She couldn't believe it. She was getting married in less than three hours. Running her hands down the long skirt of her wedding dress, she could hardly believe this was happening. She could just imagine signing her name from now on. Mrs. David Nabbit. Mrs. Cordelia Chase-Nabbit, heiress to Nabbit Incorporated. Plus the glamour that came with being Mrs. Nabbit wasn't something that Cordelia was going to pass up.
"Miss Chase?" David's butler, Randall knocked on her door.
"Yes, Randall. Please come in." Cordelia responded as Randall entered her suite. He handed her a not on a tray and immediately left. "Thank you." She said, looking at the familiar penmanship. She quickly opened the letter, sat down at her vanity table and read it.
Dearest Love,
I am happy for you. Your dreams are finally coming true. You deserve to be happy. I wish you and David the best. You are my best friend, which is why I hope you understand my reasons for not coming and giving you away. I don't think my heart could take it. Please forgive me.
With all of my love for you,
Liam
She didn't believe it. He wasn't coming. He really wasn't coming. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Her best friend wasn't coming to her wedding. A knock came at the door again. She quickly wiped her eyes and stood up.
"Yes, come in." She said, her voice cracking. Wesley appeared dressed in his black tux with a red rose on his lapel.
"Hello, Cordelia."
"Wesley, wow, you look..."
"Look like James Bond?"
"I wouldn't go that far, wait, yes, this time I think I will. You look amazing."
"Thank you. I would tell you the same thing, but you're not dressed yet." Wesley said, looking at her in her terry-cloth robe. He walked over to the dress hanging in front of the closet door and ran his hand over it. "This is a beautiful dress Cordelia."
"Thank you Wesley." She said as she started crying. Thank goodness she hadn't put any more makeup on yet. Wesley rushed to her side and knelt beside her.
"What's wrong Cordelia? Tell me what's wrong." Wesley asked, brushing back a strand of her brunette hair.
"He's not coming. He's really not coming." Wesley deciphered out of the tears and sobs. She handed him the note that Angel had sent. He read it carefully and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her. Winifred and Gunn came into her room right then. Wesley handed them the note to read, still holding onto Cordelia in his arms.
"Okay, that boy is getting staked tonight." Gunn said turning to go.
"No, wait. Don't stake him, Gunn. Don't stake him." Cordelia cried. She stood and wiped her tears. Walking over to her dressing area, she asked "Fred, will you help me with my dress?"
"Sure thing, Cordy." Fred followed Cordelia behind the closed doors and helped her change. Meanwhile, Gunn and Wesley stood there in silence, contemplating what they were going to do about Angel and his note.
"Do you think she even has a clue?" Gunn asked.
"I don't think so. I left Angel about an hour ago and he didn't look to well."
"Well, all I know is that Angel was supposed to give her away. Now who's going to do it?"
The girls came out of the dressing room with Cordelia in her handmade, non-designer wedding dress.
"Wow." Wesley said staring at her. She was certainly a vision. Too bad Angel wasn't here to see her.
TWO DAYS BEFORE
Angel was in his room as usual, this time trying the newest Feng Shui trend with his furniture. Cordelia was outside his door, pacing back and forth, obviously on the verge of asking him something or getting ready to yell at him for something.
"Cordelia, would you just come in already? Angel said, stopping in the middle of moving his dresser to the other side of the room. She came in, still fiddling with her hands. The sweat was protruding from his face as he wiped his forehead with the rag in his jeans.
"Uh, Angel, um..." Cordelia tried to start a conversation. Angel grabbed her hands and led her over to the newly placed bed. She let her hand interlock with his, which made her so much more nervous to ask Angel one of the most important questions in a girl's life. They sat down on the mattress and he turned to look at her.
"Angel, I , um..." Her eyes trailed down to her hands again.
"Go ahead, Cordelia. Ask your question."
"Okay, here it goes. You know that David and I are getting married on Friday."
