by Meg Cabot
I thought Jane was going to have an embolism, she was so delirious with joy. She kept clutching my shirt—not an unpleasant sensation, by the way—and hissing, “It worked! We did it! It worked!” as we rode down the elevator.
Then she seemed to sober up and asked, “What did that man say about Le Marche?”
So I told her he’d said, with a grunt, when he heard where we—I mean, Mark and Holly—were planning on being wed: “Better a corpse in the house than a man from Le Marche.”
This filled Jane with righteous anger—”What did he mean by that? What’s wrong with Le Marche? I think it’s beautiful. Just because it’s not overrun with American tourists like Rhonda, that means there’s something wrong with it? That pig,” etc.
This struck me as highly amusing, considering her sentiments on Le Marche after coming out of the bathroom at the restaurant where we dined just last evening.
Still, it’s true that Le Marche is beginning to have a certain charm. I’m actually eager to get back there.
I haven’t been eager to get anywhere since… well, ever. I wonder what that’s about. It seems as if places have always been just that to me… places. I can’t imagine what’s happened to make Le Marche seem less like a place and more like… well. Home.
* * *
To: Jane Harris
Fr: Malcolm Weatherly
Re: Ciao!
Hey, babe! How’s it going? Haven’t heard from you in a while. What happened? You run off with some Italian stallion or what?
Drop me a line, will ya? I miss your face.
And I really need to know if you’ve seen my lucky hat.
M.
Travel Diary of
Holly Caputo and Mark Levine
Jane Harris
Talk about weird.
I mean, that I’m stuck in a car with Cal Langdon, and I’m actually having a not-bad time.
What’s HAPPENING to me?
Why did he have to put his arm around me back at the consulate? Not that I didn’t like it—far from it, of course—but ever since then, I’ve been wishing it would happen again. Why do I even want to touch him, anyway? He’s a modelizer!
But he did come through for Mark and Holly. And against his will, even. I mean, he never wanted them to get married in the first place.
But I haven’t heard a peep of protest out of him all day. In fact, thanks to him, those two are going to have their dream wedding after all.
That’s gotta come as a blow to someone who is violently opposed to the institution of marriage. I wonder if he even realizes this.
Me: “Hey, so what happened to being all anti-marriage?”
Cal: “What?”
Me: (turning down Queen) “I thought you were totally against Holly and Mark getting married. So why’d you go along with this whole thing?”
Cal: “Are you recording this conversation in that book?”
Me: “Um. Sort of.”
Cal: “Great. What else did you say about me?”
Me: “That you drool in your sleep.”
Cal: “I do not.”
Me: “You do too. I saw it for myself this morning when I woke you up.”
Cal: (making a grab for this book) “Let me see that.”
Me: “Hey! Eyes on the road, mister. Seriously, what changed your mind?”
Cal: “About what?”
Me: “MARRIAGE!!! Why are you pro now, when you were anti before?”
Cal: “I’m still anti. Just not in the case of Mark and Holly. I changed my mind.”
Me: “Obviously. But why?”
Cal: “They just seem very… together. Like a couple should be. I guess.”
Me: “I told you.”
Cal: “That doesn’t make me pro-marriage, you know. It just makes me pro-Mark and Holly.”
Me: “That’s all I wanted. You remember. Back on the plane?”
Cal: “Well, I barely knew Holly then. I still think Mark would be better off seeing the world before he settles down. Don’t snort. It’s a big place, there’s a lot to see. A man shouldn’t let himself get tied down too young.”
Me: “Excuse me. Mark is thirty-five. That is middle-aged in many countries. And he TRIED exploring the world, remember? He got food poisoning for his efforts.”
Cal: “I realize all of that. That’s why I amended my opinion. About Mark and Holly.”
Me: “But not love and marriage in general.”
Cal: “I still believe marriage is an outdated institution. I also believe it robs people of their individual sense of self. I mean, just look at how women take their husbands’ names—”
Me: “Not ALL women.”
Cal: “The majority of them. Would you?”
Me: “Um. I’m the creator of Wondercat. YOU may never have heard of me, but lots of people have. If I changed my name, it would confuse my fans. And besides. I like my name the way it is. Even though, of course, it was handed down to me by a patriarchal society that subjugates women by robbing them of their birth identity upon marriage.”
Cal: “See? That’s what I’m talking about!”
Me: (snorting again) “Hello. I was kidding.”
Cal: “Oh. Well, that’s still what I’m talking about.”
Me: “No, it isn’t. That isn’t what you said before. You said you don’t believe in marriage because mammals are genetically incapable of monogamy, and I cited wolves and hawks as examples. Also that chemicals in the brain cause us to believe ourselves in love, when actually, we’re merely in lust. It’s right here in this book if you don’t believe me, I can look it up.”
Cal: “You put that conversation in there, too? Holly and Mark are going to read that!”
Me: “Er. Yeah. Maybe. Stop trying to change the subject. Do you really believe that? That human beings are incapable of monogamy? Because I can cite a lot of examples of marriages in which neither partner strayed—”
Cal: “How do you know?”
