‘So how come he’s managed to bully you into trying out all these wacky weddings, Marcie? I just don’t get it. When you were younger you always planned to have a traditional wedding. What’s made you change your mind?’
‘I . . . er . . . A relationship is about compromise, Chloe. About listening to the other’s point of view. About sharing.’
‘But he’s left you to check out all the wedding options,’ I said. ‘Why’s he not sharing doing this?’
‘My mum says you have to start a marriage the way you intend to continue,’ added Demi, ‘and that’s by sharing the chores.’
‘Did you tell him that you wanted a traditional wedding?’ asked Maryam.
‘Not exactly,’ said Marcie, then she was quiet for a while. ‘And he couldn’t get out of his commitments this week – he had to take a group of students rambling and he had just taken the week off to be with me,’ she said finally, but for the rest of the journey, she looked reflective and I wondered if our comments had touched a nerve.
When we got to the park, Marcie stopped the car and we got out and looked about but there didn’t appear to be anybody around, just a woman walking her dog and a man eating a sandwich on a bench.
‘The representative said she’d meet us here,’ said Marcie.
‘At least it’s stopped raining,’ Demi commented as she looked around at the grass, which was still wet from the earlier downpour.
‘Might that be the representative?’ asked Maryam as a large woman in a violet tracksuit came rollerblading (or rather roller-blundering) down the path towards us.
‘Omigod!’ I heard Marcie say under her breath. The woman did look a sight, huffing and puffing to keep her balance, clearly not a natural on the skates. I glanced at Demi and Maryam, who had fixed bright expressions on their faces. I could tell that they were dying to laugh. Phew! I thought as she skated past. Not her then.
I shot Demi and Maryam a glance. Demi raised her right eyebrow. I knew we were all thinking the same thing – that the whole idea of a roller-skate wedding was tack city.
He came out of nowhere. A skater. A flash of silver against the grey morning, flying by as if he had winged feet.
‘Wow!’ we chorused as the silver blur turned and skated back towards us, slowing down as he approached.
‘Double wow!’ said Demi.
‘Triple that,’ said Maryam
. The skater was a babe. Tall and athletic, he was dressed in a silver padded jumpsuit, the kind that people wear to go skiing, and he had shoulder-length brown wavy hair. It was hard to tell how old he was, maybe eighteen, but his eyes looked older, wiser, as though he had seen something of life. He had perfect skin, a square jaw and cheekbones to die for and I felt my knees turn to jelly as he bowed, flashed us a killer watt smile, did a quick spin on his skates then took off his backpack.
‘Hi, I’m Hermie.’
‘Nuf, ki . . . yeah,’ I stuttered.
‘Kee, yud, ee,’ said Demi.
‘Yom,’ said Maryam.
‘Werd . . .’ said Marcie.
I giggled. We all seemed to be suffering from the same lack of mouth-to-brain coordination. Hermie smiled. Being the total love god that he was, he was probably used to girls falling apart in front of him.
‘I’m Hermie, part of the Celestial Weddings company,’ he said. ‘I’m waiting for my partner. She’ll be along in a short while. Want to try out while we wait?’
‘Yes!’ we chorused. Even I was excited now. Hermie reached into his backpack and pulled out four pairs of silver skates, which he handed out. We sat down on the bench and put them on – they all fitted perfectly, although I didn’t remember telling anyone our sizes. I glanced at Demi and Maryam, who were both blushing and stealing glances at Hermie. When we were ready, he skated in front of Marcie and held out his hands to her. She reached for him and he pulled her up, let go and off she went. Next Hermie pulled up Demi, then Maryam, and they skated off too. I fiddled with my laces.
‘Ready?’ asked the love god.
‘Um, I’m not very good at skating.’
‘Bad experience when you were little, huh?’
‘How did you know?’
‘Was in your birth chart. When you were about seven?’
‘But . . . huh . . . how did you know?’
‘Friend of Nessa’s. You’re the Zodiac Girl, right?’
‘Yes. Although I’m not completely sure what that means.’
Hermie held his hands out to me. ‘It means be brave! Have the time of your life. Come on. Give it a go.’
I really wanted him to like me and I didn’t want him to think I was a coward so when he grasped my hands I wobbled to my feet, and once upright he pushed me off, then skated on to check on the others. I skated along as best as I could, holding on to the backs of park benches, litter bins – whatever I could hang on to. Suddenly the path became a downhill slope. I could see Hermie and the others glide down and steady up as the path became level again at the bottom. I took a deep breath and skated down. Not good! I lost control completely and sped towards a duck pond, wailing my head off.
‘WARGHHH! Help!’
Hermie sped back to my rescue, grabbed my waist, and slowed me down to a speed that was slightly less terrifying.
‘Don’t let go,’ I panted.
‘I won’t,’ he said and he took my hands and skated backwards while I skated forwards.
‘OK?’ he asked.
‘Wurgh.’ It took a moment but I realized that I was skating really well. ‘Actually, yeah! But don’t let go, will you?’
