Wrong Girl

Wrong
Girl

By
Lauren Crossley

Wrong
Girl

Copyright
© 2014 Lauren Crossley

All
Rights Reserved. This book may not be

Reproduced,
scanned or distributed in any printed

Or
electronic form without from the author. Please do not

participate
in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in

violation
of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are

the
property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated.

The
characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.

Any
similiarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental

and
not intended by the author.

Cover
photo © istockphoto.com

I
will always continue to thank my readers. Without you, there would be no reason
for me to write my stories. Thank you for purchasing this book and for
everything you do to support me and my writing. I also want to thank my dear
friend across the Atlantic, Becky Jones. Thank you for your encouragement, your
inspiring emails and your continuous support. You have very much been a part of
this book from the very beginning and for that I want to express my
appreciation. You have made this whole process so much easier for me and I am
so glad I did not have to go through my writing alone. Thank you again… this
one is for you.

Chapter One

I
can’t believe I’m going to be late! Even if I hurry, I’m still going to be the
last one to turn up and no doubt my mum will think I’ve done it deliberately. She’ll
says it’s because I’m jealous and trying to steal the attention away from
Rachel on her special night.

Rachel’s
my older sister. She’s beautiful gorgeous, successful and intelligent. She’s
everything I’m not and she’s introducing her new fiancé to the whole family
tonight. We were all told we had to be there by seven o’clock sharp and I know
how much mum hates it when I’m late. I glance at my watch, groaning when I see
that I’m already half an hour late. She’s really going to kill me, she’ll make
the punishment for my tardiness last for months.

My
relationship with mum has always been strained. I’m the black sheep of the
family, the middle child and the greatest disappointment of my mum’s life. I
have a younger brother who’s eighteen, he moved away to go to University a few
months ago and Rachel is twenty-five. She’s mum’s favourite, her main priority
and pride and joy. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember and I
seriously doubt it will ever change.

That’s
why tonight is such a big deal, Rachel has just got engaged but none of us have
ever met her fiancé. All I know is his name is Zack and he’s twenty-eight.
Rachel’s just moved back home after living in London for the last couple of
years. Her fiancé’s family also live up here and that’s why they’ve both
decided to come home so they can find a place together whilst planning their
wedding. They’re due to get married in August which is four months from now. I
know they’ve been together for about a year and I have to admit, I’m really
anxious to finally meet him. She talks about him in her emails but I’ve yet to
see a photo of them together and I’m beyond curious.

 I
suppose the fact that we haven’t stayed in touch is partly my fault. Rachel has
been living in London for the last couple of years and I know we both should
have made more of an effort to stay in contact. I really do feel guilty about
it and that’s why I’m so excited to see her tonight.

Rachel’s
an actress and she’s been performing on the West End stage for the last year or
so. I’ve been told that Zack is a successful architect but that’s all I know
about him. I get the impression that they’re the picture perfect couple,
glamorous and sophisticated in every single way and it doesn’t surprise me.

I
can’t help comparing myself to Rachel, she’s doing so well and I can’t even
turn up for a family meal on time. I’m five minutes away from mum’s house but I
can’t walk very well in the high heels I’m wearing and it’s just started to
rain. Perfect. Just perfect. Could today get any worse?

I
quickly realise it can when I turn into the driveway of the house I once called
home. There must be twelve cars here which means the whole family have decided
to grace us with their presence. I’m the only one outside, the only one who
feels excluded and that’s the way it’s always been.

I
pause before I knock against the oak front door. I know I can’t delay this any
further and take a deep breath before choosing to make my arrival known to
them.

“Samantha,
nice of you to join us.” My Aunt Carol says, greeting me at the front door. She
has a displeased expression on her face and I instantly know I’m in trouble.

“Sorry
I’m late.” I mumble, slipping off my coat.

“Better
late than never.” She replies sarcastically, turning her nose up at my
appearance as she takes in my outfit.

I
glance down at my appearance, wondering what the problem is. I tried really
hard to look smart tonight but her judgemental eyes immediately make me feel
self-conscious and I resist the urge to smooth down my skirt and pat my hair.

