CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"It's nice to meet you." Josh shook Jody's hand, flashing her a killer smile.
Jody smiled weakly and drew back her hand.
"Josh was my best friend since I was like 2! And Jody, she's lived with us and she's like my female best friend!" Galina explained happily before she walked away.
Charlie came up behind Jody and wrapped his arms around her. "Hey… whatcha doing?"
"Uh… Josh, this is Charlie. Charlie, this is Galina's friend Josh."
"Hey." Charlie said nicely as he shook Josh's hand.
"Uh… Galina has just been raving about Jody non-stop and… I just had to meet her…" Josh stuttered, a little disappointed that Jody apparently had someone.
"That's cool." Charlie nodded.
Jody stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do. "Uh, Charlie, where did our bags go?" Jody asked looking behind them.
Charlie turned around. "Uh, I don't know." Charlie laughed. "Guess I'll go find them. Be back soon." He gave Jody a quick kiss and then went to find their suitcases.
"So, how long have you known Galina?" Josh asked.
"Um… a few years. I guess now it's been, what, about 6 years."
"Cool."
"So, what has Galina been saying about me?"
Josh shrugged and smiled again. "Oh, just how fun and smart and pretty and… pretty and cute and fun you are."
Jody smiled. "Oh. Well, I, I don't really know what to say."
Josh laughed. "Yeah… this is kinda weird. So… you and that guy, he dance ballet?"
"Yeah, me too, do you?"
"Oh no. I, uh, work with horses."
"Really?" Jody squeaked. "How old are you?"
"28. So… you and him, you like together?"
"Yeah…" Jody looked over at Charlie.
Galina rushed back over to Jody and pulled her away again. "Excuse us." She said to Josh as she yanked Jody over to a thin redhead on the other side of the room. "Jody, this is Kellie Johnson. Kellie, this is Jody Sawyer, my Maid of Honor."
"It's nice to meet you." Jody greeted Galina's friend.
"Oh yes. Galina has been talking non stop about you coming for the past 2 days."
"Oh stop!" Galina exclaimed playfully. "Uh, Jody? Kellie has a date tomorrow and me and Sergei were gonna go but we… have plans. So, I was wondering if you and Charlie would go with them. You know, like a double date thing."
"Uh, sure, we'd love to." Jody smiled at Kellie.
"Great!" Galina exclaimed happily as she walked over to some of her other friends.
"You really wanna go? Cuz you don't havta." Kellie said.
"Oh, sure. Charlie loves to go out… to have fun."
"Yeah? Me and Stefan were just gonna go out to a club or something."
Jody smiled. "That sound great. You dance ballet?"
"Yeah."
"So who's Stefan? That's a nice name."
"Yeah, he's my friend. It's like Swedish or something… I dunno. He hates to be bugged about his name, so I don't ask to much about it."
"Ok… that's good to know."
Kellie smiled, showing off her whiter than snow teeth. "So, this Charlie, you guys just friends or what?"
Jody smiled. "You could say that."
Kellie smiled. "Ok then. Uh oh, here comes Galina again."
Galina came over and whisked Jody away again. Dragging her over to Dirk, Jody pulled away.
"Galina!" Jody whined. "I don't want to talk to him!"
"To bad!" Galina shoved her in front of Dirk and left.
"Hi Jody…" Dirk hugged her and kissed her check softly.
"Hey Dirk… so, how have you been?"
Dirk shrugged. "Ok, you know… so, how's Cooper Neilson? Sergei was telling me how you guys were dating."
"Oh yeah… well we broke up."
Dirk didn't know weather to smile or frown. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"Oh, don't be. He's an ass anyway."
Dirk smiled. "Ok then… so, you're alone?"
Jody bit her lip. She didn't want to hurt Dirk. "Not exactly… me and Charlie… we're engaged again."
"Again? Seriously, Jody, how many times are you guys going to go through this?"
Jody shook her head. "Why does it matter? I love him."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Dirk shook his head and walked away.
Jody sighed and watched her ex walk away. She wouldn't have gone back with him anyway, and he knew it. Charlie came up to Jody and kissed her softly.
"I think I found our bags."
Jody giggled. "You think you found them?"
Charlie smiled. "Well, all the suitcases look the same."
