I Could Never Pretend

“Do you get the feeling that history is repeating itself?” Rose laughed at her sister as she and Claire supported Amelia as they walked along the corridor towards the room she was sharing with Johnny. Somehow throughout the course of the night Amelia had managed to drink far more than the others and she was now struggling to walk, unaided.

“Let’s hope we’ve got the right room this time.” Claire giggled, knocking on the door.

A tired looking Knoxville answered, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. Both women could not help but blush slightly at his firm, well toned body. Amelia was a lucky woman that was for sure.

Johnny took one look at Amelia and shook his head. “I knew you girls were bad influences.” He sighed, with an amused smile on his face. “What happened to the bridezilla?” He wondered, glancing around for any sign of Laura.

“She’s having a nightcap with Kosick and Dimitry in the hotel bar.” Claire informed him, grinning.

“Did you guys have a good night?” Rose asked Johnny, struggling to keep her sister upright.

“Oh yeah it was great. But Jeff had a bit too much to drink by about eleven, so we had to bring him back.” Johnny shrugged, helping the women to get Amelia into the room. “I think Chris invited everyone back to your room.” He added, causing Claire to grimace at the thought.

“Great. I might see if the hotel has got a spare room.” She laughed, but Johnny did not fail to detect the hint of seriousness in her voice.

After a brief conversation, Johnny bid Rose and Claire goodnight, before turning to his girlfriend, who was now sitting on the end of the bed with her head in her hands. “How are you feeling?” He smirked, handing her a glass of water.

“Just peachy.” She groaned sarcastically as Johnny took a seat beside her on the bed. He was proud of himself for knowing when to stop tonight and he took great pleasure in seeing the tables turned with Amelia.

“I have no sympathy.” Johnny told her smugly. “And you’re going to feel a hell of a lot worse in the morning.”

“Thanks for your unwavering support.” Amelia continued to groan, returning the empty glass to Johnny and promptly passing out.

***

The next morning, Johnny was woken by the sound of a phone ringing. He recognised it as Amelia’s, but she was still in a deep, alcohol induced coma. Thinking nothing of it, Johnny dug around in her handbag and without stopping to check the caller ID, he answered it. The voice on the other end caused him to stagger back in surprise.

“Bam?” Johnny gasped in surprise, the last person he had been expecting to hear from.

“Is that you Knoxville?” Bam sounded equally surprised.

“Yeah, what do you want?” Johnny retorted, not intending to sound so defensive, but unable to understand why was Bam ringing Amelia today of all days.

“What? Why did you ring me last night?” Bam asked, sounding just as confused as Johnny felt.

“I didn’t...”Johnny frowned and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Wait, this is Amelia’s phone you know.”

“Amelia? Well why did she ring me last night?” Bam asked, his voice ringing with uncertainty.

Johnny paused, unable to believe or explain this strange phenomenon. “I don’t know...” he replied, trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake Amelia. “You didn’t speak to her?”

“No.” Bam said tersely. “There was no one there. She cut me off straight away.”

Johnny glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping woman. Why would she want to ring Bam? Surely she did not know that he was here? “Well she’s not here right now, but I’ll be sure to tell her you called.” And with that Johnny ended the call and checked Amelia’s call history. Sure enough Bam’s number had been dialled at 12.23. The call had lasted for 51 seconds. He let the phone drop to the bed.

Knowing he would not be able to get back to sleep now, Johnny made his way to the bathroom. The unexpected phone call from Bam had left a sour taste in his mouth. Why would Amelia want to ring Bam, he wondered? The thought continued to circle in his mind as he showered, shaved and dressed. By midnight she must have been well and truly drunk, Johnny told himself, she must have accidently dialled his number. However, no amount of convincing himself of this could put Johnny’s mind to rest. Even so, what business was it of Johnny’s if Amelia wanted to ring Bam? He was her husband after all. The bitterness that ran through his body shocked Johnny and was enough to make him want to vomit. He decided to get some fresh air, in the hope that it would clear his head.

When Amelia finally woke up, Johnny was nowhere to be found. Her head was pounding, memories of the previous night blurred. She noticed that Johnny must have taken her clothes off and put her to bed, as she was pretty sure she had been in no fit state to do so herself. She glanced at the bedside clock and gasped. How could she have slept in so late? With only an hour before she had to be in Laura’s room, getting ready, Amelia crawled to the bathroom and was violently sick. That would teach her to drink so much.

