner, and that he used me just to upset my cousin, I comfort ate and put on three and a half stone. Aideen called it my Jason fat. That nickname alone gave me the boost needed to lose the weight. I didn't want any part of Jason connected to me, especially Jason fat.

I moved to my chest of drawers and opened the top drawer. I took out my hair dryer and hair straightener before I sat on my bed then handed them to Aideen. She plugged the hairdryer into the outlet on my wall and spent the next ten minutes blow drying my hair. My hair wasn't very long. It fell to my mid back when it was straight and it wasn't very thick, so luckily it didn't take long to dry.

"I'm gonna put loose curls down the end of your hair, it looks gorgeous like that. We need you to look hot so it persuades that sexy fucker to be your date in case he hates you after last night."

I raised my eyebrows. "Hell no, if he says no then that is his final answer, no ask the audience, fifty-fifty, or phone a friend. I won't beg or try to persuade him in any way."

Aideen grinned. "Yes, ma'am."

I glared. "That also means you won't try to persuade him either."

She put the straightener down and held up her hands. "I won't do anythin', I swear on the Bible."

I rolled my eyes. "That means nothin' to me, you're goin' to Hell and you know it."

Aideen snickered as she grabbed some heat protectant spray and put some on the ends of my hair. She waited a fews minute for it to dry then picked up the straightener and started to wrap the ends of my hair around the hot plates before she pulled. When she released my hair the ends of it sprung into loose curls, it made me smile because I loved this look on me just as much as Aideen did. It was a nice change considering I wear my hair in a ponytail or up in a messy bun most of the time.