Mismatch 18
Wow.. as I was telling SSO.. I had the choice between working on an assignment and finishing this chapter. Guess who won? ;) Common, take a guess... :D Alright. So I decided to slack off... eh. It got you another chapter.
Thank yous to...
Sabrina: Sorry to hear you can't make it Sat. But if you pop in a few tapes of TLW you can be with us in spirit! :D
CrimsonCat: eeek!!! This Saturday! That's like less than a week away!!! I'm so excited! Can't wait to see ya! :D and I'm glad you've changed your MIA status... School IS nutz sometimes... but yes. Don't go missing on us for too long again, kay? Cuz I really want to see you update a lot of your fics! *ahem* Inertia... koff koff. ;) And you ARE one of my fave authors... ***big hug back*** now get back to writing your fic... :D
Fab: am I that predictable? :D you've got it right on the dot... well... not RIGHT on the dot. But pretty close. I'd give you a prize but I ran out yesterday... ;)
Galxychld: hee hee. Poor Neddy boy. :) oblivious to everything... but that's what we love about him, right? And it warms my heart to hear that this fic is your "escapism" from the craziness of life... trust me, writing it does the same thing to me...
Steffi: You're always so great in reviewing!!! Luv ya! :D As for this fic... it IS slowly winding down.. but ya know me... I could extend this forever! :D
Mystery reviewer: Thank you for the compliment. I honestly never would've guessed I would keep this fic for 17 chapters... it kinda just happened.
A. Windsor: Glad you liked it! :)
EIE: Girl, you are the SWEETEST person ever! :D Likewise, whatever I say about your fic is also true! Sorry to hear you were feeling sick before... hopefully you're all better now! Yes, the hustle and bustle of school has died down (for now) since I've gotten all my horrible midterms back... eh, just gotta work harder for the finals. But nuff bout my struggling marks... :) back to the task at hand. There's another chapter for you to read! :D And omgosh... LOVED the last chapter of your fic!!! You are truly gifted!
Hunnygirl: OMGOSH! You read all 17 chapters in ONE sitting!!! You SO deserve a prize or something... a cookie? Brownie? Chocolate cake? I dunno! But wow...! And your review made me laugh... alright. I'm thinking of your poor doggie. Tried to get this chapter out asap.. hopefully I'm not too late :)
Robin2409: Thanx again for the review!
Alanna: Thankee for the kind words. Yes. I seem to enjoy throwing everything I have at the poor girl. It's a wonder Marguerite hasn't up and walked outta my crazy fic. :D
Rollie: I'm so sorry to leave you hanging for "Hidden World"... I haven't totally written out the possibility in continuing it... but... well. Let's just get this fic finished first! :D
g-PRIME: Please do not jump off a bridge! How will you be able to read the conclusion? ;) And thanx so much for helping in boost my ego! :D hee hee..
Nikita: Aww... that was so sweet. Thank you so much for saying that. :) *blushes*
Alright. That was like 2 pages of thank yous. I'm so sorry to those who can't stand that... :( please forgive me? Take this chapter as a peace offering or something.. Now... after what seems to be like eons ago, here's the next chapter!!!
**********************************
She turned off the ignition and stared out blankly. *You sure stuck your foot in your mouth big time, Madge ol' girl. If you had your foot stuck any farther down your throat you would be a shoo-in for Cirque du Soleil! Gotta face the music some time, though.* She sighed again. Her inner voice was having a ball of a time letting her know just what a fool she was. However, it WAS her own fault that she was in this mess. Whoever said the truth would set you free obviously did NOT have the pleasure of meeting her mother.
"Mother, I lied... NO NO NO!" She grumbled in frustration. "You may be wondering why I'm here by myself. Well. You see, there is no fiancé. SURPRISE! Argh!" She cried out. *Only I could dig a hole this deep and step right in it.* Reluctantly, she dragged herself out of the car stared at the front door.
Shakily, she raised a hand to the doorbell. *Here goes... everything!* She rang it once. There was a brief moment of silence. *Well, what do you know? Maybe she forgot?* She thought hopefully. Just as she turned around to head for her car, the door opened. Marguerite gritted her teeth.
