Inked Chaos

by Grace, M. J.

  She also said AJ had told her the reasons Melody was in his room, and that I should listen to him. That I was in the wrong, and that I should let him explain. Needless to say I refused, I needed to guard my heart, and speaking to AJ just wasn’t going to help. So she begged me to be careful, and reminded me that I still needed to be vigilant where my safety was concerned. No one knew AJ and I had split up, so security wise, I still needed to be cautious.

  So now, we’re in one of the bedrooms on the estate where Jen is to marry Razor. The ceremony and reception being held in huge marquees in the grounds. Covered walkways are everywhere, hiding the guests from the press helicopters above, ensuring that no photographs would be leaked in the press. In fact, security was so tight, I doubt a mouse could have squeezed in.

  There had been a moment, when with Jen finally in her dress, we had looked at each other and tears had welled up in both our eyes. Chastising each other, we had both grabbed tissues to wipe the others eyes, and hugged until I thought our ribs would crack. I had never seen Jen look so stunning. Razor was a very lucky man, who wouldn’t know what hit him when she walks down the aisle.

  A knock at the door makes us pull apart, and I look questioningly at her. Shrugging her shoulders at me, she motions for me to open the door, so I move across the room, hoping it isn’t AJ. Although I know that we are going to see each other today, and I know he is going to want to speak to me, there is no way I can face him right now.

  Opening the door, my mouth drops open with shock, for standing there are Davy and Ben. I turn to gawp at Jen, who is standing there with a beaming grin on her face. She takes one look at my expression and laughs out loud.

  “Surprise!” she shouts, throwing her arms into the air.

  I’m swept into Davys arms and hugged, before Ben joins in with Jen, and its hug huddle.

  “Jen! Why didn’t you tell me they were coming?”

  “I wanted it to be a surprise. Besides, who else did you think was giving me away?”

  I look between her, Davy and Ben, and promptly burst into tears. All the pent up emotions of the last two weeks take over, with the knowledge that my family are all here. I have spoken to Davy on the phone, so she is aware of some of what has happened. Although I haven’t given her the full version of events, as I didn’t want her to worry or even worse threaten to come to LA. I had planned on divulging the full events when I returned home to the UK.

  Finally composing myself, I notice Davy is also wearing a bridesmaids dress, in the same colour but a different style, and holding a brooch bouquet. Jen announces that we are all the family she has, so of course Davy was in the wedding party. She couldn’t believe that I hadn’t even thought of it. She would have loved Eva as a flower girl, but they decided that the flight would have been too long for her, so they have left her at home with Bens parents.

  Another knock at the door follows, and it opens a fraction, just enough to allow the head of the wedding organiser to pop her head around the corner.

  “All systems go folks. Are you ready Jen?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She smiles and reaches down to the box on her bed that holds her stunning brooch bouquet.

  “Make-up!” I screech and we both quickly move over to the mirror and fix the damage produced by tears. Turning to Jen, I kiss her on the cheek and adjust her veil around her shoulders.

  On a final hug, we turn towards Davy and Ben and they leave the room. In less than five minutes, I will see AJ for the first time since New York. Taking a deep breath I try to compose myself, grab my bouquet from its box and follow them out.

  *****

  As soon as I start making my way down the aisle, I am aware that AJ is looking my way, but I keep my eyes firmly trained forward as I slowly walk towards Davy, who has preceded me. I reach my spot and turn to face towards the back of the marquee, watching Jen and Ben as they walk down the aisle.

  Oh my! My heart is just bursting with joy for my dearest friend. She truly is a vision, as she walks towards Razor with a smile upon her face.

  I cast my gaze towards Razor and witness the look of awe upon his face; his eyes bright with unshed tears, as they follow Jen walking gracefully towards him. Theirs truly is a story of love at first sight, and I couldn’t be happier for them.

  Without conscious thought, my eyes wander towards AJ to find him staring at me. He looks good. So good, but his eyes seem dead. The bright sparkle that was always present, seemingly now diminished, filling me with sadness. Compelling my gaze away, I take a deep breath to compose myself and watch as Jen reaches Razor and takes his hand.

  The ceremony is beautiful, with Jen and Razor exchanging vows with such emotion, my eyes tear up. They commence walking back up the aisle, holding hands and greeting people as they go, and I move to follow suit meeting AJ at the centre. He stops and holds out his arm for me to take, and after a slight hesitation I link my arm with his, and we proceed to follow Jen and Razor.

  “Are you okay?” he whispers quietly, whilst nodding and smiling at people as we pass.

  “Are you asking because you want to know, or because you feel obligated to?” I enquire bitchily, whispering through my grin. I regret the words as soon as they are spoken. I guess it’s a gut reaction of self-preservation, and I immediately wish that I could take them back.

  “Birdie! Please.” He retorts exasperated.

  “I’m Okay.” I sigh. “I won’t deny I’ve been better, but I’m……. surviving.”

  “Can we talk?” and on feeling my body jerk in reaction to his question. “Not now, later when all the formalities are over.”

  We reach the end of the aisle and turn to proceed towards Jen and Razor who are standing out in the foyer. Stopping, I remove my arm from his, and turn to face him. He seems tired and anxious, and I watch his lips compress at my hesitance. Do I want to be alone with him? I guess I owe him a chance to explain, so as I turn towards Jen, I look back at him and nod my agreement, before walking towards the newlyweds to offer my congratulations.

  Kissing Jen on the cheek, she whispers into my ear asking if I’m alright.

  “Of course! I’ll speak to you later.” And I move away towards Davy and Ben.

  On reaching them, Ben hands me a glass of champagne, and I raise it to them in salute, before taking a long hard drink.

  “Hey, slow down.” Chastises Davy.

  With a hint of rebellion I empty the rest of my glass.

  “Boy, I needed that.” I announce and grab another glass from a waiter walking past. On viewing Davys disapproving expression, I pull a wry face.

  “Don’t panic, I just needed the first hit. I’ll take it slow from now on.” I vow and cast an eye around the room. There are a lot of famous people here, but also a lot of people who aren’t. I’m not surprised, even though Razor is famous, he has kept his feet firmly on the ground and stayed true to his roots. I know for a fact that some of his school friends, and even his old music teacher have been invited.

  I spy the top of AJ’s head across the room, and I swiftly avert my eyes before he notices me looking.

  “I take it you two haven’t spoken and made up yet.” Ben says.

  I watch as Davy turns and gives Ben a pointed look. I can’t help smiling. I just know he will catch the end of her tongue later.

  “What?” he exclaims, looking at her.

  “It’s okay.” I announce. “No we haven’t, but he just asked me if we can talk later.”

  “And?” questions Davy.

  “And I agreed.” On seeing her smile, I quickly put her straight. “Don’t go grasping at straws. I said I would talk, that’s all.”

  Davy gives me a frowning look, to which I just raise my eyebrows at her. She knows me too well.

  “Well! All I’m saying is hear him out. You never know, he might have a good reason. You’re usually a fair minded person Boo, you always have been. I know you will make the right decision, whatever that may be.”

  Dear Davy, always my most ardent supporter, b
ut never forgetting to straighten me out when the need arises.

  “Anyway, not that I’m what you call a typical fan girl, but I would like to meet the guy at least once. You know, just to give you my let’s say... biased opinion.” Davy says smirking.

  Ben stands there with his eyes closed, slowly shaking his head, with a grimace on his face; almost as if to say “and you moaned about me”. Davy just stares at me, a look of total innocence upon her face, all but fluttering her eyelashes. I know what she’s doing, she’s making me feel better by lightening the mood. I can’t help it, I burst out into loud all-consuming laughter. So loud that even a few people turn towards me and start to smile or laugh too. By the time I’ve finished, my eyes are wet and I’m struggling to catch my breath.

  “Oh God! I needed that.” I exclaim.

  “Then job done.” Announces Davy. “And much better than an alcohol fix.”

  “Okay, point taken. Thanks Sis.” As I lean towards her and kiss her cheek.

  “Anything for you my Boo.” She whispers in my ear, and I feel my eyes well up again, this time with emotion.

  We spend the next hour, having photographs taken and mingling with the guests; with all the band members coming over to meet Davy and Ben. As I knew they would, they both take it in their stride, and don’t blink an eyelid that they have met the band members. Even when a friend of Razors, actor Sam Moress, who I had first met at Jens party came to say hello, Davy who I know is a big fan, held it together.

  “Can someone get me a fan?” Davy jokes, as he moves away. “That guy is hot.”

  Laughing at her I take another sip of champagne.

  “I don’t know what you’re laughing at. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you.” She declares.

  “What! Don’t be daft Davy, he was just being polite.” I reply.

  “You can be polite, without having to have your eyes glued to someone, but that’s just my opinion. Oh my God! Stand by your beds; Hot Rocker at ten o’clock and moving in rapidly, with a determined glint in his eye. Stay cool Boo.” She mutters and takes a drink of champagne nonchalantly.

  Frowning, I turn my gaze to my right, and see AJ heading in our direction. Taking a deep breath and straightening my back, I force a smile on my face. Even though there are no press here, and mobile phones have been banned, I am still on the alert that someone would be taking pictures. I don’t want our private life and situation out in the press yet. We have managed to keep it quiet so far. If we can maintain that until I’m back in the UK I’ll be happy.

  It seems that AJ is of the same opinion, because to my shock, on reaching my side, he slips an arm around my waist and kisses my temple.

  “Hi Babe. Are you going to introduce me?”

  Composing myself swiftly from the shock of his actions, I introduce him to Davy and Ben. I didn’t know how Davy would react, but she holds her own and is polite. Ben however, shocks the hell out of me. Kind and gentlemanly Ben, becomes quite standoffish and abrupt. I have never seen him react this way before, and I stare at him, sending him an unspoken message to ‘chill out’.

  Someone attracts AJ’s attention, and I can tell he is reluctant to leave my side.

  “We’ll get together later, okay?” he says meaningfully. I agree with a nod, and he excuses himself to Davy and Ben.

  Turning to me just before he goes, he grasps my hand.

  “You look breath-taking Birdie. Stunning.” Before walking away.

  I turn and find both Davy and Ben staring at me.

  “What?” I question.

  “Oh Boo, he loves you. It’s written all over him.”

  “Then he shouldn’t have betrayed me, should he.” I snap. “And what was that all about?” I ask turning to Ben. “I’ve never seen you be so belligerent ever. That hardly helped the situation.”

  “I’m sorry Boo. I don’t know what came over me. My only excuse, is he hurt you. I was powerless when James did it. I guess I wanted him aware that I know what he did, and that I didn’t like it.”

  “Well, I think he got the message.” I state. “Oh Ben, I do love you, but please don’t do that again, it’s not needed. Okay?”

  “It’s because he loves you Boo.” Says Davy.

  “I know and I love you both so much, but this is still very raw. It’s going to be hard enough to speak to him later, without the addition of family tension.”

  “Okay, okay, just remember we love you and we’re here if you need us.” Davy says grabbing my hand, and squeezing it.

  Just then everyone is called to take their places in the dining marquee, and we all make our way in and take our seats. As we are all members of the wedding party, we are all seated at the top table. I’m relieved to discover AJ is seated at the other end of the table to myself, but this is short lived when I see he is seated next to Davy. Great! Now I’m going to be apprehensive all through dinner about what they are discussing.

  I lean forward, trying to catch Davys attention to send a silent message, but I’m unsuccessful. There is nothing I can do about it, without being totally obvious and walking up there. So I decide to go with the flow, and try to forget about it and enjoy my meal.

  As expected the meal is delicious, but I find five courses too much. Luckily, the meal is spread over a matter of time, else I would never have managed to eat it all.

