by Tara Wimble
“And I got burned for it.”
“Still, it makes you a better person than any of us.”
Bella starts to tear up a bit and she can’t handle the influx of feelings so she pulls Rebecca into a tight hug, not even taking a second to laugh at how to force of it draws a pained grunt from Rebecca. “I needed to hear that.” She mumbles against Rebecca’s shoulder before she pulls away, putting space between them.
“It needed to be said.” She pauses. “I wish you and Jacque the best, you’re a beautiful couple.”
“Eh she’s alright, I guess.” Bella says it with a smile and it’s like the water is finally under the bridge, at least between the two of them, Rebecca excuses herself a moment later but Bella feels like she’s just taken a huge step forward.
Jacque swoops in behind her almost immediately after Rebecca goes and drapes an arm over her shoulder, taking her by surprise. “Let’s roll, wife.” She turns Bella and steers them towards the table where her parents are waiting. “My mom demands our presence.”
*
Hooting and hollering and well wishes chase them out of the reception and into elevator that leads to the honeymoon suite of the hotel.
When the door to their room is closed behind them and they pause for a good few seconds before Bella bursts out laughing. “I can’t believe that just-”
“-happened, right?” Jacque finishes. “Oh, god. Married life is starting already.”
“Sentence finishing!” Bella giggles. “Stop, stop before we start getting worse.” As she laughs her dress starts to dig into her chest. “Oh man, get this thing off of me.”
Bella breathes in so that Jacque can get the zipper on the back of the dress down. As she does, she folds her arms over her chest and the ring, new to her left hand, brushes her palm. She looks down at it, not at Jacque’s concentration, and a swell of happiness comes over her. Not the kind she’d expect after marrying someone, but one that comes with knowing a great sacrifice has been given on her behalf.
“You’re kind of an amazing friend, you know that?”
“Hm?” Jacque looks up at Bella in the reflection of the mirror. “Oh, now you compliment me after I take my heels off?”
Bella turns the ring on her finger, getting used to the weight of it, while Jacque shuffles behind her no doubt taking her dress off. She spots flashes of shoulder when she glances up and down again. It’s strange to think about modesty and wedding in the same sentence. This is definitely not what her wedding night was supposed to be.
“I mean it though.” Bella forgoes the small boundary and turns on the vanity stool. “Today was, it was perfect and not what we really expected-”
Jacque freezes with a neck and an arm through a shirt like she’s hearing Bella’s leading sentence differently.
“But I think it went okay.”
“If that’s your way of saying, we pulled this off, then yeah.” Jacque murmurs. “I wouldn’t have let it fail after all the work I put into it.”
Bella rolls her eyes.
“And because-” Jacque pulls her shirt on fully so that it just hides her underwear. “-you asked for this. I’ll never let you down, alright?”
She can’t help smiling at the sincerity in Jacque’s voice. It means more than all of the bells and whistles of the ceremony today.
Jacque taps her shoulder. “Now turn, you got more pins in your head than Frankenstein’s monster.”
The day ends as it started, with laughter. Bella smirks at the mirror as Jacque starts to unravel the French braid in her hair. “Change that attitude or you’re not sleeping with me tonight.”
“You’ll soon change your mind when it gets cold tonight.”
“Dang. Answer for everything don’t you?”
“You know it,” Jacque smiles. “There. I think they’re all done. Do you want me to hang that up?”
She gestures to the dress and Bella stands, holding it to her chest, pushing the stool back. “Yeah, lemme just step out of it.”
Bella would be embarrassed at the little wriggle she has to make to get it over her hips but she’s in her underwear already so it can’t get much worse. Jacque, politely, purses her lip and doesn’t snicker about it until she’s turned her back to hang the dress up in the closet.
Jacque’s already laying down on the bed by the time she’s done hanging her dress up, flipping through the channels and finally settling on some mindless evening talk show. Bella lays down and Jacque meets her halfway in the middle of the bed, throwing an arm over her stomach.