Me: “I think I’d know if my own parents were cheating on each other.”
Cal: “How? Unless they told you. You wouldn’t know. You’d have no idea.”
Me: “Well, what about Rhonda’s parents?”
Cal: “Who the hell is Rhonda?”
Me: “Rhonda. Of Rhonda and Paolo. Her parents were celebrating their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary.”
Cal: “You have no possible way of knowing whether or not Rhonda’s parents have been monogamous for those thirty-five years.”
Me: “True. Still. I’ll bet you twenty bucks they have been. Nobody goes on a cruise with a cheating spouse.”
Cal: “You are unbelievable.”
Me: “No, you are. Just because your ex-wife cheated on you, you think all women are incapable of being faithful. Admit it.”
Cal: “I never said any such thing.”
Me: “You didn’t have to. It’s totally obvious. When you say you think humans are incapable of monogamy, you mean women.”
Cal: “No, I don’t.”
Me: “Did you cheat on her?”
Cal: “Who?”
Me: “Valerie.”
Cal: “HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW HER NAME?”
Me: “Holly told me. Did you?”
Cal: “Of course not.”
Me: “See? I rest my case.”
Cal: “HOW? I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!”
Me: “You distrust all women because of what one of them did to you. And that’s made you take this anti-marriage stance. But it’s not marriage that’s the problem. It’s ditzes like your ex who don’t take it seriously or get hitched for the wrong reasons or whatever. Don’t blame the institution of marriage for Valerie cheating on you. It wasn’t marriage that made her cheat. She was just a ho.”
Cal: “Oh my God. You are unbelievable.”
Me: “Yes. But I’m right, too. There’s the exit. Don’t miss it.”
He’s acting like he’s all shocked now that I would bring up this very pr
ivate thing from his past.
And I guess it IS kind of rude to call someone’s ex a ho. But really, that’s what she is. Just like Dave is a male ho. But I haven’t let Dave’s predilection for humping soul-sucking Human Resource reps behind my back sour me on the idea of matrimonial bliss, or of someday finding that perfect someone, now, have I?
And really, I know that, technically, there’s no such thing as matrimonial bliss… marriage is work, and there are no soul mates. You just have to find the person who annoys you the least (at least according to Dr. Phil), or rather, annoys you in ways you can stand.
Really, I bet there’d be a lot less divorce if people realized this. A lot less marriages, too. But that might not be such a bad thing.
Oooooh, I smell horse! The Centro Ippico! We’re almost home!
* * *
To: Listserv
Fr: Peter Schumacher
Re: JANE HARRIS
FANTASTIC NEWS, KIDS!!!! There is going to be a wedding after all!
This just in:
JANE HARRIS has driven all the way to Roma to get the APOSTILLE that her friends need to have the marriage! YES! She walked in at approximately 21:00 hours, while my grandmother and I were sitting at the banquet table in the villa, trying to get JANE HARRIS’s friends, who ate of the bad oysters but were finally starting to feel better, to drink some soup.
In walks JANE HARRIS holding up the APOSTILLE! The wedding will go on tomorrow morning as planned! The friends of JANE HARRIS, even though they are both still sickly, jump up and shout for joy! And JANE HARRIS says, “This is my wedding present to you!”
It is the best wedding present anyone has ever given to anyone, declares JANE HARRIS’s friend Holly.
My grandmother opens the bottle of champagne to celebrate.
So come one, come all, to the Ufficio of the Secretario of Castelfidardo tomorrow morning at 9:00!
This is Peter, #1 Fan of Wundercat, saying GOOD NIGHT!
Wundercat lives—4eva!
Peter
* * *
To: Holly Caputo
Fr: Darrin Caputo
Re: Hello, it is your mother
Holly, this is your mother. Something horrible has happened. Your brother Darrin is going to get married. To a man. On the steps of City Hall. Where everyone will see.
You must come home at once. You know your brother has never listened to me or anyone else in this family. You must stop him from doing this. I cannot allow a child of mine to disgrace himself in this way.
I am begging you to talk your brother out of this crazy scheme. Perhaps Mark can help, as well. He’s a doctor, surely he must know how wrong it is to flagrantly defy the law in this way.
Counting on you to come home and do the right thing by your poor, confused brother,
Your mother
PDA of Cal Langdon
I was right from the beginning. From the moment I first laid eyes on her—holding all those water bottles in the duty free shop back at JFK— I thought to myself, “There’s a nut case.”
I called it.
And yet… she made some very miserable people very happy tonight. I never saw a bigger pair of sadsacks than Holly and Mark, slumped at that giant dining table, when we walked through the door tonight. Mark, of course, looked particularly lost, since he’s blind as a bat without his glasses. I walked in and handed them to him—I actually had to put them on his head, since he couldn’t even see me holding them out to him—and then Jane slapped that form onto the table with a big, “Here’s your wedding present.”
I actually thought Frau Schumacher might have a heart attack, she was so excited.
