by J. Lea
“Hi! Sophie, what can I get you two?” We order cocktails, and when we want to pay, the bartender shakes his head.
“Tonight, everything’s on the house. Matt’s orders.” We grin at each other, clink our glasses together, and take a sip. The party is already in full swing: music blaring, inviting us to the dance floor. We gulp down the drinks, put the glasses on the counter, and head to the center of the dance floor. The club is packed tonight; some people are sitting in the corners, but the majority is dancing. We’ve already warmed up, and we’re spinning around and shaking our hips with wild abandon. Tipping my head back, I admire the thousands of tiny LED-lights on the ceiling, shining brightly like stars in the dark, creating a magical atmosphere. We head to the bar a few more times where they serve us whatever our hearts desire—but we know our limits, and we don’t want to exaggerate. Tomorrow is an important day, and waking up with a hangover is not our idea of fun. This is our third, and final, round as I can already feel alcohol swirl around my head. Sophie doesn’t appear much better. Her hands high in the air, she is swaying her hips to the sexy rhythm of the song, and singing at the top of her lungs. I get a bottle of water for James, and take it to him; he must be very thirsty by now.
“Here,” I put the bottle in front of him. He gives me a small smile in return, and takes a sip.
“Thank you,” is all he says.
“You don’t have to be so serious,” I say. “Relax a little.”
“Just doing my job, Miss Vaughn.”
“Ella. Please, call me Ella.” When he says nothing in return, I shrug and head back to Sophie. Five steps later, I feel a strong squeeze on my arm. I look down to where a big male hand is wrapped around my wrist. I try to shake it off, but his grip is too strong. He pulls me to him, and contemptuous green eyes meet me.
“What are you doing here?” I shriek. I look around me to see if James is close by. “Did you follow us?” He doesn’t respond. He just watches me with a weird expression on his face.
“Has he told you already? Has he told you what a bastard he is? She was mine first! She was mine, but Jake took her away from me. And now I’m going to take something of his.” Something of his? Is he talking about me? Fear washes over my body.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please, let me go! It hurts.” I try to pull my arm away from his tight grip without success. He’s too strong. He’s squeezing my wrist so hard, I’m sure I’m going to sport a big bruise in the shape of his hand tomorrow.
“I don’t care if it hurts. Do you have any idea how much it hurt when I had to watch them together? I want revenge!” What happens next is so fast my brain can’t even register it. I only see Kevin lying on the floor, blood dripping from his nose, and James standing above him, breathing furiously, and massaging his knuckles.
“You broke my nose, you fuckhead,” Kevin screams, and when he tries to stand up, James shoves his foot in his stomach, stopping him.
“I wouldn’t try that if I was you,” James says casually. He takes his phone out of his pocket, his eyes on Kevin. As soon as he ends the call, he grabs Kevin by the collar, and raises him to his feet. A crowd has gathered around us, watching the incident. Sophie runs to me as soon as she notices the commotion, and wraps her hands around my shoulders, a look of incredulity on her face. Two police officers push through the crowd to get to us a few minutes later. I recognize the first one—he’s the officer who came to Jake’s house to collect the photographs someone delivered to me. James tells them what happened, and they take my statement. James advises me that the best course of action is to press charges against Kevin for attacking me. This is the only way to stop him from his threats and harassments. When the officers have taken our statements, they drag Kevin to the police station, and James takes us to the car. We don’t complain. After what happened, we don’t feel like dancing anymore. Visibly shaken and still affected by Kevin’s words, I climb into the car.
“He wants revenge. He says it’s all Jake’s fault.” A tear slides down my face.
“He’s full of crap. I doubt Jake has anything to do with this. This Kevin guy is a lunatic who lost all his marbles, and now he’s fixated on you.”
“I don’t know, he appeared so sure of himself.”
“Don’t worry. They took him in for questioning. Statements from you and James, combined with you filing charges against him, should put him in jail.” I’m not really sure if that’s the case, but I still nod.
After we drop Sophie off at her house, James takes me home, and takes up his spot in front of the house. Even though I offered him a spare bedroom or a couch to sleep on, he politely refused. When I’m finally under covers and my eyes start to close, my phone rings. As I answer, I hear Jake’s worried voice.
“Babe, are you okay? James told me what happened.”
“I’m fine,” I respond quietly.
“Damn it. I got so worried when I found out. I’m really sorry I can’t be with you. You have no idea what I’d give to be the one to break that shithead’s nose.” I nod, not even realizing I haven’t responded. “Ella, please, talk to me.”
“Are you telling the truth, Jake? You really have no idea who he is? Because he knows you pretty well.”
“I swear I’m telling the truth. Why on earth would I lie to you?” A few seconds of silence. “Ella?”
“I’m fine, really. I just want to get to sleep.”
“Babe, I promise I’ll do everything in my power to be with you tomorrow, to be your date for the wedding. Ugh, sometimes I really hate my profession. There’s no place I’d rather be right now than with you.” I hang up. I just want to close my eyes and sleep. Perhaps this is just a nightmare that will be forgotten in the morning.