“Hey, hands.” Bella shuffles back into Jacque’s hold. “I mean, feel free since it’s your wedding too but-”
“Shut up.” Jacque mumbles drowsily now that they’ve started to wind down. It’s a huge bed but Jacque was right about the cold so they don’t have a problem adjusting so that Jacque is big spooning her for the night.
It’s easier to let go in the darkness. “I’m so tired.” Bella sighs.
In response, Jacque’s arm around her waist curls around her a little more. “Yeah, well today’s over at least.”
For them it is as the rest of the wedding party is no doubt driving home or getting to their rooms while the staff begins to clear up after them. Bella isn’t jealous of them at all. Being cuddled after a stressful day is always high on her to do list. Especially, apparently, ‘we faked our way through our fake wedding’ cuddles. Which Jacque is surprisingly good at.
“Maple syrup.” Bella mumbles.
“What?” Jacque asks.
“S’in the curves.” Bella replies. “You’re cuddly.”
Jacque makes a ‘well duh’ noise in the back of her throat before tapping Bella’s stomach. “Tell me something I don’t know. In the morning. After sleep.”
Cocooned under blankets and heavy arms Bella succumbs to heavy eyes and sore feet. Not before she manages to whisper a yawning goodnight that’s swallowed into silence and Jacque’s reassuring hold.
*
They have to leave at the crack of dawn from their sleep to catch the earliest flight out of Toronto that’ll take them to Vancouver. Jacque has to literally drag Bella up and out of the bed and they make an emergency stop on the way to the airport to get some coffee into her system before she passes out again.
Bella sleeps on her shoulder the entire five hour flight which is just as well because Jacque needs to stay alert, there’s an hour long drive from the airport to Whistler and once she falls asleep again she doesn’t want to have to wake up and do things.
They land and book it to the rental car company, eager to be done with the whole travel part of the day, it reminds Jacque too much of being back with the national team, early mornings, long flights, and it’s just not the headspace she wants to be in.
Jacque rents an awesome Escalade using some of her leftover frequent flier miles which earns her an impressed look from her new wife. Said wife falls asleep again in the car and Jacque rolls her eyes because the least she could do would be to talk to her on the trip.
But it’s all forgotten when they get to the room because, god damn, there was no expense spared on this thing and if she’s not going to be having sex then at least the digs are more than amenable.
Bella excuses herself to take a shower and Jacque plops down on the bed, snatching the remote, and finally getting a bit of relaxation.
Everything is looking on the up when she hears it. Singing.
“-I e-mail her every single day. Just to make sure that everything's okay.”
For a second she curses the desk for apparently sticking them in the room next to the American Idol wannabe, until she listens a little closer and it’s coming from their bathroom. The one Bella is in taking a shower.
“-But you can't because she is in Canada. I love her, I miss her, I can't wait to kiss her,”
Jacque sits up straight as a board because she knows that song. She knows that fucking song. “Bella?”
But Bella is apparently deaf while she sings so she carries on. “So s
oon I'll be off to Alberta! I mean Vancouver!”
“Bella!”
“SHIT- HER NAME IS ALBERTA SHE LIVES IN VANCOUVER-”
“I just married a straight twenty one year old.” Jacque taps the remote against her forehead with increasing frustration. “What have I gotten myself into?”
She looks up at the ceiling. “Why? I’m a good person.”
“My wonderful girlfriend! Yes I have a girlfriend, who lives in Canada!!” Oh no. “And I can't wait to eat-”
Jacque jumps up to the door and kicks it quickly. “ELLA!” She yells and evokes a wave of laughter from behind the door that tells her it was all on purpose. “You are the worst wife ever!”
Inappropriate shower songs are not going to make this honeymoon any shorter.
Jacque leaves the room when Bella decides to take a nap because she’s at a ski resort damn it, she should probably do some sort of actual skiing. It was one of her favorite things to do growing up so it was only natural when Bella’s parents said they would spring for the honeymoon that they come up to Whistler and have some fun.
