Beginning, Previous Section , Section IV
Jump to new as of September 6, 2001
Jump to new as of November 26, 2001
Jump to new as of December 12, 2001
Posted on Tuesday, 25 December 2001
Elizabeth stood in the middle of her living room and looked around her at the mess. There were boxes everywhere, some empty, some full, and all of them marked with the word JANE in big, bold, black letters. It was very sad to see those boxes. Very, very sad.
It was only four days before the wedding--Jane was finally getting most of her things out of the apartment. For now they were being piled in the living room, until Charles came over with the SUV to load all of the boxes inside. All of the furniture was being left in the apartment for Elizabeth, since Jane had no need of it at Charles' place, so only a few trips would be sufficient to move everything.
Aria had come over, and was right now in the kitchen, making everyone dinner. She had brought with her the artwork that had been hanging on the walls of her old apartment, and some shelves that had been made for her by a former girlfriend. One set of shelves had taken up permanent residence in the living room, now stacked with books and knick-knacks; the other set was awkwardly situated in the hallway between the bedrooms, as there wasn't quite room enough for it yet in Jane's room, which would soon become Aria's. Some of the artwork, mostly made by friends of Aria, had made it onto the walls, but there hadn't been enough nails to hang all of them, so the rest were leaning against the wall in the kitchen, far enough away from the table to avoid food-related accidents.
The rest of Aria's belongings were packed up and ready to be moved, which would most likely happen the day after the wedding. It was the bigger items that she wanted to bring over, slowly but surely. There was no sense renting a moving truck to take it two miles, but Mandie's pickup was only available between 3 and 5 in the afternoon, every other day. So those were the times that things were being moved.
And all in all, it was working. As Jane's things were moving out, Aria's were moving in, and so it was a sort of exchange. It meant a bit of chaos, but it was a comforting kind of chaos. After all, it was less of a mess at the moment than the rest of her life.
The first knock on the door came when Charles was expected, so it was little surprise to find him standing in the hallway, rainwater dripping off his coat. He smiled in greeting and asked, "Is she ready?"
Elizabeth shook her head with a laugh and held out her hand. "Here, Charles. Let me take your coat, before you drip all over the carpet." After she had hung his coat in the bathroom, she came back out and answered his question. "Jane's not ready yet. She's still in her room, putting things in boxes. But Aria's making dinner, so it doesn't matter; we were expecting you, so if you don't stay, we'll have way too much food."
He grinned. "I was wondering what smelled so good. I guess I can stay for a while, then."
"Have a seat," she said, gesturing to one of the only chairs that didn't have boxes on it. "Did you want something to drink?"
"A soda would be fine," he replied.
She nodded, excused herself, and went into the kitchen. Aria looked up from the oven, where she was bending over to look inside. "The chicken is almost finished. I should think maybe twenty minutes more?"
Elizabeth nodded and grabbed a couple of sodas out of the refrigerator. "You want something, too?"
Aria nodded, and Elizabeth tossed over a can. She then looked into the pots that were on the stove. "Noodles? And sauce?"
"Yeah. The sauce is homemade--my grandma's recipe. You'll love it, I promise."
Elizabeth shrugged. "Ok. I trust you."
"I've also got a fruit salad coming, and some steamed vegetables."
"You're nuts," Elizabeth said with a grin. "There's no way that we're going to finish all of that."
"Charlie's a growing boy," Aria said as she chopped up an orange on the cutting board. "Besides, Kim and Richard said they may stop over."
Elizabeth's eyebrows shot up. "Here? How come you didn't mention this before?"
Aria looked up at her friend with a funny expression. "I did when I first came over. Granted, you seemed a bit out of it, but you said it was fine."
"Ok, whatever," Elizabeth said, waving her hand in dismissal. "We can fit six people in the kitchen, easy." Just then, there was a knock on the door. Elizabeth raised her eyebrow. "Well, speak of the devil. I bet that's them."
She went out into the living room, and threw Charles the can of soda before going to the door and opening it. She was surprised to see who was standing in the hallway. "Stephen! Uh...what are you doing here?"
He smiled and brought a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. "I happened to be passing through your side of town, and there was this flower shop..."
She shook her head, grinning, and took the flowers from him. 'That's really sweet of you. Did you want to come in?"
He shrugged. "I suppose I could." When he entered the room, he saw Charles sitting on the chair and grinned. "Charles Bingley, wasn't it?" When Charles nodded, Stephen went over and shook his hand. "We met last Saturday--I'm Stephen Ruetters. Liz's date."
"Ah! Ok," the other man said with a smile. "So you were the one William was talking--er, I mean, yes, I remember you." He turned beet red and mumbled something before taking a hasty sip of his soda, choking slightly on it.
Elizabeth decided to excuse herself. "I think I'll go see how Aria's doing in the kitchen."
"Aria's here?" Stephen asked.
"Of course. She's moving in with me in a few days, after Jane moves out. Right now she's cooking dinner. I think we can just set another place at the table for you, no problem." She paused. "That is, if you'd like to stay for dinner ..."
