Chapter 21: Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Eight

The Wedding

After my first shot, one after another were being situated in front of me. Considering that I was a fairly light drinker, the first shot of Vodka had already began to make my vision blurry resulting in me mistakenly, gulping down a glass full of Vodka which I had guessed was water, in the centre of the black, plastic club table. Not until the contents had finished being swallowed did I then realise that it was pure Vodka. The last thing that I remembered were the girls giggling frantically at me before Lisa smirked evilly and with a sly wink yelled,

“Let the party really begin!”

“Wake up Melanie! Your wedding is in three hours!” Jessica yelled in my ear causing me to fling my arms out in front of me in horror, anger and fright.

“Ouch!” Jasmine cried in the background.  I was horrified as I had not realised that I had slept so late, angry because she was screaming in my ear making my head feel as though someone was furiously attempting to pull the veins out of my brain and frightened since my wedding day had arrived. I was going to get married!

“Why are you crying?! My wedding is in three hours, I have a massive hangover and I’m scared as hell!” I whined, holding my head when both the emotional pain and physical pain set in at one. I cried out in pain and fell back onto the bed allowing tears to fall.

“Is she seriously crying?” Lisa questioned in disbelief.

“I’m seriously scared guys. Am I doing the right thing?” I sobbed unattractively as I hugged my body close, attempting to roll myself into a ball so that I could disappear. My brain was thinking too much and I was going into shock. Was this normal? Was I normal?

“No...” I heard Lisa mutter under her breath as she played with her nails. From the looks on the other girls’ faces as they tried to comfort me, I could tell that they had not heard her.

“You are. No questions asked. Now get up, take a shower, some painkillers and let’s get this show on the road,” Jasmine instructed, gently helping me out of my bed which I appreciated. After taking a shower and some painkillers, I began to feel a lot better and a lot less hysterical thanks to the cool water calming both my muscles and emotions. Realising that my memory cut short when recollecting yesterday night’s events, I reminded myself to ask the girls whether anything had happened.

“Exactly what happened before I blacked out yesterday night?” I wondered shyly, afraid of the embarrassing things which they would enlighten me with.

“Well, you made out with some random guys, almost slept with one of them and sadly I didn’t get to see the rest,” Jessica said in as matter a fact, a wide grin spreading across her small face.

“I didn’t!” I gasped in utter disgust as I held my face in my hands whilst the girls laughed franticly.

“It’s not funny, Trevor’s going to think that I’m a slut and call the wedding off,” I wept once again, attempting to jump onto my bed again.

“No you don’t. She was just joking. It was a joke. You just danced like a crazy person, fell over a lot and got us thrown out. It was quite funny actually,” Lisa corrected as she held me up.

“Oh my gosh!” I frowned, wiping my tears and feeling stupid.

“Don’t worry, we get the tears. Just go into the living room and sit down so that the make-up artist can do yours since we have only an hour and a half, and if you haven’t noticed, we’ve already been done. Your sister and mum are getting theirs done as we speak.” Jennifer stated and to be honest, I had not noticed until now. An hour and a half was definitely was not enough time for me to wrap my head around the idea of being married and never... I mean being Trevor’s and not...

A push knocked me out of my inappropriate thoughts as I was ushered into the living room. My mother had already had her makeup done and was sitting on the couch watching my sister’s until I stepped in. The simple natural make up which all of the girls had, looked elegant and I loved the false eyelashes since they did not look too over the top.

“Are you the bride?” A middle-aged woman with dark eyebrows, long false eyelashes and bright pink lipstick asked.

“Um...Yes,” I answered hesitantly. How they managed to everyone’s make up beautifully and yet not their own did not cease to amaze me.

“Morning Melanie. How are you feeling?” My mother quizzed giving me a brief hug before my face was put in the hands of the make-up artist.

“I’m feeling fine after some painkillers and a shower. Is there anything that I could eat though, I’m starving,” I complained, smiling softly as she chuckled at me.

“Sure sweetie. When you’re finished, it’ll be ready for you in the kitchen. Just an hour remaining ladies!” My mother declared heading into the kitchen.

“So are you excited?” Tatiana smiled cutely as her eyes fluttered closed so that he eye lashes could be applied.

“Yep, I’m so excited that I think that I’m going to throw up,” I replied sarcastically, sniggering when she laughed and got scrutinized by the make-up artist.

“I remember mine myself. I almost didn’t turn up because I was so scared but when I got there and he wasn’t there, it was even worse,” The woman doing my make-up interjected, making my stomach sink. I had not thought of Trevor not turning up. What if he didn’t show up? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself to be honest. I’d probably kill someone, if not commit suicide.

“Don’t even think about it Mel. He’ll be there, or I’ll kill him later myself,” Jennifer assured, walking through the living room into the kitchen whilst glaring at the make-up artist. Sighing, I frowned and allowed her to continue her job as I closed my eyes and tried to meditate. My only problem was that whenever I closed my eyes, all I saw were Stephen’s eyes staring disapprovingly into mine instantly snapping my eyes open again. I had not thought about him all week, yet my mind wanted to remember him on my wedding day, an hour before I would become a bride.

“Is everyone dressed and ready?” I questioned shakily, staring at my beautiful bridesmaids. It was sad that Debbie could not be one as she would have looked dazzling beside my girls. I could feel my eyes watering again but held back the tears so that I did not mess up my form.

