Michelle runs. That's all we have to say about her right now. But we'll see her again soon, in case you were worried.
Josh, Jen and Orli are all great sprinters, but despite this fact they have only gone several yards when they hear the little man in the room start yelling for "Guards! Guards!" They look at each other in mutual agreement and run even fast.
Josh and Orli's compromise doesn't last long; within three minutes, out of breath and frustrated, having seen no sign of Michelle, they are at it again. This time, the topic they are arguing about seems to be Jen: Orli is accusing Josh of not caring about Jen because all he ever seems to think about is Michelle. Jen would normally shut them up, but since the topic of conversation is herself and she is rather flattered by all the attention, she merely listens amusedly, quite enjoying herself.
Orli starts the argument: "You know, Josh, you're my best friend and everything, and I understand that you're in love with Michelle, and you know I care about her, but why is it that you never want to talk about Jen? I talk about Michelle with you all the time and I've listened to you mooning over her and telling me how wonderful she is, and you know I love her and respect her and she's one of my best friends, but we've never actually had conversations like that about Jen. It's like you don't even care about her! Everything has to be about you and Michelle!"
Josh, shocked, realizes that a portion of what Orli is saying is true, but certainly not the part about him not caring about Jen. But rather than calmly correct Orli's misconceptions, he feels anger rising in him rapidly and lashes back out at Orli. "How can you possibly say I don't care about Jen? I know Michelle helped you two get together, but Jen helped Michelle and me in the same way! It's just because Jake was a part of the picture… And not that you ever asked… But you know, Michelle wasn't even really my girlfriend until maybe a few hours ago! Of course I'm mooning over the girl; we only just got together! But that doesn't mean I don't love Jen like you love Michelle! She's one of my best friends too; just because I'm not in love with her and I think about Michelle more sometimes… I think Jen's an amazing girl and I'm eternally grateful to her and I could never thank her enough for helping me the way she has and how can you just go off and say I don't care about her!"
Orli, completely worked up by the end of this little speech, continues to yell at Josh. "You don't even care about her! You hardly know her! You don't know what she's like and I know everything you've ever told me about Michelle, and we've never had one single conversation just about Jen! We were getting married, Josh, and we were there in the dressing room and you were still talking about Michelle!"
Josh is shocked by this; after all, Orlando was talking about Jen, and they were arguing over who was the better girl; of course he was talking about Michelle! Still, maybe he's right… He might have a right to be upset because it's true that they've almost never talked about Jen… It doesn't matter to Josh; it's only an unfair accusation to him. "Okay, Orlando," he says angrily, abandoning the group's pet nickname for him. "Have it your way. You wanna talk about Jen? Okay, let's talk about Jen! She's great, and she's amazing, and I love her like I would love a sister and she is one of my best friends in the world, including Michelle, and you most of the time, and I don't know what I would be doing now without Jen, and I owe my life to her and I'm eternally in her debt, and I wouldn't give up her friendship for the world because she is one of the most wonderful people I have ever known, including Ben when we were shooting Pearl Harbor, and I would give up my life as a actor before I gave up her friendship, or yours, for that matter, even though it doesn't feel very much like that right now, and if you wanna talk about Jen anytime, just call me up and let me know!"
Orli has nothing more to say; he can sense a certain sincerity in Josh's anger and knows he means every word. Jen feels the same thing and is very flattered; she never knew Josh thought all that about ordinary little her and it feels good to hear him say that.
Michelle, like the other three, is a great sprinter (she had lots of practice running back and forth to California to bring Orli to Jen, which was probably the smartest thing she ever did, except have impeccable taste in cute 'n' sexy clothes).
She is fast.
The guards are faster.
Actually, they aren't, but Michelle is obviously tired, from fear and her very tense excursion through the whole house, and not running quite as fast as she could be, which is a very bad idea when one is running for one's life.
The guards catch up to her, still running and stumbling and puffing along. One of them, the biggest of the lot, dives at her, falling to the ground and knocking her down as well in the process. But when he straightens, one thick, muscular arm is wrapped around her body, holding her close and pinning her arms effectively. Michelle's efforts to get free are futile.
Rachel steps out from behind her bodyguards and gives over a moment for a very triumphant smirk at a glaring Michelle. "Do you feel smart now, Michelle? Do you feel strong and powerful and special? You're completely at my mercy, Michelle. Does that make you feel better than me?" She pries open one of Michelle's clenched hands and casually pulls the diamond engagement ring that Josh gave her off of her finger. She holds it up to the light, admiring it and the pretty patterns it makes on the far wall, then slides it onto her own slender finger. The smile she gives a struggling Michelle is full of poison.
