White Wedding

The wind brushed against my face yet again, adding a sense of pressure to the cut on my lip. I saw Johnny's figure sitting on a bench with his head down and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I cleared my throat before I choked out. "Johnny," He lifted his head up and plastered a smile on his face.

"Hey Ronnie, you feeling any better?" he asked giving me a hug.

"Much better," I said softly, "So what are we doing?" I asked him.

"Flowers I guess," he shrugged. We started walking along the beach, both of us in silence. I hated it. I turned to Johnny who was walking along with his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground and watching his feet move as he was walking. He reminded me of a child.

"Johnny," I said softly, "Do you have something on your mind?" I asked. I heard him sigh and he shook his head. I frowned to myself as he returned to how he was walking. We walked past the pier and I tugged his t shirt gently.

"What?" He asked.

"The florists can wait," I said as we headed onto the pier. We walked into a small caf and sat at a table in the back. It wasn't busy, it was mainly people who were having quiet lunches and meetings.

"What's happened?" I asked.

"Nothing," he shrugged. I frowned at his failure to cooperate with me and spoke up again.

"Johnny, we have to talk to each other, tell me, what happened?" I asked again.

"Lacey, she got a place at Harvard," he sighed.

"That's brilliant, she must be so happy," I said trying to liven the mood. The clear expression on Johnny's face showed that it wasn't working. "So, why's that bad?"

"She broke up with me," he sighed, my eyes widened as I felt my heart break for him. He was in pieces.

"Johnny, I'm so sorry, did she say why?" I asked.

"She said there's no point in keeping it long distant, because she knows that we won't be able to hack it and both of us will end up being 'unfaithful'," he said scratching the side of his head.

"Well, you can still be friends," I said reassuringly.

"I guess," he nodded, "But the thing is, I love her, I wouldn't even look at another girl," he said.

"Well Johnny, she doesnt know what she's missing,"

"Thanks," his eyes lit up, "Lets get going," We both stood up and walked back outside. I explained to Johnny that I had researched some florists around the area. I found out that there was one just down the road from the pier. Johnny opened the door letting me in first. My eyes wandered the tiny shop as I saw an assortment of brightly coloured flowers adorning the shelves. Each where in a specific section, the roses were all colour coordinated-red, white, pink and the odd black one scattered about. There were orchids and lilies and every other kind of flower you could think of. And in the corner, there was a table behind a glass window. The shop keeper was sitting with a blow torch, melting pieces of glass together to form what looked like a duck. I was hypnotized by each piece of glass moulding into each other. I stared aimlessly as I felt a bead of sweat roll down the right side of my face. Then I remembered my cuts.

"May I help you?" The shop keeper asked switching off the fire at the gas tap.

"Yeah actually, we're looking for a bouquet for my friends wedding," Johnny explained, "Ronnie, what flowers do you want?" I ignored Johnny and rubbed my hand against my face. Pulling it away it revealed the exact colour of my foundation which I had caked on this morning. "Ronnie?" he asked again. I opened my mouth to speak, but all I could hear was a squeak as my throat closed up. I knew Johnny had seen the marks on my face. His expression looked concerned as his eyes shifted across my face. I looked at him and ran out of the enclosed shop that was getting smaller and smaller by the second.

I felt my back hit some bricks as it slid down the gritty wall. I held my head in my hands as tears streamed down. "Ronnie, there you are," Johnny said softly.

"Johnny, I'm really sorry," I sobbed.

"Don't be silly, you haven't done anything," he said softly. He sat next to me and wrapped his arm around me. More than you know. "Look, you're make ups gotten all smudged," he used his thumb to wipe some running mascara from my eye, I winced in pain as he ran it across the attractive bruise gracing it.
"What did you do?" He asked.

"Nothing, it's nothing Johnny, please can we just get back, I need flowers."

"Fine," he shrugged, we stood up and made our way back to the florists. I was straying behind Johnny, who basically stormed off in front of me.
I cautiously walked back into the florists after I embarrassed myself earlier.

"Sorry about that, I got a bit over heated," I blushed to the middle aged man that was now sitting on a chair behind the counter.

"It's alright," he smiled heartily, "I forgot to open the window, but you're looking a for a bouquet, am I correct?" I nodded my head, "What kind of flowers would you like?"

"I was thinking red roses, and for some centrepieces," I said, "What do you think?" I turned to Johnny who simply replied with a cold look that rushed through my body.

"It can be done," the man said sensing the awkward feeling between Johnny and I, "How about an assortment of colours for you, we have pink, red, purple and black roses," he said gesturing the buckets full of roses.

"They're lovely," I smiled softly.

"There's just one problem," the man said slowly. There's always a problem. "My daughter is the one that does the flower arranging, she's seeing her in laws in Florida for a couple of days, can I take a number for when she gets back in four days?" he asked handing me a piece of paper. I nodded my head and jotted down my phone number.

"Thanks," I smiled and Johnny and I walked out of the small shop. Johnny, who had still not said a word to me, finally lifted his head and spoke up.

"We're going back to mine," he commanded. Usually, I would never take someone talking to me in that tone. I had this feeling about Johnny, he did not look like a violent person, he was small, had eyes like a child and on of the best personalities I had seen in a while.
I nodded my head without an argument and followed Johnny back to his.
More...
"So, are you going to tell me the truth?" he asked as he filled the empty kettle with water.

"About what?" I asked playing stupid. Sadly, Johnny wasn't. He sat on the chair opposite me as I replayed the whole scene in my head.

"Ronnie, cuts like this don't just appear on your face," he said sternly, "If you tell me I can understand,"

"You can't!" I snapped at him, "Nobody can!" I stood up grabbing my hand bag and stormed towards the door. I was held back by a soft grip placed on my wrist. I gasped in pain as Johnny's grip was forced upon my bruise.

"Please, tell me what's wrong," he pleaded. I looked into his child like eyes and saw concern. True concern at that. I sighed and walked back over to where I was previously sitting, with Johnny walking behind me.

"It was after the party last week, where I met all of your friends," I said slowly. Johnny nodded his head and signalled for me to carry on. "I got home the morning after, and Andrew just lost it, that's all that happened" I said quickly.

"Asshole," Johnny muttered, "I can't believe I'm going to tell you this," he said softly, "No one knows," I ruffled my eyebrows and tilted my head to one side.

"No one knows what?" I asked.

"My dad, he used to hit my mom," he said scratching his head, "It got so bad this one time that she ended up in hospital, in intensive care. He always used to act sorry and tell her how it wouldn't happen again, but it would that very same day," I cringed as I realised that Andrew told me that. "My older brother threw my dad out of the house two years later when I was 14, he was 17."

"I'm really sorry, Johnny," I said rubbing his hand with my thumb.

"Not many people know, it's not something that I like to brag about."

"I should get back," I stood up from the stool. Johnny walked me to the door, opening it for me.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, we should see the photographer," I nodded my head, "well, bye," he said giving me a hug. I don't know what it was, but something came over me, as he leaned in, I placed a small, yet soft kiss on his lips.

"Bye Johnny," I smiled, "I'll meet you here, I know my way from Johnny's bar," he nodded his head and smiled sweetly at me.

"Bye Ronnie."