“Yep, so let’s take a picture,” My mother suggested, smiling proudly. Moving in front of us, we all smiled and waited for the flash to take our picture.

“Gorgeous. Let’s go.” She winked leading the way to our transport to the ceremony.

***

“Melanie, you wait here so that the girls can walk down the aisle. I’ll come back to get you as will the Jennifer and Jasmine. You have five minutes.” My mother informed me before leaving me alone in a room at the back of the church. I had seen all of the people arriving and my heart was about to go into overload. The dress looked perfect on me, just as I had imagined, however right now, at this moment, it felt too sticky and clingy against my body. My hair was in the tradition up do as I had always wanted and insisted on, yet I felt like ripping out all of the pins and shaking my hair free of the stiff and shiny hair spray.

“You look like your gonna have fit. Are you ready?” Robert’s deep voice asked causing my head to snap towards him. Feeling in need of a hug from my older brother, I ran into his arms, making sure not to get any make-up on his immaculate suit and sighed into his comforting scent and stance.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be standing right beside your fiancé, or husband in an hour or two.” Robert attempted to joke but I definitely was not in the mood.

“I love you Rob,” I voiced giving him a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Love you too Mel. Oh yeah, there’s someone else who feels the same way and wants to speak to you,” Robert stated, releasing me and moving to the right allowing me to see the man that I least expected to see.

“If you could spare me even a minute, I’ll be really grateful but if you don’t even want to see me, I’ll understand.” Stephen smiled softly, his face not lighting up as usual. His silky, husky voice ran down my spine making it hard to suppress a shiver as I stared at him incredulously. He looked tremendously handsome with his black suit and bow tie. His hair was neatly combed back; he wore a diamond studded man bracelet, a silver ring and necklace and looked utterly delicious and breathtaking, even more so than usual. Who had invited him?

“I’ll take that as a yes then.” Robert mumbled, leaving the room whilst Stephen’s dark brown eyes held mine. I could only guess that it was Robert.

“You didn’t get back to me.” Stephen frowned, taking a step towards me. As if his eyes were holding my body in its place, I did not move an inch as he came closer even though I knew I should have.

“You sound just like me.” I retorted, my chest beginning to hurt as my heart beat accelerated to a dangerous speed, smashing against my chest in the process.

“I’m sorry.” Stephen sighed.

“Don’t be sorry Stephen. We had great times together but it’s time to move on, and I don’t think that we can be anything since we can’t even answer each other’s question by choosing an answer.” I told him, moving back slightly to put some more space between us.

“I love you Melanie. I still love you and fell in love with you when you barged into me accidently at college. I need you in my life and I won’t give up even if you go along with this thing today.” Stephen insisted stalking towards me. When the words slipped out of his lips, my body had gone into over drive as my eyes fluttered closed, soaking in his words for as along as I could. Even on my wedding day, his spell over me still succeeded to put me under it. Suddenly I felt myself being pressed against the wall and decided against struggling as my body burned due to his close proximity and touch.

“Tell me that you don’t love me Melanie, like I did to you and I’ll leave you alone forever.” Stephen whispered, his mint breath washing over my face as I tried to stay in control of myself.

“I...I, Stephen don’t do this to me please,” I begged, opening my teary eyes. I couldn’t lie to him or try to put up a wall any longer. His thumb brushed away a stray tear that had fallen and his touch left a trail of tingles on my skin as I unconsciously moved into his touch.

One second his black eyes had been on mine and the next, his lips were brushing against mine causing a wave of ecstasy to run through my body as it became sore and paralysed waiting for his torture to stop. Soon my wishes were fulfilled as he fully pressed his lips against mine causing him to groan as I tried my hardest to suppress the moan that so desperately wanted to escape. With my eyes closed and my body, mind and soul wanting to react and return his kiss, my hands instinctively wrapped around his neck pressing me closer into him as his hands wrapped around my waist tightly. Sighing into him, his tongue slipped into my mouth getting entangled with my own as we both moaned loudly, pulling each other closer as his tongue explored my mouth as mine did to his. I could not get enough of his taste as my body trembled and shook in happiness and elation at what was happening. Stephen had been right; I did love him with both my heart and soul. He was my soul mate. Nonetheless, was it too late for us to be together?

A hand on the back of my neck allowed him to deepen our kiss, all of our love for each other being shared finally, after three years of being apart. It felt as though he had never left me, nor I him and as though we had and would be together forever. My hands slid from Stephen’s neck to his hair as my fingers greeted his silky smooth texture, pulling it and feeling it as though it was the first time that we had met. His lips left mine too soon with a moan, as I gasped for air and pulling my head back his lips left a path of sweet, hot kisses on my neck before his lips met mine once more. Opening my eyes, his eyes stared at me with the most adoration and love I had ever seen in his eyes making me feel even more distressed.

“I love you Melanie, please don’t leave me,” He pleaded, his voice shaking as he kissed me softly once more, his large hands holding my face in its place.

“Stephen I--,” I began, letting a few tears fall as I gazed at the man that I had always loved as he held me tightly to him, his eyes too filling up with what I could see was blood, only making my heart break even more.

“Melanie it’s --,” My mother started catching us in the act.

Oh My!