He looked embarrassed. "I don't mean to be a bother ..."
"Oh, no! None at all," she demurred. "Honestly."
"Then that's fine. I'd love to."
Elizabeth smiled. "Then I'll go tell Aria." And with that, she left the two men alone in the living room and went into the kitchen.
"Who was that?"
"Stephen's here," Elizabeth said hesitantly.
Aria's eyebrow went up. "Really? I wonder why."
There was a vase in the top cabinet above the stove, and Elizabeth put the bouquet on the counter as she took out the stepladder. It was then that Aria noticed the flowers and put two and two together. "Oh dear. I didn't consider this little complication." She cut the cucumber into little circles with vicious little motions of the knife. "Did you want me to have a talk with him?"
Elizabeth paused, the glass vase in her hands, and looked down at the top of Aria's head, bent over the cutting board. "I don't know if that's necessary. I think I can handle it myself, don't you?"
Aria was silent for a minute as she got out another cucumber and started peeling it. "I really didn't tell you the whole story about Stephen, and maybe I should."
'The whole story?"
Aria nodded. "You see, Stephen's a great guy ... I feel really bad for him. It's not that he's unhinged or something ... it's just ... he's really, really sensitive. Had a hard time of it, growing up--didn't have any friends, not until college. Especially not girlfriends. So he's rather ... insecure when it comes to relationships. Not that anyone could tell--he's so calm and cool and sophisticated all the time. Honestly, most people think he's a player, or something. But he's not--he's really just inexperienced in relationships.
"Well, about two weeks ago, the girl he had been dating for two years dumped him. She found someone else, gave him the whole spiel about it not being him, it was her, that the magic had gone out of the relationship, but that they could still be friends--yeah, that was the kicker, eh? He was hurt pretty badly; everyone in the office could tell. So when you needed someone to stand in for you, well, I thought he'd be the perfect guy. It would get his mind off of Nikiya, and onto something else ... I didn't think, honestly, that he'd fall for you. I mean, I know I made that comment at the restaurant ... but I wasn't really serious. You know that, right?"
Elizabeth descended the ladder and concentrated on filling the vase with water and snipping off the ends of the stems before putting them in. When she had finished arranging the flowers in the vase, she looked over at Aria. "You know, we probably should have talked about this before ever starting on this charade. I think it would have been a whole lot easier. Now that it's happened though ..." She shook her head resignedly. "You really put me in a tough position, Aria."
Her friend nodded as she threw all of the vegetables together in a bowl. "I know. It really is my fault. You can blame it all on me."
Elizabeth snorted. "No problem." She turned as she heard more knocking at the door. "Hm. That's probably Richard and Kim. I guess I'll go get that." She grabbed the vase off of the counter and took it with her as she left the kitchen.
She went out into the living room towards the door, but Jane, who had come out of her bedroom when she realized the guests had arrived, was already opening it. It wasn't Richard or Kim, however, that was standing there. "William!" Jane said in surprise.
Elizabeth nearly dropped the vase.
The gentleman at the door smiled hesitantly, looking straight at Jane. "Hi. I was wondering if your sister was home."
Jane stepped to the side with a large smile and opened the door wider. "Sure, come on in, and I'll go get her."
It was then that he noticed Charles and Stephen sitting in the chairs. He hesitated in stepping over the threshold. "If you've got company, I'd rather not intrude ..."
Elizabeth stepped forward, stifling her annoyance at this new complication. "No, that's fine. Come on in, William." She was about to set the vase she held on the small table next to the couch when she noticed the offering in William's hands, and flushed embarrassedly. "Oh. Uh ... who are the flowers for?" she asked in a small voice.
He smiled self-deprecatingly. "They were for you ... a peace offering, if you will." He gestured towards the vase in her hands. "I suppose you can just add them to your collection."
She had no idea what to do, slightly embarrassed by the whole situation, but took the flowers from him anyway with a thank-you. As she arranged them in the vase, she looked over at him and asked, "Was there something you needed to talk to me about?"
William nodded. "Yes, actually; it's the reason I came. I suppose I should have called, but...I didn't know you'd be having a party."
Elizabeth concentrated on the flowers again. "Well, it's not--" She looked over and noticed everyone was looking at her in interest, and, abandoning the flowers, grabbed William's arm and started dragging him down the hall. "Why don't we go somewhere else to talk?" She first opened the door to her room, took a step in, then realized she would be acutely embarrassed to have William there. So she backed out and opened Jane's door, but found it to still be in a state of chaos, with boxes all over everything and barely room for one person to stand and move about. No, that wouldn't work. She glanced at the other two doors in the hallway--the bathroom, and the closet. Definitely not. The only other place she could think of to take him would be the hallway, but there were too many people who could go past, and it would be such a hassle. Ok, back to the beginning--which bedroom?
