'Revenge, vendetta, karma'
Amy spat out the words with such venom that the young men on the next table in the pub stopped their raucous chatter and turned to look at her.
Lucy put her hand on top of her sister's and tried to speak in the calming voice she had used ever since they were children and Amy suffered from nightmares.
'There, there Amy it will be alright, I'm sure there's an explanation.'
As always her tone of voice had the desired effect and Amy visibly relaxed, but Lucy was dismayed to see tears flowing onto the table and Amy's shoulders shaking with grief
'How could he?,' she spluttered between sobs. 'I don't understand it. What am I going to do' Help me Lucy, please.'
For the umpteenth time she took out her phone a looked at the photo of Matt her husband- to- be barely visible behind a naked girl straddling him.
One of the lads from the table next door on his way to the gents glanced at the photo and shouted to his mates
'Cor look at this, hey lads . Is that you babe?.
Some of them rushed across to have a look.
Amy shoved her phone in her bag and laid her head on the table. She hissed at Lucy, 'I hate men, I hate them all, I'm never going to get married. I want my revenge! I feel so humiliated.'
The boys started up a chant of a very rude song.
The publican, Jack, who was a friend of Lucy's, called out to them.,
'That's enough you lot, Aren't you booked at The Giggling Squid at 9pm? I need these tables now they've been reserved for a Hen do.'
Lucy looked at Amy in alarm. Just what she needed, not. Lucy had chosen this pub because it was far from Amy and Matt's house. Amy was so low and Lucy really wanted to console her. Being next to a party of hens would be awful Amy's hen do had been a sobre affair in a posh hotel with her mother and Nan coming along for beauty treatments. Maybe they should leave.
No sooner had the boys left the pub, with backward glances and much laughter at Amy, than a group of girls came rushing in and crowding onto the tables that Jack had prepared. They were all dressed like life size Barbie dolls, smothered in pink feather boas and bobbing, sparkly headbands. One of them was wearing a crown that said 'bride to be' and when she saw Lucy she called out,
'Oh hello Mrs. Barret, it's me Tracey.' She turned to her friends, 'She was my Art teacher, the best ever.' Tracey almost toppled over as Jack plonked down enormous jugs of Mojitos in front of her. A cheer went up and there were chants of 'Tracey, Tracey.'
'Why don't you join us!' Tracey waved the magic wand she was holding.
'Tonight I can make everyone's dreams come true.' Her friends chanted and whooped and Tracey beamed.
She then noticed Amy who had turned round to see what all the noise was, her face streaked with mascara, red and wet with tears.
Her voice softened, and she went to stand by Amy.
'Oh dear someone needs cheering up, Come over here with us. Jack we need more Mojitos and two more chairs.'
She pulled Amy and Lucy across and they found themselves surrounded by pink feathers and sequins and two glasses of Mojitos in front of them. They were both too stunned to react.
One of the girls stood up and held up her glass, she took out a leaf of mint, held it under her nose, and breathing in, she turned to the girls,
'Right, everyone my name is Chantelle. The first lesson is to engage all your senses and to do that we will start with smells, take your mint and breathe in its aroma.'
With much giggling the girls all copied Chantelle, breathing in and exchanging mischievous glances.
The girl sitting next to Lucy whispered in her ear,
'I'm Tracey's sister. It was my idea to have a stripper giving us lessons.'
She giggled and took a gulp of the Mojito.
Tracey stood up,
'Chantelle before you start let's stop those tears of this lovely lady here.'
Everyone turned to look at Amy who was quietly sobbing over her drink. Lucy looked a bit dazed.
Chantelle sat down, gently she held out her hand to Amy.
'You are right Tracey. What is causing this unhappiness my friend?
Without a word Amy handed over her phone, the girls crowded round to look at the photo.
There were gasps and giggles. Amy took a deep breath,
'It's my fiance on his stag do. He's only ever been interested in football and fishing,I don't understand it, I feel sick, the wedding is next week and I don't know what to do.' She started crying again
Chantelle took the phone and using her thumb and forefinger enlarged the photo over the girl's bottom.There was a butterfly tattoo on one butt cheek. The girls collapsed in giggles but Chantelle spoke with the solemnity of a lawyer,
'This girl is wearing a thong, look, you can see the red lace. She looks like she is wondering what to cook for supper. Your boyfriend looks bored, you can tell by his eyelids he is probably thinking about the football. Who sent you this photo?
There was silence as the girls gazed at Chantelle enraptured. Lucy reached for Amy's hand under the table and squeezed it tight and Amy gulped then stuttered,
'..I. don't know.. it says unknown not among my contacts.'
Chantelle threw back her head and laughed.
'Ha! Ha! I knew it! It's the oldest trick in the book. Some people just love to make trouble. Your boyfriend was probably very drunk and one of his so called friends thought he would make trouble and spoil your happiness. Human nature is very strange. In my work I have got to know so much good and bad. Please delete that photo from your phone. Please never mention it to your boyfriend ever.'
There was complete silence. Jack came up with more Mojitos,
'Are you ladies alright. It's very quiet here for a Hen do.'
Tracey clapped her hands,
'Bravo Chantelle! ' she turned to Amy and grinned. ' Has that made you feel better ? OMG I wonder what Paul's doing on his Stag night? Perhaps I ought to ring him..' She took out her phone but Chantelle waved it away,
'No phones, no photos, no questions, you are all young, you are all beautiful. Now I will start my lesson, are you all ready.'' She pointed to Amy,
'Go to the bathroom and fix your make up and dry your eyes. When you come back we will start. A bride must have something old, something borrowed and something blue, right?'
Lucy watched in amazement as Amy obeyed Chantelle and fairly skipped off to the bathroom, reappearing soon after with something that looked almost like a smile on her face.
The girls gathered round Chantelle as she took out a large box and placed it on the table.
She opened the lid and took out various items. A maid's cap, a feather duster, a lot of sheer black lace and feather boas. She asked the girls to choose what appealed to them most.
The girls crowded round and Tracey grabbed a pretty pink bodice and held it up against her. Amy gently picked.up a pale blue lacy thong and beamed at Lucy,
'I think I've found my something blue.' She wriggled her hips provocatively and pouted, 'I'll make sure Matt never looks at another woman again.'
Lucy sighed and hugged her sister,
' Oh Amy that sounds much better than any revenge...'