Then she goes off to find Josh, Jen and Orli, to inform them that their friend will be held hostage until Josh and Jen, whom she has no interest in, leave, and Orli agrees to stay.
Our favorite trio (Josh, Jen and Orli, duh) is heading through a hallway leading to Lord-only-knows-where when Orli spots Rachel. He alerts the others, and they all turn in the opposite direction, but it is too late. Rachel has seen them.
In a very strong voice they didn't know she was capable of, Rachel yells, "Wait! I think I may have something that might interest you, or should I say, someone…."
In spite of themselves, all three stop and turn towards her. "What do you mean?" Josh asks roughly, immediately thinking of Michelle.
"There seems to be someone missing from your little group, and I believe I may have found her, and if you ever want to see her again…." Again, Rachel doesn't finish her sentence, but trails off and leaves the rest to everyone's very vivid imagination.
"You can't prove it," Jen says coolly, despite her instincts screaming at her to RUN! RUN! RUN!
"Oh, I really, really could," Rachel answers with a smirk. "Now, I have a little proposition for you. You two," she continues, indicating Josh and Jen, "can leave. I have no problem with you… yet. And if you leave, I never will. And trust me, you don't want me to have a problem with you."
"What about Michelle? And Orlando?" Jen demands, moving closer to Orli. He wraps his arms around her, holding her close in silent comfort.
"Now, what do you think?" Rachel responds amusedly.
"Not happening," Josh says, speaking for all three. "Besides, how do we know you really even have her?" In silent response, Rachel holds up her hand. A diamond engagement ring glitters in the light. Josh pales considerably. "You…" he begins, too angry to finish. However, Rachel is able to fill in the blanks all by herself. "You could all stay, you know; I have no problem with that. It's easy to make people's lives miserable…."
"Where is she?" Josh demands.
Rachel smiles. "Follow me."
Three hallways and one staircase later, Josh, Jen and Orli encounter Rachel's bodyguards. Sure enough, Michelle is in the grasp of a very large one, still struggling to break free. All three stop, frozen.
"Are we screwed?" Orli says meekly to Josh and Jen. "It feels like we're screwed."
"No," Josh answers, a grim determination in his voice that the other two have never heard before.
Josh dives at the nearest bodyguard, taking him by surprise and knocking him down. The bodyguard recovers his wits quickly enough, however, and sends a fist flying at Josh's head. But by the time it reaches him, said body part is elsewhere. Josh starts hitting him and in two seconds flat they are, in all technical sense, brawling.
"Josh!" Michelle, Jen and Orli simultaneously cry in horror.
Orli can't just stand by and watch, so he "pulls a Josh," so to speak, and dives into the fray.
"No!" Jen yells, but what else is there for her to do? She can't just stand around waiting for something to happen to her, too. She sneaks around back of the big, burly guy holding Michelle and jumps on him, catching him by surprise, and Michelle in the side. "Ouch!" she yelps as Jen kicks her.
"Sorry!" Jen cries. "But there's a time for caution and this ain't it!"
"Not a problem," Michelle mutters as she attempts to kick the stupid burly guy, who, unlike the guard Josh is fighting, doesn't have any wits to recover. She can't do any real harm, but apparently she catches him in the shin, and however impressive his arm muscles are, he obviously has never played soccer, and she appears to have found his weak spot. He yelps in a surprisingly high voice and drops Michelle, who, caught off guard, falls and hits the marble floor with a noise that makes Jen wince in sympathy.
"I'm fine," she assures her, voice unusually bright. "I need to be hit in the head every now and then… keeps my brain from falling out…"
Jen smiles, relieved and feeling very smart because she has pulled her own heroic act for the day. The two girls duck out of the mainstream of the battle. Michelle looks for Rachel, finding her in seconds. She nods significantly in her direction. Jen, remembering Josh's face when Rachel showed him Michelle's engagement ring on her hand, smiles grimly in silent agreement. Both girls fly at Rachel, knocking her to the ground. Michelle rudely yanks her ring off Rachel's finger and places it back on her own. Then she clambers up on top of Rachel, smiling down at her in something that can be safely and accurately referred to as "cruel irony." "Do you feel stronger and special now, Rachel? Do you feel better than me? What's it feel like, without your bodyguards to protect you?" she hisses. Rachel startled look suddenly changes to one of smugness. Michelle, without turning around, knows that another bodyguard is right behind her. She sighs laboriously and turns, getting ready to punch him in the stomach.
Jen, meanwhile, has run off around the corner so as not to get killed, and also to find Orli. She manages the latter quite successfully- in fact, she and Orli crash into each other as Orli, who has run from the fight and guards (under orders from Josh to get away), comes back looking for everyone else, but Jen especially.
