Maid of Honour's log, still day six. Bride is now locked in the bathroom wailing, being consoled by 'Addy'. I have been banished slash elected to remove myself from the situation, and have retreated to the balcony. 'Mistakes have been made' is putting it lightly. And this time, I can't blame it on too much prosecco.

The balcony door slides open and I look up to see a face pop out.

"Hey," Lucy says softly.

"Hi."

She hesitates, as if waiting for me to tell her to go away; when I don't, she steps outside, closes the door behind me, and takes a seat on the other cheap folding wooden chair. Lucy's still in her pyjamas, a cute matching pink cotton set. Her short dark hair is hanging limp and in need of a wash around her face.

"They still in there?" I ask, jerking my head back towards the flat as though if I listen closely enough, I actually can't hear Kim's high-pitched, hysterical voice.

"Yup." Lucy wriggles in her seat. "I really need to pee, but I don't want to interrupt that whole thing..."

I don't blame her, really.

"Sorry we woke you up," I tell her. Lucy had been sleeping pretty soundly until Kim caught me talking to Addison and started sobbing again, too distraught to listen to anything I had to say for myself.

"That's okay. She's really upset, huh?"

I've only met Lucy maybe two or three times before this weekend and she always struck me as so polite, so grounded and reserved. And yet, this is so obviously her way of angling for gossip; even if I do believe the concern lacing her words is genuine.

I tell her what I said in the kitchen maybe ten, fifteen minutes ago, and Lucy winces.

"I know she... overreacted last night," Lucy says carefully, almost looking scared that Kim might overhear her, too. "And this morning. And she really went over the line, talking about... about you..."

"Yeah," I agree. "She did."

"But I think maybe she was still a little too delicate to hear that stuff about the wedding again."

I half want to vent to her about it all, how unfair Kim's being, how stressful this whole week is being on all of us and just because she's the one who's meant to be getting married soon doesn't mean she gets a monopoly on being sad and angry about things... But maybe Kim's future sister-in-law isn't the best audience.

So instead, I say, "Did you know Jeremy told her they might have to postpone it? I think that's why she's so mad at me for saying it, because he's not here for her to talk it out with him."

Lucy grimaces, with an audible moan. "Oh, shit. That... That might kind of be my fault."

"What?"

"Well you know, we were texting the other day, me, him and Zach, and he was getting really stressed about losing deposits on things for the wedding, and if they should pay the next instalment of the catering next week or if they'd lose the booking if things got really bad, and I said it was just as well they'd gotten the insurance on everything, because the way it's all going, they might have to postpone it all. And I said if they've got more bills due, maybe now's the time to call up the caterers and the venue and the florist and everything and just talk to them about it. For like, peace of mind," she adds quickly, hands flapping as she twists in her seat towards me, forehead crinkling. "Not because it shouldn't go ahead, or anything. That's not what I meant."

Now, it's my turn to groan, and I bend forward to bury my face in my hands, muffling a small scream.

"I'm sorry," Lucy says, so very quietly.

"It's not you." I sit back up and offer her what I hope is a reassuring smile, but it's stiff and awkward. "I'm just mad that, like, everyone is saying the same thing as me, but I'm the only one she's taking it out on."

Although I really can't blame Lucy for not piping up last night, or mentioning it sooner. I wouldn't have wanted to be in the firing line either. At least, like Addison, she didn't try to pick a side last night.

I say as much, but Lucy just laughs, loud and brash.

"Oh, come on. You know when it comes to Kim, it doesn't matter if you're Switzerland, if you didn't take her side, you're against her."

"You're not wrong."

Lucy and I both lapse into quiet, and I know she's stewing over last night just like I am – and how she caused it, too.

Last night was such a shitshow.

I should've known it was only a matter of time before Kim's bridezilla attitude turned on me. I'd just figured it would be on the hen do, and that she'd be mad over someone not showing up and that would somehow be my fault, or because I didn't book her a stripper. (Even though she's maintained every damn time that she does not want a stripper at the bachelorette party, "No matter what Addison says.")

We'd all been frazzled this week.

I mean, obviously.

How could we not be?

I've been trying to work from home, but it's only so easy to focus on financial forecast spreadsheets when the girls are giggling over a movie in the next room or playing charades for the umpteenth time, or knocking on the bedroom door to say, "Sorry, Liv, mate, how does the oven timer work? Livvy, sorry, just quickly – how do you get the extractor fan in the bathroom to turn on? Just bringing you a cup of tea, Olivia, love... and, uh, where did you say the laundry detergent is, only I can't find it in the cupboard under the sink?"

It's also not so easy to fit four people in my flat for longer than a weekend. In case I hadn't mentioned that already.

I reckon you could fit two people comfortably, but four? Four is a push.

Addison and Kim have been sharing my bed, Lucy's been on the sofa, and I've been on a blow-up air mattress next to her in the living room – which I'm sure has been deflating more and more each night...

Jeremy brought Kim an extra bag of clothes when he brought the shopping the other day, and he brought Lucy some of her clothes from their parents'. Addison's been borrowing some of mine, since we're roughly the same size. Everywhere you step in the flat, there seems to be a rogue pair of socks, someone's bra, a bunched-up t-shirt none of us are sure if it's clean or dirty so we toss it on the laundry pile just in case.

To be fair, the girls have been quite helpful. They've been trying to keep it tidy, and pitched in with cooking, doing their best to clean up after themselves...

But again: this flat wasn't made to fit four people for longer than a day or two. 'Cosy' is a distant memory by now.

We're all constantly under each other's feet.

Jeremy did bring Kim's laptop for her, but she and Addison got in touch with their boss on Monday to explain the situation and are officially off work for the week. I hate that their bosses are so understanding, so compassionate.

(Not that I even tried to ask mine, but still.)

Lucy, for her part, can't work remotely: she manages a restaurant, and they're closed due to the pandemic anyway, so she's been furloughed.

At first on Monday, I felt like a terrible hostess for having to ignore them all so I could get some work done, but they were all fairly understanding, and entertained themselves easily enough. Kim has always been a morning person, and Addison only grumbled a little when she got woken up by one of my 9.30 a.m. team meetings.

Speaking of which...

"I should probably get started with work. They're probably all wondering why I'm not online already."

"And I should probably kick them out of the bathroom, before I pee myself," Lucy says.

"Good luck."

She wiggles her eyebrows in response, which makes me laugh. "It's not luck we need, it's a bloody time machine. Do you want to get your laptop and earphones before I go and chase Kim out of the bathroom?"

Lucy jabs a thumb over her shoulder and I'm grateful for her support, even if she won't make it obvious in front of Kim. I thank her and duck quietly into the house, gathering my things before heading back out to the balcony. By the time I hear Kim and Addison pottering around the flat again and the TV turning on, I'm well into my first meeting of the day, and ignore my headache as I bury myself in another spreadsheet.

It's come to something, I think, when I'd rather look at the ever-glamorous world of tax liabilities for an online stationary retailer than go and talk to my best friend.