After All(9)

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"You are way too young to know about Moonlighting," I tell her. "And, as you can see, I haven't quite met her yet." I stick out my hand and say. "Hi Alyssa, I'm Emmett. It will be a pleasure to walk you down the aisle today."

But before Alyssa can shake it (if she was even going to), a hush comes over everyone and the music changes from the plinky plunky piano part to sweeping strings.

"That's our cue," Tiffany says.

I offer my elbow to Alyssa.

"You have to take it now. It's the rules," I tell her, strangely determined to win this prickly bitch-hot blonde over.

Once she does, I press her hand harder into my side and lean into her. "You know they both warned me to stay away from you."

She turns to face me and this close I can see the streaks of grey in her eyes. There's also fire in them. Rebellion. Just what I wanted to see. "Who did?"

Now I have her attention.

I just shoot her a grin and I start down the aisle, a girl on each arm.





Chapter 2





Alyssa





Earlier that day



"I'm going to throw up."

I roll my eyes at the statement and put the window down so some fresh air gets in the limo.

"Oh, please, please don't," Jackie says, gathering up the hem of her wedding dress and staring at Tiffany reproachfully. "The last thing I need is to get vomit on my dress at one p.m."

"As opposed to vomit at one a.m.?" I ask, reaching for the last of the champagne so that Tiffany isn't tempted. I can see her wavering eyes focus on the bottle, momentarily distracting her sorry ass from the fact that she wanted to throw up a second ago.

"I'd like to keep my wedding as puke free as possible, thank you very much," Jackie says, then reaches across to grab the champagne from my hand.

"You know," I say, watching as she pretends to drink straight from the bottle. I put my thoughts on hold as I grab my phone and take a picture of the delightfully unladylike sight. Will is going to get a kick out of it. "I have to say I thought you'd be the one feeling sick."

She frowns as she hands the bottle back to me. "For the last time, I'm fine. I'm not nervous. I'm cool as a cucumber."

It's true. And it's annoying. And probably a sign that her and Will are really meant to be together, as if that wasn't already apparent.

In fact, Jackie has to be the most chill bride I've ever come across and I've been to a hell of a lot of weddings over the last few years. Your late twenties is prime wedding season where everyone you know, from high school frenemies to family friends and random co-workers, are tying the knot and you get to go to every single one of them. 

Alone.

Yeah, that's the other problem. During the summer months, finding a date to a wedding is next to impossible. I'm starting to think there's a business idea in men and women as wedding dates for hire, of course in this city the males would be in high demand. I'm not sure if there's more women than men here or that the male dating pool sucks (and I can attest that it does) but all the guys have to do is snap their fingers and a woman will be conjured up in front of them. It's I Dream of Genie but with sex. Meanwhile all the women are fighting over a remotely eligible man like they're duking it out over the last ham on Christmas Eve.

But, I promised myself I wouldn't dwell on it. Not today. Today is Jackie's day. And despite our friend and co-worker Tiffany having too many mimosas at breakfast, everything is working out beautifully. It's a sunny and warm summer afternoon with not a cloud in the sky, Jackie is looking absolutely stunning in her designer wedding dress (low-cut Grecian style top with a poufy skirt), her golden-brown hair flowing in sleek waves over her shoulders.

As her bridesmaids, Tiffany and I don't look half-bad either. Even though Tiffany's head is currently half-hanging out the window, her updo is staying intact and her makeup is perfect. Jackie's colors for the wedding are blue and hot pink, so we were able to pick whatever style of dress we wanted so long as the color was an exact match. Tiffany is thin and tiny, so she's rocking the classic strapless cocktail dress while I've got an empire waist and fluttery sleeves to hide my fluffy arms and stomach. The only problem is that my cleavage is bordering on vulgar so I have to keep reminding myself to pull up the neckline and make sure the girls are in check.

"I'm feeling better!" Tiffany suddenly exclaims, straightening up and looking at both of us with wide eyes.

"Did you just do a line of coke when we weren't looking?" I ask her.