Chapter 26 Christopher
Saturday
It was bad enough that my mum had to make snide comments about me last night at the family welcome dinner.
Now she’s gone and offended everyone else, too, including Daniel’s mum in the bridal suite.
She got on her high horse and started going off about how she’s paying for the wedding.
Telling everyone what to do, bossing them around like they’re her servants.
I’d thought a nice relaxing massage would calm her down while I worked on my speech, but she came back to the suite more enraged than ever. This time, Daniel’s mum was on the receiving end of her wrath, who burst into tears when my mum questioned her attire and mothering abilities.
Suffice to say, Daniel’s mum didn’t stick around, and I’m sure there’ll be no love lost there. They didn’t like each other much before today anyway.
I’ve already warned Rob and Alexander about what awaits us behind the door as I knock three times. Rob kindly agreed to step in if things get out of hand.
Kate, one of Kelly’s bridesmaids, opens the door and her mouth gapes as she sees Alexander standing next to me.
As we enter, I notice Kelly seated by a table, next to the glass cabinet.
The blue and white china vases are thankfully still intact.
Erica is nodding as she reapplies Kelly’s makeup.
Much of it was washed away by the angry tears she cried in the bathroom, where I’d left her when I headed down to see Alexander.
“Where’s Mum?” I ask, placing my hand on Kelly’s shoulder.
She points to the next room, where I see Kelly’s other bridesmaid, Nicole, keeping my mum distracted. I take a deep breath, letting go of Kelly’s shoulder, and nod to Rob to follow me.
“Kate, could you keep Alexander company, while I see my mum?”
“Uh-huh.” Kate’s eyes are like a vampire at sunrise, caught off guard and about to combust. She twiddles with the material of her lilac dress.
I enter the other room and see Nicole nodding and smiling as my mum mumbles inaudibly between sips of her champagne.
“Nicole, could you give my mum and me a moment please?”
Nicole looks at me over her shoulder as if she’s just received a pardon from death row. She quickly gets up and heads back into the main room, leaving my mum, me, and Rob, who closes the door after Nicole exits.
My fists clench as I prepare myself for this confrontation. Rob stands guard by the wooden wardrobe.
“What’s going on with you, Mum?” I ask, knowing full well what she’s going to complain about.
“Daniel’s family, that’s what. His mum comes in here thinking she’s better than us. Judging us. Looking down on me. When they’re the working-class family. Daniel’s the one punching above his weight.” Her jaw clenches as she tightens her grip on the champagne flute.
“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?”
“Who asked you?” she says. “And who the hell is he?” She points her glass at Rob.
Here we go. My mum didn’t raise me like mothers are meant to raise their children, but she did prepare me for survival. And this is a war I’m willing to wage for Kelly.
“No one asked me, Mum. And this,” I say, pointing to Rob, “this is Rob. Head of security. And if you don’t get your act together, he’ll make sure you don’t step foot inside the wedding hall downstairs.” I stretch to my full height and cross my arms.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she says, putting her champagne glass down on the table and pushing herself up out of the chair.
“Ma’am, you need to sit down. Right now.” Rob’s command startles her back into a sitting position and makes my heart rate spike.
I didn’t expect Rob to get into this role, but he does so convincingly. Almost a little too convincingly, which makes me think he’s enjoying it. But whatever the reason, it works.
“You need to back off. On Kelly. On Daniel’s family. On me. For one frigging day,” I say. “Can you just keep quiet, keep your opinions to yourself for twelve hours?” My head pounds. I can’t believe I even have to ask this of her.
“Well, if you weren’t all such disappointments…”
Rob cuts me a look—Want me to step in?—and I shake my head. My mum’s love language is passive-aggressive and misplaced disappointment. I bite my lower lip instead, taking a deep breath through my nose, trying to push down the anger and temper my response.
“Do you know what, Mother?” She lifts her head to stare at me. “If anyone’s the disappointment here, it’s you. You never fail to let everyone and yourself down. This is meant to be the happiest day of Kelly’s life, and you’ve left her out there in tears.” I point to the room next door.
“But…” she tries to interject, but I’m far from finished.
“I’m not done,” I say forcefully. “You complain that I never come back and visit you, but anytime I’m around you, you put me down.
You complain about how I’m not good enough, smart enough, or man enough.