After a little inner debate, Elizabeth opened the door to her room again and allowed him to precede her before she closed the door behind them both and remained there, leaning up against it. There was a strained silence between them, and she looked down at her feet, idly wondering when the last time was that she had polished her shoes.
It wasn't long before she sensed his nervous impatience, and she looked up at him in surprise. "You had something to say?"
He wiped his hands on his trousers. "Well, I do ... It's just ..." he sighed and walked towards the window, where he stood gazing outside for a minute. At last he turned his body slightly and looked over at her. "I wanted to apologize again. For Saturday, that is."
"Why?" she asked softly, self-recrimination evident in her voice. "It wasn't your fault--it's mine, and has been for most of our ... knowing each other." She sighed and, pushing away from the door, went to sit on her bed. She studied her hands, folded in her lap, before looking back at him. "I don't understand why I can't have a normal conversation with you. Since the rehearsal dinner, I've been thinking about everything that's happened, and I've really come to some bad conclusions about myself. I mean, it was bad enough when I made those wildly inappropriate accusations about your character, but even after I resolved that little conflict--in myself, at least--I still can't seem to allow myself even to give you the time of day. It's like ... a force of habit that causes me to snap at you all of the time. It's something about you that makes me get riled so easily. I would ask why you do this to me," she said, with a self-mocking smile, "but I think it would be more accurate to ask why I do this to myself."
She looked up at him, waiting for a response, but he seemed to be lost in thought. "I think," he said reflectively, "that we do it to each other. You aren't the only one who has been doing a lot of thinking about the reasons behind this...attitude we have towards each other. Hell, I don't think I did anything else when I was on vacation." He scoffed. "Vacation ... ha!" He smiled at her. "I don't think it really did me any good. I was too busy trying to evaluate my life ... why everything had suddenly been flipped upside down since you came into it." He shook his head. "Because it's not as though we've managed to be civil to one another for very long. And yet ... I admire you. You're gorgeous--I'd be an imbecile--a blind one, at that--to deny that; and you're intelligent--I can remember how your father talked about you--"
"My dad? When did you ever meet my dad?"
He shrugged. "Your father was the original architect for the home that I live in here in Milwaukee. During one of our meetings, we got off-topic for a while, and he told me all about his daughters--especially his second-oldest, who had just graduated from the University the previous year, magna cum laude, and now had a great job with Longbourn Bank. How she was smart, and witty, and beautiful ..."
She put her hand on her forehead. "So why didn't he mention to me that he knew you? Oh! I don't think I ever mentioned your last name ..."
"I only remembered when I ran into him at the rehearsal." William paused. "He may have known, though, that you were talking about me, because he didn't seem surprised at all when he approached me at the dinner. He even threatened to have thugs throw my cat in the KK." *
Elizabeth looked at him narrowly. "Unless you did what?"
"Unless I made my peace with you."
She was silenced for a moment. "Oh," she breathed. "So that's why you apologized--"
"No," he said quickly. "That's not why...I mean, yes, I fear for the life of my non-existent cat, but I wanted to apologize because I was in the wrong, and it was bothering me."
She studied her fingernails for a moment. "You know, don't you, that I forgave you, right?"
"Did you?"
Elizabeth nodded. "I never even blamed you for jumping on me like that. I blamed myself, more like. And when Richard pointed out to me--"
"You told Richard?" he asked in disbelief.
"Of course," she replied in the classic "Well, duh" tone of voice. "He's a veritable fount of advice--and good stuff, too."
"Yeah, I'll bet," he scoffed.
"Hey, don't knock it 'till you've tried it. But anyway, Richard pointed out to me that you had been as much in the wrong as me--no more, no less. And so I felt a bit better about it. And so," she said with a smile, "I think as I've already accepted your apology from Saturday, I'd like to apologize, myself."
He grinned. "And I accept."
"Thank you, Will. All right--that almost puts us on equal footing. But since you've just apologized for Saturday, itself, I have to catch up. Oh, and did I mention I forgive you for that, too?"
"Uh, no, but I thank you, just the same."
"Then I apologize."
"And I accept."
Elizabeth smiled broadly and stood, holding her hand out to William. "Then I think we have a clean slate. Would you agree to start over, from the beginning?"
He took her hand in his, but didn't shake it. Instead, he pulled her towards him, until his face was only inches from hers. "I think I'd agree to that," he said softly, "but I'd much rather kiss and make up."
She stared at him in surprise, unable, to form a coherent thought in her brain. He leaned slowly in, but just as his lips were about to take hers, she turned her face to the side and backed away, leaving him with a confused and hurt expression on his face. Elizabeth glanced once at his expression, but had to turn her face away, feeling extremely guilty. Before he could speak, though, she held up her hand, silencing him. "The slate isn't completely clean, Will. I have one more thing to ask forgiveness for."
If his expression had been confused before, that befuddlement only increased tenfold at that enigmatical statement. "What else is there?"
This was difficult, but Elizabeth took a deep breath and screwed up her courage once more. "I had tried to tell you this on Saturday, but we were interrupted, and I really want to explain. You see, Will, Stephen and I--"
Knock, knock.
