I mulled over the various possibilities in my head. Maybe she had crazy parents that would disown her or something. Or maybe she had some incurable disease. The more I thought about it the more it gnawed at my insides. I leaned my head back to stare at the fake sky while rather convincing clouds floated across it. It was like being at Disneyland; a Disneyland for adults.
I wasn’t sure where exactly I had gone wrong last night. Wait, that was a lie; it was around the time I took that first drink. And even with how fucked this morning was turning out to be, I couldn’t say I wouldn’t have done exactly the same thing again given the option.
This morning had been so far out of my norm I had just followed Nualla down here without saying another word. I mean what was I supposed to say? “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to marry you. I was drunk and convinced I was dreaming the whole thing up.” Somehow saying any of that didn’t strike me as a very good idea.
I heard a sound and looked up just as Nikki and Shawn were about to reach my table. Nikki had just enough time to get out a “Hi Patrick—” before Nualla dragged her off. Shawn seemed oblivious to the whole exchange and went straight to get some coffee. Their love of coffee was starting to border on obsessive, but really, was I any less weird?
I went back to staring at the fake sky, letting my mind go blank. Which worked for all of five seconds before the doubts and fears started creeping in again.
I heard the scraping of metal on stone as Shawn pulled up a chair to sit with me. He leaned back in the chair so that the front feet came off the ground and stared up at the fake sky, sipping his coffee slowly. After a few more minutes of silence, Shawn finally asked, “So…how was your night?”
“I think we got married.”
Shawn spit out the coffee and cursed something in a language I didn’t know as his chair slammed back down on the ground. He looked at me, eyes wide. “Excuse me?”
I held last night’s incriminating evidence in front of him.
Shawn ran his hand through his hair as he looked down at the wedding band. “Well, shit.” He sipped his coffee then stared at it before turning to the barista. “Um miss, can I get the largest espresso you have with a double shot—on second thought make that a triple.”
NUALLA
I was running scared, dragging Nikki through the Venetian. I was losing it, and somehow I had convinced myself if I kept moving I wouldn’t have to admit this mess was real.
When we reached the gondolas she pulled me to a stop. “Nualla, wait! What’s going on?”
I reached into my purse and pulled out the marriage certificate, thrusting it into her hands. “This!”
Nikki looked at it in confusion, but as she began to read her eyes got wider. “Is this some kind of joke?” she asked, looking up.
“I wish it was,” I answered before I began to pace back and forth in front of her.
“Okay, calm down. Maybe no one will find out, and you can forget the whole thing. We can just go down there and have them shred it. I mean isn’t this city’s slogan ‘What happens here stays here’ or something?”
“No, that won’t work. I called the Embassy here, they already know.”
“Well shit, then you have about oh I’d say a day or two until our Embassy finds out. A.K.A. your dad.”
“I know, Nikki. But that’s not even the worst part,” I said, avoiding her eyes.
“Wait, how could this be—wait, you didn’t sleep with him did you?” Nikki asked in a startled voice.
“Well yes, I mean no, I mean—oh hell I don’t know.” I sat down on the bottom railing of the bridge and put my head in my hands.
“Well its simple really, is he currently rolling on the floor in agonizing pain?”
I looked up. “Well no.”
“Has he complained of his veins feeling like they’re on fire?”
“Well no, I mean he didn’t mention anything—”
“Has he complained of any pain at all?” Nikki asked, a little exasperated.
“Well just his head.”
“I’m sure that’s just a hangover,” Nikki said as she rolled her eyes.
“Oh what does it matter anyways? I’m still screwed.” I put my head back in my hands.
“Well yeah, but at least this way we don’t have to worry about renting a private plane to transport him home.”
“You always look at the bright side, don’t you?” I said sarcastically.
“There’s plenty of fucked up in this situation, but look, at least you’re stuck with someone who’s cute, smart, funny, and well, worships the ground you walk on,” Nikki pointed out as she ticked off Patrick’s attributes on her fingers. “I mean hell; you could have accidentally married some jerk like Michael.”
“Nikki, anyone’s better than Michael,” I said flatly.
“Well you do have a point there.”
PATRICK
Nualla came and sat down at the table with impossible grace. “So the good news is, I’m almost one hundred percent sure we didn’t sleep together last night. Well, I mean we slept together we just didn’t sleep together,” she said nervously.
“And that’s a good thing?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “I mean why the hell else do you drag a random stranger to Vegas?”
Nualla ran her teeth over her bottom lip and looked very unsure of herself. It was in that moment I realized that she might actually like me, and I had just basically called her a slut.
“Um, well I mean—that didn’t come out right did it?”
She cocked her head to one side and smirked at me. “Yeah—not exactly. Want to try that again?”
“Yes please,” I answered, looking up at her sheepishly. She nodded as if to say, well go ahead then.