Jake
Early in the morning, I land at the Indianapolis airport. The first thing I do is call James. Yesterday, he gave me a detailed report on what happened in the club, and the hairs on my body stood up on end as I heard that scum of a journalist threaten Ella again. It gave me great pleasure when James said he broke his nose. He deserved much more than that. I was even more pleased by what James said next. I managed to snap a picture of him, he said. My smile grew even bigger. Finally, I will be able to put the face to the name, and find out what his problem with me is. The photo is a little blurry, but you can still see him, he added. I asked him to send a photo to my cell, but as he said, it was too blurry, and too small for me to recognize anything.
James is picking me up from the airport, so I can get to Ella as soon as possible to take her to the wedding. I know how much that will mean to her, and I don’t want to disappoint her. A black SUV with James in the driver’s seat stops beside me, and I get straight to the point:
“Who is he? Show me the photo!” James nods, reaching into the back seat to hand me the already developed photograph, which looks clearer now. The photo is still dark and grainy, but the more I stare at the man’s face, the more familiar he seems. It makes my flesh crawl when I recognize the tattoo on his forearm. “Shit,” I swear. “I can’t believe it’s him. What does he want from Ella?”
“Is everything alright, Mister Burns?” James ask, alarmed. “Did you recognize the man from the photo?” I ignore his question.
“Are you sure he’s in custody?” No shred of doubt, he is the one sending photos.
“Yes. I just spoke to the police chief, and he said he is in custody due to charges pressed against him.” I nod, and ask him to take me to the police station. I’m supposed to get dressed for the wedding, but first, I have to look that son of a bitch in the eye. After so many years, he still holds a grudge against me.
“How is Ella holding up?”
“She seemed alright this morning. She drove to Sophie’s, and she was still there when I left.” I nod.
“Good. It’s good she has something to take her mind off the whole mess.” We get to the station in a flash. I almost run through the entrance of the police station, with James following suit.
“James? What’s
going on?” a police officer exclaims as he sees us rush inside.
“I’m sorry, John. I should have called you earlier. We are here because of the suspect in yesterday’s attack in the club.”
“Can I see him?” I jump in. I don’t have time to lose; I only have a few hours before the wedding begins. I can’t be late.
“James?” The officer turns to Ella’s bodyguard.
“It’s okay, he’s with me. I can vouch for him. He just wants to make sure the suspect is the right guy.” James’s voice is calm and professional.
“Okay, since I owe you one. You have ten minutes.” We nod, and I take a deep breath as he takes us to the interrogation room. “Wait here. I’ll bring him in.”
“Thanks.” James waves.
“You two friends?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Yes, attended the academy together,” he nods. “We kept in touch.” Before I have a chance to ask him anything else, the door opens, and through it, comes the officer with a person I didn’t think I was ever going to see again.
“Hey, Brian,” I greet him, my voice chilly. His eyes bulge out when he sees me standing there, but the surprise in his eyes quickly turns to disdain. The police officer sits Brian in a chair, and chains him to the table. James and I sit down opposite him.
“I’ll be outside,” the officer says to James, who nods. My eyes, on the other hand, are fixed on Brian.
“Look who the cat dragged in,” Brian spits out. “I see you’re just as almighty as you were years ago.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Brian’s laughter echoes around the small room. “I’m talking about Liz. We were happy together until you barged into our life. As soon as she saw you, she dumped me.”
“She was never with you. Well, not until later, when you knocked her up, you piece of shit.” His deranged laughter fills the room again.
“She was mine!” he yells, standing up, but the handcuffs stop him.
“Did you send those photos? What do you want from Ella? She has absolutely nothing to do with this,” I say through gritted teeth.
“I want my sweet revenge for all the shit you put me through. Timmy is mine, but that bitch wouldn’t let me see him! I wanted her to come back to me, but she is still in love with you.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Liz. She’s no longer my problem.”
“That’s not what she thinks. And why the hell did you get her that ape that keeps following her around? So that he protects them from me?” he says. “They’re mine. I can see them whenever I want, and nobody can stop me. I want my son, with or without her.” His hands are in fists, perched on the table, shooting daggers out of his eyes.
“Leave Ella alone, or I swear... She has nothing to do with this, and if I’m honest, neither do I.” I stand up, and turn to leave. I said everything I wanted, and I’ll do my best to keep him in jail for as long as I possibly can.
“I’ll get my revenge. You took Liz away from me, and then my son, and in return, I’ll take Ella. Just wait until I get my chance.” I’m brought to a standstill. Spinning around before the last word leaves his mouth, I grab him by the collar of his shirt.
“Stay away from Ella. Do you hear me? That’s my final warning! I didn’t take Liz, or your son, away from you. It was your fault they left, you fucking scum.”
“Do you think you can just prance in here and threaten me?” Brian chuckles. “I’m going to have so much fun with Ella the next time I have her in my hands.” He runs a hand over his stubble, and licks his lips, a mad gleam in his eyes. “I’ll take my sweet time with her, figuring out why she’s so special,” he smiles.
I swing my arm at him—I want to hurt him, destroy him, kill him—but James grabs me by the elbow before my fist connects with Brian’s face.