  The speeches are wonderful; with Ben having all three of us, Davy, Jen, and I in tears, when enlightening everyone how close we are. He has even made a slide show of photos of the three of us, as we grew up; many revealing the antics and mishaps that we always seemed to manage to get into, making everyone laugh.

  Especially the shots of when we decided to run in a local fun run for charity, and we all wore fancy dress. The before shots had everyone smiling, as we appeared so sweet and cute. The after shots had everyone hysterical, as we had all fallen foul of the mud and were totally covered in it. Happy memories, that now made Davy and I stand up and join Jen for a group hug.

  AJ as best man stands to deliver his speech, telling some tales about Razor that were hysterical, and some so bad that I think that maybe he should have left them out. He also compliments the bridesmaids, remarking on how stunning we both look, but shocks me with.

  “As you can imagine, I’m totally biased where my girl is concerned.”

  His girl! His girl? I sit seething but with a painful grin on my face. Okay, we have to watch out for leaks to the press, but he could have left that bit out. As he asks people to raise their glasses to Davy and I. I have no choice but to look at him. I force a smile, before hiding my expression the best I can by drinking some champagne. The expression on his face, leaves me in no doubt, that he realises I’m displeased. Well tough, he should have thought that one through.

  Razor as expected is full of emotion whilst delivering his speech. Telling all, how in a matter of moments, Jen had blown him away with her personality, and made him fall fast and hard. He says they are the proof that love at first sight really does happen. I sneak a peek at Jen to see she is mesmerised by her husband, hanging onto his every word, with a sweet smile but watery eyes. Yep, I think Razor is right; true love at first sight.

  As all the speeches and formal arrangements have finished, music starts up in another section of marquee, where a dance floor has been laid.

  I’m becoming more agitated by the minute, knowing AJ at some point, will seek me out for “the talk”.

  Watching many of the guests heading through to the other marquee where the music is coming from, I decide to grab Davy and join them. At least if I’m in a crowd, I will have a better chance of hiding. Cowardly I know, but at this moment in time I regret agreeing to meet with him.

  The only problem is, Davy is talking to AJ. As I don’t wish to draw his attention to myself, I’m now in a quandary. Ben is talking to Jen so I can’t grab him.

  For crying out loud! I tell myself, you’re a grown woman, what on earth is wrong with you?

  So gathering up my skirt, I leave the table, and start to
move towards the other room.

  “Hey, you heading my way?” a voice enquires.

  I turn and find Sam Moress at my side. Smiling, I nod my head in confirmation.

  “Then how about we hit the dance floor and show everyone how it should be done.” He smiles.

  “You’re on”. I laughingly agree. It’s just what I need. Although I don’t have the heart to pre-warn him, that I’m likely to do my own thing.

  He offers me his arm and we hit the dance floor. It has to be said he’s a really good mover, and it’s not long, before I’m feeling the music and having a really good time. As usual, the outside world disappears and I’m in a world of my own, when the music changes to a Latin American based rhythm, and I turn to Sam questioningly.

  “I’m game if you are.” He states taking me into his arms and we start to move. I’m following his lead in what seems to be a kind of samba. I’ve never danced like this before, and it’s a credit to his lead that I can follow him perfectly.

  “I don’t mean to pry, but is everything okay with you and AJ?” he stuns me by asking.

  “Umm, yes of course.” I stammer my reply, feeling myself blush.

  “Then why is he standing glowering at us. I swear I can feel the dagger in my back.” He says.

  Turning around, I understand what he means. AJ is standing with Travis, who seems to be heatedly speaking to him. AJ in return, appears to basically be ignoring him. I watch as Travis places a hand on AJ’s arm, only for AJ to shrug it off, mutter something to him and storm off.

  Oh boy, someone isn’t happy. Well, it’s not like we are together; however much of a pretence he puts on. Besides, it’s only dancing.

  The song comes to an end and thanking Sam, I tell him I’m in need of a drink, and leave the dance floor. I’m not lying, my throat is parched; I fear mainly due to apprehension rather than thirst. Heading back towards my seat where I have left my glass, I have to pass Travis, so I stop next to him.