"Marguerite!"
She plastered on a fake smile and turned. "Mother!"
"Come in! Here, come on in dear. Let me take that." She helped take Marguerite's coat and looked outside the door. "Where's my son-in law to be?"
"Mother, about that..."
"Oh. I see. The man's so busy with work that he's coming later, right? Perfect! Marguerite. Dinner's almost ready. Oh. I almost forgot. I left some food in the fridge downstairs. Can you go down there and bring it up for me?"
"Mother..."
"Hurry up dear. The food isn't going to open the fridge door and climb up those stairs on its own, now is it?"
"No but..."
"Marguerite Krux. I'm your mother and I'm telling you to go down into the basement and get the food. That is not a request."
She sighed. "Yes, mother."
Walking to the basement door she shook her head. Alright. At least her mother was giving her time to come up with some kind of explanation to excuse her behaviour. She opened the door and walked down the stairs. It HAD been a while since she went down there. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she flicked on the switch.
"CONGRADULATIONS!!!!" And then everything went black.
... ... ...
Some time later
"Marguerite? You okay? Marguerite??" She heard voices muttering in the background. Fuzzy images displayed before her.
"Madge, are you dead?"
"Funny, Finn." Veronica rolled her eyes and offered Marguerite a glass of water. "Marguerite, can you sit up?"
She was still feeling slightly dazed. What on earth just happened? She shook her head lightly and sat up. Rubbing her eyes and placing another hand on her forehead she suddenly registered the flock of people in her mother's basement. She brushed one hand through her hair and noticed bits of confetti falling off onto her shoulders and the floor. "What... what's going on?"
"Goof, we're celebrating your engagement!"
"Oh Lord, give me strength." She pleaded.
"Here, let me help you up." Veronica said as she supported Marguerite and pulled her up. "Careful, now."
Suddenly, she was surrounded by people who were all trying to shake her hand and hug her while squealing out in delight about how lucky she was to have finally found her soul mate.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
"How did he propose?"
"How long have you been going out?"
"Let me look at the ring!"
Her head was swimming. Question after question, Marguerite was being bombarded. Veronica and Finn noticed her panicked look. "Alright people! Back it up! Give her some breathing room!" Finn yelled out and started pushing people out of the way like a body guard for a movie star.
"Let's get you cleaned up first." Veronica whispered to her. "The guest of honour will be back." She announced as she and Finn helped Marguerite upstairs.
Once they were upstairs in one of the guest rooms, away from the other guest's earshot, Marguerite knew what was going to happen. She cringed in preparation for an obscene amount of scolding about how wrong it was to lie... blah blah blah.
"Marguerite. You've got the mouth the size of the Grand Canyon!" Veronica laughed.
"I was wondering, just how ARE you going to get yourself out of this mess?"
Suddenly it dawned on her. Completely ignoring their questions she blurted, "What are you two doing here???"
"Your mother prepared a surprise party for you and John." Finn quirked her eyebrows. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
"You both know very well that I'm not engaged."
"Yah. We do. But apparently you have a house full of people who don't." Veronica pointed out.
"What am I going to do?"
"Look, we just decided to play along considering that YOU told your mother that you were engaged."
"Common, Madge. If you wanted your mother to know the truth, she would've known by now."
"I was just going to tell her that I made it up... now she's got everybody I've ever known over here to celebrating a non-existent engagement!!! She found even found my old choir teacher for pity's sake!!!" She groaned and buried her head in a pillow. "Mmmmph mmph mph mph mmmmph..."
"Madge, darling... when you talk into the pillow, it makes it REALLY difficult to understand what you're saying." Finn laughed lightly as she gently patted her on the shoulder.
"Look, whether you do it now or later, you have to tell your mother the truth. And now that the news has spread even further. You're going to have to tell them too."
Marguerite groaned again.
"You ready to face the masses, your highness?" Finn motioned towards the door.
"No." She said weakly. "But do I have a choice?"
Both Finn and Veronica shook their heads.