If Elizabeth had been Superman, there would have been a rather large hole bored through the middle of the door and the person behind it. Of course, she wasn't, so all she could accomplish was a dark glare at the door. "Yes," she asked in annoyance. "Who is it?"
There was a pause, "Uh, it's Jane. We're about to start eating ... Richard and Kim are here, and the food is ready and getting cold, and we thought you might like to join us."
Elizabeth looked back at William, and he asked softly, "Can this wait until after we eat?"
She wrinkled her nose. "I'd really rather not. This is the second time ..." She sighed. "Jane?" she asked loudly.
"Yes?" came the response from the other side of the door.
"Go ahead and start. Will and I will be there in a few minutes."
"Ok."
Elizabeth waited until she heard Jane's retreating footsteps, and then turned back to William. "Well, now that that's out of the way, I'll finish this. Stephen and I--we aren't really together. I met him only the day of the rehearsal."
William stared at her for a few minutes, his eyes wide. "Are you serious?"
She wasn't sure how much hope she could get out of that question. "Uh...yes. He's a co-worker of Aria's; that much is true. But we haven't been dating for months. It was all a ruse; I wanted to show you that I was ... that I didn't care that you had left for two and a half months without so much as a word or apology."
He continued to stare at her. After another few minutes, a small smile began to twitch at the corners of his mouth, and pretty soon, he was chuckling to himself. "You two sure did a great job," he said, still laughing. "I had a few doubts, but you seemed as though...especially him--he should be an actor. Wow. And this is the big secret?"
"Uh...yes?" she said uncertainly.
He shook his head. "Well, if you're asking for forgiveness, you have it." He chuckled again. "Wow. I think I'm flattered." He smiled warmly at her and raised an eyebrow. "So, now that our slates are completely clean--washed and dried, in fact--can I get that kiss?"
She thought about it for a second, then shook her head. "No."
He blinked a few times, then laughed. "Can I ask why?"
She raised an eyebrow, turned, and walked to the door. Just before she opened it, she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled broadly. "Why? If you must know, it's because the food's getting cold."
*If you wanted to know, and even if you didn't, the KK is the Kinnickinnic River, but hardly anyone actually says the whole thing, unless you're a news reporter. And even then, there's a disagreement as to how it's supposed to be pronounced..."Kinneykinnick", "Kinnick-kinnick", even "Kinnick-inney-kinnick" (but I think that guy was a bit nuts).
Posted on Sunday, 3 March 2002
Jane was on the verge of hysteria - well, as close to hysteria as someone as even-tempered as her could get. The two bridesmaids were telling her jokes and doing rather strange things in an effort to make her laugh, while the maid-of-honor was trying her best to give her sister a shoulder massage while she paced the room.
For the fifth time, Mrs. Bennet rushed into the room, her voice high-pitched in her excitement, saying something about the flower arrangements and someone's child who ate a daisy, then rushed back out, leaving in her wake an even more frantic bride and her even more stressed out maids.
It was Mr. Bennet who saved the day by coming in a few minutes later, bearing a bouquet and calm, even smile. He gave the flowers to his daughter, kissed her on the cheek and said, "Charles is fine--he's just entered the church, and soon you'll be married, and this will all be a happy memory. And if you want to know, your poor groom's smiling so wide, I'm afraid his face might remain like that permanently. Wouldn't that be a shame?"
Jane looked at her father with a small smile and sighed happily. Suddenly, she threw her arms around him and laughed. "Thank you, Papa! I love you, too." She kissed him on the cheek, then grabbed his arm and towed him out the door. He sent an amused glance back at Elizabeth, Aria, and Kim as the door closed behind him.
The three friends stood in shock, looking at each other in amazement, then burst out laughing. "Now, why couldn't we do that?" Kim asked, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.
"I don't know," Elizabeth said, shaking her head. "But we had better get out there before Jane runs down the aisle without us." She visibly composed herself, fixed her hair and dress in the mirror, then walked out the door. Her friends copied her motions and followed her out to where she stood at the still-closed door to the church, her bouquet held loosely in her hands.
When they were finally in formation, the two ushers standing beside the doors opened them and the music began. Kim walked first, followed by Aria, then Elizabeth, and then the blushing bride, holding on to the arm of her father. They reached the front of the church, where Charles, William, and the other groomsmen--Richard and George Hurst--stood waiting, and took their places to the side of the altar. Charles grinned boyishly at his bride as she stood nervously beside him, and the tension immediately drained out of her as she smiled back.
The service was gorgeous, and more than a few in the audience sighed at the end of the vows and even more shed a few tears--Mrs. Bennet being the leader by a wide margin in that particular group. When the groom was directed to kiss the bride, he first turned to grin at the audience, then turned back to Jane and kissed her soundly on the lips. There were many hoots and hollers in the crowd and much clapping when they finally broke apart.