Why the hell would I ever want to spend time with you, when all you do is make me feel like shit? ”
I glance up at the ceiling, trying to fight back the tears forming in my eyes. Why can’t I just have a normal mum?
“Are you done?” Her face reddens, a vein appearing on her temple.
I pause for two beats, deliberating what to do, but I need to defend myself, too, not just Kelly. Wedding or not.
“No, I’m not done. When Dad died, you blamed me for it.
And I’ve carried that guilt for the last four years.
But you know what? His drinking and his homophobia killed him, not me.
He was the one who decided to storm out.
He was the one who didn’t want to have a gay son.
He was the one who couldn’t handle his drink.
He was the one who fell down the stairs. Not me. Him.”
The tears are now flowing freely down my cheeks, coming from the release of everything I’ve been carrying, that I’ve wanted and needed to say, since my dad died.
Rob looks over to me, kindness and warmth on his face.
“I don’t have to sit here and put up with this,” she says, pushing herself up and trying to get to the door.
Rob takes a step forward and blocks her path.
“I’m going to have to ask you to follow me. I’m under strict instructions not to let you into that room unless you are willing to apologize to your daughter and your son.” Rob nods toward me.
“Did you not just hear what he said?” My mum spins back on her heel to look at me. “If anyone should be apologizing, it should be him, not me.” She snorts.
“Well ma’am, from where I’m standing, what I can see is that one of your children is next door crying, minutes before her wedding, because of you.
Your other child is trying to tell you about the impact of your behavior and the damage you’ve caused.
But you seem unwilling even to listen or take responsibility for your actions. ”
My mum starts to open her mouth, but Rob lifts his hand to stop her.
“Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine it would look good to all the guests downstairs if the mother of the bride is not at the wedding ceremony.
” Rob raises a brow. “You have a clear choice here. Either apologize and follow me downstairs to the ceremony and let your children come down separately. Or don’t apologize and I’ll escort you from the premises. ”
My mum turns to look at me to see if Rob’s bluffing, but I hold firm, arms crossed over my suit jacket.
I don’t know how Rob has the ability to remove my mother, but given that he has to deal with overzealous fans all the time, I’m sure he’ll have no problem taking care of her, just like he did Rita.
My mother turns back to the chair and grabs her clutch from the table.
“I’m sorry,” she says, scrunching up her face in a way so I know she doesn’t mean it, but I’ll take it.
She heads to the door and Rob looks to me. I nod and he opens it, letting her through, and follows behind her, leaving me to take a deep exhale before joining them.
“This gentlemen is going to escort me downstairs while you finish up here,” my mum says to the room. She passes Kate and Nicole, who are seated to either side of Alexander, then grabs Kelly’s shoulder and whispers something in her ear. I assume it’s her feeble attempt at an apology.
“I’ll call one of the local security team,” Rob says to Alexander as he heads to the main door, opening it and motioning my mum to leave, before closing the door behind him. As it shuts, the tension leaves the space. Like the air being released from a balloon.
“What did you say in there?” Kelly jumps up from her seat, hugging me tightly, while I try not to ruin her beautiful custom-made wedding dress. It’s a white off-the-shoulder number that accentuates rather than flaunts her short figure, and now fits her perfectly, thanks to Laurie.
“Oh, I can’t take any of the credit, it was all due to Rob.”
“Well, whatever you did, thank you.” Kelly kisses me on my cheek as she releases her grip.
“And thank you, Alexander,” she says, lifting her dress up and walking over to the couch. “Thank you for saving the day and sending Erica and Laurie.” She leans over to kiss him on the cheek, too, as Kate and Nicole stare, envy on their faces.
If only they knew the truth.
“What the actual fuck!” Kate says quietly, ten minutes later. Her choice of language is juxtaposed oddly with her posh accent. “How do you know Alexander Morgan?”
Alexander walks slightly ahead of us, next to Kelly and Nicole, led to the elevator by one of his local security team. Kate is doing a terrible job of keeping an eye on Kelly’s train.
“We have a few mutual friends in common back in LA. He’s been here this week, and we just got chatting one day.” I bend to pick up Kelly’s train when we get to the elevator.
I’m going to have to keep a note of what I’m telling whom. These truth-adjacent stories I’m telling are going to become harder to remember if I’m forced to tell people how I know Alexander if we’re seen together.