(Sequel to The Bachelorette Party and The Guests Arrive)

———

“What are we gonna do first?” Lexon asks, as cheerful as ever.

He might be the only person that doesn’t see or feel the tension between Minnie and Hillary.

Bonnie wonders if he is truly blind or he would rather not address it. Either way, she wishes she could be him and ignore it.

But as Minnie’s sister and her pseudo (but not actually) maid of honor, she can’t.

“First, we pop open some wine,” Minnie says, already going into the liquor cabinet to retrieve it. Bonnie doesn’t prescribe to using alcohol to drown out worries, but hey, she doesn’t judge. Maybe it’ll help Minnie’s nerves.

Gill and Fran appear to be a bit more aware than Lexon with concerned eyes shifting between Minnie and Hillary.

To lighten the mood, Bonnie tries extra hard to be peppy. Which is not her normal personality. “Then we have a lake outside and a game later on.”

“What kind of game?” Hillary asks, surprising Bonnie since she hasn’t spoke since arriving.

“One about the beautiful bride,” Bonnie gestures to her sister. Minnie does a small twirl, wine bottle in hand as she does so.

“Sounds fun,” Hillary comments. Something about her tone sends this unsettling feeling in Bonnie’s gut. She’s not sure what it is, but something is off about Hillary. The fact that she is the maid of honor already was strange, but there’s something more.

If she can get Minnie alone, she’ll have to probe her for answers.

“Let’s change into our swim suits and hang by the lake. It’s so beautiful this time of year,” Minnie suggests, taking a swig directly from the bottle. She doesn’t wait for any responses and leaves without even offering the beverage to anyone else.

That’s not totally out of character for her.

Everyone begins to disperse to get changed which thankfully gives Bonnie some brief moments of quiet.

She has a feeling that she won’t get many of those this weekend.

“What do you think is up?”

Bonnie practically bangs into the coffee table. She hadn’t realized Gill stayed back in the room.

“Up with what?” She asks, trying to play it cool.

She’s never been good at that with Gill.

“You know who. Minnie and Hillary. They don’t seem to like each other and she’s supposed to be her maid of honor? We both know Minnie doesn’t do anything without a reason, but I can’t figure out what she gets out of this,” Gill clarifies.

Just standing there in the stream of sunlight coming from the bay window, Gill looks graceful and elegant. Like always. Bonnie never understood how she could look so put together while wearing a simple outfit.

“Very insightful as always,” Bonnie manages.

“You’re not disagreeing,” Gill notices because of course she does. It’s like it used to be. Them being on the same wavelength. Like they could read each other’s minds. But it isn’t the past.

They aren’t the same people.

That has become painfully clear with how awkward this is.

“And observant,” she comments dryly.

Gill shrugs, taking three steps towards her, “You know me, Bonnie.”

Bonnie hates how much her heart warms at the softness of Gill’s voice. Caging her emotions, she turns away.

“I suppose I do.”

Neither of them say anything for a long moment. She can practically feel the holes burning in her back from Gill’s gaze. But she can’t meet her eyes.

She’ll break. She knows she’s will.

One of the more genuine times she can remember with Minnie was when Minnie showed her who Gill really was.

Gil doesn’t get to come back like it never happened.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the back sliding doors opening.

Everyone else is headed out already.

“Let’s just go out with the others,” Bonnie suggests, still avoiding her eyes. “You’re not at all curious?”

Beginning to walk away, she says, “It’s Minnie’s bachelorette. It’s about her.” She hoped that it was in a way that indicated the end of their conversation.

She never did have a commanding tone though.

“When isn’t it?” Gill asks, her voice harsh and unforgiving.

“We’re done here,” Bonnie insists, more sure this time. Gill appears to follow that this time because she doesn’t respond or follow her.

Once she makes it to her room, closing the door, she lets out the biggest sigh of relief. She knew it would be difficult but it hadn’t hit her how much until seeing her.

It’s just the weekend, she reminds herself.

She just hopes that no one drowns anyone in the lake.

Minnie wouldn’t do well if someone got hurt during her wedding time.

———

(Question for you lovely people: What’s the most frustrating love triangles (can be on screen or on the page) for you? Mine is The Summer I Turned Pretty, specifically the TV show since I haven’t read the books.)