The rehearsal was into its third hour. Three hours of utter hell and misery. Henrietta was an all-new sort of evil Matt was forced to endure without a chance of escape. Frankly, Matt would rather face a horde of dangerous creatures than spend another second following Henrietta's orders on the precession. Each run of the precession was repeated. If one thing was right, something else was wrong. Henrietta had stopped the precession several times simply because Becker had started on the wrong foot. Connor had moved out of sync with Abby, causing several more delays. Jess was another story entirely. Matt desperately felt for Jess. Henrietta seemed to enjoy telling Jess how wrong her posture was and how small her steps were. Matt cast the occasional glance in Becker's direction, just to see how he was handling the situation. Needless to say, Becker's hand hovered over his holster. However, Henrietta seemed to have a particularly entertaining time correcting Matt's performance. Not that Matt cared mind you; he wasn't even in the procession.
"Okay, let's do one last run through. And everyone remember their entrances this time." Henrietta ordered. Matt rolled his eyes. She walked to the doors and entered the hall with Zacharias. She closed the doors behind her.
"Charming woman." Matt whispered.
Emily nodded. "Lester seems so good-humored compared to Henrietta."
"Comparing Lester to her is like comparing a Tyrannosaurus to a Velociraptor." Matt replied. "Lester may seem utter terrifying, but she'll kill you without a second thought."
"A little opinionated, don't you think?" Emily asked.
"Begin!" Henrietta called. Jenny and Becker started the procession into the hall.
Matt looked down at Emily.
"Maybe not." Emily replied.
Matt smirked.
Abby and Connor entered next into the hall, followed by Jess and Leonard. The hall doors closed behind them. Blocking Matt and Emily from the hall.
"Your fiancé doesn't seem like his mother." Matt stated.
Emily shook her head. "No, he doesn't. He's much more like his father."
"Sorry I'm late." Lester called, strolling down the hall. "Car trouble."
Matt arched a brow. "You drove the six hours up here?"
"Of course I did. Had to mentally prepare myself for the mother of the groom." Lester said.
"Well you came at a perfect time. Rehearsal's still going and you two are next." Matt explained. He stepped from Emily.
"Oh lovely." Lester said. He took Emily's arm just as the doors opened. Lester led Emily through the archway and into the hall. Matt watched as the easily moved in sync with each other toward the alter. He watched Zacharias as Emily drew nearer to the alter. He watched smile form across his face as he stepped down to meet Emily. Lester carefully placed Emily's hand in Zach's and stepped aside.
"Excellent." Henrietta exclaimed. "That was wonderful!"
Matt turned from the ceremony hall and walked back down the corridor toward the other rooms. He wandered through the corridors until he came to an empty library. He closed the door behind him and inhaled the deep silence. He rubbed his tried eyes. He walked to the empty sofa and sat down. This day anomaly-and day in general- was more than what Matt had bargained for. He leaned his chin on his fists and starred at the dark carpeted floor. He heard the door opened, but didn't look up.
"Matt." The voice caught Matt off guard. He looked to the door and found Zach standing beside it. "Can I talk to you in private?"
Matt nodded briefly. "Sure."
Zach closed the door behind him and walked to the chair beside the sofa. "Look, we know nothing about each other and the only commonality between us is Emily. And frankly that's what I wish to talk to you about."
Matt frowned. "What about Emily?"
"Well, she's always been a little vague on how she came into the job. Actually she's been vague on everything that involves her past." Zach said.
Matt nodded. "Well Emily didn't have an easy life."
"How so?" Zach asked.
"Look, I'm not sure I'm the one to be telling you this." Matt said.
"Emily's already informed me of a previous marriage." Zach stated.
Matt sighed.
"How did Emily get into the job?" Zach asked.
Matt thought for a moment. What was he supposed to say? Should he keep it to the truth as much as possible or lie completely? "A few years back we were notified of a fugitive taking a hostage. He took the hostage to an old cemetery and then tried to kill her by sealing her in one of the stone coffins. The hostage was Emily."
"Dear god." Zach gasped.
"Emily didn't choose this job. The job chose her." Matt explained. "After we rescued Emily, Lester felt she could be helpful to the team. She was."
"How long after that did the two of you come in a relationship?" Zach asked.
"A few months and that how long it lasted." Matt answered quickly.
"So you really came here for work." Zach said.
Matt nodded. "Right. I didn't come here to steal Emily back, or ruin the weddin'. I'm only here because it's my job. And I'll be gone by tomorrow."
"Good to know I don't have to worry about that." Zach smirked.
"You mind if ask you a question?" Matt asked.
"Be my guest." Zach answered.
"How did you two meet?"
Zach chuckled lightly. "At the hospital actually. We were both in the waiting room. She seemed particularly distraught about her friend."
Matt nodded slowly. He remembered that day. A triceratops had slammed one of the cars while someone was inside and continued to trample it. He'd been pinned in the car for several hours before the medics pried him out. Emily had been the one to stay at the hospital while the others continued to wrangle the tops back through the anomaly. It had never occurred to him that he'd been the reason Emily was marrying Zach.
"That's a hell of a chance meeting." Matt said.
Zach nodded. "Yeah, but I think you already know, Emily's one hell of a woman."
Just then the library door opened quickly. Emily entered quickly. Her eyes quickly fell to Matt and Zach's area. Her gaze shifted between the two men, unsure if she should enter.
"And speaking of Emily." Zach said. "Did you need something darling?"
"Um…" Emily shook her head slightly, moving past the surprise. "Your mother was looking for you."
Zach nodded. "Ah, thank you. I'd better go see what she needs." He rose from the chair. "I'll look into finding a room. I doubt you want to share with Connor or Mr. Becker."
"Don't worry about it." Matt said.
Zach walked to the door and stopped when he reached Emily. He quickly kissed her before dashing down the hall.
Emily turned back toward Matt, who was looking at the showered window. "What was that about?"
Matt turned back toward Emily. "What was what?"
"What were you talking about?" Emily repeated.
"Basically, he wanted to know if I'd actually come here to take you from him before the wedding." Matt answered.
Emily folded her arms and hesitantly walked toward the recently emptied chair. "And?"
"And I told him I had no intentions of trying to take you from him." Matt answered, holding her stare. "I only came for the anomaly."
Emily nodded her head and sat down in the chair. "Well, that's good to know."
The door opened suddenly. Jess came rushing in but stopped when she spotted Emily and Matt in across the room from her. "Oh, so sorry. I thought the room was empty."
"Avoiding someone?" Matt asked.
Jess nodded. "Mrs. Sellar."
Emily smiled. "Come in, and close the door behind you."
Jess exhaled deeply, smiling. "Oh thank you. I don't mean to be rude, Emily, but your future mother-in-law is absolutely unreasonable."
Emily nodded. "Zacharias says it's only from the wedding planning."
Jess snorted as she seated herself in the sofa across from Matt. She ran her hands under her legs, smoothing the bottom of her skirt as she sat down. "Emily, I've seen pre-wedding stress. This is not pre-wedding stress. I just hope the two of you don't plan on staying a cities distance from her."
"Absolutely not." Emily answered quickly.
Jess laughed. "Good."
"What exactly is Zach's profession?" Matt asked.
"Zacharias works at his father's law firm officially; however he's a volunteer guide during hiking expeditions." Emily explained.
Matt nodded slowly.
"Becker made a joke about how being a lawyers wife was more dangerous than our job." Jess said.
Suddenly the door opened again.
Abby and Connor looked into the room and paused. "So this is where everyone's hiding."
Emily smiled. "Care to join us?"
"Absolutely." Connor answered before Abby could.
everybody okay with the chapter length? the contents?