She wished Johnny was around. He had not even left a note, but she tried not to let this bother her. He was probably busy with best man duties, she told herself. Brushing any negativity to once side, Amelia realised that she needed to sober up and lose this hangover as quickly as possible. After rinsing her mouth and brushing her teeth, Amelia poured three large glasses of water down her throat, followed by two pain killers. She was glad that April and Phil would be looking after Brandon while she was getting ready. As soon as she had managed to drag herself through the shower, Amelia tied her wet hair up, pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, and made her way to Laura’s room.

***

Three hours later, Laura and her two bridesmaids were all ready to go. Laura looked exquisite in her ivory dress. Her wavy platinum blonde hair was piled up into a loose bun and held in place by a discrete little tiara. Laura’s hairdresser and makeup artist friend had managed to work wonders on Amelia. As rough as she might feel on the inside, this no longer showed on the outside. Her hair was now tumbling past her shoulders in loose curls and her eyes had been accentuated with expertly applied shadow, liner and mascara. Her stomach had finally stopped churning, but she still felt dehydrated and kept her bottle of water close at hand. She had tried texting Johnny but to no response, leaving her with the uneasy feeling that she had somehow pissed him off. Had she made an idiot of herself the night before?

Although her memory of getting back to the hotel was a little hazy, Amelia could still remember calling Bam, causing her stomach to churn again. What had possessed her to do that? She cringed and silently vowed never to drink again; it obviously turned her into a husband stalking psycho. In order to delete any trace of that drunken little mistake, Amelia proceeded to delete the call from her phone’s history but to her surprise and horror, Bam had apparently called her back. This morning.

A wave of anxiety and disbelief washed over Amelia. Johnny must have taken the call. That would explain why he was avoiding her like the plague. He obviously thought that she had been speaking to Bam last night and it had hurt his male pride. Amelia smacked her palm to her head in frustration. What had he said to Bam? What had Bam said to him? She didn’t need this kind of misunderstanding and drama today. The ceremony was due to start in less than half an hour. Johnny and his ego would have to wait if he needed some kind of explanation.

“Are you ok Amelia?” Claire asked in concern. “I know you’re probably a bit hung over but you seem more on edge than Laura and she’s got pre-wedding jitters.”

“I’m fine.” Amelia tried to laugh off the question. “It’s just the hangover.” She reassured her friends and proceeded to take a huge gulp of water.

Laura and Claire looked at her dubiously but did not say anything more on the subject.

“I’m going to fetch Brandon.” Amelia informed them, before hurrying off in the direction of Ape and Phil’s room. All being well, they would have him washed, dressed and fed, all ready for the day. Amelia considered trying to ring Johnny but quickly decided against it. If he wanted an argument he wasn’t going to get one, especially not today. She knocked gently on April and Phil’s door and stepped back to wait.

Amelia was momentarily distracted by her phone vibrating, so when she looked up to see that the door had been opened she staggered back and had to double take at the man holding her, no their son in his arms. Surely this was just another bad dream.

“Bam.” She acknowledged, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her.

“Amelia.” He returned the sentiment.

He was dressed in a suit and she could not help but notice the way he looked her up and down, making her feel a little exposed in her bridesmaid dress. She folded her arms across her chest. “I didn’t realise you were coming.” This was an understatement.

“It was a last minute thing.” Bam assured her and held Brandon out.

Amelia took the wriggling toddler in her arms and held him tight. “Thanks for watching him.” She mumbled, feeling awkward and very much like she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. The mixture of surprise at seeing Bam there and relief that he was ok seemed to negate any anger and hatred she felt towards this man.

Bam shrugged, apparently lost for words. But then, “Did you ring me for something last night?”

Amelia’s stomach sank. “Oh yeah. Sorry about that. I must have forgotten to lock my phone and accidently called you in my purse.”

Bam nodded courteously. “I assumed that was the case.” Amelia felt a rush of relief. At least Bam bought that story. Hopefully Johnny would do the same. “Um, you look really nice.” Bam mumbled, so that she could barely understand what he had said. When she did she could not help but blush.

“Err, thanks. Well I um...better get going.” She told him and without waiting for a response, Amelia turned on her heel and left.

“Amelia wait, there was something I wanted to ask you...” She heard him shout, but she had gone too far to turn back now. She hurried into Laura’s room and shut the door firmly behind her, scared that he might be following.