And to tell you the truth, it was a little upsetting, because I could picture myself, having to give her mouth-to-mouth to revive her, while Mark pounded on her chest. And I have the disturbing idea—maybe from the way the woman hangs on my every word (though surely this is because I’m the only one here who speaks German?)—that if she came to and found my lips on hers, even giving her the breath of life, she might actually… well, sort of enjoy it. Maybe even slip me the tongue.
Could it be that Jane is right? Could there possibly be something to her theory that marriage is all right for some people—that it didn’t work out for Valerie and me because Valerie was… well, a “ho”?
This seems an oversimplification of the problems Valerie and I had.
And yet…
Well, marriage certainly seems like it might be all right for Mark and Holly. They’re happy enough about it, jumping around as much as they can, considering their still queasy stomachs. I have to say, I can’t understand how anybody could be as delighted as they are at the prospect of being married by the socialist mayor of a town devoted to accordion construction, thousands of miles from their families.
But maybe there’s something romantic about it that I’m missing. Valerie always accused me of not being romantic enough. The sewing machine I got her for Valentine’s Day was always a bone of contention. She said she’d have preferred a diamond tennis bracelet.
But I thought a sewing machine was a much more practical gift, considering how much she was spending on clothes…
Now Holly’s grabbed Jane and the two of them—followed closely by Frau Schumacher, who seems fairly spry for her age and apparently doesn’t like to be left out of anything—have disappeared, apparently in a panicked quest to ease the wrinkles out of the wedding gown none of the rest of us is allowed to see.
With the girls otherwise occupied, Peter and I attempted to throw perhaps the lamest, most pathetic bachelor party in the history of time for Mark. Lame because of course the groom is so weak from food poisoning he can barely lift his glass to his lips. Pathetic because the only entertainment are the stray cats from last night, back for another helping of fish.
That’s right. No lap dances or kamikazes for Mark.
But perhaps this is fitting for a man who has chosen such a perverse—and yet strangely right—place to wed.
Now Mark’s staggered back upstairs to bed—interrupting the girls while Holly was trying on the wedding gown, judging from the indignant screams I just heard floating down from the window—leaving me alone with young Peter, who just asked me if I thought Jane Harris would be back down, or if I thought she’d go straight to bed.
How touching that this young man believes I am in any way privy to Ms. Harris’s private thoughts or intentions. As this is an entirely erroneous assumption, however, I was forced to inform him that I did not, in fact, know.
Then the little malcontent had the nerve to look in my eye and ask me just what, precisely, were my intentions toward the lady in question.
Not in so many words, of course. His exact phrasing, uttered in a highly disapproving tone, was, “Are you and Jane Harris lowers?” by which I am assuming he meant lovers. I can’t say I cared for the smug look that crept over the kid’s face when I told him that we most certainly were not.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so adamant?
At least he didn’t say anything. Instead, he calmly produced a deck of cards from the back pocket of his jeans and asked if I cared to play a game of War.
Reduced to spending a beautiful, starlit night along the Adriatic coast playing War with a German teenager.
I can’t help wondering if the man at the consulate’s office wasn’t right this afternoon when he expressed his belief that it’s better to have a corpse in the house than a man from Le Marche. Not that there happen to be any of those in the vicinity. Just that… well, this place seems to dothings to otherwise normal people.…
* * *
To: Cal Langdon
Fr: Mary Langdon < [email protected]>
Re: Thank You
Oh my God, Cal, thanks for the money. I really needed it. Jeff (the guy who owned the van) turned out to be a total psycho. He kicked me out j
ust because he happened to catch me talking to another guy. I don’t know who he thinks he is, anyway—the freaking Taliban? God, I hate it when guys think they own me.
But it’s cool because I hooked up with this awesome group of ski-boarders. They’ve even got a spare room I can crash in. One of them, Malcolm, showed me how to ride the halfpipe. He let me use one of his boards and everything. He says he thinks I might have a lot of natural talent. Who knows? Maybe boarding’s been my calling all along, and I just never knew it, because Mom and Dad always made us go on those stupid beach vacations, instead of taking us skiing, like normal parents.
Anyway, thanks again for the cash.
More later,
Mare
* * *
To: Cal Langdon
Fr: Ruth Levine
Re: Hello!
Hi, Cal! I don’t mean to be a pest, but I was just wondering if you got my earlier email, and if you’d had a chance to consider what I said in it. About Mark and Holly. I know you’re with Mark right now, and I was hoping you’d had a chance to speak to him about it. For reasons I’d rather not go into just now, he and I aren’t really speaking at the moment. Or rather, I’m speaking to him, but he appears to be put out with me. I know it will blow over soon—you know Mark and his moods. But I just hope that, in the meantime, you’ll keep an eye on him, and keep him from doing anything… well, rash.
I certainly don’t mean I think he’s going to KILL himself because he got into an argument with his mother, of course. By rash I just mean… well, I don’t know—PROPOSE to her, or something. Holly, I mean. Not that I don’t like her or wouldn’t want her as a daughter-in-law. She’s a perfectly affable girl. It’s just that she’s not one of us.