"Ow!" both yelp as their noses bang. Jen gets ready to swing out and hit him, but just in time recognizes the voice. "Orli!" she cries joyously, leaning against him in a hug of sorts. He wraps his strong arms around her in both relief and reassurance.
"Are you okay?" Jen asks. "What happened? Why would you just jump on someone like that- you could have been hurt! Where are the other two? We have to get out of here!"
Orli, slightly overwhelmed by this flood of questions and exclamations, takes a moment to absorb everything, then answers only her third question- why he went looking for trouble. "I just couldn't help picturing you in that position instead of Michelle," he says simply.
Jen cuts off what she was about to say, touched. Rather than criticize her very-soon-to-be husband for what she sees as his serious lack of judgment, she turns her face up for a long-overdue kiss, and gets it.
It is Josh.
Good thing I didn't punch him, Michelle thinks, temporarily freaked out by what she almost did.
Josh sticks his hand out. "Are you okay?"
Michelle takes the proffered hand and climbs unsteadily to her feet, conveniently stepping on Rachel's stomach in the process. Michelle leans against Josh for a moment to regain her balance, and he returns the hug. "We were worried," he whispers.
Michelle, wits firmly back in place, steps back in horror. "Where're Orli and Jen? What happened? Are they okay? What about you? How are we supposed to get out of here now? And why, why, why are you here?"
Josh stares. "We came because we were worried about you, and Orli and Jen are fine, and we really need to get out of here; questions later, please."
Michelle shrugs and sprints around the corner with him, to where Orli and Jen are waiting, both safe and unharmed.
Two hours later, the entire quartet is safe, far away from Rachel's mansion, with little incidences. They are trying to avoid the topic of what just went down. Josh and Jen are absorbed in conversation, Jen having started it by telling Josh she was flattered by everything he said about her when he and Orli were arguing. Josh, surprised that she hasn't realized any of this, immediately feels guilty and starts listing all her best qualities, with an occasional "Awww, thanks" or "You're so sweet, Josh!" or "Okay, now that's not true" from Jen. Orli walks on Jen's other side, smiling; the two are hand in hand and both feel a closeness the like of which has never fully existed between them. Neither of them will be worried when they finally have their wedding ceremony.
"So," Michelle says with a bright grin, strange considering what the four have just been through, and with an uncanny echo of that last thought, "how about that wedding, huh?"
A mere week later, only several hours before the wedding, Jen is thinking about her marriage and wonderful husband and how breathtaking and amazing the whole ceremony will be, and of course her beautiful dress… OMG! It was ruined! She completely forgot about that; we don't know how
She calls her best friend. It's only ten in the morning, and Jen knows full well that Michelle doesn't get up that early, but gosh darn, this is important! Jen grows more impatient with every ring- three in all.
"MICHELLE!" she screams. "MICHELLE!" WHERE ARE YOU! MICHELLE!"
"Wha- what? Jen, what's wrong?" Michelle sounds groggy, not yet fully awake.
"I DON'T HAVE A FREAKIN' WEDDING DRESS, MICHELLE, HOW THE HELL CAN YOU ASK ME WHAT'S WRONG?" Jen is still screaming.
Michelle sounds wide awake now. "Jen, chill! It's not impossible to buy one… it didn't take you long to find the other one at all… you liked the first one you tried on best, as I recall. Why don't you give me half an hour to shower and then-" a note of something that Jen finds herself unable to analyze enters her voice "-you can come over and we'll go from there."
Jen is outraged. "Michelle, that had to be the last dress of that kind in the city! You know how much it meant to me! I don't want any other dress! But I don't even have a dress at all, Michelle! How can you be so calm? I really think this qualifies as an emergency and you have to shower before I can have my emergency?"
"Fine," Michelle grumbles, but she is not heartless, and she has plenty of compassion. "I'll brush my hair out… come right over now, okay?"
Jen isn't all that reassured, but she is calmed by Michelle's down-to-earth tones. "Okay," she relents.
Five minutes later Jen's bright red Ferrari is rushing to a screaming stop in front of Michelle's two-story brick house. Jen clambers out and absolutely sprints up the walkway. Michelle pulls open the door before she can ring the bell. "Come on in," she says, improperly cheerful but at least looking and sounding more awake.
Jen follows Michelle into the foyer, wondering…. Something weird is going on….
Josh, to Jen's surprise, is in the foyer already- surely Michelle would have told her if they were living together?- but Jen brushes that aside as she sees what is neatly draped over her favorite chair in Michelle's house.
"Oh my God," she whispers, shocked.