"Fine. Let's get this over with!" She sat up straight stared determinedly at the door and stood up. Taking one big deep breath, she marched out of the room and down the stairs.
"Well, Finn. I think the charade is coming to an end."
"'Fraid so, Vee. It's too bad, though. I would've really enjoyed to see Roxton and Marguerite pose as an engaged couple to trick all of them."
Marguerite slowly but surely made the seemingly long trek down the stairs to face the masses. She stopped halfway and stared at the multitude of faces down below. *This is NOT going to be easy.* She sighed yet again. *I deserve this. I started this. Now, I have to end it.* She glanced over her shoulder and saw the encouraging faces of her friends. Taking a deep breath she opened her mouth. "Friends and family. I would like to you to know how much I appreciate you all coming here but there is something that must be said. Something you should all know. No. NEED to know. I am not..."
ding dong
"Hold that thought dear." Her mother shouted from below and went to open the door. "NED! I'm so glad you made it!" Then she looked to his companion.
"John, I would like to introduce..." He started.
"Mr. John Roxton?" Her face was beaming.
"How did..." But Roxton was interrupted.
"John. I've heard so much about you! I didn't know you were coming with Ned. Oh, please, do come in! Wouldn't want you to stand outside the entire time. Here, let me take your coats. Would you like something to drink? How long have you been hiding this secret? How did you finally convince my baby to agree? Have you both agreed on a date? You can call me mother..." She blurted out.
Roxton was completely stunned. *You can call me MOTHER? WHAT ON EARTH WAS SHE SMOKING?!* Slightly terrified of the strange woman he looked to Ned for help. But Ned simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Mother?" Roxton managed to sputter out.
Her face lit up and she sprung out and embraced him in a warm hug. "Welcome to the family!", she cried out in joy. Tears of happiness streamed down her face. Mrs. Krux pulled back. "Oh forgive me. I'm just so happy! Now where's that daughter of mine?" She turned and searched through the crowd of people who were congregated at the bottom of the stairs and by the front door. Everyone's eyes shot up to the stairway. Following everyone's line of vision, Roxton slowly turned his head. There, standing with a look of pure horror on her face was none other than Marguerite.
"Congrats, buddy!" Ned slapped him on the back. "I knew you two were meant for each other! I just knew it! Matchmaking Mal..." Ned couldn't even finish his sentence as everyone started to swarm Roxton in order to shake his hand, pat him on the back and give him a hearty congratulations.
Marguerite was helpless. She couldn't help but gawk at him. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be getting ready to leave her life forever. She would never have to think about him or the weird mushy feelings she got whenever she saw him. Never be reminded of his betrayal. Never again to be reminded of her stupidity that day of the reunion OR the phone call. HE WAS RUINING HER PLAN! Figured the man would pull a stunt like this.
*Wouldn't it be so easy to just get him to play along again? No need to embarrass yourself by telling the truth. You can just later say that you cancelled the engagement and never have to speak of this ever again.* Her inner voice chimed.
As tempting as that idea sounded, she knew that it would only worsen things. She looked upwards and said a silent prayer. Taking one deep breath she opened her mouth. "Excuse me..." She could barely hear herself over the commotion below. "Uh... excuse me everyone.. I have something to say." Still everyone was too busy trying to get to know the mysterious fiancé to notice Marguerite. Getting annoyed at not being paid attention to she placed to fingers between her lips and whistled a high piercing whistle.
She cleared her throat nervously. *It's now or never, Marguerite.* "There has been a misunderstanding... John and I are..."
"ENGAGED?!?!?!" Everyone's head snapped to the front door. If Marguerite thought this night couldn't get any worse, she was VERY wrong.
TBC...
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Yikes. This chapter was so long on account of the thank yous... :) But yes. I can't promise you another chapter soon. But I'll give it my best! And excuse my craziness! I'm just really excited about this upcoming Saturday!!! :D woohoo. TLW watching MARATHON! :D Can it get any better? Well... maybe if Snowy or David decides to drop in for a visit.. (hey, I can dream, can't I?) ;)
Wow.. as I was telling SSO.. I had the choice between working on an assignment and finishing this chapter. Guess who won? ;) Common, take a guess... :D Alright. So I decided to slack off... eh. It got you another chapter.
