A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I planned to update sooner, and I might not get a chance to give you another update before I go out of town, but here is this chapter. Thank you for the reviews.
I do not own Lizzie McGuire.
Chapter Eight
The Simplest Solution
Lizzie wanted to go out there and apologize, but didn't know where to start, so after she took her shower, she left the bathroom wearing the hotel bathrobe. She noticed Gordo wasn't in her room anymore and noticed that his door was shut. She shut her door behind her and got dressed. She felt bad for the things she said, but didn't know what to do. She was angry, but she didn't know what to be angry with. She had so many unanswered questions and the only one who could understand her the most was Gordo. After she got dressed and put her make-up on and packed, she prepared for confrontation. She opened her door and noticed that Gordo's door was now open, but the bathroom door was now closed.
Lizzie sighed. Accidents aside, she was now a married woman. She never thought she'd get married twenty-four hours ago. She opened their hotel room, curious to see what was going on and noticed a USA Today on the floor. She picked it up and went back into the hotel room, closing the door with her foot as she looked at the paper. She wasn't really reading it, as her mind was occupied with other thoughts as she bit her nails anticipating the next confrontation she would have with Gordo. Sure, she was calmer at this point, but that wasn't what she was worried about.
Five minutes later, she heard the bathroom door open. She looked up from the paper and saw Gordo with a towel around his waist and another towel that he was drying his hair with. Lizzie looked back at the paper, desperate to come up with some sort of solution. It was hard. It was strange. She had a career in weddings and making sure everything was perfect. She hated weddings in Las Vegas!!! To get a divorce or an annulment so quickly, though, would make her a hypocrite. The thing that she had been trying to avoid for three years had happened...she was married. Thousands of thoughts ran through her mind as she thought about her image, her career, and her personal life. She had so many things to think about and sort out that she almost forgot about Gordo, who was someone she was trying to avoid and talk to at the same time.
She had some major decisions to make because as easy as it would be to get an annulment or divorce, it was tempting—for her career, of course, to stay married. It was Gordo, after all. They dated in high school and they were good friends. That was stubborn, though.
Before she could get too tied up in her thoughts, Gordo appeared, dressed and with his suitcase. He lightly knocked on the opened door and spoke up, "Um, we should probably go. Our flight leaves in about three hours and we need to check out."
Lizzie put down the paper and got up from her bed, reaching for her already packed suitcase, "I'm ready."
Twenty minutes later, they were checked out and in a taxi on their way to the airport. They rode in silence and when they arrived at the airport, there was more silence to come as they checked in their bags and waited for their flight. It was awkward and Gordo could tell that Lizzie was not speaking, and therefore contemplating the situation. This was the worst hangover either of them had ever had. Their flight was called and they sat next to each other. Lizzie really wanted to talk this out, but not with Gordo. She couldn't call Miranda because she didn't want to ruin their honeymoon. Besides, she didn't know their number. There was always her mom, but that seemed awkward. She seemed to have only herself to discuss this all with and since she started work tomorrow, she had to think quickly.
Gordo was thinking about the situation as well. After Lizzie yelled at him and basically called him worthless he couldn't help but think that this would ultimately be the end of his friendship with Lizzie. Just when he thought he was getting back into the swing of things and happy with his life, this happened and he didn't know what to do. This didn't feel like a marriage he was dealing with. It felt like a friendship. Lizzie's comments hurt his feelings even though he knew she was angry. He looked out the window of the airplane and gazed over his future. Sure, he had a crush on Lizzie, but the last thing on his mind was marriage. That kiss the other night was stressful enough and here he now had a wife. Somehow the two instances barely seemed to compare to each other.
After thinking about it a little more, Lizzie realized that she should probably leave Gordo's house for the time being until everything was settled. She figured it was for the best at least for that night as she completely thought of everything and could talk to Gordo about it tomorrow. She still had her old apartment key and decided she really probably could use the alone time. She knew that Miranda would understand. She would cancel all the appointments she had the next day to talk with this to Gordo. She still hadn't apologized. She didn't feel like apologizing until they talked.
When the plane landed and they got off, it was at the baggage claim that they finally spoke. Once they both had their bags, Lizzie turned to Gordo and said, "Listen Gordo, I am going to go over to Miranda's for tonight. I'll come over tomorrow so we can discuss everything. What time do you get off work?"
"Uh, I can get off at around noon. Listen, when I get home, I'll call my parents and they can give me some names of divorce lawyers."
Lizzie sighed and shook her head, "Gordo, don't do that."
"No, I was thinking about it on the plane and they don't have to know that it is for us. I'll just tell them its for a friend," he said, then he laughed to himself, "It's not like they'd think it was for me, anyway."
Lizzie shook her head, "No, Gordo. Please let's just wait until after we talk. For tonight, let's just think about it all and put it into perspective."
Gordo blinked. He thought she'd be thrilled to hear him talking about divorce. He nodded his head and said, "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow at ...our apartment?" I was almost like the word, "our" now had a completely different meaning.