"Yea, I do." Angel said in a low voice, not letting on that he was somewhat disappointed. Every time she brung up anything about the wedding around the hotel, his heart sank. Each and every time. He held his breath and put on his best smile.
"Well, I want you to be there, no questions asked. But, as my best friend, I would like you to be more than just a guest."
"What do you mean?"
"What I'm trying to say is..." Cordelia tried to remain calm and then just blurted it out, "...will you give me away?"
"You mean walk you down the aisle?"
"Yes." Cordelia looked into his deep brown eyes and waited for his answer. He got up from the bed, not letting go of her hand and thought about it for a moment. He turned back around and looked at the almost blushing bride.
"Sure. I will."
"Really? Oh, thank you Angel. Thank you, Thank you, thank you!" Cordelia jumped off up the bed and into his arms. She left the room with a huge smile on her face. But as soon as she was out of sight, Angel fell to his knees. This time his un-beating heart really sank to the bottom.
ONE HOUR BEFORE WEDDING
Cordelia finished putting on the rest of her makeup when Fred handed her her veil.
"Thanks, Fred." She said, slipping it over her head. "There, that should be it, right?"
"There's just one more thing."
"What's that?"
"It's waiting for you downstairs. Let's go." Fred said, leading Cordelia out of the suite and down the palatial stairs. Wesley and Gunn were waiting in the bride's quarters for her. Fred opened the door and they were taken aback by her presence.
"Wow. Cordelia, you are so beautiful." Gunn said to her, leaning down to give his a kiss on the cheek. She hugged him close and a tear slipped from her eye.
"Now, stop that. No making the bride cry." Fred hit him on the shoulder. Gunn flinched just to see her smile. Cordelia wiped the lone tear from her eye as Wesley came up to her.
"Cordelia, you certainly are a sight for sore eyes." Wesley looked her over. "I knew that the first moment I laid eyes on you." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and recalled the first time he saw her, her smile beaming into his heart.
"This, is from us to you." Wesley reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Cordelia tore off the ribbon to the package and opened the gift. She opened to find a picture of all of them, smiling and just enjoying being with each other. She loved her life. Even though some aspects that she imagined at the beginning were still dim, she loved her life. She brushed her fingers across the picture, landing at Angel's smiling face. She held the tears back and took a deep breath.
"This is the best present anyone could've gotten me." She paused and looked up at them.
"Thank you guys." She hugged Wesley and reached for Fred and Gunn. The group hug seemed to last forever, but Gunn broke it off, claiming that he couldn't breathe. "Thank you so much."
"Oh, another thing Cordelia, I hope you don't mind but I would like to volunteer myself to take on Angel's duties."
"You wouldn't mind, Wesley?"
"Not at all. I would be honored."
Cordelia went up and hugged Wesley, sending a silent thank you through her lips to his cheek.
"Miss Chase," Randall knocked on her door and asked, "...the ceremony is about to start."
"Thank you Randall." Cordelia let go of Wesley and took another deep breath. This was it.
The ceremony started with Gunn walking Fred down the aisle as best man and maid of honor. David came after them and took his rightful spot next to Gunn. Then it was their turn. She really wished it was Angel beside her. Then her nerves wouldn't be as bad. Wesley offered his arm as the wedding processional started. They walked two steps and Wesley wanted to tell her the truth, before she made the biggest mistake of her life.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm marrying the richest man in southern California."
"I mean with Angel not being here."
"I'm looking at it this way: he's missing out on the time of my life. It's his loss."
"It sure is. But, Cordelia, it's your loss too."
"What are you talking about?" She asked, still trying to keep the smile on her face.
"You are both missing out. The reason that Angel isn't here is because he loves you, Cordelia. He's been in love with you for a long time." Cordelia stopped in the middle of the aisle. "If you would just stop and think about it, you would realize that you love him too. It's been there all along." He revealed. She knew he was right.
It was him that made her heart go pitter-patter, it was the mention of his name that made her smile. It was even him in all her sexy dreams that she had been having lately. She looked up at the smiling David and her heart went out to him. She didn't love him. Not like she loved Angel. Kissing Wesley on the cheek, another thank you went out to him. Cordelia ran up to David, slipped the ring off her hand and gave it to him.