“I’ve
only just finished work, I only had time to hurry home and get changed.”

I
don’t know why I feel the need to explain myself to her and vow to never do it
again as soon as the words leave my mouth.

“So
that’s why you’ve got paint in your hair?” She arches her eyebrow up at me,
scrutinising me in distaste.

I
whirl around to look in the mirror, noticing a tiny fleck of red paint in one
of my long strands of blonde hair.

“We
were painting with the children this afternoon.” I murmur quietly, refusing to
look her in the eye.

I’m
really starting to lose my cool with my mum’s snooty sister and just want her to
leave me alone already. I need some time to gather my thoughts before I’m
forced to face my mother.

“You
best go through. Try and make yourself presentable before you see your sister,
you don’t want to embarrass her on her special night.”

“How
is she?” I ask, choosing to ignore her spiteful tone.

“Exquisite.
She’s glowing and that fiancé of hers is absolutely delightful, he’s so
handsome.” She gushes, her cheeks turning pink.

I
try to suppress my smile, it seems like my Aunt Carol might just have a crush
on my sister’s fiancé. Gross.

“I
bet they look great together.” I say proudly, truly happy for my big sister.

“They
do.” Carol says coolly, turning on her heel before making her way back into the
lounge.

I’m
left alone in the hallway, unwelcome and discarded. The way it’s always been. I
hang up my coat and rake my fingers through my long, blonde hair. I stare at my
reflection, resenting my pale complexion and small frame. My sister is the
beauty in the family, she’s tall, slender, olive skinned and brunette. We look
so different, people find it hard to believe that we’re even related.

I
sigh, realising I’ve done enough procrastinating, I have to get this over with
and then I can go home. I smooth down my black pencil skirt and push open the
door that leads into the lounge. Everyone turns to look at me as soon as I walk
in, I can actually feel thirty pairs of eyes land on me and it makes me feel so
uncomfortable. I glance around the room, hoping to spot Rachel but can’t see
her anywhere. I swallow nervously, wringing my hands together as I plaster a
false smile on my face. I notice my mother is standing to my left and she
whispers something to my Aunt Carol before making her way over towards me. She
forcefully grabs me by the elbow, steering me into the far corner of the room.

“Where
the hell have you been?” She demands, tightening her grip on my arm.

“I
came as soon as I finished work, Mum. I raced home to get changed and got here
as soon as I could.”

“You
would finish work on time if you had a proper job.” She says spitefully.

“I
do have a proper job, Mum.” I sigh impatiently.

“Teaching
little brats how to finger-paint is not a proper job.”

I
gape at her in astonishment. Her words are so cruel, it makes me wonder how this
woman was even capable of giving birth to me.

“Don’t
call them that! Working in a nursery with children isn’t something to be
ashamed of.”

“Whatever.
You’re already late so don’t embarrass me or your sister any more than you
already have done by saying something stupid.” She orders, narrowing her cold
and unfeeling eyes at me.

“Wow.
Thanks, Mum.” I reply dryly, struggling to remain calm and composed in front of
all these people.

She
walks away from me and I breathe a sigh of relief, glancing around the room to
see if there’s anyone I could possibly talk to. I groan when I spot one of my
cousins making his way over towards me and I know that my brief moment of solitude
is about to come to an end.

“Samantha,
how are you?” Peter asks, throwing an arm around my neck.

I
can tell he’s already had too much to drink and I cringe when I smell the
alcohol on his breath.

“I’m
good thanks, Peter. How are you?” I reply politely, disentangling his arm from
around my neck.

“I’m
great! Work is good, life is good. What more could I ask for?”

 He
brings me closer towards him and I recoil when I feel his warm breath against
my cheek. I grab a glass of orange juice on the small table besides me, hoping
it will allow me to move away from him.

“That’s
wonderful.” I say cheerfully, taking a small sip of my unwanted drink.

“So…
what’s wrong with you this week? Any life-threatening illnesses we don’t know
about?”