Thank yous to...
Sabrina: Sorry to hear you can't make it Sat. But if you pop in a few tapes of TLW you can be with us in spirit! :D
CrimsonCat: eeek!!! This Saturday! That's like less than a week away!!! I'm so excited! Can't wait to see ya! :D and I'm glad you've changed your MIA status... School IS nutz sometimes... but yes. Don't go missing on us for too long again, kay? Cuz I really want to see you update a lot of your fics! *ahem* Inertia... koff koff. ;) And you ARE one of my fave authors... ***big hug back*** now get back to writing your fic... :D
Fab: am I that predictable? :D you've got it right on the dot... well... not RIGHT on the dot. But pretty close. I'd give you a prize but I ran out yesterday... ;)
Galxychld: hee hee. Poor Neddy boy. :) oblivious to everything... but that's what we love about him, right? And it warms my heart to hear that this fic is your "escapism" from the craziness of life... trust me, writing it does the same thing to me...
Steffi: You're always so great in reviewing!!! Luv ya! :D As for this fic... it IS slowly winding down.. but ya know me... I could extend this forever! :D
Mystery reviewer: Thank you for the compliment. I honestly never would've guessed I would keep this fic for 17 chapters... it kinda just happened.
A. Windsor: Glad you liked it! :)
EIE: Girl, you are the SWEETEST person ever! :D Likewise, whatever I say about your fic is also true! Sorry to hear you were feeling sick before... hopefully you're all better now! Yes, the hustle and bustle of school has died down (for now) since I've gotten all my horrible midterms back... eh, just gotta work harder for the finals. But nuff bout my struggling marks... :) back to the task at hand. There's another chapter for you to read! :D And omgosh... LOVED the last chapter of your fic!!! You are truly gifted!
Hunnygirl: OMGOSH! You read all 17 chapters in ONE sitting!!! You SO deserve a prize or something... a cookie? Brownie? Chocolate cake? I dunno! But wow...! And your review made me laugh... alright. I'm thinking of your poor doggie. Tried to get this chapter out asap.. hopefully I'm not too late :)
Robin2409: Thanx again for the review!
Alanna: Thankee for the kind words. Yes. I seem to enjoy throwing everything I have at the poor girl. It's a wonder Marguerite hasn't up and walked outta my crazy fic. :D
Rollie: I'm so sorry to leave you hanging for "Hidden World"... I haven't totally written out the possibility in continuing it... but... well. Let's just get this fic finished first! :D
g-PRIME: Please do not jump off a bridge! How will you be able to read the conclusion? ;) And thanx so much for helping in boost my ego! :D hee hee..
Nikita: Aww... that was so sweet. Thank you so much for saying that. :) *blushes*
Alright. That was like 2 pages of thank yous. I'm so sorry to those who can't stand that... :( please forgive me? Take this chapter as a peace offering or something.. Now... after what seems to be like eons ago, here's the next chapter!!!
**********************************
She turned off the ignition and stared out blankly. *You sure stuck your foot in your mouth big time, Madge ol' girl. If you had your foot stuck any farther down your throat you would be a shoo-in for Cirque du Soleil! Gotta face the music some time, though.* She sighed again. Her inner voice was having a ball of a time letting her know just what a fool she was. However, it WAS her own fault that she was in this mess. Whoever said the truth would set you free obviously did NOT have the pleasure of meeting her mother.
"Mother, I lied... NO NO NO!" She grumbled in frustration. "You may be wondering why I'm here by myself. Well. You see, there is no fiancé. SURPRISE! Argh!" She cried out. *Only I could dig a hole this deep and step right in it.* Reluctantly, she dragged herself out of the car stared at the front door.
Shakily, she raised a hand to the doorbell. *Here goes... everything!* She rang it once. There was a brief moment of silence. *Well, what do you know? Maybe she forgot?* She thought hopefully. Just as she turned around to head for her car, the door opened. Marguerite gritted her teeth.
