by Sadie Grubor
The music began and the large mahogany doors parted. White, pink, and blue flowers lined the aisle. The processional began and we all walked down the flower lined aisle as practiced before Miranda made her entrance. When the wedding march filled the church, each guest turned in their seats and slowly rose to their feet. She looked amazing and Mr. Murphy was crying before they got halfway to the front of the church.
The ceremony was beautiful and even when both Miranda and Benji messed up the fidelity part of the vows, it was still perfect. It was so them. After the ceremony, we exited as we had been instructed and stood in the receiving line. Demetri seemed to be standing quite close, but I simply tried to make do with the situation.
When the last guest had left the church we were grouped together for pictures. Then the whole wedding party was ushered out into two limos. Miranda and Benji requested to have us all driven to a couple of locations that they wanted to have pictures taken. Then, the newly wedded couple was driven off to locations that were special to them; the restaurant that they had their first date, the fountain where they shared their first kiss, and even to Benji's garden where he proposed. The rest of us were driven to the site of the reception. While we waited we were served appetizers and drinks.
Once the bride and groom arrived, the DJ did his introductions as we all entered with our partners. Benji, being a large Seahawks fan, entered holding a Seahawks flag. We all took our seats at the bridal table and I was so happy that Miranda had chosen the set up where all the bridesmaids were on one side and the groomsmen off to the other side of Benji. Whew!
Dinner went smoothly, but once the dancing began I internally groaned. Mr. Murphy first danced with Miranda to 'Daddy's Little Girl'. Cheesy yes, but still awesome. Then, the moment that Benji and Miranda's first dance song started up, Benji tapped Mr. Murphy on the shoulder. Mr. Murphy turned and then took Benji's hand to begin dancing with him. Everyone laughed loudly. Mr. Murphy patted Benji's back and then kissed Miranda's cheek and placed her hand in Benji's. It was remarkably sweet. Soon, the third song was in play and this was the bridal party's prompt to join them on the dance floor. Demetri was quickly at my side.
"Shall we?" he said smoothly with a pretty amazing smile. I nodded.
He took my hand in his while wrapping his arm around my waist to guide me toward the floor. Once on the floor, he spun me and pulled me quickly to his chest. His grin was so large that he almost looked boyish. The move earned us some clapping and whistles.
"You know you aren't supposed to outshine the bride and groom, right?" I half smiled at him.
"Well, the bride is beautiful, but I'm afraid that it's not my fault that we are such an amazing dance team." He dipped me and I gasped.
When I was back on both my feet again I laughed out loudly.
"Okay, next time, give a girl a warning." He smiled and we continued to dance. Demetri was an amazing dance partner.
There was one moment, during one of the many dips, his hand slid very low on my hip. I quickly readjusted his hand and cocked an eyebrow at him.
"I apologize." There was a sly smile on his lips.
"Yeah, sure you are." I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I swear it won't happen again." He made an X mark over his heart.
We finished the dance and with the last note I started to walk away.
"Wait," I spun back around toward Demetri. "Will you dance with me again?"
"I need to check on Victoria," I blurted out quickly. I really did need to check on her though.
"Later then?" He looked hopeful.
"Uh, sure." I smiled and began looking for my little redhead.
I found the little redhead alright.
"Victoria, Nessa, what are you two doing?" I tried not to laugh at the fact they both had been caught with their fingers in the chocolate fountain.
They both looked at me with wide 'I just got busted' eyes and then we all burst into laughter.
"That's enough ladies, come on." I motioned them away from the chocolate. They both groaned in disappointment.
As soon as they were at my side, the DJ started playing faster tempo music. I grabbed both of their hands and pulled them to the dance floor with me. We all goofed off and danced around. My feet started to ache from the heels, so I kicked them off and danced in my bare feet.
When 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' blasted through the speakers, I think we had every woman on the floor. Everyone was singing loudly and I was spinning Victoria around with me. It was so much fun that my feet ached and my stomach hurt from laughing so hard.
The night went on with drinking, eating, laughing, and dancing. At one point, I pulled Miranda out to slow dance with me, but our dance was interrupted when Benji appeared for his bride. I stepped back to give Benji room to dance with Miranda. As I did this, Demetri took me up on my 'later' promise.
"Hey there." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him than the last time we had danced.
"Um, hi there."
"I've been watching you all night." As he spoke, his breath wafted over my face and I could smell the alcohol. Oh friggin' joy! "You are amazing with that little girl."
"Her name is Victoria," I corrected him.
"Mhm…" he mumbled and buried his head into my neck.
I pushed him back a bit and he looked down at me curiously.
"Demetri, you are a great guy, but I am seeing someone," I blurted it out. I know it was ridiculous to be nervous about saying it aloud, but I still couldn't get over the tingly feeling in my stomach as the words spilled from my lips.
"Oh," his brow furrowed a bit. "I wasn't aware." He began to look around. "Where is the lucky man?"
"Oh, um…"
He cut me off.
"He's not here is he?" he smiled knowingly.
This bastard knew that I didn't have a date with me tonight. He was messing with me.
"No, he had a prior engagement to attend." I frowned at him.