And then the music was playing again, and Charles led his new wife down the aisle, followed by Elizabeth, on William's arm, then Aria with George and Kim with Richard. They went outside the church, and piled into the limousine awaiting them to drive to the reception. The party was a happy one as the six attendants piled into the second limo. William found a bottle of wine in the bar and opened it, pouring out several glasses. Everyone then raised a toast to "The Happy Couple" and laughed when the limo lurched into motion, causing them all to take care of their drinks.
"That was such a beautiful service," sighed Kim happily. "I almost cried as much as your mother, Lizzy."
Elizabeth laughed at that. "No one could cry as much--or as loud--as my mother! I'm just happy that it's over with! I don't think I could've stood for another minute up there. My legs were so tired by the end of it. Did the priest actually have to sermonize for that long?"
"An half hour is the minimum, I believe" William said with a laugh.
"We should just be grateful it wasn't your cousin Bill," Aria said, gesturing towards Elizabeth with her wineglass. "We could've been up there for days."
"Thank heavens!" Elizabeth sighed dramatically, and everyone laughed and toasted another round to the priest not being Cousin Bill.
By the time the party finally reached the hall where the reception was taking place, three bottles of wine had been emptied, and the party was even merrier than before. They met the Happy Couple in the room off the hall where they were to collect before the guests arrived. Jane looked somewhat flushed, but very, very happy. Charles just looked very, very happy.
Elizabeth immediately ran to her sister and hugged her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!" she cried.
Jane wiped away a tear. "Oh, I'll miss you, Lizzy."
"Bah," Elizabeth said with a wave of her hand. "You're going to be too happy to miss me that much. Besides, you have Charles to replace me, as I have Aria--though she won't be half the roommate you've been."
"Hey, I heard that!" shouted Aria from her place behind the bar, where she was mixing drinks for the others.
Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at her friend, then caught the amused expression on William's face and stuck her tongue out at him, too. He only laughed and came towards them. "Congratulations, my dear," he said to Jane, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He then turned to Charles and clapped him warmly on the back. "You've chosen wisely, my friend."
Charles laughed. "Thank you, Will. As usual, your opinion means so much to me...after the fact!"
The two of them laughed, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes and said, "C'mon; you need a drink," before dragging her sister over to the bar.
It was about a half hour later that the wedding planner popped her head through the doorway and asked, "Is everyone ready? All the guests are here, so we're going to have the procession into the hall in about ten minutes."
And so they finished their drinks and lined up once more, grinning happily. Elizabeth smiled brightly up at her partner. "We're almost to the end of it, aren't we?"
He laughed and shook his head. "First comes Jane and Charlie's dance, then the four-course meal, and then more dancing to burn off the calories from the feast."
Elizabeth moaned and pretended to buckle at the knees. "I don't think I can take any more standing!"
"Then don't stand," he replied. "Walk."
She looked up to realize that Kim and Richard had just begun to follow Aria and George into the hall, and she shared another quick grin with William before they, too, walked through the doors. Cameras flashed at them in rapid succession, as each of the tables had been provided with a small, disposable camera. "Do they have to waste so many on us?" Darcy muttered, and Elizabeth pinched him on the arm to make him be quiet.
The bridal couple came next and everyone cheered and even more cameras flashed. Elizabeth smiled even wider, feeling an incredible sense of happiness for her sister swell in her heart. When they reached the dance floor, they went to the side where the other attendants were waiting, and turned to wait for Charles and Jane to get to the middle of the dance floor. When they arrived, the wedding song began to play and the new couple began to dance together.
Baby I've been searching like everybody else
Can't say nothing different about myself
Sometimes I'm an angel
And sometimes I'm cruel
And when it comes to love
I'm just another fool
Yes, I'll climb a mountain
I'm gonna swim the sea
There ain't no act of God girl
Could keep you safe from me
My arms are reaching out
Out across this canyon
I'm asking you to be my true companion
True companion
True companion
William turned to Elizabeth and smiled, then led her onto the dance floor and joined the dancing couple as the other attendants followed suit.
So don't you dare and try to walk away
I've got my heart set on our wedding day
I've got this vision of a girl in white
Made my decision that it's you allright
And when I take your hand
I'll watch my heart set sail
I'll take my trembling fingers
And I'll lift up your veil
Then I'll take you home
And with wild abandon
Make love to you just like a true companion
You are my true companion
I got a true companion
True companion
Elizabeth rested her head on his shoulder, feeling so incredibly happy. In William's arms, she felt safe and secure, and she wanted to hold on to that feeling for as long as she could. She almost wished that the song would never end.
When the years have done irreparable harm
I can see us walking slowly arm in arm
Just like the couple on the corner do
'Cause girl I will always be in love with you
And when I look in your eyes
I'll still see that spark
Until the shadows fall
Until the room grows dark
Then when I leave this Earth
I'll be with the angels standin'
I'll be out there waiting for my true companion
Just for my true companion
True companion
True companion*
Everyone clapped as the song ended and began clinking their glasses with their forks. So Charles did the customary thing and kissed his bride, much to everyone's enjoyment. When the two finally broke away, the clinking began again, but Charles raised his hand and said, "There'll be more dancing and, of course, more kissing later! Now, let's eat!"
