Logan chuckles and retracts his snooping stance, but I stay where I am, briefly taking in the splendour of it all. It’s fair to say that we’ve gone all out. From the elaborate floral centre-pieces on the four large, round tables, to the custom-made cotton napkins embossed with a G and L on them, to the wood-sprung dance floor, to the bar which happily reminds me of the one at the Hotel Beaux Rêves, every decor element oozes elegance and class. Just as well, I think, considering there are at least a handful of interior designers hidden within the mass of people.
Amélie is the most noticeable of them, mainly because of her striking white dress — the social law of never wearing white to a wedding doesn’t apply to her, apparently. She’s standing with Layla, Margaret, and Madeleine Lily, who I still have to pinch myself, is now a good friend of mine. Not long after confessing my knowledge of Pierson House’s extension plans to Amélie, Madeleine called me and invited me out for lunch, and despite my inevitable fangirling, we actually hit it off. Kind of like Logan and I, I note, except without all the love and sex.
The four of them are noticeable apart from the group comprised of Amber, Seamus, Buddy, Michel (the one groomsmen), and several of Logan’s other colleagues, including Grace, Guillaume, Antoine, Benjamin and all of their significant others. Buddy and Amélie staying away from each other is an obvious move given their ongoing hostility, but I suspect Seamus and Amber — who’s deep in conversation with Grace, probably about all things babies — are purposefully staying away from Layla too, after she and Patrick ended things a few weeks back, less than amicably.
My one brides maid, Lucie, is sitting at the bar with Pedro, Bianco, and a mixture of other guests from my work, Logan’s work, and my mom’s salon. Near them, our parents and Karen are chatting away to a very dolled up Mercy and Gilles. But perhaps more eye-catching everyone else is Abigail, Noah, and Samuel, who have formed an odd camaraderie and are sitting together on the edge of the dance floor, in what is possibly the cutest trinity that I have ever seen.
With a smile on my face, I turn around and look at Logan. He’s watching me with slightly glazed eyes, as though deep in thought.
Feeling completely content, I ask him, “What are you thinking about?”
“It’s a good day to be me,” he says immediately.
“Oh, yeah?” I giggle.
“Yeah,” he grins.
“Do you feel validated?” I ask. He looks at me in confusion, so I explain, “You were right, Logan, when you saw me and thought that I’m the one…you were right.”
He smirks and shrugs, adorably. “I knew I’d get you eventually,” he says mischievously.
“Get me?” I laugh. “Jeez, we’re married two hours and I’m already objectified,” I scoff, jokingly, even though I know that, with Logan, the opposite is true. I know he’ll value me, and honour me, and love me for the rest of our lives. Good catch, Gem, I congratulate myself.
“Some of the guys at work,” Logan gestures into the depths of marquee, “used to ask me why I didn’t date more often. I used to mumble something about being caught up on a girl and all of them would tell me the same thing: there are plenty more fish in the sea. But sometimes that’s not true. Sometimes there is just one,” he says meaningfully, and I beam at him. “So, yes, Gemima, I’m feeling pretty fucking smug right now,” he smiles, looking more gorgeous than at anytime other point of the day so far.
We stand staring at each other, neither one of us quite able to believe our luck. Inside the marquee the smattering of chatter dies down and there’s an audible tap tap on a microphone. Oh, Buddy’s going to have us all in stitches on that thing, I think fleetingly, but it’s not time for his best man’s speech just yet.
Proving me right, our wedding planner says loudly, “Mesdames et messieurs…” Ladies and gentlemen… “Veuillez accueillir la mariée et le marié pour leur première danse.” Please welcome the bride and groom for their first dance. “Logan et Gemima Leary!” Logan and Gemima Leary.
I simultaneously squeal and jump up and down on the spot. It’s the first time that I’ve heard someone call my by my new name, and I love it! Laughing jovially, Logan gives me a quick kiss, before taking my hand and leading the way into the marquee where we’re received by our loved ones with cheers and applause.
A mixture of excitement, nerves, and anticipation mounts in me as we walk onto the dance floor. My heart starts pounding and once we’re stationary I look up at Logan with wide, expectant eyes. Jeez, he’s handsome. So handsome that I have to remind myself, no matter the song is, I must keep the dancing PG.
His arms slide naturally around my back. “Are you ready to start the rest of our lives?” Logan asks me.
I wrap my arms around his neck. “I am,” I say surely.
He flashes a quick smile at me, before turning to look at our DJ for the night, and nodding once. I recognise the song within the first few bars of the music. A slow ballad finally in keeping with wedding tradition, and yet it’s also so utterly us. Uncommon, uncomplicated, and uncompromising.
I smile broadly, and inch as close to him as I can possibly get. A moment later we start to dance.
“Flawless, Logan, as always,” I tell him.
He laughs, pleased by my reaction, and then bows his head to kiss me, slowly, in time with the tempo of the music. The whoops from our audience die away until all that’s left is he and I inside our bubble. All I can fathom is Logan, my husband, and the tune that we dance to.
It really is the perfect song.
The Playlist
Perhaps you’ve noticed that each chapter is named after a song? Below is the playlist for She Part 2.
I chose these songs because I felt their essence was a great reflection of the content of the corresponding chapter. All songs can be found on a playlist on my website here: playlist.
1. Kill Of The night by Gin Wigmore
2. I’ll Be Your Lover, Too by Van Morrison
3. Ex’s And Oh’s by Elle King
4. Empire by Shakira
5. What A Man by Jessica Mauboy (a Linda Lyndell cover)
6. Dancing In The Dark by Bruce Springsteen
7. Inside Out by Bryan Adams
8. The Best by Tuna Turner
9. Heartbeat Song by Kelly Clarkson
10. Sex On Fire by Kings Of Leon
11. It’s My Party by Lesley Gore
12. Jungle by Emma Louise
13. Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift, ft. Ed Sheeran
14. She by Charles Aznavour
BONUS Chapter — Start of Time by Gabrielle Aplin
Available on my website here: bonus chapter.
And the song that they were dancing to at the end? Well, that’s whatever YOU envision it to be.
These are the lyrics of She by Charles Aznavour and Herbert Kretzmer, a perfect encapsulation of how Logan feels about Gemima, and the namesake for their story.
She may be the face I can’t forget
A trace of pleasure or regret
May be my treasure or the price I have to pay
She may be the song that summer sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
May be a hundred different things within the measure of a day
She may be the beauty or the beast
May be the famine or the feast
May turn each day into a heaven or a hell
She may be the mirror of my dream
A smile reflected in a stream
She may not be what she may seem inside her shell
She who always seems so happy in a crowd
Whose eyes can be so private and so proud
No one’s allowed to see them when they cry