 He
starts to laugh at my expense and it makes me feel sick. I can’t believe my mum
told him all about my health anxiety. No doubt she did it to be cruel and
malicious, wanting to humiliate and embarrass me in the process. Everything she
does is intentional and deliberate. I’ve always suffered from acute anxiety but
the preoccupation with my health is something I’ve been struggling with for
over a year now and it hurts me when ignorant idiots like Peter make fun of me
and treat it like a huge joke.

“Nope,
I’m good this week.” I lie, trying to make light of his insensitive insult.

He’s
about to say something else to me when we’re interrupted by Rachel. She startles
me by throwing her arms around my neck in a warm embrace, squeezing me with all
of her might.

“Samantha!
It’s so great to see you, I’ve missed my little sister so much!” She exclaims
excitedly.

“Rachel,
you look incredible.” I tell her, reciprocating her affection by warmly returning
her hug.

“I’ll
get you away from him but you have to follow me.” She whispers directly into my
ear before turning to our cousin. “Peter, I’m going to have to steal my sister
for a little while but we’ll catch up with you later.”

He
doesn’t even get a chance to respond, Rachel takes hold of my hand and pulls me
over to the other side of the room before he can stop us. We’re now apart from
the majority of people in the lounge and I can relax for the first time since I
stepped into this house.

“Thanks
for that, I can’t stand that guy.” I roll my eyes in Peter’s direction, struggling
to believe the ignorance of someone who’s so young. He’s just a couple of years
older than me but he’s so arrogant and narrow-minded. It’s pathetic.

“Don’t
thank me, thank my fiancé. He’s the one who noticed you were in distress and
told me to go and rescue you from Peter’s clutches.” She laughs.

I
frown at her, wondering how the hell her fiancé noticed me in the corner of the
room when I don’t even know who he is.

“Really?
I’ll have to thank him when we’re introduced.” I say, taking another sip of my
orange.

“There’s
really no need.” A deep, masculine voice says directly behind me.

I
whirl around and inhale sharply. I know it sounds like such a cliché but I have
literally just come face to face with the most incredible, breath-taking and
magnificent man I have ever seen. He’s really tall and has broad shoulders, he’s
dark like Rachel and his eyes are extraordinary, they’re the colour of
chocolate and match his dark brown hair. He’s wearing an extremely smart,
metallic grey suit which is well tailored and fits him like a glove. It accentuates
and compliments his athletically strong physique. He’s absolutely perfect and I’m
not someone who even believes in perfection.

“Sam,
I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Zack.” Rachel grins, taking hold of his hand as
she smiles up at him in adoration.

“N-nice
to meet you.” I stammer nervously, holding out my hand for him to shake.

I
hope he doesn’t notice the fact that I’m trembling or the fact that I visibly
gasped when I first saw him.

“It’s
a pleasure to meet you, Samantha. I’ve heard so much about you.” He offers me a
kind simile and let’s go of Rachel’s hand to take hold of mine, giving it a
gentle squeeze.

“Really?”
I say doubtfully.

“Really.”

His
penetrating gaze remains fixed on me, even when Rachel starts talking about the
wedding and all the preparation and planning that still has to be done by
August which is only four months away.

“Sam?
Did you hear what I said?” Rachel’s voice pulls me out of my dreamlike state
and I turn my head to look at her, wondering what I missed.

“I’m
sorry. What did you say?”

“I
said
I want
you
to be my Maid of honour. It would mean so much to
me, you’re my only sister and we’ve really lost touch over the last couple of
years since I’ve been away. I want to make amends for that and spend some quality
time with you this summer. I’ve got several months off from the theatre company
and I can’t think of anyone better than my own sister to help me plan my
wedding. So… what do you say?” She beams at me, a hopeful expression on her
face as she awaits my answer.

 There’s
a really long pause and I start to think that I’ve lost the ability to speak.
They’re anticipating my response but all I can think about is how astonishingly
mesmerising my sister’s fiancé is. I quickly realise he really is a perfect
match for her, they’re both beautiful and utterly alluring. They’re children
will be flawless.

“Of
course I’ll be your Maid of honour! It will be an absolute pleasure, I can’t
believe you even thought of me.”