"So, technically, you are free tonight?" I opened my mouth to argue, but he spoke first. "Well, since he wasn't smart enough to attend with you looking this amazing, it's my gain." He smiled and nuzzled back into my neck.
I shoved at him again, but he held on tighter.
"Demetri, let go," I hissed at him.
"Just relax," he mumbled.
"Get off of me!" My voice had risen now.
"The lady asked you to let her go." My head snapped over as Demetri's head popped up from my shoulder.
"What business is it of yours?" Demetri spat out.
"Let. Her. Go. It's last time that I will say it calmly."
"Get the fuck out of here." Demetri snapped in a low tone, but his grip on me loosened.
I slipped out of his arms and stood between the two of them.
"Both of you need to stop." I whispered harshly and looked around to make sure that we hadn't drawn attention to ourselves only to find that people were watching. "This is Miranda and Benji's day, don't ruin it!" I glared at Demetri first and then turned to Lucas. "You got it!"
The both nodded, but eyed each other down. I shoved at Demetri to get him moving along and then turned to Lucas.
"Thank you for your help, Lucas." I smiled at him sincerely.
He shrugged.
"Yeah, don't worry about it." He half smiled and walked away, right out the door.
I scanned the room for Victoria and saw her and Nessa dancing at the edge of the dance floor with a few other children that attended the wedding. I looked back to the door where Lucas exited and sighed before I followed him. Once I was outside, I saw him leaning against the side of the building.
"Hey," I said softly. "You alright?"
He shrugged. I walked over and stood next to him.
"What's going on?" I nudged him with my elbow.
He shook his head.
"Come on, we're friends right?" I looked at him with a friendly smile.
He sighed heavily.
"Friends, huh?" The question sounded like i
t was the worst title I could have given us.
"You don't want to be friends?" I bit my lip.
Lucas turned so that his left arm was against the building, but he was facing me.
"I just, I guess, seeing Benji and Miranda has really just made me realize how lonely I am." His head dropped and he kicked a small rock with the toe of his shoe.
"Ah, I see." He looked up at me. "Lucas, you are a great guy. I'm sure that she is out there. You will find her." I turned to face him and patted his arm once.
Before my hand could drop back down next to me, Lucas grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. I gasped loudly and tensed up. However, when I realized that he was just hugging me, I relaxed.
"I wished that you were the one, you know that right?" he whispered.
"I'm sorry," I whispered back.
We pulled back from each other, but were still in a small friendly embrace. That was when I heard the throat clearing from behind us. I turned around, dropping my arms from Lucas.
Oh Jesus Christ…well maybe antichrist.
"Miss Ashwood," he stated coldly with his hard emeralds blazing at me.
"Dr. Bishop," I returned, but it sounded more like a question.
He nodded to Lucas with a glare and entered the reception.
"Who is that?" Lucas blurted.
"Victoria's father," I groaned and started to walk back in.
"Oh, so it's your boss." Lucas followed me.
I groaned again.
When we got inside, I saw Dr. Bishop speaking to Miranda and Benji. I stopped and watched him for a moment. Then he moved over to Victoria. At first, she was excited to see her father, but then he said something and her face fell. I walked toward them.
"But I don't want to go yet," she whined with watery eyes.
"Victoria, it's getting late and you are going to see your mother tomorrow morning," he tried to reason with her, even though his tone was a little harsh. "Collect your things, please."
She stomped her foot and then spotted me.
"Sophia, do I have to go? Can't I leave with you?"
Before I could answer, Dr. Bishop quickly answered for me.
"Miss Ashwood may have other plans this evening." Victoria turned to look at him with confusion on her face. My mouth dropped open. "Now, please collect your things."
"Daddy—"
"Now Victoria," he said sternly.
Victoria's shoulders hunched forward and she went to collect her things.
"I can take her home," I muttered.
His cold hard eyes focused in on me.
"I don't want to ruin any plans you may have with your…friend." He spat out the last word.
"Oh, really?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
Well didn't he just effectively make me feel like a slut.
Dr. Bishop didn't say anything. His eyes remained hard and his lips tightly closed.
"I'll take Victoria home," I snapped at him and followed after her.
Victoria and I said goodbye to Miranda and Benji after we collected our purses, shoes, and other things before we headed out the doors toward the car. The walk was quiet and my mind kept spinning.
I get that Lucas and I had hugged, and that it could look bad, but is that really what he thought of me? Did he think I was like that, that type of girl? Apparently the answer was yes.
My disappointment in Dr. Bishop's assumptions became anger. It was an anger that grew during the drive back to the house.
My cell phone rang a couple of times, but I was too mad to even bother looking at it. Victoria looked at me funny a couple of times, but still stayed quiet. She obviously sensed my mood.
As we walked into the house, Dr. Bishop's car pulled into the driveway.
"Why don't you go jump in the shower," I said to Victoria as we started up the stairs. "Oh, and make sure you hang up your dress, okay?"
She nodded and I heard the front door.
"Miss Ashwood?" he called for me, but I ignored him and walked to my room.
