Jess sinks back in his chair, cradling a whiskey on the rocks in one hand, and his bowtie in the other. He looks around at the empty tables around him. Most are out by the band dancing – excuse me – trying to dance. He watches with contempt as young bodies grind against each other and elders twirl each other in circles. He rolls his eyes then tilts his head back and pours the truth serum (aka alcoholic beverage) down his throat. It burns and for a moment he almost coughs at it but then regains his composure and slams the glass back down onto the silked table. Out of the corner of his eye he sees her smiling face, as the damn bastard twirls her oh-so-gracefully around the dance floor. He tilts her back and the rest of the dancers step back adoringly. Owing and Awing at the "Happy" Newlywed couple. It's almost too sickening for him. He glances up for a clock, but sees nothing but gold chandeliers. He laughs, sarcastically of course, at the fact that some place so expensive doesn't even have clock. What does a clock cost? Like 5 bucks for a damn clock. The music ends and Jess explodes up from his chair, thankful for some quiet for once.
"Ladies and Gentlemen."
God damn it.
"Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Derek Humphrey Please can we have a round of applause for the newlyweds?"
The crowd surrounding the couple closes in on them in a thunderous ovation. And then he gets the better of himself and looks at her. She's beautiful of course, and for once in a long time she smiles. A real smile and it just about breaks Jess' heart. Then a slow song comes on and he watches as they slowly rock back and forth to the slow beat. The song plays on and he remembers it all too vividly. He remembers holding her to that very song. He thought it was corny at the time and even now he still does, but to him it felt so right. It was them, both of them together, him and her and he had never felt so in touch with someone. He shakes the memory from his head and tries to dispose of it entirely but unfortunately for him, he can't like many things concerning her, get rid of it. He watches her some more, stuck in the awe of her beauty and the jealous that flows through him. Her eyes flick past him at first and he thinks she's trying to ignore him, but then they're eyes meet and while Derek still tries to twirl her, her eyes stick to Jess. She glances at him and he loses it. He looks away because he can no longer handle being around her. He has to be honest with himself now and face the eventual fact that she's married and will no longer have any chance to be how it once was. Before he kept telling her it, but never fully believed it himself – but now it's become quite clear to him. He makes his way through the seemingly hundreds of tables and walks outside. He fumbles for a cigarette hoping that in his pre-wedding hysteria he remembered to hide one. But lest he finds he didn't.
"Cigarette?" a voice perks up from behind him. He turns around to see a thin woman, perhaps 10 years his senior, draped in a dark red dress, thrusting a cigarette in his direction. He nods at her and she hands it to him. He takes it, placing it in his mouth, while she simultaneously takes out a lighter and lights it for him.
"Thanks," he says blowing out a breath of smoke. She just nods with him. They stand there both sucking the life out of their cigarettes in silence.
"Bride or Groom?" the woman finally says catching Jess off guard.
"What?"
"Are you a friend of the bride or the groom?" she asks as if he was slow.
"Neither," he says inhaling the smoke around him again, relishing in the solitude it brings him.
She laughs suddenly, a high pitched screech that makes Jeff snap out of his serenity.
"What's so funny?" he asks.
"Well," she begins, "you must be someone's friend. You're in the wedding party."
He sighs
"I'm the ex-boyfriend."
Intrigue covers her face and Jess chuckles as she leans forward inviting him to tell her his story.
"So what happened between you two?" she asks curiously.
He finishes the last of his cigarette and throws it onto the ground, smothering it with his polished dress shoes into the cement.
"Look this isn't some high school gossip bullshit and while I admire you now because you gave me the best fucking cigarette of my life, I'm not going to repeat my whole life story to you."
The woman slightly stunned at first, just shrugs and takes a step back from him. He turns back to head inside.
"I heard she was a bitch anyway," she says exhaling slowly.
He stops in his track and turns toward her. Intrigued that she has his attention, she goes on.
"The word on the street is that she was cheating on him with some scumbag loser she grew up with. Thing was she never really wanted to marry Derek but she did it for her grandparents. She's miserable I guess, wouldn't have never known it from that act she's putting on with him in there. Turns out she's still in love with that hometown trash of hers. You know him?" she asks.
Now, it takes just about every fiber of his moral strength to just clench his fists and not reach out and grab her throat. But he remembers not to take what she says at face value.
"Nope," he lies to her.
The woman just nods her head.
"Well, we should probably go back in, don't think they'll send a search party out for us," she says turning towards the door and holding it open for him.
"Not me," he says and with that she walks in alone and let's the door slam.
He walks out onto the sidewalk and just keeps walking, not really knowing or caring about his exact destination.
Author Note: Hey there! Thank you to all of the wonderful people that have responded, I adore all of you. I'm having a little bit of trouble coming up with the next chapter so any suggestions would be extremely appreciated. Should this be the end :-/ You can email me or postit as a review. Also suggestions for other stories would also be appreciated. Thanx!