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hair the way it is now, girlfriend,’ Red said behind me and I spun around. Damn it, I couldn’t talk to her with Lorena here, and she knew it.
    ‘Sal?’
    ‘Oh, I thought I felt a spider on my neck.’ I brushed my hand around my skin and clothes to make a show of it.
    ‘Lucky you bought all that bug spray then. Rightio, get dressed, and I’ll meet you in the downstairs bathroom.’
    I turned around and Red was gone. Bloody impulsive, fiery, redhead. I bet she was an Aries too, not that I believed in horoscopes.
    I’ll show her , I thought, as I stepped into the shimmery dress. I’ll show her I can be a sassy, sexy, woman. I’ll show her I can have some fun too. No ghost of my fiancé’s ex-girlfriend is going to stop me enjoying my one and only hen’s party.
    * * *
    ‘Lorena, you’re a miracle worker,’ Georgie said, as I walked on wobbly high-heeled feet out of the bathroom and met my bridesmaids in the living room.
    ‘Gee, that fills me with confidence about myself, Georgie,’ I said.
    ‘I didn’t mean it like that, sorry! You’re gorgeous in your own natural way, but wow! You look a million bucks. You should dress up more often.’
    ‘Yeah, I can hardly recognise you,’ Mel added. ‘Those curls look amazing. Totally suits you.’
    Lorena hadn’t let me see the final result until she’d finished, and when she’d swung my chair around to face the mirror, at first my instinct was to rub the gunk off my face and pull my hair back into a comfortable ponytail as usual. But something twinged inside. Whether or not it was the desire to show Red I could pull off sexy and glam like the best of them I wasn’t sure, but part of me felt excited. Different. And I liked it. Lorena was right. I needed to let my hair down literally and metaphorically this weekend, make the most of it and create some fun memories to look back on. Maybe I should even dress up like this for Greg occasionally, put a bit of spice into our relationship. I giggled at the thought of him seeing me like this. Plain Jane, Sensible Sally; all bright and shiny and sparkly.
    Ding-dong!
    I turned to look at the front door. ‘Who’s that? Are we expecting someone?’ Curiosity tickled my nerves.
    Lorena flashed a grin and waddled in a sexy way to the door. She opened it to reveal a man and a woman holding bags and what looked like photography equipment.
    ‘Paparazzi at your service,’ the man said. ‘I’m guessing this is our star for the night?’ He gestured to me.
    A wide-open smile grew on my face as I glanced at Lorena.
    ‘Sure is,’ she said. ‘Come on in. Sally, it’s time for your glamour photo shoot! I thought it would be nice to get some shots of all four of us to commemorate the weekend, and of course, some of you before the wedding. I bet Greg will love it, you could give him one as a wedding present!’
    ‘Wow, thank you. I never would have thought to do this.’ Probably because I didn’t know if I wanted to do this, though it was a lovely thing for Lorena to think of. But getting my photo taken always felt uncomfortable. And Greg would probably prefer gold-plated golf clubs as a present, but we won’t get into that now.
    After setting up their equipment and lighting and taking a few snaps of us together, it was time for my solo shoot. They got me to sit seductively on the velvet couch, though I probably looked more awkward than seductive.
    ‘Oooh! I’ll be the fan!’ Red jumped in front of me, blowing with all her might to try and make my hair waft backwards. She sucked in deep breaths and expelled them like a blowfish, and if she wasn’t already dead she looked like she was about to pass out from hyperventilation. My newly curled hair lightly wafted backwards. ‘Woohoo! Did you feel that? Finally, some action!’ She kept blowing, and I fiddled with my hair to avoid anyone else noticing.
    ‘Sally, now, keep your hands crossed on your knees like I showed you. Your hair looks perfect, no need to adjust,’ the