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I grabbed my bag to leave, and Asher's hand shot out and locked around my wrist.
"What do you mean it has nothing to do with you? You're the bride!"
"A bride who doesn't even get a say in her own wedding décor? What kind of bride is that? I've told you a hundred times, I want a woodland wedding."
I pulled the notebook out of my bag. It was full of everything I'd worked out for this wedding.
The color palette, the brand of favors for the guests.
Every detail, big and small, was written down in there.
I'd stayed up half the night, night after night, to get this wedding ready.
And he knew all of it.
Asher looked at the notebook in my hand and let out a helpless sigh.
"Josie, however nice it sounds in your head, it's still just wishful thinking. It'll never actually work on the day."
I threw the notebook into the trash, but my fingertips were still trembling.
"So everything I put real thought into won't work? But whatever she tosses out off the top of her head will?"
Asher's face went cold in an instant.
"Paulette's more level-headed than you, she thinks about the big picture. She's put so much effort into these ideas. Isn't all of it for your sake?"
Paulette gave his sleeve a wronged little tug.
"Ash, it's fine, I don't mind being a little worn out, as long as Jo-Jo's happy."
"I'm the one who brought you two together in the first place, so this is the least I can do."
I laughed.
Right. Asher and I only met in the first place because of Paulette.
I'm an outdoor travel blogger. Once, hiking deep into the mountains, I lost the trail and got bitten by a snake.
I sat frozen where I was, too scared to move.
Just as I was about to give up hope,
Asher appeared like he'd dropped out of the sky.
He crossed to me in a few strides and held out his hand.
"Don't be scared. I'll get you out of here."
He carried me on his back for three hours, all the way to the hospital.
It was only later that I found out why he happened to find me that day.
Paulette had egged him on.
"Look, there's a pretty girl over there. Follow her quietly, who knows, maybe you'll get lucky."
Asher listened to her, and that was how we met.
After that he started pursuing me.
Knowing I stayed up late editing videos, he brought me late-night food every day, always something different.
Every holiday, roses he'd sent would pile up outside my door.
I'm allergic to roses, but every time I still put on a mask and carried the flowers inside, because I couldn't bear to waste his feelings.
Once we were together,
whenever we went out to eat, Asher would ask Paulette which restaurant first.
Our chat logs, he'd forward straight to Paulette for her to analyze.
Even the brand of pads I used during my period, he'd go and specially ask Paulette whether it was suitable.
...
Again and again I told Asher that our relationship was between the two of us and shouldn't drag in a third person.
But he'd just wrap his arms around me, all wounded.
"Josie, I don't understand how girls think, that's why I ask Paulette. I only want to give you the best, to make you happy."
I had nothing to say to that.
It felt like a thorn stuck in my throat, one I could neither spit out nor swallow down.
The wedding-planning company's air conditioning stabbed at my head in throbbing waves.
I looked up. Not far off, the two of them were cheek to cheek, murmuring over some scheme.
Paulette finished and covered her mouth, giggling. Asher nodded, then turned to look at me.
"Josie, Paulette just came up with a great idea. At the wedding, I'll have the groomsmen dress up as mummies and dance for you."
There was a hint of expecting praise in it, the look of a man sure this would finally satisfy me.
When he saw my expression was still cold,
Asher's face turned ugly, and the impatience he'd been holding down for so long spilled out.
"What exactly do I have to do to make you happy?"
"The wedding suite's all decorated and you won't move in. We went to Paulette's hometown and you couldn't work up any interest the whole time."
"Can't you stop being so willful all the time? Stop throwing Paulette's good intentions back in her face."
I didn't say anything. I just looked at him quietly.
I only felt like I'd never known the man in front of me at all.
My head hurt more and more.
I couldn't be bothered to say anything else. I stood up and left.
Asher moved to come after me, but Paulette held him back.
"Don't rush. Listen to me, I have a way to make her back down..."
Asher stopped where he was and didn't follow.
I stepped out the doors of the wedding-planning company,
and the wave of heat that hit me was suffocating.
The thirty-fifth time.
Because of Paulette, the wedding I'd carefully planned was going to be packed with skulls and mummies.
I drew in a deep breath,
and suddenly thought of the old forest trail in Peru I'd longed for.
I took out my phone and booked the flight.
