Sarah couldn't help it, she was frustrated. She was sitting outside of a country club in $500 worth of hair, makeup, and clothes. She was trying not to cry, fearing what would happen if she did ruin her makeup. Then she remembered why she ran out of the building in the first place and let the tears fall.
She was trying to escape from her friend's wedding. At least Katie used to be a friend. Sarah and Katie were close in college because both were in the art department, so Sarah was very excited when Katie had asked her to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, but now Sarah was regretting saying yes to her friend because she had been so demanding. As she thought about all that she was put through these past months she suddenly felt a presence next to her.
"Kyle, I swear to God if you followed me out here after I told you to get lost…" Sarah said while turning to see who was next to her. She was taken aback when she saw the Goblin King sitting beside her on the patio.
"Is this 'Kyle' the reason you're crying?" Sarah quickly got over her shock, realizing she now had someone to vent her frustrations to.
"Partly. I'm mostly crying because I'm frustrated by this whole situation," she explained.
"And what is this 'whole situation'?" Jareth asked, raising one of his pointed brows.
"Well, my friend Katie asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, but she has become a total bridezilla. I mean, I know weddings can be stressful, but she's taken things too far."
"What has she done?" Jareth pressed. Sarah looked over to him surprised he was so interested in her trivial mortal complaints.
"Well for starters, I had to pay $500 for this whole outfit, which is a lot for a struggling artist. Then she tried to get me to cut my hair because she wanted to have the longest hair in the wedding party. Luckily all of the bridesmaids refused on that one, so I didn't have to do anything." Sarah turned to Jareth who nodded for her to continue. "Then one of our friends, Janine got pregnant after she was asked to be a bridesmaid and Katie kicked her out of the wedding party so she wouldn't 'ruin the photos' and Katie made her fiancé kick one of his groomsmen out so that the sides wouldn't be uneven. I just hope I don't behave like this when I get married."
"So, you have a suitor?" Jareth questioned. Sarah blushed at Jareth's assumption. In reality, she hadn't had a boyfriend since high school because she was unable to get a certain Goblin King out of her mind, but she wasn't willing to tell Jareth that.
"No, that's part of the problem. Katie felt bad because I was the only single bridesmaid, so she kept trying to set me up with one of the groomsmen."
"That must be Kyle," Jareth guessed.
"Yep, and I did my best to avoid him these last few months, but tonight they kept pushing us together. He was the one who walked me down the aisle, then Katie made us go together to check on the reception room after the ceremony. Then Kyle kept dancing with me during the reception, which was okay until he started getting handsy." Jareth's eyebrows raised, but Sarah didn't notice as she continued recounting the story to him. "Then during a slow song, he dragged me to the dance floor again and as the song ended, he grabbed my shoulders while I was trying to leave, and he kissed me. At that point I told him I wasn't interested, and I ran out here to try and calm down."
"I am so sorry Sarah, no one should be treated like that." Jareth said.
"It's just annoying because I know Katie must have told him I was super interested or something."
"Your friend should not be the one telling you who to date."
"I know, but I just didn't want to tell her 'no'." Sarah paused before adding, "at least not until after the wedding. I talked to Karen and she said Katie will go back to normal after today. She also said every girl just wants to be a princess on their wedding day, and I get that desire, but it feels like some take it too far."
"I agree, she is behaving far worse than some actual royalty I have known. And worse than a few goblins too." Both Sarah and Jareth started laughing.
"Thank you for listening to me and cheering me up Jareth. But how did you know to come? I didn't call you."
"Your tears fell on the grass, so I knew you were crying, and I didn't know why, so I thought I would check on you." Jareth explained.
"Well, thank you for coming," Sarah said, leaning her head onto Jareth's shoulder. She noticed he felt warm.
"Sarah, what do you think your wedding will look like?" Jareth asked after a moment.
"Um, I hadn't thought about it that much, since I don't think it's going to happen soon since I don't have a boyfriend. I guess I want to feel like a princess when I get married. That's usually how every girl wants to feel."
"My dear Sarah," Jareth moved Sarah's head off of his shoulder and had her turn to face him, "why settle for masquerading as a princess when you could be a queen on your wedding day." He pulled her face close to his and kissed her lips. Sarah felt sparks as soon as their skin touched, pulling his face closer to hers to continue the kiss.
Back inside the other bridesmaids felt relief as they were lining up for the last picture of the night. Suddenly, Katie stopped them.
"The lines look uneven. Who's missing?" Katie demanded. The girls looked around before discovering Sarah was the one not in her proper spot.
"Sarah's missing," someone finally volunteered.
"Someone go find her!" Katie yelled. Katie's mother and father went off to find Sarah while the photographer convinced Katie to take a 'practice photo' with the rest of the group while they waited for Sarah to show up. Katie's parents checked the patio outside because a couple people said they saw Sarah go out that way, but there was no one out on the manicured lawn. They went back inside and continued their search for the runaway bridesmaid.
"Do you think they'll miss you?" Questioned Jareth
"Hopefully Katie will forgive me if I tell her I left with a guy." Sarah said with a smirk. "If she doesn't, I'll tell her I outrank her." Jareth returned Sarah's smirk, and leaned in to kiss his future bride.