“Our time is up. Mister Burns, let’s go. Don’t let him throw you off. He’s not worth it,” James puts his hand on my shoulder, and I nod. He’s right; it’s a waste of time that would be better spent with Ella. Taking a deep breath, I step away from him.
“Yes, listen to your ape. You’ve always been a coward,” he yells after us.
Taking a deep breath to calm me down, we hurry to our car, and James takes me home as fast as he legally can. I’m restless the whole drive. Yes, Brian is behind bars, but that doesn’t calm me.
Ella
Sophie and I are riding to her wedding in a white cabriolet, which is decorated with gorgeous violet roses and white ribbons. Matt spent the night at his cousin’s place, who is also his best man. Jake hasn’t even called me today. I guess this means he’s busy, and can’t make it. Even though I’m disappointed he won’t be with me at my best friends’ wedding, I want him here because it is such an important event for me. But I know he is a busy man. I try to hide my sad face from Sophie, but she knows me so well, I don’t know why I even bother.
“He’ll come.” She stops my restless knee with her hand. Flashing her a sour smile, I nod. “Don’t worry.” But I’m slowly losing hope that he might come. I really want to share this part of my life with him. Finally, we arrive at the beautiful venue Sophie felt was perfect for her wedding, where a giant tent with neat rows of chairs are set. At the far end, where the ceremony will take place, is a white, 8-foot tall wedding arch wraparound with purple satin ribbons and violet roses. We walk to the other, smaller tent, where we wait for the beginning of the ceremony. Sophie always wanted an outdoor wedding, and today is going to surpass all her expectations. The weather is lovely, the venue perfectly designed, and everything is as it is supposed to be, and the bride is glowing. She doesn’t look as if she’s going to bolt any second; on the contrary, she can’t wait to finally become Matt’s wife. I watch her as she sits in the chair in front of a mirror, correcting the last “imperfections” (her words not mine.) I think she looks perfect, not a hair out of place. Her hair is done in a sophisticated way that makes her look like a princess. Of course, Sophie decided to compliment the dress with sky-high platform heels. Her mother approaches us, happy tears in her eyes.
“Honey, you look absolutely stunning,” she whispers, a tear escaping down her cheek.
“Mom, don’t start, or I’m going to cry, too. Then, I’ll look like Frankenstein’s bride with my mascara running down my face, and black circles around my eyes.”
“My little girl is getting married—I can’t believe how fast time flies by!”
“I’m no longer a little girl, Mom.” They hug.
“You’ll always be my little girl,” Gail, her mom, sniffs as they break the hug. When Sophie’s dad enters the tent, I excuse myself. I want to see if Jake is here by any chance, so I walk down the red carpet, leading from the smaller to the bigger tent, where guests are already gathering. I only recognize a few familiar faces, but Jake is not among them. Matt is already at the altar, talking to the priest and his cousin. Our eyes meet, and I wave at him. I head toward the small parking lot. Perhaps he won’t show up until the last second since he doesn’t want to cause commotion, with him being famous and all. But when I get there, Jake’s car is not parked anywhere. Slumping my head in disappointment, I return to Sophie’s side with a smile I hope is convincing enough. Sophie’s parents are just leaving the tent when I get back, and they give me a hug. In that moment, we hear the song that announces the beginning of the ceremony from the big speakers outside. Sophie and I hug one last time, and then we bravely walk, down the red carpet toward the love of Sophie’s life. Matt is grinning from ear to ear when he sees Sophie, shifting from one foot to another. I take my spot by the altar, and Sophie walks up to Matt, smiling brightly at him. Matt grabs her hand, and brings it to his mouth for a kiss. The chatter behind us quiets down when the priest starts speaking.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to join Sophie and Matt in holy matrimony.” He continues with his speech, and my eyes are scanning the crowd, searching for a face I so desperately want to see, but to no avail. He isn’t here. My mood sours a little, my shoulders s
lumping, but the priest’s voice wakes me up from my thoughts.
“Have you come here of your own free will and choice and without compulsion to marry each other? Do you promise to love, cherish and respect each other for all your life? Are you willing to accept with love the children God may send you, and bring them up in accordance with the law of Christ and his Church?” Sophie and Matt say ‘yes’ in unison to all the questions, beaming at each other. In the background, the gentle melody of Elton John’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight? is playing.
“Now repeat after me,” the priest says, and Sophie and Matt nod their heads. The priest turns to Matt and starts. “I, Matthew Aaron Grant, take you, Sophia Claire Collins, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” Matt repeats after the priest clearly, without fault, and a big grin on his face. The priest nods, and turns to Sophie. “Now you. Repeat after me. I, Sophia Claire Collins, take you, Matthew Aaron Grant, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” Sophie says the words with a shaky voice. A tear of joy runs down her face, and she’s not the only one crying. I’m discreetly wiping at the tears of happiness for my friends from the corners of my eyes, hoping I don’t ruin my make-up in the process. The priest then acknowledges their consent to be married, and turns to Matt’s best man. “The ring, please.” The best man nods, pulls a beautiful, shiny ring out of his pant pocket, and places it into Matt’s shaky palm. Matt steps before Sophie, takes her left hand into his and says: