Chapter 14 #3
“You didn’t exactly ask,” Charlotte accuses her, knowing full well she would’ve pushed Riley away even if she had.
“I called after you! I wanted to call you, but your phone was on Do Not Disturb!”
“It’s fine, Riley. I know I was just a project for you. You can stop sneaking around with Hannah now.”
“Hannah? Who is— wait, what does Hannah have to do with—”
“I’d just expected you to let me down a little more gently, or at least a little later. To be honest, I would’ve called it off after the wedding if you hadn’t.”
“A project?!” Riley is struggling to keep her voice down. “You think I would—”
“Alright ladies, where to begin?” Adriana interrupts their heated conversation as she approaches, either clueless of their bickering or pretending to be. “Lets assume the guests have just arrived. What happens next?”
“Yeah, rehearsal coordinator,” Riley sneers, crossing her arms and turning her upper body to Charlotte. “What happens next? Do you have your notes for us?”
Of course she doesn’t have notes. Riley knows as well as she does that they’ve been too busy doing… other things to properly prepare the rehearsal.
“Left them in my room,” Charlotte lies confidently. She winks at Adriana, taps her temple and says: “Got ‘em all up here.”
Riley scoffs audibly and Charlotte’s skin prickles at the realisation she has apparently struck a chord with her.
“So, Lou will get walked down the aisle by her mom first.” Charlotte makes it up on the spot, tracing a line with her finger from the hotel to the gazebo. “Gabi second, accompanied by her dad. You can tell the guests to take a seat—”
“Music?” Riley interjects, one scornful eyebrow up near her hairline.
“Uhm…” Charlotte draws a blank. With the image of Gabi and her dad still in mind, she panics: “Father Figure, George Michael.”
Riley snorts and doubles over laughing.
“But I’d have to triple check with them,” Charlotte says haughtily.
Adriana throws her a bone: “It’s okay, we can change the playlist up until the very last minute.”
Charlotte takes the opportunity to sprinkle a little salt in the wounds by placing her hand on Adriana’s arm. “Thank you for being so flexible,” she says in her sweetest voice.
“Of course,” Adriana nods, and looks down at her notes. From the corner of her eye, Charlotte watches Riley’s face grow ashen.
“As for the ceremony, I always have a standard text prepared that I can use your friends’ names in. Would you like me to read it?”
“Yes please,” Charlotte answers, while Riley provides a brusque: “No, that’s okay.”
It takes Charlotte mere seconds before wishing she would’ve agreed with Riley—just this once, and one time only—as Adriana makes them stand in front of the gazebo, promptly casting them as Gabi and Lou’s body doubles.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today—”
“Do you have a more modern version?” Riley jumps in. “I don’t feel like the traditional one is very Lou.”
“But it is very Gabrielle,” Charlotte says, shooting Riley a warning look. Don’t be difficult now.
“I can do something in between,” Adriana suggests, flipping through her notes before she tries again. “Dear friends and family. Thank you for joining us here on this beautiful location to celebrate the love between two wonderful individuals.”
“Better,” Riley says, digging the tip of her shoe into the grass.
“Sure,” Charlotte nods, looking anywhere but at Riley right across from her.
Adriana reads through a few pages of her wedding speech before her eyes flick up and hesitantly dart between Charlotte and Riley.
“This would be where your friends read their vows,” she says, the uncertainty of the awkwardness between the duo in front of her coloring her voice. “Which would sound something like…?”
Charlotte loudly clears her throat, looking up at a non-existing seagull flying over. Riley sniffs and shrugs, mumbling something unintelligible.
“It doesn’t have to be perfect,” Adriana presses on. “Just give me a couple of lines so we can move on.”
As Charlotte studies Adriana’s face, she swears she catches a flicker of hidden amusement under a wall of feigned professionalism. “Dunno,” Riley insists, shaking her head. Her juvenile behavior is almost laughable.
“Dear Lou,” Charlotte sighs dramatically, ready to get this over with as soon as possible.
Without giving it much thought, she rambles monotonously: “From the moment I met you, I knew we were meant to be. We had our ups and our downs, but at the end of the day, there is only one person I want to come home to...”
Riley lifts her head and finally looks at her, a bit of wonder seeping through her stoic expression. Charlotte’s breath hitches, so she swallows before she continues. “...you. I want to come home to you.”
To not let the moment linger, Charlotte motions for Adriana to to say something. Across from her, Riley is visibly struggling. She presses her lips together and forcefully bites down on her bottom lip when that doesn’t seem to calm her nerves.
“Next?” Adriana spurs Riley on while she gives Charlotte an offhanded thumbs-up. The latter lights up like a Christmas tree.
“My sweet Gabi or whatever,” Riley starts, adopting Charlotte’s attitude and taking a deep breath in.
“You..." She hums and widens her stance, clasping her hands behind her back. "You can pretend you don’t want what I have to give. You can push me away until you’ve convinced yourself that you don’t envision the life that’s just within reach.
But if you say the word, I will be there.
I will fight for you, I will fight with you.
I will show you everything I know about love, as long as you let me. As long as you say yes.”
“Which leads me to the following question,” Adriana airily takes over, adding a murmured: “Nice segue!” from the corner of her mouth, as if Riley’s meticulously chosen words haven’t just given Charlotte heart palpitations.
“Gabrielle, do you take Lou to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love and cherish her, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer—”
“Etcetera,” Charlotte swirls her index fingers around each other to speed Adriana up. Regrettably, it makes her slow down and stretch out the words.
“...for better and for worse, for so long as you both shall live?”
“Yup,” Charlotte says, clicking her tongue and firmly planting her hands on her hips.
“Lou, do you—”
“Agree to all previous statements, yes,” Riley nods, but Adriana is unrelenting.
“...take Gabrielle to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love and cherish her, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better and for worse, for so long as you both shall live?”
“Sure,” Riley blurts out once the last word has finally been spoken.
Adriana peeks over her notes and says with a smirk: “Fantastic! You may kiss your wife.”
Riley’s jaw drops slightly, as if any and all intelligence has just seeped out through her ears. Charlotte isn’t doing much better, staring dumbly at the woman in front of her, waiting to see if she will move.
Just when she thinks Riley might be leaning forward, Adriana claps her hands.
“How silly! Let’s leave that part up to the actual brides, okay?” Her laugh is high-pitched; it vaguely reminds Charlotte of a hyena.
“Well, I think I got enough to work with. Have you two got any more fun plans for the rest of the day?” Charlotte shakes her head and Riley makes some weak comment about enjoying the weather as they escort Adriana back to her bag.
“Get some rest before the big day,” is her cheery advice as she slips her notes into her bag.
“And let me know if anything changes before tomorrow!”
Adriana walks off, leaving Charlotte and Riley behind, rooted to the ground.
“Nice vow, Lou,” Charlotte says, keeping her eyes on a retreating Adriana. “I’m sure Gabi would’ve sobbed herself sick.”
“That’s the goal, isn’t it?” Riley replies dully. “To reach people with your words. To make sure they know you mean them.”
“They’re just words,” Charlotte huffs. “People lie, all the time.”
“Not everyone,” Riley says, her voice barely above a whisper. Charlotte can sense she is trying to approach her, but after the day she’s had so far, there is nothing she wants less.
Instead of creating the opening Riley is clearly asking for, Charlotte faces her and says: “There are liars, and then there are hypocrites. Except for a special few.”
Riley’s expression drops in relief for half a second before Charlotte delivers the final blow.
“A special few are both.”