Chapter 50
Ineeded to avoid him. Because if I didn’t, then at some point, I was bound to completely lose strength in my legs and crash to the floor like a pile of dropped dishes. I was carrying equipment with me, and this entire ceremony banked on my ability to capture the magic of it, and I could not mess up.
As soon as he broke the kiss, because I didn”t have the good sense or discipline to do so, I moved away and found my way over to Anna. She had been watching as well as the few workers that remained, and I was torn between feeling extremely special for being so intimate with him and yet embarrassed at the same time, especially when I recalled that his family was here.
I immediately started to look around, but she shook her head and allayed my worries.
“They’re not in here. They’re outside talking and waiting while you”re in here mouth-fucking their son.”
“Hey!” I smacked her, and she bore the attack against her.
“We’ve been waiting forever,” she groaned ever impatient. “Where’s our bratty bride?”
“She’s not bratty,” I immediately came to her defense. “She’s pregnant and she’s stressed, and she knows her family is hiding things from her, but she has no way to find out. I’d be constantly in a bad mood too if I were her.”
“Plus, there”s the fact that the personal photographer she hired has now shifted alliances and is more focused on frolicking with her brother between the sheets than her wedding.”
I sighed then and moved away from her, needing to avoid the taunting and negativity.
“Just stay out of the way and hold my step ladders for me,” I groaned, and she blushed.
“How can I hold the ladders if you want me to stay away?”
I shook my head then and began to set up the lights I had brought in earlier. I wanted the entire space to be fully lit by the candles, but some of the bulbs of the church were indeed dead, so it completely depended on the light in certain places I wanted illuminated. This is why I had brought in some warm lights and had to ensure that it was all ready. We had twenty minutes now or even less, and I was excited.
I couldn’t wait for her to see it. Eventually, I ushered all the workers out, and Scott directed them over to the house to get some dinner. And it was at that last crucial moment that we realized that we had missed possibly the most important and fundamental aspect of a wedding ceremony. We had no fucking priest or minister.
The second I realized this, my face dropped, and then I turned to Anna in shock. She was stuffing some pastries into her mouth but immediately hurried over when she saw the worry on my face.
“What is it?” she asked, and I nearly cried.
“We don’t have a minister.”
“Oh shit. You need that, don’t you? What about the rings as well?”
“Shit, I need to tell David to bring those as well.”
I handed my camera over to her then and hurried over to Drake’s side. He, I realized, was speaking with his father, so even though I quickly wanted to tell him these issues, I had to take a few seconds first to properly greet his dad.
“You’ve done a wonderful job here,” he said, and I nodded in gratitude.
“Thank you.”
”No, thank you,” he held my hand and kissed it. I was a bit flustered also because of how much they looked alike. It was almost uncanny but wonderful to see in the best of ways. Afterwards, I turned to Drake, and it was a few seconds later before I could remember what I had come over for. He did that to me with his eyes and the slight smile curving the corners of his lips. I always felt so welcome and special in his gaze, and it almost made me sad because I knew that sooner or later, this was bound to come to an end.
“We need the rings from David,” I told him.
“What rings?” he asked.
”Their wedding rings. The ones she planned to use on her wedding day. They can take them off after tonight if they want to, but they for sure need them for tonight.”
“Alright,” he replied and pulled out his phone. “I”m sure he”s already bringing them along, but just in case he forgot.”
“Yes,” I replied and watched him for a moment as he sent the message. Afterwards, as he looked down to gaze at me, I couldn’t help but be startled because finally, I noticed the slight smudge of red on the corner of his lips.
“Oh shit.”
My eyes slightly widened as I stared at it, and to my surprise, his father by my side didn”t hide his amusement.
“You see it as well?” he asked, and I turned to him.
“What?”
His eyes pointed to his lips.
“You, I see are the source. That’s why I didn’t bother asking because I knew that sooner or later the truth would come out.”
Drake looked at the both of us, wondering what we were yapping on about, and then he sent the message. Afterwards, he turned to look at me once again, and I so badly wanted to reach out and wipe the red lipstick stain off his mouth, but this, of course, would be much too obvious and frankly embarrassing. I needed his father to leave immediately, and since I didn’t want to drag him away to take care of this, I decided to just completely resolve the issue of the missing minister.
For once, and as I mentioned it, he didn”t have a solution for me. His father, however, seemed to perk up even then.
“A minister?” he asked, “Ordained to officiate weddings? My son needs to know we have one right here.”
“Who?” I asked, feeling my heart swell up with hope.
“You’re looking at him,” he said, and it still took me a few more seconds to comprehend. Afterwards, though, I realized that he was talking about himself.
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “Oh, that’s awesome.”
“Indeed it is,” he replied. “I’ll also be officiating for them in main wedding as well.”
“No, Dad,” Drake corrected. “This is the main wedding,” he said, “The wedding tomorrow, will just be some giant reception.”
“Oh really?” He laughed, and Drake nodded.
“You’ll see the difference with Aurora. She can never hide her feelings and expressions.”
We shared a little laugh in unison, and just then, his mother came over to join us. She looked so beautiful; it was almost scary, making it even harder to believe that she had been so seriously ill all day, or for that matter, that she possibly had a terminal illness. Maybe I was wrong, and all of this was just my nonsensical assumption, so I did my best to lock my curiosity away. A corner of my mind had been itching to ask all day long, but now I was certain that it would be utterly inappropriate. It also felt, as they conversed as a family, that it was inappropriate to just stand in their midst, so I quickly excused myself and returned back to Anna and my camera.
“You fit right in,” she said. “Guess all the money spent on your wardrobe wasn’t wasted.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked as I retrieved my camera. “If I had known I would be this involved with them, I would have spent even more. I feel like a peasant every time I”m in their presence”.
“That’s because you know how little you spent on your outfit. The trick is to understand that they don’t know. In my eyes now, for instance, you look sophisticated and chic and very expensive.”
“Well, these pearls were my mom’s and they weren’t cheap, so…”
“Exactly. It draws all the attention. Anyways, where’s the blushing bride? Or, as I have heard, the bratty bride.”
“She’s not a brat,” I defended her. “Leave her alone.”
“Of course you’d say that,” she said as I rose to my feet and turned around to watch the little family conversing with smiles on their faces.
“Of course you’d say that,” Anna said. “She basically introduced you to your fiancé.”
I sighed, then gave her a harsh look, and continued on my way.
“Please don’t spout off nonsense when more people are there. You’re going to fucking get me in trouble.”
“I’ll be careful,” she said, but I wasn’t relieved.
“Can you just not say anything at all?” I asked, and she cackled.
“Impossible. I’m here to torment you; it’s my way of blowing off steam from my own complicated and extremely disappointing life.”
Shaking my head, I moved away and caught the shot I wanted. I noticed through it how both men looked at their wife and mother. Their gaze on her was also affectionate, and they huddled so closely to her as though scared that she would fall but ready to catch her either way. It was so endearing and made my heart go soft. I took a few more shots of them from different angles and then went ahead to the top pew on the top stairs to take some of the entire location. I decided then that I would just stay there until Aurora arrived.