Jody laughed. "Charlie… oh! Um, I told Kellie we'd go on a double date with her and Stefan tomorrow night. Just don't make a big deal out of Stefan's name."
"Kellie? Stefan? Who are these people?"
"Oh! Sorry. Kellie is the redhead over there, she's one of the Bridesmaids. And Stefan is her friend… I think. They were just planning to go to a club or something. Please, can we go?"
Charlie smiled. "Sure, I'd love to."
Jody kissed him. "Thank you!"
Galina came over to them.
Jody groaned. "I didn't realize being Maid of Honor meant meeting the whole world in 5 minutes! Who's next?" Jody held out her hand for Galina to grab.
Galina smiled. "I'm not taking you anywhere… but someone came over here to talk to you…" Galina walked away, revealing Jake behind her.
"Hey Jody…" Jake began, but then saw Charlie standing behind her. "I…"
"What are you doing here Jake? Did you come here just to see me?"
"No… of course not. Sergei invited me… to welcome everyone… kinda like a party. Sergei's my friend…"
Charlie stepped out. "Why don't you just go stalk someone else?" He snapped coldly.
Jake's narrowed and he bit his tongue. "I thought you two broke up."
Charlie stepped in front of Jody. "Well now we're not, so why don't you just go away."
Jody tapped Charlie lightly on the shoulder.
"What?" Charlie scowled, glaring at Jake.
"Can I talk to you for a sec?" She took Charlie's hand and led him away. "What are you doing?" When they were out of Jake's earshot.
"What??"
"You don't have to do that… I can handle him myself."
"I know… I just…"
"Who don't you think I can? Don't you trust me?"
Charlie kissed her. "Of course I trust you. And I know you can handle it. I just… I don't wanna lose you… again…"
Jody smiled. "You won't lose me. I don't love Dirk, I don't love Jake, I don't even love Cooper. I love you, Charlie, don't ever forget that."
Charlie smiled. "Yeah… ok."
Jake walked over to them. "What's wrong? Have another fight? Gonna break up again?" He asked in a weird, unreadable tone.
Charlie glared at him. "What's your problem?"
Jody gave up and walked away. Charlie glared at Jake one last time before walking off after Jody. He found her talking to a redhead, that he thought must be Kellie, across the room. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Ducking out his grip, she gave him a cold look that clearly said, "Don't touch me. We'll talk about it later." Charlie looked hurt, but she ignored it and went back to talking to Kellie. Charlie sighed and walked over to Sergei and the small group that had formed around him.
"Who was that?" Kellie asked after Charlie left.
"That's Charlie."
"Oh… he's cute!"
Jody smiled. "Yeah…"
"What's wrong with him?"
Jody sighed. "He's just… hates every guy that lays eyes on me."
Kellie smiled. "Well, actually, that's really sweet."
"Yeah… it can also be kinda annoying." Jody tucked her hair behind her ear. "But he's still a really great guy."
"How long have you guys been together?"
Jody made a face. "I have no idea. It's been off and on for… years now… but this time it's been about 4 weeks."
Kellie nodded. "So, are you gonna stay together this time?"
"I hope so…" Jody sighed and looked over at Charlie.
Later that night at the hotel…
Jody sat on the bed in front of the mirror brushing her hair. Charlie was changing in the bathroom and when he came out, he sat down next to Jody and pulled the hairbrush out of her hand.
"I'm sorry about earlier." He said softly.
Jody nodded. "I know you're sorry, Charlie, but can't you just stop? I'm allowed to have friends! How come you don't get like that when I talk to Sergei?"
"Cuz Sergei already has someone. It's not just that I don't wanna lose you to Jake. I just don't like him. He's a jerk and he has a really bad attitude. That's mostly why I don't like him. That's why you don't see me get that freaked out around Dirk or… that Josh guy."
"What about Cooper?"
Charlie bit his tongue. "I hate him. I really do. He's just so… I just hate him."
Jody smiled and shook her head. Kissing her fiancée she smiled. "I am so tired!" She exclaimed.
Charlie smiled and pulled down the covers. Lifting Jody, he spun her around before placing her on one side of the bed. Jody smiled and kissed him again. Charlie crawled over her to get to the other side of the bad.
"Goodnight…" Jody whispered as she closed her eyes.
"Good-night Jody, I love you."
"Mmmm…" Jody murmured happily.
Charlie smiled and flicked of the lights.