The pro shop is fairly packed and she ends up glancing at the rentals, taking a little bit of time to figure out whether she actually wants to ski or snowboard today.
“You look lost?” A voice comes from her side and it’s a tad raspy but there’s a sort of soothing quality and it’s a testament to that tone that Jacque doesn’t even jump though she clearly wasn’t expecting this woman.
And wow, woman is the correct term for that.
Because this woman standing next to her is gorgeous, and obviously older, but gorgeous nonetheless and Jacque doesn’t feel the weight of her wedding ring on her finger, having taken it off unwilling to risk losing it on the slopes, and so she smiles.
“Not lost, just looking around.”
The woman smiles brightly and it doesn’t remind Jacque of Bella at all and she’s absolutely charmed by that. Probably unhealthily so. Deny it too much and you’re guilty and all that.
“Is this your first time?” So many thoughts flash through Jacque’s mind and only a few of them could ever be shared in mixed company and yeah, this is a thing she wants. Her eyes flash down to the instructor badge pinned to the woman’s jacket and in a moment before she can think to change her answer she responds.
“It is.” The woman places a hand on her shoulder and makes a sound that indicates she finds Jacque’s perceived lack of experience endearing. This only spurs her on. “It absolutely is.”
The ski instructor, whose name is Natalie, somehow manages to slip Jacque her number between showing Jacque the different types of snowboards they have and her hands disappearing underneath Jacque’s shirt.
“Definitely.” Jacque is sure that it sounds like she’s saying a word but Natalie is biting down on her neck just a bit and she’s, fuck, finding it hard to concentrate. “Totally up for lessons. Skiing lessons.”
Natalie pulls back and then the room is suddenly visible to her again. How she managed to corner Jacque into the back of the snowboard storage without anyone following them is beyond her but now that she’s being pinned back against one of the walls with a gorgeous woman pulling at the waistband of her jeans, she’s not too sure she wants to know.
“So, tonight?”
“Tonight?” Jacque gets flustered when Natalie tugs a bit too hard and her knuckles brush against her stomach.
“Skiing lessons.” Is definitely not code for skiing at all. Jacque knows that the back of her neck is turning red and hot and that for the first time in what seems like weeks, she’s not thinking further than tonight. She doesn’t have to care past tonight. Fuck, she’s twenty three and this is the most she’s felt her age in a long time.
Jacque looks down to Natalie’s hand and then back up with a smile. “That’s perfect.”
Bella is still asleep when she sneaks back into the room. Trying to get ready for a long night while also trying not to wake up the one thing that might stop that night from happening because she wants to grab dinner, is harder than anticipated.
Jacque takes what feels like the shortest and quietest shower in human history. She actually waits until the last minute to do something with her hair because turning on the blow dryer is not an option. In the end she puts it up, in the hope that someone pulls it down, and tugs a teal v-neck over her head.
There’s no use putting on layers since Natalie is resort employed and living within it. Jacque doesn’t have to worry about trekking anywhere in the snow.
She turns away from the mirror after putting on some light makeup and is caught with the image of Bella sleeping soundly.
Okay, so there’s a small amount of guilt because they haven’t spent more than a few hours apart since this whole mess started and she’s technically leaving her in the middle of nowhere. So she takes a few seconds to scribble a note. Finding a polite yet non-descriptive way to tell her fake wife that she’s having honeymoon sex with someone other than her fake wife is harder than it seems. She settles for saying that she’s exploring the slopes and that she’ll be back soon.
The note is left on Bella’s bedside table and the lamp is turned off. She’s about to make her quick escape when she stalls.
Jacque sighs at her inability to just leave well enough alone and before she leaves she digs up the blanket from the closet in the room and carefully lays it over Bella. There’s no use trying to get her under the duvet, it’ll only wake her, and with any luck Jacque won’t be back to share the other side of the bed tonight.
There’s no other thought of Bella that night once she checks that the door is locked and makes her way into the lobby. From then she’s not really required to think at all. That control is taken from her.
