EPILOGUE

The garden was totally decked out. In the middle stood an ice carving of two swans facing each other. Next to it was a seven-tiered wedding cake. Blue and silver silk ribbons adorned the place. Men in suits and women in summer cocktail dresses mingled about with one another. Near the cake stood two beautiful women. One in white, who very obviously was the bride, and the other in light blue, her bridesmaid.

“I can’t believe you actually went through with it,” the one in blue chuckled.

“I can’t believe it either,” said the bride. “you’re not far off yourself. How long have you been going out with the same man now?” she chuckled.

“Ohhh…” the bridesmaid moaned. “Don’t remind me, will you. Your disease must have rubbed off on me.”

“My disease?!” the bride laughed.

“Yea! You’re the one who’s married now. And may I remind you, that means being with the same man for the rest of your life,” she shuddered. “Ughh…just the thought of that gives me the creeps.”

The bride grinned. “It’s not THAT bad. I think you should try it one day.”

The bridesmaid looked at her in aghast. “Me? Get married? I doubt it very much.”

“Uh huh,” chuckled the bride. “I guess if that were to have happened, it would have happened before me, eh?” She shook her head and continued. “I take my hat off to him though,” she said, gesturing towards the best man who was standing near the drinks table. “He’s just so patient. How many times has he proposed to you now?”

The bridesmaid shrugged. “Oh, only about 6-7 times, I think,” she giggled.

“Jess!”

Both the bride and bridesmaid turned.

“Congratulations, Jess.”

Jess smiled back. “Thanks, Julian. And this is?” she asked curiously, looking at the lady next to him.

Julian beamed at her. “This is Jo, my fiancee.”

“Oh, oh, there’s a cute guy picking up your wife.”

Louis spun around immediately. Then he whacked Nick on the head. “He’s just an old friend of Jess’.”

“Uh huh…but he’s still cute. I know I won’t want him anywhere near my girl,” Nick sniggered and tightened his grip around the waist of the girl next to him.

Bowie laughed. “Since when did Nick Wong become so unsure about himself? But I guess with a girlfriend like Elaine here, you’ve got to be a bit careful, huh?”

“Hey, you stick to Flora and leave my girl alone,” Nick threatened, wagging his finger at his friend.

Louis chuckled. “Don’t worry, looks like he’s going to stick to Flora for life. Or at least until she agrees to marry him!”

“Flo! Jess!”

“Karen!” Flora smiled and gave her a hug.

“Congratulations Jess,” Karen gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks, Karen,” Jess smiled.

“Ermm…I believe I haven’t actually introduced you guys,” Karen said as she stroked the hand of the lady next to her. “This is Amanda. Amanda Au.”

Flora grinned at her, recognising her from their last encounter. “Hello again, Amanda.”

Soon Karen and Amanda excused themselves to go mingle with the crowd, leaving Jess and Flora on their own again. Jessica sighed. Flora looked at her. “So, Mrs Yeung. What next, eh?” she asked impishly. “The pitter-patter of little feet?”

Jessica looked away and chose to ignore her. Flora chuckled at her friend’s reaction.

“Hey…” Jessica mused. “Who are they?”

Flora looked towards the direction her friend was facing. At another end of the garden were two good looking guys talking to each other, one in a grey suit and the other in a dark blue three-piece suit. “Mmm…” Flora mumbled. “They look rather familiar.”

Jessica nodded. “Not only that. They’re cute.”

“Oh my god,” Flora exclaimed.

“What?” Jess looked at her friend curiously.

“It’s Ed and Nic,” Flora gasped.

Jessica spun back to take another look. “Oh my god, you’re right. What happened to them? Ed looks simply delectable,” she grinned.

“And Nic…wow! How come I never noticed before?” Flora added.

Jessica laughed. “Huh! Because he was stuck behind that bar and in that uniform the whole time!”

Flora snorted. “Uh yea…and you wouldn’t even look at Ed because he worked for you.”

“Well, he doesn’t work for me now, does he?” Jessica grinned mischievously.

Flora looked at her friend in amusement. “Jessica Lee…”

“Flora Lau…”

Both girls burst out laughing in unison.

It looked as though old habits were hard to break.