"Randy...Randy psst, c'mon, wake up!" Chris urged, shaking the Groom manically. Randy slowly opened his eyes to find one of his best men standing before him.
"What time is it?" Randy whispered, clutching his forehead and sitting up slightly. The room was still dark, so he was guessing it was early in the morning.
"Ummm, 4.37am." Chris replied, looking at the digital clock on the other side of the room.
"What? C'mon Chris, the wedding's not until ten thirty!" Randy sulked, rubbing his eyes, laying back down.
"I know but we still have a lot to do. C'mon, chop, chop!" Chris hastened, clapping his hands before turning the rooms main light on. Randy squinted as Chris dashed out of the room, presumingly to get himself ready.
Randy sat himself fully up now as he adjusted his eyes to the bright lights of the room. He shook his head slightly and sighed. He'd hardly slept at all last night; he was a barrel of mixed emotions from excited to nervous and a little scared. Marriage - some would argue - is the biggest commitment a man and a woman could ever make to each other. Running a hand through his hair, he glanced over at the notepad that had few to nothing of his speech in.
"Speak from the heart." he implored himself, pulling back the bed sheets and stumbling over to the shower room.
Meanwhile...
Lily slithered next to Roxy in her bed and squeezed her midriff tightly, in an attempt to wake her best friend. Roxy awoke with a start, her head shooting up to see who it could possibly be.
"Lil?" Roxy half grumbled, moving over to switch on the bedside lamp "Did you have to scare me?"
"Sorry babe, I didn't think!" She laughed a little "So, how ya feeling?" Lily questioned, removing her hands from around Roxy and letting her sit up.
"Ok." Roxy smiled indecisively.
"It'll be fine, trust me! C'mon, you need to eat."
"Not hungry - I wanna go back to bed." Roxy pouted, pulling the sheets closer to her.
"Gee, you'll be some fun tonight with Randy, won't you?" Lily sneered, getting out of bed.
"That's why I need to sleep!" Roxy smirked playfully.
"Sorry, no can do - the hairdresser will be here in half an hour - you need to shower unless you want me to do it for ya!" Lily joked.
"Yeah, a lesbian fling the day I marry!" Roxy giggled. "Besides, which hairdresser possibly does appointments at half five in the morning?"
"This one! Now c'mon, we need to make sure everything's ok." Lily told Roxanna, pulling back her bed sheets and motioning towards the bathroom.
Elsewhere, Randy had finished showering and was ready to sit around for five hours - after all, there wasn't really a lot he could do. He had no make up to apply and his hair hardly took hours to style. He couldn't leave the room until the wedding in case he bumped into Roxy; a Bride and Groom should never see each other before a wedding for suppositious reasons - it was regarded as bad luck and that's exactly what Roxy and Randy could do without.
Laying dozily on the bed, his arm propping his head up, Randy stared into thin air, contemplating the big day. A knock came at the door, which Randy accepted.
"Hi Randy." Shawn greeted, pulling a comb through his blonde locks "How are you? Do you need any breakfast or anything?"
"Nope, too worried to eat right now."
"Still anxious about the speech?" Shawn inquired, sitting next to his best friend.
"Yeah - I sat up half of the night thinking of things to say. Words can't describe how I feel about Rox and when they can, they are too personal and should be kept between the two of us. I don't want her Mom to get offended or anything." Randy moaned.
"You'll figure it out." HBK promised, tapping Randy on the knee before exiting the room.
"That's it? No great words of encouragement!" Randy exclaimed, sitting up and flinging his arms into the air.
"What can I say? I got married in Las Vegas with just myself, Rebecca and Elvis - I never had to make a speech. I'm not the best of people to ask. Sorry." Shawn shrugged, leaving Randy to his own devices.
Randy grumbled to himself, once again laying down on his bed, his arms spread across the entire double bed. There's only one male person he could call at such a time...
In Roxy's room, herself, Lita and Lily were being 'made up' for the wedding. Roxy hated being fussed over by make up people and hair stylists but wanted to look her best on the supposedly biggest day of her life.
