CHAPTER TEN
(chapter title - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!)
The next day, Mimi was dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn, felt someone undress her and re-dress her, quickly fed her, brushed her hair and got her out of the hotel by seven-thirty. By the time Mimi was awake enough, she was standing in front of a mirror, a strapless white wedding dress on her skinny body.
"I don't like it. What about the other one we tried on the other day?" Maureen asked. The seamstress nodded and disappeared while Joanne dragged Mimi back into the dressing room and took the dress off her.
"Aunt Joanne? Where am I?" Mimi inquired, feeling Joanne untie the dress and had Mimi step out of it.
"We're shopping for wedding dresses." Joanne answered, helping Mimi into the wedding dress on the hanger that was hanging on the door of the dressing room. Mimi winced as Joanne tightened the corset of the dress.
"Joanne, this is the 21st centuary, not the 19th." Mimi gasped, not being able to breathe.
"Your mother wants you in something fashionable." Joanne told her, tying the pink bow in the back of the dress.
"This is not what I had in mind." Mimi muttered under her breath, holding onto the wall as she walked to where her mother and aunt Angel were waiting.
"My baby." Maureen squealed, realizing how beautiful Mimi looked.
"Mom, I can't breathe." Mimi told her, taking a gasping breath.
"It looks so beautiful on you." Maureen told her, looking at Mimi from every angle.
"It's uncomfortable." Mimi argued.
"What don't you like about it?"
"One - the fact that I can't-" Mimi suddenly felt lightheaded. She saw the ground rushing to meet her and before she knew it, she was on the floor, gasping for breath. Angel quickly untied the knot that Joanne tied, cursing at both Joanne and Maureen in Greek. She then gathered Mimi in her arms and carried her to the dressing room where she then pulled the dress off Mimi and waited for her to wake up. Two minutes later, Mimi opened her eyes and coughed.
"Are you all right?" Angel inquired, helping Mimi sit up.
"I think so." Mimi answered, putting her shirt back on. She then took the dress off so that she could put her shorts back on, along with her Crocks. Angel put the dress back on the hanger and hugged Mimi tightly.
"I think we're done trying on dresses for the day." Angel told the other two, escorting Mimi out of the dress shop before Joanne or Maureen could say anything.
"Want to go out for lunch?" Angel asked, taking Mimi's arm in hers.
"I guess." Mimi told her, avoiding her eyes.
"Baby, is everything all right?" Angel inquired.
"I just hate getting wedding things. Why can't we get married in the hotel in shorts and t-shirts?" Mimi questioned.
"Tradition, darling." Angel answered, leading Mimi to her favorite Pita place. The two of them ate pitas and talked for a while.
That evening, Maureen hosted a party and invited everyone in the hotel to come for an evening of fun, food and well-wishes to the young couple. Mimi was looking forward to getting married the next day, but she still couldn't figure out who her father was.
Is there a man out there
Someone to hear my prayer?
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
A man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
A man after midnight
Take me from the darkness to the break of the day
Mimi saw Benny standing among a group of people and decided to talk to him first.
"Sorry to drag you away." Mimi apologized, leading him over to the bar.
"Thank God you did. This used to be a quiet little island." Benny told her, ordering a beer for him and a lemonade for Mimi.
"Regretting you stayed away so long?" Mimi inquired, taking a sip from her lemonade.
"No, regretting I never knew what was here." Benny answered, taking a long sip from his beer.
"What?" Mimi asked, nearly spitting out her lemonade.
"This place - the tirvana. I always meant to come back and build it someday, but she beat me to it." Benny told her.
"Do you prefer buildings to people?" Mimi inquired, motioning for the bartender to refill her lemonade.
"What?" Benny inquired.
"Tell me something about my mom." Mimi said, changing the subject.
"Your mom - she's one in a million. We talked and uh, we fought. You know, it was me who brought her to this island." Benny answered.
"Well, that wasn't the only thing you did, was it?"
"All right, what has she told you?" Benny sighed.
"Nothing. She's never mentioned you."
"But you said, 'Mom's always talking about her friends from the old days.' What's going on? Mimi, why am I here?" Benny questioned. When there wasn't an answer, he turned around and saw Mimi heading off in the other direction.
Is there a man out there?
Someone to hear my prayer?
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
A man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
A man after midnight
Take me from the darkness to the break of the day.
It wasn't hard to find Tom - he was walking towards Mimi. She guided them over to a table and moved closer so that she could hear him over the background noise.
"Imagine Maureen with a grown-up daughter." Tom started, smiling at how beautiful Mimi was.
"Have you got any children, Tom?" Mimi asked.
"No, I haven't put myself in the path of paternity."
"It's never too late." Mimi pointed out.
"I don't think my other half would agree."
"Oh, you don't want children?" Mimi inquired, a little hurt.
"No, it's not that. Well, I would've liked a daughter - would've spoiled her to bits." Tom told her, smiling.
"Lucky thing." Mimi mumbled.
"Is your dad here?" Tom questioned.
"I don't know."
"What?"
"I don't know who my dad is." Mimi told him, getting up from the table and went to search for Charlie - maybe he had answers for her. When she couldn't find him, she sat down at a table near the dance floor.
Is there a man out there?
Someone to hear my prayer?
She felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Looking up, she saw Charlie's towering figure and smiled when he sat down across the table from her.
"May I be nosy? I'm working on a novel, so it kind of goes with the territory." Charlie told her. Mimi nodded and watched him get out a pad of paper and a pen.
"Go on." Mimi urged.
"Well, how did your mother get this place? When I knew her, she was singing in a nightclub on the mainland."
"She was left for money in a will. We lived with an old lady when I was little - her name was Marissa." Mimi told him. He stopped writing when Mimi mentioned Marissa's name.
"Wait - not my great-aunt Marissa?" Charlie questioned, putting the pen down.
"I think it must be." Mimi answered.
"Ah, but I heard her money always went to family. Wait a minute, how old are you?" Charlie inquired, picking up his pen again.
"Twenty." Mimi yelled over the noise of the crowd cheering and whooping in Greek.
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
A man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
A man after midnight
Take me from the darkness to the break of the day.
Mimi sighed - she had found nothing out about who her father was and Maureen refused to tell her anything about her father.