Possession
"I want a big wedding. The greatest, biggest wedding there ever was! Everything shall be wonderfully expensive, and all those awful old ladies will look at how rich I am, and be mad with envy!"
"Scarlett, how tacky you are. Wouldn't it be more appropriate for you—having been widowed twice—to have a small wedding with only a few guests?"
"No! It shall be like a fairy tale! And my dress shall be all lace. Yards and yards of it. Imported, of the finest quality. You'll get some for me, won't you Rhett? I know you shall. I don't know why you're marrying me, but I shall have an awful lot of fun in lace, and you said you wanted me to have fun…."
Lace….the word ran through Rhett's mind, over and over again. How different his life would have been if he had agreed to married that wretched Catherine, so many years ago…
--
"Daddy, I want a beautiful wedding. With lots and lots of lace. All the girls are going to be so jealous of me! I've hooked Rhett Butler. Oh, mother! Isn't he wonderful? And I know I shouldn't stayed out with him for so terribly long, but he's awful charming, and we're getting married now, so it doesn't matter. Lots and lots of lace…"
Catherine's voice wafted through the closed doors that led from the study to the verandah where Rhett Butler now stood with his father. Rhett felt disgusted, and nauseated. He could not imagine spending the rest of his life tied to that insipid creature. She was lovely to be sure, but Rhett had never met a more spiritless and silly individual. She could do nothing to make Rhett happy—and besides, Rhett wasn't a marrying man.
No, he would never marry because of what it had done to his parents. His wonderful mother, despite all the love she had to give, could give none of it to her husband, Christopher. Rhett often wondered if his father had a soul, and then he realized that he had probably already sold it to the devil. The once beautiful and happy Eleanor had been beaten into submission—often literally—by her husband, and she only smiled when gazing at her two sons.
"I won't marry her, father. She's worthless and silly and I refuse to spend the rest of my life landlocked in Charleston by a mindless wife and mindless children." Rhett said. He spoke decisively, giving away none of his emotions. He refused to show his father that he was terrified and unsure. As much as he knew he would never be happy married to Catherine, he was petrified of the certainty that his father would throw him out of his home.
"You will marry her. If you wish to remain my son—my heir—than you will marry her. You will give up this foolish idea of traveling the world, and you will settle in Charleston. If you do not marry her, you will shame me and you will shame your mother. Do you wish her to be able to keep her head up, while in Charleston? Or do you want to condemn her to a life of suffering from the gossip of all the women—yet being completely unable to do anything about it? Make your choice Rhett, because you are no longer a little boy. You are a man and you must take responsibility for your actions, and you must behave like the gentleman that I have raised you to be." By the end, Rhett's father was thundering.
"You only presume yourself to be a gentleman. That would imply that your father was a gentleman. But you know he wasn't father—and you've always hated that. Haven't you father? Is that why you've always hated me? And now I've disappointed you! Well, I have know interest in remaining where I'm unwanted." Rhett stopped, panting. The little boy in him wanted to apologize to his father, and do whatever was required of him. But the bigger part of him had pride, and he refused to back down.
Rhett's father said nothing. He marched into the study, completely ignoring Catherine and her equally silly parents and took out the family bible. He brought a black pen to the page featuring the dates of birth and death of the family and without any hesitation, Christopher drew a thick, unforgiving line through Rhett's name.
And it was then that Rhett knew that he no longer meant anything to this man—if he ever had.
--
"Rhett? Rhett? I feel as though you are a million miles away, and not listening to me at all."
"I'm listening, Scarlett. There is no need to nag. I will get you all the lace you want."
Scarlett gave Rhett a frustratingly condescending look, as though he had no idea what a fashionable wedding would entail.
"All I want, Scarlett, is for you to be happy. Have fun and be the spoiled little belle you are."
"I do not need your permission, or your help to have fun Rhett Butler! I am very important, so there! I shall do whatever I please, and I shall be especially pleased if you would leave. And I don't care if you never come back."
"Oh, I will be back. Don't you worry Scarlett. And then we'll get married and the real fun—in the dark of night—will begin." And with a laughing shake of his head, Rhett gave Scarlett a loud smacking kiss—right on the lips…Scarlett threw herself into the kiss with abandon, but Rhett let her go all too soon. "I'm sorry Scarlett, as much as I have enjoyed this, I have an appointment." And he was gone.
--
"Captain Butler, I'm so pleased to see you." The portly man half stood from his chair when Rhett entered the dingy bar. It had been Rhett's decision to meet in a place where he was certain not to be spotted by an proper southerners—he had no desire to completely ruin his reputation before his marriage to Scarlett.
Rhett gave him a sneer, that clearly showed his derision and disgust. This man had traded with Rhett throughout the Civil War—betraying his own cause—and Rhett could not respect a Yankee, especially one without any loyalty.
"Really, how very kind of you. I regret to inform you that the feeling is not in the least mutual." Momentarily turning from the man, Rhett called to the barkeep, "McCallen neat." The barkeep immediately brought Rhett his scotch and Rhett downed it in one gulp. "What is this about? You were very ambiguous in your telegram."
"Well, you know. Money's been a bit tight for me, and every letter costs. I heard your marrying a pretty young thing. Widowed twice already." The man said. Not even slightly shamed by his prying words.
"Yes. What has that got to do with you?"
"Well, I'm just wondering how much your wife knows about your dealings in the north during the war. Does she know about Margaret?"
"Don't speak to me about your foolish sister. She sold her body to me for you to trade with me—it was a simple business transaction."
"And how about how you got her pregnant—"
"Your sister is a harlot. I did nothing to her that she did not want. And I refuse to believe that a woman of her questionable morals would not know how to protect herself from such inconveniences. She tried to pawn her bastard off on me—and you're simply angry because I refused to marry her."
"Perhaps. But I doubt your lovely fiancée would take it that way. In fact, I am willing to bet money that if I told her what happened to my poor sister, she would consider you unfaithful to her—and the woman you have so coveted for these many years, would slip right through your fingers."
Rhett took a shot. "What do you want."
"Fifty thousand dollars, transferred to my account in Guatemala, immediately. Or else, your lovely lady will not be yours for much longer."
"It is done. Go now, before I change my mind." Rhett replied angrily. He took another shot. Indeed, by this point, he was quite drunk.
--
"You are mine!" Rhett exclaimed loudly after banging into Pitty Pat's house without so much as a knock. Indeed, Pitty Pat sat sprawled across the settee, fainted from shock. And Rhett's bruising lips were upon Scarlett's yielding ones. Scarlett was frightened, but also strangely excited. Who was this man with such great passion? It could not possibly be cold, distant Rhett. "Mine, Scarlett. I swear to you, that no other man—not even your stupid Ashley—will ever lay his hands on you again. For I've marked you, and I've bought you. No other man."
"Yes, Rhett." Came Scarlett's strangled cry. But she was once again silenced by Rhett's lips.
--
A/N: As you might have guessed, this is set when Scarlett and Rhett are planning their wedding.
This is for Merovia…Love your writing. I hope this has done you justice
Three things I want in my fic:
1 - At least one 'so there!'
2 - A glimpse of an important event from Rhett's past
3 - An appearance by a Yankee who can be either good or bad
Three things I don't want:
1 - Frank Kennedy
2 - A pregnancy
3 - Any body running away in an angry outburst
It can be set anywhere after Rhett's proposal to Scarlett in GWTW.