Everyone laughed and the wedding party was allowed to go to the head table. When they arrived, the first course was served, and all the guests began to eat. There was much conversation in the large hall, and the noise level soon grew. By the third course, Elizabeth not only was extremely full, despite the fact that she had barely eaten half of each course, but also had a headache, too.
Aria leaned over and murmured close to her friend's ear, "Do you think I can order the dessert 'to go'?"
Elizabeth smiled wanly. "I think it would just sit in the freezer for a few months. I feel like I've eaten an army's whole month of rations in less than an hour. They were rather delicious rations, but still..."
"I don't know how I'm going to get out of this dress," Aria replied, patting her stomach. "I'm going to have to go running for five hours tomorrow, at least."
Elizabeth looked at her friend with a doubtful expression. "I don't even think my body's going to be able to move fast enough to be considered 'running' tomorrow." She put a hand to her head. "By the way, do you have any drugs? I have a headache the size of Madagascar."
Aria nodded and dug around in her small purse. "Yeah. I thought of that before I left this morning. The same thing happened to me at my cousin's wedding last year, so I thought ahead this time and put some aspirin in my bag."
The aforementioned pills were much blessed by an exceedingly thankful Elizabeth, who took them immediately. Soon after, as the servers took away the dishes from the last course, William stood to present his best man speech: "Well, this is somewhat awkward for me; I'm not used to speaking front of a large group. A good friend of mine gave me some advice, though: he told me to imagine everyone in their underwear." Pause. "Well, uh...I don't think it's working. I just feel slightly overdressed." The guests laughed.
"But seriously, I want to thank everyone for coming on behalf of this happy couple beside me. Charles was just saying to me the other day that this was going to be the happiest day of his life, no matter if anyone showed up or not. So you see, you've exceeded even his eternally optimistic expectations.
"I've known Charles since we went to middle school together back in what seems now like the Ice Age. Way back then, we used to play pranks on all the little girls in our class together and always managed to get into huge trouble with the teachers. I remember a certain little girl named Julia who fell in love with Charles after we filled her backpack with worms. Unfortunately for him, she told all of her friends, and pretty soon, the whole female division of the class descended upon him en masse, wanting to 'go steady' with him.
"Since that day, he's never had his dearth of admirers, but I knew he never took any of them seriously. At least, not until the day when he met me for lunch a few years back, grinning like a loon, and told me he'd met 'The One'. I knew he was serious, even though he'd apparently only met her fifteen minutes before. I must admit that when I met the lucky girl, I was prepared to dislike her; after all, she had my friend so wrapped up that he was instantly struck dumb whenever her name was mentioned--which, unfortunately, was quite often, since she was all he could ever talk about. However, I found that I couldn't dislike Jane even if I tried. She was too sweet, too beautiful, too intelligent, and too altogether perfect for Charles. And she still is.
"I would like to wish these two the greatest happiness possible. And I have no doubt that they will find it--easily. They were made for each other in every way, and it was so incredibly gratifying to see them finally make the commitment to each other. Perhaps now Charles and I will be able to talk about normal things, like sports, hunting, and booze, without him somehow managing to refer to Jane every half-minute. Then again, I may be entirely off-base with that assumption.
"But I can hear someone snoring somewhere in the back there, so I think that's my cue to wrap up this speech before they bring out the hook or start playing the music to drown me out." The DJ here played a short piece of music, and William raised his glass in amused acknowledgment as the rest of the guests laughed. "I just want to say that I'm going to miss having my best friend to myself, but I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather share him with than this woman sitting beside him.
"To Charles and Jane," he said, raising his glass in salute, as he gazed down at the couple, his expression sincere. "May you both live as long as you want and never want as long as you live."
The hall resounded with shouts of "Here, here!" as everyone took a drink in honor of the bride and groom. Then someone began striking his glass with a fork, and everyone else took up the refrain. So Charles and Jane obliged them with a back-bending kiss, and the hall erupted in applause again.
As everything quieted down, Elizabeth stood up and clinked her glass a few times. When she had everyone's attention, she cleared her throat. "I'm really not sure how I'm going to be able to follow that, but I'll do my best," she began, and everyone laughed.
"Wow. I don't know about all of you, but I feel like I've eaten a herd of horses. We're definitely going to have to do a few extra electric slides, let me tell you." The guests all laughed and a few nodded in commiseration. "But I'll give you a good few minutes, at least, in which to digest your food while I give my obligatory speech for the bride and groom. Not that it feels very obligatory, with my sister as one of the subjects. As Charlie says, you can talk all day about Jane, and still find something new to say. And trust me, he manages it!
