Sequel: Close Yet Far ›
Anything but Ordinary
Wedding Bell Blues
(Beth’s POV)
Chad, Chris, and I sat in the lobby of the church as we waited for the wedding to get started. The wedding was not going to get underway for another two hours. Chad had come with Kay. She was in a back room getting ready with the other bridesmaids and, of course, the bride. Since he was here so early, he had asked us to keep him company. So there we sat, all dressed up with nowhere to go.
“Can we please go do something?!” I exclaimed. “We can’t just sit here for two more hours doing nothing!”
“What can we do in less than two hours? People should be showing up soon anyway and then we can take our seats.” Chad answered back and then turned back to his cell phone.
“Who are you texting?” I asked, suspiciously.
“Don’t tell her, Chad! She's just pumping you for information.” Chris bellowed.
“I’m texting Kay. Not that it’s any of your business.” Chad responded.
Chris started making the noise of a whip cracking. Chris and I started to laugh while Chad gave us a dirty look. His look just made us laugh harder. So hard that Chris fell out of his chair.
“So I guess it probably won’t be long before you and Kay get married.” I said, trying to control my laughter.
Chad looked at me with a confused expression. You could tell that he was thinking seriously about what I had said.
“Have you thought about it at all, Chad?” I asked.
“No.” He said honestly. “I never thought about getting married at all.”
“That’s not true. You were engaged to Jina.” Chris replied.
“I only proposed because I thought it was the right thing to do. I mean- we had been together for so long, it seemed like the right thing to do.” Chad explained.
“You can’t make a marriage from just doing the right thing. It takes more than that. Marriage is hard and it isn’t easy. Marriage isn’t something you go into halfhearted. Of all our friends, I think you and I know this best.” I stated, putting a hand on his arm to show him I understood.
Chad looked at me and shook his head. After a pause, Chad glanced away before speaking, “I love Kay. I want to be with her. Only her. That’s enough for me right now. I’m happy and Kay is happy too. I don’t want to ruin this relationship with any pressure that isn’t needed. When it is time for us to talk about marriage, we will. I’m not pushing the subject. We’re committed to each other and that is all that matters to me.”
“I’m proud of you, Chad.” I said, smiling at him.
Chris looked at me, rubbed my arm and smiled as well. We sat there in silence for a while until Chris broke the silence.
He looked at me and asked, “Can we tell him?”
I knew exactly what he was talking about. We had been engaged for a few weeks now, but we hadn’t told any of our friends yet. I'd enjoyed keeping it our little secret. Chris, on the other hand, was ready to tell our friends. He kept on saying that he was so happy about our engagement that he wanted to share it with the whole world. He's such an awesome guy. There is no one else I could imagine myself marrying.
“Chad- you have to promise me that you will not repeat this to anyone... even Kay.” I said to him while looking him square in the eye. “No one else knows. We will tell everyone when the time is right, but now isn’t the time.”
“I promise. Just tell me!” Chad replied, looking like he needed the distraction.
“A couple weeks ago... we got engaged. Beth and I are going to get married!” Chris stated a little too loudly. He said it loud enough for Bam, who was walking in the door, to hear.
“What?!” The jackass shouted.
Before any of us could stop him, Bam took off back out of the door again.
“He’s going to tell everyone, isn’t he?” I asked Chris.
“Yep because that is what Bam does.” He answered me. “I’m going to go and try to reel him in.”
After Chris left, Chad came up and hugged me. “I’m proud of you, Beth.”
“Ha ha ha. Very funny. Using my own words against me. How original.” I answered sarcastically.
“No- I mean it. You and I had similar fucked up childhoods. We went through the same kind of shit, but you come out of it a whole person. I guess it gives me hope. I’m really happy for you. I know I have been an asshole to you in the past, but it was never because I didn’t like you. It’s just…”
“Stop it, Chad. You’re rambling.” I hugged him again.
