Cutting Loose
Chapter One
Ranya
I didn’t see it coming. They all say that, I know, but it’s not like you wake up one morning and say to yourself: "This is the day it all falls apart; now, what should I wear?"
Dodi and I made sure everything would be as close to perfect as mere mortals could ever hope to get. From a Reem Acra confection of silk and organza so sweet and fluffy it could have been a meringue, to scheduling the big day to fall on Friday, that holiest of weekdays, our wedding day had been unequalled in pomp and over-the-top indulgence since Auntie Najla married off her fifth and final daughter
to a lesser member of the Qatar royal family (much, much lesser).
Then, in less time than it takes to round off one lunar cycle, kaboom.
A mushroom cloud of unforeseen humiliation detonated in the halls of one of Montreal’s finer department stores, and rose up with the dread of impending doom. The dust of public scandal has yet to settle on me, and already I have no idea what I’m going to do.
Snuggling deeper into my armchair, I surrender to the soothing aura of white linen tablecloths, tinkling stemware, and ebull ...
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