"How about ringlets?" The hairdresser suggested, pulling Roxy's hair down against her cheeks as she popped her gum "They'll frame your face perfectly and look good with the tiara."
"Sure." Roxy groaned, rolling her eyes as the woman grabbed a pair of curling tongs from her bag. Lily and Lita were skipping around the room in glee, obviously more excited than Roxanna about the day ahead.
Suddenly, a knock came at the door.
"I'll go get it!" Lita called, bounding over to the door as Lily slumped herself on Roxy's bed.
"Hello, I'm Terri the Photographer for the Richards/Orton wedding." he introduced himself.
"Great." Roxy mumbled to herself.
"And where's the happy Bride to be?" Terri asked.
"I suppose over there." Lily pointed sarcastically.
"Hello, now, where do you want me? When do you want me to start taking photos?" he eagerly asked.
"After the ceremony at about half eleven." Roxy smiled half heartedly.
"Sure thing - do you want me to check it over with the Groom?"
"Yeah, whatever." Roxy shrugged.
"Well see you later!" Terri spoke cheerfully, gliding out of the room.
A few moments later, another knock came at the door.
"Hi!" the cheerful voice greeted. It was the flower girl, Randy's little sister Rebecca. "Oh my God, Roxy, you look beautiful!" she beamed, dashing over to hug her soon to be sister-in-law.
"Thanks."
"Do you need me to do anything?" Becky asked, as eagerly as Terri.
"No, I don't, thanks." Roxy replied, pressing her palm against her forehead. Why was everyone being so damn eager?
"Anyway, Nath looks so damn cute in his suit!" Becky grinned, facing Lita and Lily.
As the gossiping continued, Roxy was missing Randy more and more. Even when they weren't talking to each other, they appreciated each other's company. She just wanted the whole day to be over with so that her and her husband could enjoy themselves on their honeymoon. Lost in her thoughts, she grumbled as the door was knocked upon once again.
Lily went to answer it and looked to be a little taken back by who it was.
"Ummm, Roxy, it's Randy." she spoke.
"He can't see me." Roxy softly replied, getting up from her seat and walking over to the wall near the door.
"I know." Lily nodded.
"Rox, sweetie, I really need to talk to you." Randy called.
"Sure, ummm, would everyone mind leaving the room - go into Lily's room or something." Roxy ordered, closing the door behind the last person. "Angel, is everything ok?"
"I really want to say it is, but it's not." Randy began, sounding very disappointed with himself.
"Thank God it's not just me." Roxy sighed, slumping herself against the wall, Randy imitating her movements from the other side of the wall.
"Really?" Randy asked, a little shocked.
"I dunno...do you feel..."
"Like today's what everyone else wanted and not us?" Randy finished her sentence for her.
"Right, and how we are just pushed along?"
"Yeah. I can't think of what to say, later on, during my speech."
"Say whatever, no one's forcing you to do a speech." Roxy shrugged, meaning what she had said.
Randy smiled to himself. Why was he getting so worked up over something so easy? He knew that she would be ok with whatever happened, as long as they were together by the end of it.
They both sighed and rested their heads against the wall at the same time, both mouthing the word 'ouch' due to the agony of hitting a brick in the head, rubbing their heads gingerly.
"Do you think this was a mistake?"
"No, not at all." Roxy sincerely spoke "We just need time, that's all."
"I just wish it was the two of us...Chris got me up at twenty to five in the morning!"
"Bet he didn't jump into bed with you and squeezed your stomach so tight, you thought you were gonna explode!" Roxy laughed.
"Rox...I love you." Randy spoke truthfully "If you want to delay everything, we have to do it together."
"We can't...I want to...it's just too difficult. Trust me, I'm not happy with everything but I think we are over reacting."
"I know you are right." Randy replied.
"Randy, c'mon, Chris is looking for you everywhere!" Nathan called.
"Well, looks like I'd better go. See you at the alter, baby." Randy cooed.
But would there be any more bumpy paths before the wedding?
To be continued...