I looked at the wedding band on my finger. I had been infatuated with Nualla since the very moment I had first seen her. But until this week, she had never seemed to notice I even existed. Somehow she possessed an all-consuming power over me, and I braced myself as I asked the next question. “So…why did you drag me to Vegas?”
“Because I wanted to get out of town, and it was the first flight leaving,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“No I mean why did you ask me to come?” I asked in an unsteady voice as I stared at my coffee.
“Oh—because of all the boys in school I like you the best.”
I looked up; she was looking at me, chin resting on her hand. Her wedding ring glittered in the light and a broad smile crossed her face. I just looked at her. I had never thought in a thousand years that I would be here—or for that matter, anywhere with her—but here she was smiling at me, and I was married to her.
I cleared my throat and continued on with our conversation, I really couldn’t just go on staring at her like an idiot. “So…us not sleeping together is a good thing?”
“Trust me, in this case it’s a good thing,” she said, looking away nervously.
“Explain.”
“I—I can’t.” She rolled her eyes down to the right, running her teeth over her bottom lip. “It’s—complicated.”
“How complicated?”
“I can’t tell you…”
“Or what, you’d have to kill me?” I said jokingly.
Nualla’s eyes went wide before she looked down at the table again. “Um…yeah.”
I choked on my coffee. I had been entirely joking, but Nualla’s eyes told me she wasn’t. “What, is your dad a mob boss or something?”
Nualla had a look on her face like she was trying to teach rocket science to a fish. “Yeah…something like that.”
I leaned back in my chair, covering my mouth with my hand. Shit, just what exactly had I gotten myself into?
Nualla reached out a tentative hand to touch mine, and I looked up. “There’s more…” she said uneasi
ly.
“The bad part?” I said, bracing myself for what else life could possibly feel like throwing at me this morning.
“Yeah…turns out we actually did get married last night.”
10
Vanishing into Dreams
Saturday, January 14th
PATRICK
After a rather quick, uncomfortably silent late lunch, we headed to the airport and hopped a plane back to San Francisco. I had always thought on my first trip out of the state I would have wanted to do more sightseeing, but I hadn’t really much felt like it at the time.
None of us talked on the plane. Shawn listened to music, Nikki flipped through one of the in-flight magazines, and Nualla stared out the window nervously playing with her necklace. I flipped through all the incriminating photos we had taken the night before on my phone. If these ever made it onto Facebook, I would be a dead man for sure.
At a little after eight we finally made it out of the airport in San Francisco on our way to the parking garage. Nualla rounded the corner then leapt back pressing herself against the wall, panic stricken. Nikki, Shawn, and I stopped dead in our tracks. Nualla looked at the other two and mouthed something to them before looking up at me. I got the distinct impression that they knew exactly what was around that corner because they both tensed.
Nualla took a step toward me as she rummaged around in her purse. She grabbed my hand and slapped something into it. “Patrick here’s some cash, get yourself a cab.”
“Wait what? Is it Michael again or something?”
“No, worse,” she answered, not meeting my eyes.
I started running through the list of people that could possibly be worse than Michael. “Is it your dad?”
Nualla grabbed my hands and held them in hers. “No, but Patrick, you really have to trust me on this. Please go. I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Nualla, you’re not making any sense.” I tried to look around her, but I couldn’t lean far enough to see past the wall.
“I know; I’m sorry. I’ll explain everything to you later.”
I looked back at her. “Promise?”
“Promise,” she answered, sounding extremely anxious.
“Fine,” I relented, closing my hand around the cash.
I looked away from her eyes trying to get up enough courage for what I was going to do next. I was afraid that if I let her go this would all vanish; that I would wake up tomorrow to find that it had all been a really strange dream.
I extended my hand toward her slowly, trying to keep it from shaking. Taking a deep breath, I let the fear go like I had on the dance floor. The tips of my fingers brushed her soft hair, and I pulled her face close to mine.
“One more thing before I go.” It was now or never, I swallowed hard and continued. “I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I saw you. And I’m not a hundred percent sure I got my chance yet, so…” And then I kissed her, for what could be the last time for all I knew.
I turned and started walking away before I could lose the calm, cool person I was currently projecting. “See you Monday before school, on the steps of the parking lot entrance, okay?”
“‘Kay,” she said in a small voice, so low it didn’t even echo off the parking garage walls.
I didn’t look back, just continued walking. I didn’t need to be home. I didn’t need to be anywhere really. Anywhere—but with her.
NUALLA
Patrick brushed the tips of his fingers across my hair as he pulled me closer. “One more thing before I go.”