‘Promise I won’t. Now relax. Take three deep breaths. In, blow out. In, blow out. In, blow out.’
I did as I was told and felt a bit better.
‘So, Zodiac Girl. What do you know about astrology?’ asked Hermie.
‘Not much. I’m a Libran. Demi’s Gemini. Maryam’s Sagittarius. I know a bit about Librans now – like we’re lovers of beauty, um . . . don’t like being rushed . . .’
‘Which is probably why roller-skating wasn’t your favourite thing,’ said Hermie. ‘But you’re doing very well and relaxing into it. Did you know that each sign has a ruling planet?’
‘Ish. Nessa said something about it.’
‘Librans are ruled by Venus. That’s Nessa. My name is Hermie and I’m Mercury, the planet of communication, which rules Virgo and Gemini.’
‘I saw that all the branches of Celestial Weddings are named after planets. I think that’s so cool.’
Hermie looked at me intently, then he sighed. ‘Anyway. Did you know that Mercury is also known as the winged messenger?’
‘No, but that’s a good name for you. You skate as if you have winged feet.’
Hermie laughed. ‘My thing is mainly to do with communication though. Nessa told me that you were freaked about your sister’s wedding plans.’
‘They did come out of the blue.’
‘That would have been because of Uranus in your chart. When it features, it brings the unexpected, like a bolt of lightning.’
‘Exactly.’
‘But you’re coping well. That’s because essentially Libra is an easy-going sign—’
‘Yes, and I hate it when people don’t get along.’
‘What I’d like to communicate to you,’ Hermie continued, ‘is to see both sides. Think you can do that? Should be easy for a Libran.’
‘See that my ideas were fab and hers are insane?’ I asked. ‘Easy.’
Hermie laughed and shook his gorgeous mane of hair as we glided along at a gentle pace. ‘All you have to do is to let go of the way you want things for just the rest of your month as Zodiac Girl. See it as an adventure and enjoy the ride.’
I had to admit that skating with one of the most handsome boys on the planet was quite enjoyable. I let go, and then it felt amazing, like I was floating along. I dared to glance to my side, and saw that Demi, Marcie and Maryam were doing really well, all confident skaters. We skated to the end of the path and stopped.
‘Could be lovely, couldn’t it?’ she asked.
‘Maybe.’
‘Everything in life is what you make of it. Harmony or disaster, it’s your choice.’
I was about to tell her that in that case my choice would still be a traditional wedding where Marcie looked like a classic beautiful bride, when the woman who had clumsily skated past earlier came huffing along the path. She looked Nessa and Hermie up and down with disapproval. ‘Lesson number one, my dears,’ she barked. ‘Outfits like that won’t do, you know. You’ll catch your death. Thermal vests, that’s what you need.’ And with that, she skated off again, leaving us trying not to laugh.
Marcie skated up behind us. ‘Thank you so much,’ she said to Hermie and Nessa. ‘All very impressive.’
Behind her Nessa gave me the thumbs up, but even though they’d made it look lovely I wasn’t going to let myself be convinced that easily.
In the car going home, I gave it some serious thought. It wasn’t what I wanted for Marcie or myself, not by a long shot, but maybe it wasn’t as bad as I had first imagined. ‘If you do go for it,’ I said, ‘we’d better have a covered aisle in case it rains, and we have to make it clear that the oldies don’t have to do it.’
‘Yes, of course,’ said Marcie. ‘And it was fun, wasn’t it?’
‘Ish,’ I said.
‘I think it could be great,’ said Demi. ‘We just need to make sure we have the right outfits. Something like Hermie and Nessa were wearing.’
‘Exactly,’ said Maryam. ‘Cutie cute.’
Marcie looked thoughtful. ‘Yes, but it’s only option one. We have others to try and you may have been right in the beginning, Chloe. It might be risky and I don’t want a wedding where we have to call in the paramedics if anyone was to fall.’
‘Calling in the paramedics needn’t be a problem,’ said Demi. ‘They could be on skates too. It would be a whole production. Hermie and Nessa could be on the guest list too in case you needed any skating backup.’
‘I guess,’ said Marcie, but I could see that she was worried about broken bones and old aunties and uncles. By the time we had got home, I got the feeling that option one might be struck from the list.
Chapter Seven
Velcro
‘So what’s number two on the list?’ I asked when I got into the car the next morning. I’d wrapped up warm because once again the day was wet and grey. This time, it was just Marcie and me because Maryam and Demi had both been hauled off to spend ‘quality’ time with their families. None of us were keen on ‘quality’ time because it usually involved us getting a lecture of some sort about homework or bad behaviour or in my case, what subjects I should choose and what I wanted to be when I was older. I still didn’t know despite spending ages browsing the career option brochures last night before I went to bed.
Marcie’s worries seemed to have evaporated overnight and she was in a positive mood again. ‘I think this one is going to be great,’ she said. ‘It’s the Incredible Velcro wedding. I’m not sure what happens exactly.’
‘Their slogan could be “You’ll be stuck for life”,’ I joked.
