Blurred Lines 1: CHASE
Chapter 80

-Sofia-

"What's wrong?" Jessica paused, withdrawing the fluffy brush she was stroking on my cheeks.

I blinked up at her through the mirror, guilt blanketing my face.

She parked her hands on her hips, accusing me with her narrowed green eyes. "I've been talking non-stop, and you've been zoning out. Seriously... what's the problem?"

"No, I wasn't," I denied. Her stare made me uncomfortable. I huffed, raising my hands in defeat. "Fine. I wasn't listening. What were we talking about again? Georgia and Rafa?"

"We've moved ten topics since then." She blew an exasperated sigh. "Are you having wedding jitters?" She resumed spreading metallic blush on my cheeks. "Coz if you are having second thoughts, now is the time to tell me so I can prepare for full-on damage control. The press is swarming outside this building, attempting to get inside so they can put a face to the future Mrs. Chase Montiero!"

"I'm not having second thoughts!" I aimed for a firmer response, but my tenor came out weak and unsure. The quizzical twitch of her lips and brows was all it needed for me to cave. Lying to Jessica would be futile. That's the problem when you've been best friends since tenth grade; that friend could see through your lies.

I focused on my reflection in the mirror, realizing this was my first time dressing up again since I gave birth to Elise. How time flew by so fast.

My shoulders slumped, voicing the worries munching my stomach since we put a date on this engagement party and our wedding. "Is it considered having second thoughts if I'm scared?"

"Of what?" Her wand paused for a beat. "Getting married?"

I nodded; my thoughts were sporadic for some unknown reason.

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked carefully, although her stare told me, 'I know what you mean, but you can't actually mean that, do you?'

"I mean, what if taking this leap changes our relationship for the worse? Leo, you and Georgia... all the people. close to me were victims of a failed relationship."

Leo, my eldest sibling, recently divorced his wife of three years and got full custody of their four-year-old son, Julian. And Franko, Jessica's boyfriend, left her without even saying goodbye, while Georgia and Rafa... well, we don't know what happened to them. They started falling out some time last year. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on FindNovel.net. Visit FindNovel.net to read the complete chapters for free. They just stopped talking, which left us on a tightrope in every get-together we organized. That's the trouble of dating a friend of your friends. When Rafa is present, surely Georgia won't be there, just like tonight. Maybe our wedding is the only occasion they'll both attend. Rafa is the best man, and Georgia is in my entourage.

"Do you hear yourself, Soph? You must know how stupid that sounds." Jessica couldn't filter her mouth even if her life depended on it. Even when Elise was in the vicinity, she cursed like a freaking pirate. I had swatted her a handful of times, but she never learned. Jessica deposited the wand on the counter and moved behind me, gripped my brown locks in a bunch, and inspected if an updo would work well with my dress. Her eyes widened in exasperation when I didn't offer a response. "Jesus! You can't be serious, are you? Chase wants to marry you. What more assurance do you want?"

"Franko was crazy about you!" I insisted, receiving a harsh tug on my hair. "Awl Be gentle, will you?" I scratched the top of my head, feeling the annoying pinch in my scalp.

"We promised never to speak of the devil spawn's name." She narrowed her eyes at me.

Franko and Jessica lived together for two years until he disappeared like smoke into thin air. Jessica was away for a job, and when she came back, he was nowhere to be seen. He went AWOL at LBPR, too, and nobody knows where he went. It's like Jessica dated a ghost.

I knew Jessica was hurt by what happened, but she had been flaunting a perfect veil like the man of her dreams didn't just up and leave. If she could read through my lies, I could see through her disguise. She stopped entertaining suitors, abhorring every man asking her out like they had chlamydia. And I just brought him up when I promised I wouldn't! I'm the worst best friend.

Guilt gripping my throat tight. "I'm sorry, but for the sake of conversation, I had to bring him up."

"You're lucky I love you. I was one second away from stabbing you with my Roger Vivier." The threat in her voice had the opposite effect on me.

I giggled, some of the tension in my shoulder easing.

Jessica plugged the curling iron and started curling my hair by section. "Chase is nothing like Franko and Rafa, Soph. Our relationships cannot compare to what you have with Chase. You two got history, and my God, you have the most gorgeous daughter. Chase would be crazy to ever fool around and let you go, you know."

I toyed with my engagement ring, the two-karat diamond resting on a platinum band weighed heavily on my finger like it never did before.

Done with curling my hair, she moved to section them in a ponytail, working on the updo with the gentlest hands. "I don't get where your uncertainties are coming from, Soph. The man is crazy about you. Besides, you've been living together for more than four years. Marriage is practically just a formality in this stage of your relationship."

I know she has a point, and Chase had been the best fiance any engaged woman could ever ask for. He's an amazing father to Elise and a good partner to me, but I can't shake this nagging voice in my head saying that once we get married, we'll be entering a whole new world where there's no turning back.

"I don't know, Jess, everything is just so perfect, and it scares me." My voice was so small. I doubted Jessica even heard me. I still remember feeling like I held the world in my palms when I was with Kyle. Then I woke up one day with my life imploding in my face. But then again, Chase is not Kyle. "Do you think I'm overthinking?" She made a pff sound. "I don't think it, dummy. You definitely do. Did Chase ever give you a reason to doubt his undying love for you?"

My gaze dropped to my engagement ring; it caught the light as I played with it. "What if he loses interest in me once we get married?" I voiced my worry. My body had changed since giving birth to Elise. I have mommy pooch, gray hair, and it would only take time before my skin wrinkled.

"Tell me, when was the last time you two had sex?" Jessica refused to give up, and she got me there.

As if on cue, a blush crawled on my cheeks. "He went down on me before I came here."

"You dirty girl, And you're having second thoughts!?" Jessica shook her head, smiling triumphantly. "I'm telling you, Sofia Collins, you're out of your goddamn mind. There, done." She patted my shoulder, and I gazed at the woman looking back at me. She made my blue eyes stand out with the smokey eyeshadow and n**e lipstick. The updo was simple, yet elegant. Jessica gently put on the drop earrings Clara gifted me on my birthday.

I stood up, looking over my entire appearance at the full body mirror on the side of the vanity. My white dress hangs on my shoulders in a thin ribbon loop. The deep V neckline ends with a black rose-like pattern, dipping down to the center of my chest. A bit of my cleavage was exposed, but not indecently. The skirt of my dress flows like endless silk as I move.

"Stop moping around here for something as trivial as Chase losing interest in you." Jessica stood beside me and bumped my hips. "You should realize how lucky you are, Sofia." She said wistfully. "A lot of women are dying to be in your shoes, you know. And with you looking like this, Chase will definitely be all over you tonight, babe."