Lizzie nodded, "I'll be there at around one." Lizzie turned around and headed toward the exit of the airport, where she called for a taxi to take her to her old apartment. She didn't know why, but as she was driven there, she started crying. She wiped her eyes, but that didn't help much. It was weird because she didn't feel emotional before, but after she talked to Gordo, she felt sad.
She arrived at the apartment, paid the taxi driver and walked up to her old apartment. It felt weird, even though she lived there less than two weeks ago. She found the key in her purse and opened the door. The place hadn't changed much. They decided that Lizzie's room would eventually become a guestroom, but hadn't really moved anything around. Lizzie grabbed some sheets from the closet and made up her bed, even though it was hardly dinnertime. Lizzie hadn't eaten all day, so she ordered some Chinese for delivery and sat on the sofa in the living room, watching TV, trying to forget, for just a few moments, that she was married to her best friend. She always thought that it was pretty bad that she was a wedding planner and didn't plan on getting married, but this whole accidental marriage stood against everything she thought about marriages before.
After watching TV for a few hours, eating, and canceling all of her appointments for the next day, except for two in the morning, she decided to go to bed and try and get some sleep. It was difficult because she had a lot on her mind, but she finally fell asleep, still with no idea of what she was going to do with this marriage.
Gordo got to his apartment and it felt really empty. He'd gotten so used to Lizzie's presence that it was almost too quiet. He put his stuff up in his room and emptied his pockets. He found the marriage license and gave it one last look before putting it on his dresser. He was both hungry and tired, so he ate some leftovers and went to bed almost immediately. It wasn't like he didn't care about the situation, as much as he didn't know what else there was to think about. Lizzie said that they would talk about it tomorrow and after they talked, then he would think. They only had so many options: divorce, annulment, or to stay married. Staying married probably wouldn't work out, particularly due to Lizzie and what she said earlier. Both divorce and annulment had their own complications and Gordo wasn't really sure he knew the exact benefits of annulment in the first place.
Gordo was a married man for now and yet he and his wife were barely speaking to each other. Back in high school and when Lizzie and Gordo loved each other and they had a on to think about their future together, Gordo always imagined a simplistic, yet large wedding. He wanted to incorporate a few Jewish traditions, like stomping on the glass, and he knew that he would live happily ever after. He never told Lizzie this and after they broke up, he sort of forgot about it, but he suddenly remembered it on the plane ride home and it sort of upset him to realize that nothing about their wedding was like he wanted it. The idea was over a decade old and now it would never come to life. That was just another disappointment of this day that Gordo would always remember.
-
The next day, both Lizzie and Gordo went to work separately and obviously, thought about how this day would go in terms of what they would agree to. Lizzie had two appointments that morning and had to do a little work around her office with some other people's weddings. The first couple seemed so happy and into each other and Lizzie noticed this and it somehow made her depressed. The next appointment was one with a woman who Lizzie had never met. It was going pretty well until the woman got a little curious and asked Lizzie a few questions and got a little too personal for Lizzie on that particular day.
"What about you? Are you married?" the woman asked.
The one question Lizzie didn't want to answer, "Um, not really...no I'm not married."
The woman seemed a little confused at Lizzie's comment, "What do you mean? Did you just get a divorce or something?"
Lizzie shook her head. She didn't really want to talk about this with a complete stranger, but couldn't come up with anything else to say, "No, it's a little more complicated than that. A few years ago I was left at the altar."
"Oh. So you were never really married?"
Lizzie shook her head. She hated feeling like she was lying.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Well, I guess you could say I'm sort of in a serious relationship with someone right now."
Again, the woman was a little confused with Lizzie's answer, "What? Is it long distance or something?"
Lizzie, who got these questions almost everyday before, suddenly felt like she was being interrogated. She was usually so frank and honest with her clients with what they wanted to know, but she didn't really know how to be honest, "I guess," she paused, trying to think of how to word this, "the relationship is having a little trouble right now."
"Oh," the woman said, "I'm sorry I brought it up."
"It's okay," Lizzie said.
"Well, I hope everything will work out between you two."
"Yeah, me too," Lizzie said.
The woman eventually left and so did Lizzie shortly after that. That conversation was exactly what Lizzie was thinking about the day before with her career and everything. The truth was that she was married and she was probably going to terminate the marriage, but that conversation, as quaint and innocent as it was, almost made Lizzie, for the sake of her career, want to stay married. It was stubborn, but for the first time, Lizzie thought of what it would be like to be married to Gordo and it really didn't seem too bad. It didn't have to be any different than their current situation, actually.
Lizzie picked up some lunch and headed for her apartment to meet up with Gordo. Gordo was already there when Lizzie came home and before Gordo could say anything, Lizzie spoke up.
"Gordo, what would you say if I suggested that we still stay married?" Lizzie asked.
-
To Be Continued!