Marcie laughed. ‘Oh, very good. And Chloe, I want you to know that I do appreciate you coming with me to do this. I know Sam would have liked to come with us but as you know, he had things to do so it’s up to me and thee. Just like old times, hey? I know it’s not what you had in mind for me but I think it’s fantastic that you are willing to give it a go.’ I wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking on my part but I thought I detected a hint of regret when she said that it wasn’t what I had in mind for her. Maybe there was room for persuasion to bring her back to her senses at a later date. Today, I was taking Nessa’s and Hermie’s advice and taking the path of least resistance, trying to see it as an adventure and to enjoy it.
Nessa had called just before I had set out and said that she might see me later – something to do with Uranus and Venus in my chart. Uranus was Uri. I was beginning to get the hang of her colleagues in the wedding business and their nicknames within it. All I had to do was look on my Zodiac phone and they were listed on there. Hermie was down as Mercury, Nessa as Venus, Uri, Uranus – I explained it all to Marcie and like me, she thought it was a great idea as a marketing concept.
She followed the directions to the Velcro wedding centre and after a short drive we ended up in what looked like an industrial estate. I felt my heart sink – it was the most unglamorous location I had ever seen. No trees, just concrete buildings covered in graffiti, warehouses with broken windows, what was once a giant carpet market but was now empty and boarded up, and that was it. Definitely not a place to bring a wedding party.
‘Are you sure you have the right place?’ I asked as I got out of the car and pulled my jacket tight around me. I didn’t like the look of the location at all – it had a menacing feel about it and the enthusiasm I’d mustered the previous day was fast disappearing. Roller-skating with a love god, maybe, I thought. Getting married in Velcro, I am not so sure.
‘I have to call a number when we arrive,’ said Marcie, looking at her slip of paper, ‘and someone will come out to meet us.’
‘Does Mum know that we’re here?’ I asked as I noticed dark alleyways at the sides of the buildings and a pile of broken bottles and rubbish blowing about in the wind.
Marcie laughed. ‘Why? Do you think we might disappear?’
I nodded and Marcie laughed again but her laughter was hollow. I could see that she didn’t like the place any more than I did. A gust of wind sent wrappers and papers into the air. I had a bad feeling. ‘Let’s go home,’ I suggested.
Marcie nodded and we were about to get into the car when a dark figure appeared down the alleyway. I felt my heart leap into my mouth as he began to approach us. ‘Quick,’ I said to Marcie. ‘Someone’s there.’
We leaped into the car and Marcie slammed the locks shut and started the engine. The man in shadow came into view. He was tall and thin and dressed from head to toe in black. He came over to the car and Marcie wound the window down.
‘You come for the Velcro wedding?’ he asked, revealing an uneven set of yellow teeth.
Marcie nodded.
‘Come on then, you’re late,’ said the man. ‘I’m Don Waters and I’ll be the guide – least for now I will be.’ He beckoned us to get out and set off for the warehouse. I noticed that he walked with a slight limp.
‘We’d better go,’ said Marcie, ‘in case there’s some kind of cancellation fee.’
‘But I can tell already that this will be a no without us even having to go in. Can’t you?’ I said as we got out of the car to follow him.
‘We can cut it short and then be off,’ Marcie agreed.
Don led us down
the alley, into a side door then into a dark corridor. He flicked a switch and a fluorescent light just about lit up our way. I glanced up and saw a bulb so covered in dust and cobwebs that it barely gave out any light. Don opened a door and we found ourselves in the open space of a warehouse. Another light was switched on and in the corner I saw an enormous trampoline. Don pointed at it. ‘That’s where you’ll be. I’ll show you what to do but I don’t do it myself any more.’ He indicated his leg. ‘Your costumes are in there,’ he continued, and he pointed at a shabby-looking door with a piece of paper stuck on it on which someone had written DRESING RuM. Inside, there was a smell of must and stale sweat. Marcie looked at the Velcro costumes that were hanging on a rail. She wrinkled her nose.
‘This place is horrible, Marcie. Do we have to do this?’ I asked. ‘Can’t you say you’re not feeling well?’
Marcie hesitated. ‘Er . . . yes. Sam, my love, this is going too far. There are some things that I will do for love but putting on a smelly old Velcro outfit in this stinky dark hole of a place is asking too much and not my idea of fun.’
‘I agree,’ I said. ‘I can’t believe he would put you through this.’
Feeling hugely relieved, I followed her back into the hall, where to our surprise I saw Nessa and Uri had arrived. They were handing over what looked like a huge wad of cash to Don, who was looking gleeful.
Nessa saw us and waved us over.
‘I’ll be off then. These idiot . . . I mean these folks will show you the ropes,’ said Don and with a yellow grin at us, he limped off.
I introduced Marcie to Uri.
‘Kitted out for the part, I see,’ I said. Uri was dressed in an electric blue jumpsuit with black flashes up the sides and his white-blond hair was spiked up like he had a ton of gel on it. Nessa had a pale pink tracksuit on that looked like it might be made of Velcro.
Bridesmaids' Club Page 5