by Todd, E. L.
“Once again, that’s in the past. Secondly, I used to be the same way. I’ve slept with more women than I can count. We’re the same. You see me with Janice. I’m different now. I’ll never grow tired of her. You know that.”
“It’s not the same. You’ve always been honest with your partners. Sean lied and manipulated them. And then he slept with his brother’s girlfriend, ruining ten years of their relationship.”
“Mike made mistakes too.”
“His mother treated me like shit and he chose to defend Penelope instead of me.”
“He had good intentions. He eventually told them the truth when he couldn’t let it go on any longer.”
“His family doesn’t like me or respect me.”
“Andrew loves you.”
“His mother thinks I’m a whore. I’ll never be anything different in her eyes. When everyone arrives tomorrow, they’ll be gossiping about me.”
“His mother wouldn’t tell anyone about the video.”
“But I’m sure their neighbors told everyone.”
“And that isn’t Sean’s fault.”
“It’s still a reason why I don’t want to marry him.”
Ryan sighed. “You’re being unfair. What about the way Sean treats you now? He was the one who said he didn’t want to have a bachelor party. He wanted to spend it with you. He’s different now. You’ve changed him.”
I shook my head. “Only on the surface.”
“You are holding his past against him when he’s clearly changed. I’m your brother. I would never tell you marry someone else if I thought he wasn’t the right guy for you.”
I didn’t have anything to say to that. “And I’m sure Mom will try to ruin the wedding tomorrow.”
“No, she won’t. She’s not coming. And if she does, I’ll take care of her. Don’t run out on Sean because of that. You could have rescheduled the wedding at any time. Sean always gave you the option.”
“I’ve made up my mind, Ryan.”
He looked at me, holding my gaze. “Scarlet, don’t do this. You’re making a mistake. Sean is an amazing guy. He loves you more than anything. I see it every day. Everything that makes you doubt him is in his past. We all have shit to hide. You’re just fortunate enough to see everything from the past ten years. He’s always been honest with you about who he was or what he was going to be. I know he loves you. He’ll be a great husband and father. Don’t throw this away because of your emotions. They’ll be gone tomorrow. You’re just getting cold feet.”
I held up my hand. “I’m tired of being hurt all the time. I want to find someone who loves me from the beginning, doesn’t see me as a friend, and gets it right the first time. Sean will just hurt me again like he always does. I can’t handle it anymore. If he breaks my heart again, I’ll never recover.”
“I’m begging you not to do this.”
I wiped my tears away and grabbed my bag. “Are you coming or not?”
He ran his fingers through his hair, the stress etched on his face. “I’ll follow you everywhere.”
“Get Janice.”
“Cortland will take care of her.” He grabbed the bags from my hand. “I’ll get the cab. You wait here.”
I sat back down and cried to myself, hating myself for what I was about to do. I was leaving Sean. Everyone would know the next morning and I would already be gone, on my way back to Seattle. I could get my belongings from the apartment before Sean could catch up to me. Then, I would disappear.
11
Scarlet
“Why are we staying at a hotel?”
“All the flights are booked.”
I opened my computer and looked. “It says there are open seats.”
“Only first class.”
“That’s fine,” I said quickly. “I’ll pay for it.”
“We’ll never make it in time.”
I looked at the time. “We have an hour.”
“We’ll never make it through customs.”
“Ryan, you better not be fucking stalling.”
“I’m not,” he snapped. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.” He sat on the edge of the bed and looked across the room, staring at the wall.
“I don’t want to wait until tomorrow.”
“That’s too fucking bad.”
“They didn’t have a room with two beds?”
“All the guests coming to your wedding took them all. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Don’t be stupid.” I leaned back and stared at the ceiling. The sun was rising and started to creep through the windows. At any moment, they would know I was gone.
“Scarlet, please reconsider this.”
“I’ve made my choice.”
“It’s the wrong one.”
“How can you say that?”
“I’ve seen you with him. He makes you happy.”
“When he isn’t breaking my heart.”
“I didn’t say the guy was perfect.”
“Definitely not.”
“He isn’t going to hurt you again, Scar.”
“You didn’t see him with his friends. It was like the past year didn’t happen.”
“It’s called fitting in.”
I turned on my side and ignored him, trying to fall asleep. I was too anxious to close my eyes. I just wanted this nightmare to be over. I wished I hadn’t taken Sean back to begin with. When we went back to Penelope, that’s when the relationship should have ended. I could have kept sleeping with Cortland and perhaps he and I would be together right now. Cortland would never hurt me. He’s my brother’s best friend. It would have been a perfect match.
Ryan lied beside me and guided his hand across my back, trying to make me feel better.
“I’m sorry that I had you take me here.”
“I’m always here for you, Scar.”
“You really think I’m making the wrong decision?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not.”
“You don’t sound confident.”
“Just because I’m making this decision doesn’t mean it’s easy. I don’t want to hurt Sean.”