"Marguerite!"
She plastered on a fake smile and turned. "Mother!"
"Come in! Here, come on in dear. Let me take that." She helped take Marguerite's coat and looked outside the door. "Where's my son-in law to be?"
"Mother, about that..."
"Oh. I see. The man's so busy with work that he's coming later, right? Perfect! Marguerite. Dinner's almost ready. Oh. I almost forgot. I left some food in the fridge downstairs. Can you go down there and bring it up for me?"
"Mother..."
"Hurry up dear. The food isn't going to open the fridge door and climb up those stairs on its own, now is it?"
"No but..."
"Marguerite Krux. I'm your mother and I'm telling you to go down into the basement and get the food. That is not a request."
She sighed. "Yes, mother."
Walking to the basement door she shook her head. Alright. At least her mother was giving her time to come up with some kind of explanation to excuse her behaviour. She opened the door and walked down the stairs. It HAD been a while since she went down there. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she flicked on the switch.
"CONGRADULATIONS!!!!" And then everything went black.
... ... ...
Some time later
"Marguerite? You okay? Marguerite??" She heard voices muttering in the background. Fuzzy images displayed before her.
"Madge, are you dead?"
"Funny, Finn." Veronica rolled her eyes and offered Marguerite a glass of water. "Marguerite, can you sit up?"
She was still feeling slightly dazed. What on earth just happened? She shook her head lightly and sat up. Rubbing her eyes and placing another hand on her forehead she suddenly registered the flock of people in her mother's basement. She brushed one hand through her hair and noticed bits of confetti falling off onto her shoulders and the floor. "What... what's going on?"
"Goof, we're celebrating your engagement!"
"Oh Lord, give me strength." She pleaded.
"Here, let me help you up." Veronica said as she supported Marguerite and pulled her up. "Careful, now."
Suddenly, she was surrounded by people who were all trying to shake her hand and hug her while squealing out in delight about how lucky she was to have finally found her soul mate.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
"How did he propose?"
"How long have you been going out?"
"Let me look at the ring!"
Her head was swimming. Question after question, Marguerite was being bombarded. Veronica and Finn noticed her panicked look. "Alright people! Back it up! Give her some breathing room!" Finn yelled out and started pushing people out of the way like a body guard for a movie star.
"Let's get you cleaned up first." Veronica whispered to her. "The guest of honour will be back." She announced as she and Finn helped Marguerite upstairs.
Once they were upstairs in one of the guest rooms, away from the other guest's earshot, Marguerite knew what was going to happen. She cringed in preparation for an obscene amount of scolding about how wrong it was to lie... blah blah blah.
"Marguerite. You've got the mouth the size of the Grand Canyon!" Veronica laughed.
"I was wondering, just how ARE you going to get yourself out of this mess?"
Suddenly it dawned on her. Completely ignoring their questions she blurted, "What are you two doing here???"
"Your mother prepared a surprise party for you and John." Finn quirked her eyebrows. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
"You both know very well that I'm not engaged."
"Yah. We do. But apparently you have a house full of people who don't." Veronica pointed out.
"What am I going to do?"
"Look, we just decided to play along considering that YOU told your mother that you were engaged."
"Common, Madge. If you wanted your mother to know the truth, she would've known by now."
"I was just going to tell her that I made it up... now she's got everybody I've ever known over here to celebrating a non-existent engagement!!! She found even found my old choir teacher for pity's sake!!!" She groaned and buried her head in a pillow. "Mmmmph mmph mph mph mmmmph..."
"Madge, darling... when you talk into the pillow, it makes it REALLY difficult to understand what you're saying." Finn laughed lightly as she gently patted her on the shoulder.
"Look, whether you do it now or later, you have to tell your mother the truth. And now that the news has spread even further. You're going to have to tell them too."
Marguerite groaned again.
"You ready to face the masses, your highness?" Finn motioned towards the door.
"No." She said weakly. "But do I have a choice?"
Both Finn and Veronica shook their heads.