He was right though. Maybe there was hope for the two of us and the people we loved.
Chad, Chris, and I sat in the lobby of the church as we waited for the wedding to get started. The wedding was not going to get underway for another two hours. Chad had come with Kay. She was in a back room getting ready with the other bridesmaids and, of course, the bride. Since he was here so early, he had asked us to keep him company. So there we sat, all dressed up with nowhere to go.
“Can we please go do something?!” I exclaimed. “We can’t just sit here for two more hours doing nothing!”
“What can we do in less than two hours? People should be showing up soon anyway and then we can take our seats.” Chad answered back and then turned back to his cell phone.
“Who are you texting?” I asked, suspiciously.
“Don’t tell her, Chad! She's just pumping you for information.” Chris bellowed.
“I’m texting Kay. Not that it’s any of your business.” Chad responded.
Chris started making the noise of a whip cracking. Chris and I started to laugh while Chad gave us a dirty look. His look just made us laugh harder. So hard that Chris fell out of his chair.
“So I guess it probably won’t be long before you and Kay get married.” I said, trying to control my laughter.
Chad looked at me with a confused expression. You could tell that he was thinking seriously about what I had said.
“Have you thought about it at all, Chad?” I asked.
“No.” He said honestly. “I never thought about getting married at all.”
“That’s not true. You were engaged to Jina.” Chris replied.
“I only proposed because I thought it was the right thing to do. I mean- we had been together for so long, it seemed like the right thing to do.” Chad explained.
“You can’t make a marriage from just doing the right thing. It takes more than that. Marriage is hard and it isn’t easy. Marriage isn’t something you go into halfhearted. Of all our friends, I think you and I know this best.” I stated, putting a hand on his arm to show him I understood.
Chad looked at me and shook his head. After a pause, Chad glanced away before speaking, “I love Kay. I want to be with her. Only her. That’s enough for me right now. I’m happy and Kay is happy too. I don’t want to ruin this relationship with any pressure that isn’t needed. When it is time for us to talk about marriage, we will. I’m not pushing the subject. We’re committed to each other and that is all that matters to me.”
“I’m proud of you, Chad.” I said, smiling at him.
Chris looked at me, rubbed my arm and smiled as well. We sat there in silence for a while until Chris broke the silence.
He looked at me and asked, “Can we tell him?”
I knew exactly what he was talking about. We had been engaged for a few weeks now, but we hadn’t told any of our friends yet. I'd enjoyed keeping it our little secret. Chris, on the other hand, was ready to tell our friends. He kept on saying that he was so happy about our engagement that he wanted to share it with the whole world. He's such an awesome guy. There is no one else I could imagine myself marrying.
“Chad- you have to promise me that you will not repeat this to anyone... even Kay.” I said to him while looking him square in the eye. “No one else knows. We will tell everyone when the time is right, but now isn’t the time.”
“I promise. Just tell me!” Chad replied, looking like he needed the distraction.
“A couple weeks ago... we got engaged. Beth and I are going to get married!” Chris stated a little too loudly. He said it loud enough for Bam, who was walking in the door, to hear.
“What?!” The jackass shouted.
Before any of us could stop him, Bam took off back out of the door again.
“He’s going to tell everyone, isn’t he?” I asked Chris.
“Yep because that is what Bam does.” He answered me. “I’m going to go and try to reel him in.”
After Chris left, Chad came up and hugged me. “I’m proud of you, Beth.”
“Ha ha ha. Very funny. Using my own words against me. How original.” I answered sarcastically.
“No- I mean it. You and I had similar fucked up childhoods. We went through the same kind of shit, but you come out of it a whole person. I guess it gives me hope. I’m really happy for you. I know I have been an asshole to you in the past, but it was never because I didn’t like you. It’s just…”
“Stop it, Chad. You’re rambling.” I hugged him again.
He was right though. Maybe there was hope for the two of us and the people we loved.