“Ready?”
A low voice full of promises steals her attention. Casual works in a situation where both parties don’t expect to be wearing clothes for much longer. Natalie certainly looks her up and down like she’s tired of waiting already.
Natalie steps forward and traces the line of her v-neck shirt. Jacque finds herself stumbling all over this motion with an excited smile. “Yeah.”
She doesn’t make it back to the room for breakfast and although there’s no shortage of Tim Horton’s in Canada, Jacque doesn’t have her car keys to drive and get some. Which means that when she gets back, empty handed, and Bella is sitting on the bed with such a smug, knowing look there’s no treats she has to offer up as distraction.
“Jacquelina-” Bella puts a hand over her heart. “Liresch.”
Jacque expected this.
“Tell me everything.”
Jacque didn’t expect that.
“Why? Because you’re gonna get cornered by Sadie and then she’s gonna corner me and our stories need to match up.” Bella theorizes. “And there’s no donuts.”
Jacque grabs her keys with such haste that she knocks the complimentary mints all over the place.
Bella blocks the door with her body and Jacque almost runs into her. “In fact, hand them over.” She holds out her palm for the keys. “Because if the fact you haven’t tied your shoes to walk back here is any indication, you’re not altogether recovered to drive.”
*
On her honeymoon she leads kind of a double life. In the mornings and afternoons Bella runs her around. They get lunch and ski and buy stupid presents to eventually send home to their families. Bella takes a ridiculous amount of pictures in the name of authenticity. However sometimes she’ll just spring them on Jacque so suddenly that it doesn’t seem like they’re for anything more than fun.
The nights though, other than the one dinner they get all dressed up for because it’s been organized by Bella’s family, are Jacque’s own.
Bella stops making comments, mostly, even when Jacque comes back on the third night and Bella finds her curled on the floor with a pillow between her legs when she wakes up in the morning. It’s all hilarious to her, as she’s apparently figured out who Natalie is and exactly who’s wearing the meta
phorical pants in their tryst.
“Should I be worried?” Bella asks as Jacque comes out of the shower in a towel. There’s a red line of scratches, that Jacque can’t see but Bella can as Jacque sits on by the vanity mirror, creeping down her shoulder.
“Worried?” Jacque tussles with getting her wet hair out of her face.
“That our honeymoon is going to end with you leaving me for the hot snow chick.”
Jacque splutters adorably and Bella takes that as a ‘no’.
“Good.” Bella stands and holds a pin in her mouth as she ties her hair up. “Just tell her I want you back in one piece, okay?”
Jacque covers her face with the hand that’s not holding her towel around her. In her blindness Bella manages to sneak up on her to touch the scratches on Jacque’s shoulder. “Yeah, you should definitely tell her to cut those.”
She holds her breath as Bella touches her and doesn’t let it out until she’s left the room. Jacque leans forward and presses her head on the vanity table. “Oh Jesus Christ.”
It takes a lot to remind herself that Bella is in this for the soccer sometimes but still-
Why her?
*
Check out comes around quicker than Jacque realizes. They’ve had a week trapped in a snow filled bubble, enough for Bella to get the faintest hint of snow burn around her eyes where she’s been wearing goggles, and enough for Jacque to get used to falling into bed with someone else on a consistent basis.
All good things must come to an end though and Bella volunteers to bring their bags down, something that Jacque questions until she spots Natalie in the lobby when she walks down with their keys. Ah, that’s why.
Jacque hadn’t seen her last night, though she might have wanted to, but chose to instead walk around town with Bella. Breaking the habit of seeing Nat felt good, better than seeing her, just because it reminded her that she had a little bit of freedom still.
It’s only now, when she’s on a path towards her, that Jacque realizes that she’s wearing her wedding ring.
“Well, that’s certainly something new.”
“Not quite as inexperienced as you like them.” Jacque taps the key on the counter. The receptionist is busy on the phone and Jacque waves, telling her she’ll wait and that there’s no hurry.