"When Jane asked me to be her maid of honor, I wasn't that surprised. We are not only sisters, but we are best friends as well. I cannot remember a time in my life when we weren't side by side. We taught each other everything we knew; Jane taught me how to put on make-up when she was in eighth grade and I was in seventh, and in return, I showed her how to throw a good punch." She paused and looked over at Charles. "You should be thanking your lucky stars you didn't meet my sister then, Charlie; she would've knocked you down flat if you'd ever put worms in her backpack. I'm proud to say that she was the best student I've ever had. I would readily put out money that I was hers, too. It wasn't hard, really; she was my big sister--the best anyone could ever have.
"There's a saying that goes, 'you never really know what you have until it's gone.' Honestly, I don't know if that is really true. At least, not with Jane and me; I've always valued our friendship. I could never have taken what we had for granted, because a reminder of how truly precious it was had always been there for me.
"I know that I'm going to miss having her there in the morning, pushing me out the door when I'm running late for work, looking over my shoulder to steal crossword clues from me, and cooking me breakfast in bed when I'm sick. I'm going to miss her in the evenings, when I get home from work to find that Jane hasn't arrived before me and baked some cookies that I can steal. I'm going to miss her not being there on the weekends, so that we can help each other primp for our dates. I'm going to miss having her there as my closest friend and confidante, as my shoulder to cry on when things get that bad.
"I knew, of course, that the day was coming that I would have to give her up; after all, a woman like Jane can't stay single for that long. She's just too pretty, too perfect, and too loveable not to be loved. I just wasn't expecting it to be so soon. Charlie's a lucky guy, Jane; I don't know if he deserves you. I don't think anyone deserves you, for that matter. Except me, of course." The guests chuckled at that, but Elizabeth had tears in her eyes as she met her sister's gaze. "I'm going to miss you, Jane. But since you've already gone and given your heart and hand to Charlie, the best I can do is give you a toast." She held up her glass with the brightest smile she could possibly produce. "May you always remember how happy you are today and treasure the love you have for each other. May your partnership be your continuing strength, and your home always be your safe, secure haven. May you have the wisdom to seek good advice and loving friends and family to give it. And may we all be there to help you celebrate your Golden Wedding Anniversary.** To my big sister Jane and her new husband Charles! Cheers!"
Everyone raised their glasses in salute and took a drink. Jane stood up to give her sister a hug and a kiss on the cheek. There were tears in her eyes as she whispered, "Thank you, Lizzy. I didn't think this day could be any happier than it already has been, but you've managed it--as you always seem to do. Thank you."
Elizabeth put her hand over her sisters, and gave it a small squeeze. "No problem, Jane. You deserve it."
They hugged again, and then Elizabeth sat down. Charles, who had stood up when his bride did, now wrapped his arm around her. "I know you're all waiting for the cake to be cut, but we have one more speech to give. I want to thank everyone for coming today. It's been incredible, having everyone here with us - I never realized just how many friends we've both made over the years. It means a lot to us, that you were here to share with us such an important event as the exchange of our wedding vows.
"Most especially, I'd love to thank my bride's mother and father, Mrs. and Mr. Bennet. The two of you must be commended for bringing up such a wonderful woman as your daughter turned out to be. I will take as great of care of her as I can, and hopefully she'll do the same for me. Secondly, I'd like to thank Elizabeth Bennet and William Darcy, who have been there for us from the first, and have had to listen to the both of us talk non-stop about the other. They deserve a medal for that, at least, but since we didn't have any made up, we'll have to hope that our love for them will suffice.
"I'd also like to thank the bridesmaids, Aria and Kimberly Hengals, and the groomsmen, Richard Fitzwilliam and George Hurst. They have also put a lot of effort into keeping us from falling apart from the seams, today especially. We hope that they know just how much they've meant to us through all of it. We love you all.
"So, now, I'd like to propose a toast to my wife. She knows everything about me there is to know, and loves me all the same. May I only be able to give that much in return, and so much more!"
"Amen!" Aria cried, raising her glass high, and all of the guests followed suits. Charles then kissed Jane with all the love he had for her as everyone cheered them on. When they finally resurfaced for air, Jane's veil had slipped, and her face was extremely flushed. Charles grinned boyishly and raised their joined hands to his lips.
The cake was soon cut, and the music began playing again. Charles and Jane first danced together, and then Mr. Bennet asked for the dance. Everyone watched as the father and daughter danced together to Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable".
Afterwards, the DJ broke into a riotous polka, which had everyone joining in. Elizabeth grabbed William's hand and led him out onto the floor. He looked rather uncomfortable in the beginning, shuffling his feet, and looking embarrassed, and she laughed up at him. "Don't tell me you don't know how to polka!" she exclaimed incredulously. "How can anyone live in Wisconsin and not know how to polka?"
"Well, I wasn't born here, you know," he replied.
She shook her head. "Shouldn't matter; it's our state dance. It's a law that you be able to polka." She took pity on him and grabbed his hand, putting in on her waist. "Ok, count yourself lucky. I've more than once had to be the man during the dance unit in my high school gym class, since the guys were all too chicken to actually dance, so just follow my lead."