“It’ll cripple him to be dumped twice like this. The first time his girlfriend cheated on him, and the second time his fiancé left him on their wedding day. I guess that’s punishment for everything he’s done.”
“I wish there was another way around it.”
“You aren’t so innocent yourself, Scarlet.”
“What?”
“I know you’ve done things you’ve regretted. You aren’t perfect either.”
“I never said I was.”
“You lied to him about Cortland and he forgave you for it.”
“That’s totally different. And even if it wasn’t, that was one mistake I made. In comparison to everything he’s done, that’s insignificant.”
“Pain isn’t insignificant.”
“Why are you rooting for him? I made up my mind.”
“Because you’re meant to be with him, Scar. You both started in bad places, but now you’re both safe and whole. You’re never stronger than when you are together. I think you’ll regret this. Maybe not right away, but in months, maybe a year. You’ll want him back but it might be too late.”
“He’ll probably sleep with someone else tomorrow.”
Ryan sighed. “It’s like you’ve forgotten the person you’ve been sleeping with for the past year. You aren’t marrying who Sean used to be. You’re marrying who he is now.”
I turned my head into the pillow and closed my eyes, feeling more tears fall.
Ryan moved from the bed and grabbed the ice bucket. “I’m going to get ice.” He walked out and shut the door behind him.
12
Sean
When I opened my eyes the next morning, everything looked different. Colors had never been so bright and vibrant. The world seemed quiet, like everyone in the world had taken a moment of silence to acknowledge my marriage to Scarlet, the girl of my dreams. I couldn’t believe my wedding
day was here. And I couldn’t believe I was marrying Scarlet.
I was so excited I thought I could scream. I pulled on my clothes and left the bedroom. Monnique and Janice were in the hallway, looking stressed like I expected. The expression on both of their faces looked like someone had just died.
“Morning, ladies. How’s my fiancé?”
They both glanced at each other, waiting for the other to speak first. They looked scared.
“Is everything alright?” I asked. “Is Scarlet okay?”
“She’s fine,” Janice said quickly. “She’s just getting ready.”
“There’s something I made for her and I really want her to see it.”
“Oh,” Monnique said. “Well, hand it over and we’ll make sure she gets it.”
“Actually, it’s a place, not an object. Take her inside when she has the time.”
“Uh, okay,” Janice said hesitantly. “Where is it?”
“It’s downstairs in the second living room. You’ll know which room it is because there will be a sign. No one else is allowed to go in there but Scarlet, okay?”
“Sure,” Monnique said.
“And tell me what she says.”
“Okay,” Janice said, squeezing her hands together.
“You’re more nervous than I am,” I said with a laugh.
Monnique grabbed her arm. “We’ll see you later.” They walked back into Janice’s bedroom.
“Shouldn’t you be in Scarlet’s room?” I asked
“Oh yeah. Our mistake,” Monnique said.
My mom walked up the stairs and looked at me. Her smile lit up the room. “My boy is getting married.” She hugged me tightly.
“I know. I’m so happy.”
“I’m happy for you.” She turned to the door and knocked. “Scarlet?”
Monnique cracked it open but wouldn’t let my mom through. “Can we help you?”
“I brought the clip I was supposed to give to her last night.”
“Oh.” Monnique grabbed it from her hand. “I’ll make sure she gets them.”
“She asked me to do it for her.”
“Don’t worry. I got it.” She closed the door.
My mom raised an eyebrow at me then knocked again. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah. I just don’t want Sean to see the bride. Come back later.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll leave. We’re heading to laser tag anyway. Is Ryan in there?”
“No,” Monnique said quickly as she opened the door.
“I’ll call him then.”
“He’s at the store,” Monnique said quickly. “On the bride’s orders, of course. He said he wouldn’t be able to join you.”
“Oh okay. That sucks.”
“Bye.” She shut the door.
My mom turned around. “Tensions are running high.”
I turned back around and knocked on my brother’s door. “You ready?”
Mike stepped out. “Let’s do this.” He held a imaginary gun and started to shoot the walls. “I’m awesome at laser tag.”
“We’ll see.”
“Let’s head out.”
I grabbed my other groomsmen and we headed to the car. When I went to Cortland’s door, he said he wasn’t coming.
“What the hell? You seemed excited yesterday,” I said.
“I am, but Scarlet needs me.” He kept avoiding my gaze and looking at the floor.
“Dude, is something up?”
“No,” he said quickly. “Why? We’re good. I’m good.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Ryan can’t come and now you can’t come? How much help does Scarlet need?”
“You know her. She needs food around the clock.”
“Can’t Ryan just stay?”
“He just came to my room and told me to help Scarlet. He needs my assistance.”
“I thought he was at the store.”
“Uh, I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
Cortland looked at his watch. “You really should get going. The day is passing.”