"Fine. Let's get this over with!" She sat up straight stared determinedly at the door and stood up. Taking one big deep breath, she marched out of the room and down the stairs.
"Well, Finn. I think the charade is coming to an end."
"'Fraid so, Vee. It's too bad, though. I would've really enjoyed to see Roxton and Marguerite pose as an engaged couple to trick all of them."
Marguerite slowly but surely made the seemingly long trek down the stairs to face the masses. She stopped halfway and stared at the multitude of faces down below. *This is NOT going to be easy.* She sighed yet again. *I deserve this. I started this. Now, I have to end it.* She glanced over her shoulder and saw the encouraging faces of her friends. Taking a deep breath she opened her mouth. "Friends and family. I would like to you to know how much I appreciate you all coming here but there is something that must be said. Something you should all know. No. NEED to know. I am not..."
ding dong
"Hold that thought dear." Her mother shouted from below and went to open the door. "NED! I'm so glad you made it!" Then she looked to his companion.
"John, I would like to introduce..." He started.
"Mr. John Roxton?" Her face was beaming.
"How did..." But Roxton was interrupted.
"John. I've heard so much about you! I didn't know you were coming with Ned. Oh, please, do come in! Wouldn't want you to stand outside the entire time. Here, let me take your coats. Would you like something to drink? How long have you been hiding this secret? How did you finally convince my baby to agree? Have you both agreed on a date? You can call me mother..." She blurted out.
Roxton was completely stunned. *You can call me MOTHER? WHAT ON EARTH WAS SHE SMOKING?!* Slightly terrified of the strange woman he looked to Ned for help. But Ned simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Mother?" Roxton managed to sputter out.
Her face lit up and she sprung out and embraced him in a warm hug. "Welcome to the family!", she cried out in joy. Tears of happiness streamed down her face. Mrs. Krux pulled back. "Oh forgive me. I'm just so happy! Now where's that daughter of mine?" She turned and searched through the crowd of people who were congregated at the bottom of the stairs and by the front door. Everyone's eyes shot up to the stairway. Following everyone's line of vision, Roxton slowly turned his head. There, standing with a look of pure horror on her face was none other than Marguerite.
"Congrats, buddy!" Ned slapped him on the back. "I knew you two were meant for each other! I just knew it! Matchmaking Mal..." Ned couldn't even finish his sentence as everyone started to swarm Roxton in order to shake his hand, pat him on the back and give him a hearty congratulations.
Marguerite was helpless. She couldn't help but gawk at him. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be getting ready to leave her life forever. She would never have to think about him or the weird mushy feelings she got whenever she saw him. Never be reminded of his betrayal. Never again to be reminded of her stupidity that day of the reunion OR the phone call. HE WAS RUINING HER PLAN! Figured the man would pull a stunt like this.
*Wouldn't it be so easy to just get him to play along again? No need to embarrass yourself by telling the truth. You can just later say that you cancelled the engagement and never have to speak of this ever again.* Her inner voice chimed.
As tempting as that idea sounded, she knew that it would only worsen things. She looked upwards and said a silent prayer. Taking one deep breath she opened her mouth. "Excuse me..." She could barely hear herself over the commotion below. "Uh... excuse me everyone.. I have something to say." Still everyone was too busy trying to get to know the mysterious fiancé to notice Marguerite. Getting annoyed at not being paid attention to she placed to fingers between her lips and whistled a high piercing whistle.
She cleared her throat nervously. *It's now or never, Marguerite.* "There has been a misunderstanding... John and I are..."
"ENGAGED?!?!?!" Everyone's head snapped to the front door. If Marguerite thought this night couldn't get any worse, she was VERY wrong.
TBC...
*******************************
Yikes. This chapter was so long on account of the thank yous... :) But yes. I can't promise you another chapter soon. But I'll give it my best! And excuse my craziness! I'm just really excited about this upcoming Saturday!!! :D woohoo. TLW watching MARATHON! :D Can it get any better? Well... maybe if Snowy or David decides to drop in for a visit.. (hey, I can dream, can't I?) ;)