At first, William was all left feet, but after a while, as he stopped looking at the ground, and instead looked into Elizabeth's laughing face, he began to get it. By the end of the dance, they were both laughing so hard that their sides hurt, and William was even the one leading. She smiled at him. "Now, wasn't that fun?"
He smiled right back at her. "Very. Now," he said, hearing the next song coming on, "this is the kind of dance I like." And he swung her into a jazz step before she had time to really catch her breath.
The guests all danced to whatever the DJ played, from "The Locomotion" to the Chicken Dance. They did the Electric Slide, and a few other line dances, and of course, the Hokey Pokey. There were a number of slow songs, in which some of the older couples sat down to rest their aching feet, but by the next song, they were up again, dancing with all the younger folks.
It was late when the music finally stopped, and the bride and groom prepared to leave. A huge deal was made by all of the bachelors as Jane bared her leg for Charles to remove the garter. He swung it around on his finger when he finally slipped it over her foot, then shouted, "All right, guys! Who's going to be the next one to enter the parson's mousetrap?"
The men all shook their heads, laughing, and a few shouted, "Hell no, Charlie!" but they all gathered around, anyway. Charles threw it into the group, and as the guys tackled each other for it, everyone else stood around laughing. At last, William surfaced, his bow tie askew and hair a mess, holding the garter in his hand triumphantly. Everyone laughed, and a few of the guys picked him up on their shoulders and led him up to the chair at the front of the hall.
Jane then called for all the single ladies to gather around, as she was about to toss the garter. At first, no one wanted to enter the circle, but finally, Aria grabbed Elizabeth's arm, and the two made their way out into the middle of the floor. As more joined them, Aria remarked with a smile and wink, "Now, we won't be as uncivilized as the boors...I mean men were, will we?"
A few got her message and laughed. So as Jane tossed the bouquet into the group, all of the woman pushed each other out of the way, and a few even went so far as to tackle each other. Finally, Elizabeth got her hands on the bouquet and held it up for everyone to see. The crowd around them laughed loudly, and the other women picked themselves off the floor and clapped with all the rest, still laughing from their escapades. A couple of them put Elizabeth on their shoulders and carried her to where William sat, a huge smile on his face. The women set Elizabeth down in front of him, and she shyly held the bouquet up. "I got it," she said, biting her lip and trying not to smile.
"I never doubted you would," he replied, and grabbed her around the waist to set her on his lap. The photographer came up and took some pictures of them, and everyone cheered. Finally, William gave into the crowd's urging and kissed Elizabeth soundly on the lips, a kiss that went a little deeper than either expected. When they broke apart, the crowd was hooting and hollering and clapping, and Elizabeth felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
Finally, it was time for the bride and groom to leave, and everyone crowded around to give them best wishes and send them off on their honeymoon in Paris. Elizabeth hugged her sister tightly, then boxed Charles on the shoulder and warned him that if he didn't take care of Jane, she knew where his house was. She then stood back and allowed others to say goodbye. Jane and Charles left, amid much waving and happy wishes, and farewells. It was a beautiful moment, and one that ended all too soon. The guests soon filtered out of the hall and to their cars. Elizabeth stood for a while near the front of the hall, gazing at the now-sparsely populated room. The DJ and his crew were packing up their equipment, and the caterers were cleaning up the rest of their things, and a few of the guests were rounding up the last of their belongings, but otherwise, the hall was empty.
As she stood there, William came up behind her and put his warm hands on her bare shoulders. "It's going to be a bit lonely for a few weeks for you too, isn't it?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I suppose. I'm going to really miss having Jane about."
"Perhaps I can help, then," he said. When she looked at him with a suspicious glance, he said with a smile, "How about dinner at my place tomorrow night?"
She grinned right back at him. "That sounds wonderful."
He offered her his arm, she took it, and they both walked out to the parking lot, where they had left both of their cars earlier in the day, parked almost side-by-side. She went to her car door and unlocked it, but before she got in, she turned to where William stood, behind her. "It was a beautiful wedding," she said quietly. "Don't you think so?"
He nodded, stepping closer. "It was."
"And I'm really sorry for upping you in the speeches. I just can't help it if I'm a good speaker."
He chuckled at that. "Who said you upped me?"
She made a few off-hand gestures. "You know. Most of the guests, and all..."
"Hmmm...Well, I suppose I'll have to trust their judgment," he murmured, leaning in towards her, and slowly taking her lips with his. When they finally ended their kiss, Elizabeth smiled sweetly, the stars in the black night sky reflecting in her eyes. "It's been a great evening," she said softly.
He nodded. "I agree. But for now, you should get home."
"I guess so." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and slipped into her car, sending him a final, flirtatious glance from under her eyelashes. She turned on the engine and the lights, and glancing one more time in his direction, drove off into the night, leaving him standing beside his car, bathed in the pale circle of lamplight from above.
*"True Companion" by Marc Cohn
**www.kissthebride.com.au