I gave him another look before I turned away and walked down to the entryway. The rest of the guys were waiting.
“Now don’t bruise each other,” my mom said.
“I can’t promise anything,” I said with a smile.
Andrew looked around. “What about Ryan and Cortland?”
“They said they need to help Scarlet.”
“I still haven’t seen her,” my mom said. “The last time I went up there, she was gone.”
I shrugged. “She’s probably freaking out about something stupid.”
“Well, I’ll track her down eventually.”
“Let’s go,” my dad said.
We got into the vehicles and drove to the theme park. I knew something was up with Scarlet. Her entire family was acting weird. I knew they were bound together by something stronger then blood or love, and they were sticking together like a front. Maybe she was trying to plan something special for me. That sounded like something Scarlet would do. I pulled out my phone and texted Janice.
Did you show her the room?
She didn’t respond for a few minutes. I let the phone sit on my lap as we drove down the road. My friends were sitting in the backseat, laughing at a joke I didn’t catch. I looked at my phone again to make sure I hadn’t missed her response. She finally said something.
Not yet. We’ll get there.
It’ll take like 5 mins. Just make sure she sees it. Please.
Okay.
I sighed and put the phone back in my pocket.
My dad touched me on the shoulder. “You alright?”
“I’m fine, Dad.”
“You seemed stressed out.”
“Scarlet just seems weird.”
“Have you talked to her?”
“No. Her bridesmaids are just acting odd.”
“Stress and money are the two things that can change people.”
“Well, it’s working now.”
We parked the car then went inside. After we paid for our game and buckled out gear, I suddenly felt sad that Ryan wasn’t there. I thought of him as a brother now. He and I had our differences in the past, but we always worked through them. I knew Mike was my blood, but I thought Ryan was just as close. He was always the life of the party. I wished Cortland was there too, mixing our families together. I sighed and stepped into the arena.
We broke into two teams and started the battle. Mike and my dad were on my team. My dad was pretty good, but he would also stop and do a victory dance after a few good shots. Since he was distracted, he would get shot.
“Dad!”
“Oh sorry.” He ducked down behind the box.
Mike ran from behind us and jumped over the box, shooting for Tim and Dean across the room.
“Let’s move,” I said.
“Okay.”
We ran to the back and searched for Will. I knew he was hiding somewhere. I signaled for my dad to go right while I went left. We eventually cornered him.
“Got em!” my dad said.
We shot at him with our lasers while Will tried to back away.
“No!” Will screamed. “Tell my mom I love her.”
“You’re pathetic,” I said with a laugh.
He sprinted away and disappeared into the maze of the course. We played for a few hours. My dad paid some substantial dough to make sure the course was completely rented out. I was sweating by the time our adventure was over. I was out of breath and tired.
“Save your strength for tonight,” Mike said.
“I’ll have her be on top.”
“Ooh.” He closed his eyes. “I’m getting a visual.”
I punched him in the shoulder.
“I’m only kidding.”
“Now I can’t tell anymore.”
Mike smiled then walked away.
We returned our gear. The clerk at the counter looked at the equipment in disgust.
“You should sanitize that,” Mike said.
>
The guy stared at the equipment then grabbed gloves from under the counter.
I laughed as we walked out. “That was fun. Thanks for coming everyone.”
“You know what would have made it better?” my dad asked.
“What?”
“If Scarlet was here.”
I smiled. “She would have kicked all of our asses.”
“Has she ever played?” Will asked.
“She and I used to in New York.”
“Wow. She sounds cool.”
“You have no idea.”
We came back to the car and I checked my phone for messages. No one had called me or messaged me. I wanted to text Scarlet, tell her that I love her and I’m excited to marry her, but I decided not to. I would tell her everything when we got to the alter. That was the better time.
We came back to the house. People were setting up tables, moving flowers, preparing the food—it was chaotic.
My mom brushed past us. “You guys reek.”
“Thanks, dear,” Andrew said.
She marched up the stairs and out of our sight.
My dad looked at all of us. “Just stay out of her way.”
“That’s a given,” I said. I walked up the stairs and moved down the hallway.
I came to Scarlet’s bedroom, covered my eyes, and knocked. Just in case Scarlet answered, I didn’t want to see her in her wedding dress.
“Who is it?” Cortland said.
“Sean.” I heard quiet whispers.
“What do you want?”
“How’s everything going?”
Cortland finally opened the door and closed it behind him. “How about you worry about getting ready?”
“Dude, you missed such a good time.”
“Who won?”
“We did.”
“Who was on your team?”
“Mike and my dad.”
“Too bad I couldn’t come. We’ll do it another time.”
“How’s Ryan?”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? He’s been stuck with Scarlet all day. I’m sure his head is about to explode.”
“Oh. Yeah, he’s super annoyed with her.”
I laughed. “Poor guy.”
“Yeah. So, we’ll see you later, then.”
“Can you take Scarlet down to the room?”