"David, I'm sorry." She looked into his green eyes. "You are a good man with a good heart, but I'm not the girl for you."
"Wait, I don't understand." He muttered.
"Sure you do. You understand that I can't marry you, because I'm in love with another man." She cupped his face and smiled. "Someday, you will find the one for you and she will make you happy." She gave him a bittersweet kiss on the cheek and lifted up her long skirt to her dress. She ran out of the conservatory and never looked back. This time she wasn't going to change her mind
HYPERION HOTEL - 2 HOURS LATER
Angel ran it through the computer again, knowing that it had to be in there somewhere. Receipts for clients had always been stored in the computer and in their files.
"I'm sorry about the confusion, Mr. Miller. I know that you didn't have the Kreloff Demon in your home. Your receipt must have been mixed up with one of our other clients." Angel said to the man on the other line. There, he had found it, highlighting it in the computer. Cordelia had mastered the computer, but the filing within the computer was still a work in progress.
"I found it Mr. Miller. I'll have the right receipt out to you on Monday." Angel continued, hearing his client calm down for the first time. "Alright now. Have a nice day." He finally hung the phone back on the receiver and ran his fingers through his rag top head. Boy was he tired. He had dreaded this day even happening. He figured right now, Cordelia and David Nabbit were busy exchanging smiles, laughs, and some tongue. He shook his head; he didn't even want to think of that. He stood up and shut off the light, heading towards the stairwell. Except there was someone there: a woman, standing straight up in the beautiful white wedding dress walked towards him with a beautiful light behind her. She truly looked like an angel.
"I'm sorry miss, but we're usually closed at this time of the night." He told her.
"Don't you think I know that? I mean, I'm the one that set our hours." She said, stepping forward so he could see her in full form.
"Cordelia, I..." He stuttered, taking in all that stood before him. She was a vision of beauty in the solid white dress. "Wow. Wait, aren't you supposed to be at your reception right about now? You know, canoodling with your new husband?"
"Canoodling? Now that's a word I never expected you to say. Plus, he's not my husband."
"He's not?"
"No, he's not." She came closer to him, breathing in the scent of his cigarette that he had apparently put out just before she arrived. "I thought you stopped smoking!"
"I did. But tonight was one exception." He said.
"You know, I was really counting on you tonight!" She slugged him in the arm. "Why didn't you say anything, Angel? Why didn't you tell me?!?"
"I didn't want to ruin your perfect day with my moping about all day. It would've been your dreams coming true, while mine were falling apart."
"You already ruined it when you sent the note. Wesley told me you know. And I realized then, just..."
"Just what? And what did Wesley tell you."
"Just how much you mean to me and he told me that you loved me. Is it true?"
"Cordelia, you have no idea how much I love you." He paused and looked into her eyes. "It's true, I do love you."
"Good, because I love you too." Cordelia said, smiling with tears rolling down her face.
"What? When did this happen?"
"A while ago. I just didn't realize it until tonight."
"Took you long enough."
"Look who's talking." She laughed this time, her eyes lighting up. He moved towards her again, taking his hand and wiping her tears away. He kissed her then, madly, deeply and truly, with all of his un-beating heart. When they broke apart a green light came from her and went into his body. He jolted back, not sure what was happening.
"Angel?"
"Cordelia, I love you." Realizing just what was happening to him.
"I love you too, but what's happening."
"You're bringing me to life."
"What?"
"I love you so much that I want to make love to you."
"But Angel, we can't. Your soul." She said, touching his chest.
"That's just been solved. Remember when Doyle gave you the visions?" Angel asked, seeing her nod her head. "You just gave me a permanent soul."
"What? I don't understand."
"You brought me to life." Angel said and pulled her into a deep kiss. He wasn't taking any more chances. He wasn't letting her get away.
I know, I know, corny ending, but it was all I could think of at the time. Hope ya liked!