Michelle smiles knowingly at Josh, who returns the gaze, then both look at Jen, who is busy examining an exact replica of her own wedding dress. Jen stares, amazed, realizing that of course Michelle would know exactly what dress she bought; she was with her when she went shopping, and Michelle has a knack for memorizing numbers… she must have remembered exactly what model and brand and size her dress was right from the beginning, almost as if she has foreseen disaster.
Jen turns to the couple, shocked. "I can almost understand how you would know this, but not why… it cost a small fortune."
Michelle smiles, still utterly calm and serene. "And believe me, we paid a small fortune. I had it rush ordered when I realized last night that you hadn't bought another dress yet. I figured you wanted to forget everything that happened, and that could be why you forgot about it…. Anyway, I feel like I owe you something; I can't explain it, but I do. And I want you to realize that I want everything about your wedding, and reception and honeymoon afterwards, to have everything to do with you, and that should start, somehow, with me buying you your dream dress. I wanted everything to be perfect today. You deserve it, Jen. You deserve so much more than an expensive wedding dress, so much that I can't give. So, I started here. And if you're worried, I didn't pay for the whole thing… Josh and Orli knew too; they helped me out. But," she continues in a sudden rush of guilty honesty, "I know I should have told you… it was late though and I figured you would want to get your beauty sleep… I'm sorry."
"How can I…" Jen begins.
Michelle holds up a hand as if to ward off the words she knows are coming. "Don't. Like I said, I feel like I owe you something, and while I know it wasn't my fault or anything- for once- I feel bad for everything that happened, although I can't explain that either. So… I believe you have a wedding to get ready for?"
Jen stares at her, confused.
Several hours later, a crowd is assembled in an indoor church.
By unspoken mutual agreement, all four know that nothing can possibly go wrong to ruin this day, and none are worried.
The ceremony begins.
The little flower girl walks down the aisle, throwing her delicate flower petals. Michelle and the other bridesmaids follow, Michelle never once faltering in movement. At last, Jen comes in, on her father's arm. Radiant with the joy that this day brings, she stands by Orli, face alight with happiness.
The priest, different this time than the last one, makes the same announcement: Jen and Orli are reciting their own vows. Orli begins.
"Jennifer, I have waited so long for this day. I know how cliché it sounds, but I really did love you the moment I set eyes on you. I love everything about you, Jen- your beauty, your spirit, your determination, your sweet disposition, your spunk, your whole character. I knew when I saw you that I wanted to know you for the rest of my life, and I can think of no better way than this. Jen, mere words can't possibly do justice to the way I feel about you. You are beyond any words I could speak.
"Last week I thought I might never see you again. It scared me, Jen. It scared me like I have never been scared in my life. Sometimes I don't feel like I know all that much, but I will always know this: I never want to feel that way again.
"Two weeks before that, I wasn't really sure of what I was doing. I never doubted my love for you; that isn't what I mean. But I was so afraid of marriage… Husbands and wives always seem to be arguing, and so many marriages end in divorce… And I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew I had driven you away from me, somehow. I was afraid of taking that final step. But now… Now I know I would never want anything else, now that I've been apart from you, not knowing if I would ever get to tell you this. So I'm telling you now. Some people carve the initials of the person they love on a tree, but a tree can be felled, and the initials can fade. So I've carved your name on my heart, where I know it will stay for the rest of my life and longer still.
"I love you, Jen. I want to love you forever.
"And if you give me the chance, I will."
I wanna love you, forever
And this is all I'm asking of you
Ten thousand lifetimes, together
It is Jen's turn now.
"Orlando… Orli, I don't know all that much of what there is to know in life. Sometimes I'm not sure of anything. And sometimes I don't really see the point of life, much as I enjoy it. I've always wondered… Is it going somewhere? Am I really making a difference in the world? Why am I here? What is my job in life?
"I saw you, Orli, and I knew all that. I feel that my life was created so that its path could cross yours. I know that, even if I may never make that big of a difference in the world, I can make a difference in one person's life- yours. I was sent down to Earth so that I could learn how to love, by meeting you. When I fell in love, Orli, I fell hard, and I fell fast. And at first I was afraid of love, because I was terrified of losing it. So many people give their hearts away and never get them back, and I didn't want to be like that. But the more I came to know you, the more I realized… I gave you my heart, but I didn't just get it back… You gave me yours with it.
"I was scared of making such a huge commitment… I wasn't sure I was ready to be a wife… But I'm standing here now, and I don't feel any fear, only love and certainty. I know that over half of all marriages end in divorce. But any example anyone could give is just another statistic to me. This isn't a statistic… It's you and me, Orli, and that's all that matters. I feel in my heart that it will all work out… I know it, Orli, because the love I feel for you could move mountains. Nothing can break it. I loved you before I met you.
"You don't have to give me a chance to love you, Orli. I always will anyway."
I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life.
I knew I loved you…