Chapter 13 

The following morning and it was time to pack up and go home.  So much had happened during this long weekend away, it was hard to believe that we’d only been here a couple of days.   

We’d crammed so much into it, and if it wasn’t for the whole drunken wedding thing, I’d have to say this was probably the best weekend ever.  But the whole AJ situation had kind of put a damper on things.  I still didn’t know how we’d ended up getting married, although I’d had a few flashbacks of some of our ‘activities’ from during the night.  Were we really that completely out of it, or was there something there between us?  Maybe I should just give in and watch the DVD – or maybe not.  Maybe it was best to just put it all behind me and pretend it never happened.  I had a date with Jason Orange to look forward to when I got home and I could hardly wait. 

I tried to put it all to the back of my mind and carry on with my packing.  Thanks to our previous days’ shopping trip, we each needed an extra suitcase! 

“My god Izzy, I think you bought practically the whole shop” I said as I watched her struggle to zip her case up. 

“I know, but those jeans are more than twice the price back home, I had to have a couple of pairs…and the shoes, you know what I’m like for shoes…and everything else.  I just couldn’t resist” she said and I laughed.  I knew exactly what she was like when it came to shopping. 

“Hey, you didn’t do so bad yourself” Chloe said turning to me and eyeing the pile of new clothes, the shoes, a couple of bags and other items. 

“Well, if you can’t treat yourself, who can you treat!” I laughed.  It’s not like I couldn’t afford it, I was a millionaire now.   It was still going to take some getting used to.  I was a millionaire.  I could do whatever I pleased…well, within reason, and I wasn’t going to be tied down to some crappy job anymore.  I was free! 

We finished off our packing and decided to go down for breakfast before heading over to the airport.  A nice big breakfast would set us up for the day…and it was going to be a long day, that was one thing for sure. 

“Have you heard anything from him yet Steph?” asked Jess 

“Who?” I asked, not knowing whether she was referring to Jason or AJ and the annulment. 

“AJ of course” she replied and rolled her eyes at me. 

“Oh right, no, nothing yet” I said and wondered whether he’d had chance to talk to his lawyer yet.  He’d be home now, wherever home was, not that I cared a damn.  

I pulled out my phone to check I’d not missed any calls or text messages. 

I hadn’t. 

We ate a satisfying breakfast, and then went back up to our suite to gather our belongings together and make sure we had everything.  I’d already taken quite a lot of photos, but I pulled my camera out of my bag and took a couple more photos. 

“We’ve had a good time haven’t we?  Apart from the obvious of course” I said as I cast my eyes over the suite one last time. 

“Definitely.  We should do it again sometime” Chloe said 

“But next time, we won’t let you marry anyone” Izzy laughed 

“Oh god no, once is enough!” I said and we all laughed. 

It was either laugh or cry. 

Nothing about marrying AJ was amusing.  It just wasn’t the kind of thing I would usually do; I didn’t even do one night stands! 

As we drove out of the hotel and down the Las Vegas strip, we looked at our surroundings one last time and then I put my foot down on the pedal and sped towards the airport. 

“Come on phone, why won’t you just ring” I muttered, out of hearing range of my friends.  I desperately wanted to know whether AJ had spoken to his lawyer.  But of course, the phone never rings when you want it to! 

We were halfway home when my phone began to vibrate in my jeans pocket.  I’d turned it on to silent so that it wouldn’t disturb any other passengers if it did actually ring.  I quickly fumbled about in my seat and soon had the vibrating phone in my hand.  I looked at the display – AJ’s number. 

“Hello” I said quietly 

“Hi” he said 

“So, any news?” I asked, getting straight to the point, not wanting to mess around wasting time on idle chit chat. 

“Bad news for both of us” he said grimly “spoke to my lawyer and he got straight down to business” 

“Yes, and?” I snapped icily at him, I just wanted the bare essentials, not an in depth account. 

“Jeez, would you let me finish” he said with as much frostiness in his voice as I’d had.  I could hear him muttering under his breath, but couldn’t make it out. 

Great Steph, just great, you could’ve been a little nicer to the guy!

“Carry on” I said, trying to sound a less of a bitch.  I wasn’t the heartless bitch he thought I was, I was just scared, confused, nervous and wanting my life back to how it was before I’d met him. 

“As I was saying…my lawyer got onto it and called me back just a few minutes ago.  He’s gonna get all the paperwork together, but he said that there’s a backlog of cases in the court, so we’ll just have to wait for a hearing date” he said 

“Does that mean I have to come back there?  How long will we have to wait?” I asked, my voice barely concealing my horror that we couldn’t just do this within a couple of days. 

I had hoped that all I’d have to do was sign a legal document and that would be it.  No such luck obviously. 

“Fuck knows how long we’ll have to wait…and yes, you will have to come back here.  Sorry Mrs McLean, but you’ll just have to be married for a little while longer than we both wanted” he replied. 

“Asshole” I spat at him down the phone. 

“And you’re a frosty bitch, but hey, we can’t all be perfect can we” he said 

“Urgh, you are as far from perfect as can be” I retorted.  I was unable to stop myself. 

“Well hey baby doll, you thought I was pretty god damn perfect on our wedding night, if I remember rightly” he came back with and I knew he was trying to wind me up further. 

“In your dreams McLean!  And for your information, I don’t remember that night at all” I told him 

“Nothing at all? he asked incredulously 

“No, nothing” I lied “now if you don’t mind, I have an in-flight movie to watch, goodbye” 

I hung up before we said anything else we’d regret.