After I dropped everything onto my bedroom floor, I quickly stripped out of the dress, pantyhose, and the god forsaken strapless bra that I could barely breathe in, and went into the bathroom. With the close of the bathroom door, I heard him enter my room. I locked the door before I got in the shower. A few attempts at the door knob and he got the hint.
I showered away the makeup, the hair product, and tried to shower away the anger and hurt. Everything rinsed away except for the hurt. I tried to mentally talk myself out of being hurt and angry as I toweled off, but I wasn't doing a very good job. I exited the bathroom with my towel tied tightly around me.
I had expected Dr. Bishop to be sitting there, ready to pounce on me, but he was nowhere to be found in the room. With a breath of relief, I got dressed in some comfortable pajamas and headed to check on Victoria. When I got to her room, I saw her half asleep on her bed with soaking wet hair. I grabbed the towel she had dropped to the floor and tried to dry her hair better.
"I had so much fun tonight," she spoke through a large yawn.
I laughed.
"I'm glad that you did." Grabbing her brush I scooted her up so I could go through her hair before I lay her back down and tuck her into bed.
Once Victoria was settled, I left her room and closed the door behind me. Dr. Bishop was standing in the hallway with a deep scowl on his face. I was too tired, angry, and hurt to deal with him.
"Are you going to continue to ignore me?" The intensity of his eyes was familiar and no longer scary to me.
"What do you want?" I shook my head and closed my eyes as I spoke.
"Did you… are you… who was he?"
My eyes flew open.
"Lucas is a friend that I met through Miranda. He was Benji's best man. What you saw was a hug between friends and nothing else."
"So, I'm supposed to believe that he doesn't want more with you? Or you with him for that matter?" The harshness increased as he spoke.
"He did, once, but I had effectively told him that we were just friends," I ground out through my teeth. "As for what I want, I thought that we had already talked about that, but I guess I was wrong." I walked away toward my room.
"Where are you going?" His tone had changed and there was now the definite sound of pleading for me not to walk away.
"To bed." I didn't stop walking and he didn't say another word.
When I got to my bedroom I hesitated at the door. Then I made my decision. I closed the door and locked it before I climbed into bed. Once I slipped between the soft sheets, I felt the tears starting to well up in my eyes. They were silent tears of anger, frustration, and hurt that slipped over my cheeks as I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, the alarm clock alerted me that it was time to get up. With a loud groan, I stretched and heaved myself up off of the bed. Once I was vertical, everything came crashing back into memory. I crunched up my face and headed to my bathroom.
The moment that I got to my bedroom door and unlocked it, I took a large breath in and out before I pulled it open. I didn't know what I expected to find on the other side of the door. I think a part of me wanted to see Dr. Bishop curled up in ball on the floor in front of my door, but what I got was an empty living space. Unexpected relief washed over me and I went to Victoria's room.
I got Victoria up, we packed her day bag, and then we went to the kitchen for breakfast. She decided on eggs and toast, so I quickly put that together. She was halfway through her breakfast when I heard the front door. When I went to look out there was no one around, so I returned to the kitchen. Just as Victoria finished her breakfast, Dr. Bishop entered the kitchen. I winced a little at his appearance.
He was still wearing his heavy scowl and cold hard eyes. However, on top of all of that scowling was a disheveled appearance. I had never seen him so mussed up. His hair looked more tousled than usual, and he simply had on jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. There were dark bags under his cold emeralds to top of the rough, newly grown in whiskers along his jaw. I
opened my mouth as he reached for coffee, but snapped it shut when he cursed from burning his finger on the pot.
"Are you ready?" he croaked out with his eyes facing the cabinet above the coffee pot.
"Yes, Daddy." Victoria's voice was low and she quickly glanced at me with a look of sadness. She could tell that something was the matter with him. I tried to reassure her with a smile, but she just slipped off of the barstool and walked off to get her bag. I began cleaning up her dishes.
"Will you be home?" His voice sounded distant and tired.
I was surprised to hear him speak to me and spun quickly to look at him. He kept his eyes off of me.
"Yes," I answered shortly. I hadn't meant to sound that way, but it just came out that way.
There was a tap on the counter as he set his coffee mug down. Then he turned and walked out of the kitchen. I couldn't help but follow his every move as he left.
I quickly finished cleaning up the kitchen. Once it was mess free, I decided to return to my room and work on my book. I was thinking about the fact that it was just about ready to be sent out to the publishing houses when I was hit with a heavy floral smell. My brow furrowed in confusion as I stepped into my living room. The furrowed brow faded as my eyes widened at the sight in front of me.
There were four large bouquets of flowers in my room. One was roses, one was lilies, another was gerbera daisies, and the last were peonies, I think. My eyes scanned each of them three times before I stepped closer to the roses and inhaled deeply. It was with that whiff that I noticed the white card. I swiftly snatched the card from the clear plastic holder, but hesitated nervously before opening it. With the slip of one finger, I had it open and I pulled out the little card. My eyes landed on the physician-like scrawl that was Dr. Bishop's handwriting.
Miss Ashwood. I did not know your favorite, so I chose the four that most remind me of you.
Roses are a symbol of passion.