My breath caught but never escaped, his eyes were vast pools, dark mysteries pulling me into their embrace. “I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I saw you. And I’m not a hundred percent sure I got my chance yet, so…”
I was going to ask “what?” but I didn’t get a chance to. Patrick leaned in and kissed me, his eyes sliding closed. He kissed me deeply, passionately. His lips were so soft, softer than I imagined lips could feel. And then he pulled away and turned to leave. “See you Monday before school, on the steps of the parking lot entrance, okay?”
I was still in shock, so the only thing that popped out of my mouth was, “‘Kay,” and I said it to his retreating back.
I could feel a deep sadness following him, but I couldn’t do anything about it but watch him go. He was not ready for what was on the other side of the wall. Hell, I wasn’t even ready for it.
Once Patrick was nearly out of sight, I swallowed hard and rounded the corner. In the distance the curvy form of a woman leaned against Shawn’s car. When we got a few feet closer my fears were confirmed. It was Tylia, one of the Kalo Protectorate’s high ranking officers. Everything about her read sleek and deadly except for her hair, which was a pulled back ‘fro.
“So, how was Vegas?” Tylia asked, looking down at her nails.
I just stared dumbly at her. “How did you—?”
She stopped leaning against the car and took a step forward. “Nualla it’s my job to ensure the safety of the Chancellarius and his family. Do you really think you could leave the state without me knowing?”
I made to push past her. “Well we’re back now, so you can stop keeping tabs on us.”
She put an arm out in front of me. “Not so fast, Arius. I would ask you why you were in Vegas, but I already know.” Tylia reached into her back pocket and whipped out an eCopy of my marriage license.
I rocked back on my heels and nearly fell over. With a steadying breath, I reached out and took the ePaper.
“I intercepted that before anyone else saw it. I suggest you tell your father before Monday, or I will have to,” Tylia advised, gesturing to the ePaper.
“Thanks, Tylia,” I said, staring down at the simple document that was causing a lot of my current problems.
“Keeping the peace is one of my job responsibilities too, you know,” Tylia said over her shoulder as she stalked off in the direction we had come—toward Patrick.
A chill ran down my spine, and I called out to Tylia. “You leave him alone, Tylia. I don’t want you hurting him. I…I like him.”
Tylia turned back to look at me, arms crossed in front of her. “Honey, as much as I might wish different, that boy is now part of your family for better or for worse. And so protecting his ass now falls on my list of responsibilities. Hurting him is the last thing I’m going to do. Your father, on the other hand, is a completely different story,” Tylia stated before she turned and continued in the direction she had been going.
And this time I didn’t stop her.
11
How to Ruin Your Life in 48-Hours or Less
Saturday, January 14th
NUALLA
I opened the door quietly, and Nikki and I made for the stairs. But as I hit the first step, I heard my father Alex’s voice from the living room. “Hey kids, you’re back early.”
I turned slowly to face my parents, hiding my ring hand behind me as I did. I looked nervously at Nikki, willing myself to stay calm before answering, “Yeah, something came up.”
“Oh?” Alex said, arching an eyebrow.
I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I really should have thought up a lie before coming home.
There was a slight creaking on the stairs, and my sister Andraya pushed past me. “Nice rock,” she said with a snide smirk to her voice.
“Rock? I thought you went to Las Vegas, did you go camping instead?” My mother Loraly asked, looking a little confused.
My sister dropped down onto one of the couches and opened her book. “No, Mom, the sparkly kind you wear on your finger, not the kind you find on the ground,” she clarified as she wiggled the fingers of her left hand for effect.
“A ring?” Loraly asked, looking over at me.
I looked back at the
m, horrified. This was bad, at this rate they were going to figure it out before I could even tell them. And that is never a good thing. So I went for stupid teenager Plan B. Blurt it out quickly and hope they understand none of it.
“I got married in Vegas to a human. Please don’t kill me,” I said in a rush, throwing my hands in front of my face. Silence hung so heavily in the air I finally had to peek through my fingers at my family.
“Wait, did I seriously just hear that right? You got married?” Andraya asked incredulously, finally breaking the silence.
“Yeah…” I answered reluctantly in a voice so quiet it was more breath than noise.
“Since when were you even dating anyone?” Andraya asked, dropping her book and jumping to her feet.
“Um…” I answered uneasily as I ran my teeth over my bottom lip. I had absolutely no idea how to explain the next part. I was a terrible liar and everyone knew it.
“You were at least dating him for a while, right?” Andraya asked as she stared at me with a slightly horrified expression.
This wasn’t exactly going well, but it wasn’t a disaster yet either. Until that is, Nikki chimed in from next to me. “No, actually I think Nualla just met him this week.”
And that’s when all hell broke loose.
In the short time after Nikki had accidentally outed my complete lack of good judgment from the weekend in front of nearly our whole family, absolute chaos had ensued. Nikki had buried herself far into the pillows of the couch to avoid my fierce glare, and my parents were sitting in stunned silence, their mouths hanging open.
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