I own none of the characters of October Road or the song "The World" by Brad Paisley.
To the teller down at the bank
You're just another checking account
To the plumber that came today
You're just another house
At the airport ticket counter
You're just another fare
At the beauty shop at the mall
Well you're just another head of hair
Well that's alright, that's ok
If you don't feel important, honey
All I've got to say is
[Chorus]
To the world
You may be just another girl
But to me
Baby, you are the world
To the waiter at the restaurant
You're just another tip
To the guy at the ice cream shop
You're just another dip
When you can't get reservations
'Cause you don't have the clout
Or you didn't get an invitation
'Cause somebody left you out
That's alright, that's ok
When you don't feel important honey
All I've got to say is
[Repeat chorus]
You think you're one of millions but you're one in a million to me
When you wonder if you matter, baby look into my eyes
And tell me, can't you see you're everything to me
That's alright, that's ok
When you don't feel important honey
All I've gotta say is
[Repeat chorus]
Eddie Latekka stood in the back of the banquet room at The Johnson Inn watching as his fiancé, Janet Meadows, interacted with their family and friends who had come to the rehearsal dinner for their wedding the following day. He couldn't believe that he and Janet had come this far. Two years ago, she betrayed him and broke his heart. He said some pretty horrible things to her and when she walked out of his hospital room he thought that they were done. He thought that he never wanted to see her again but he was wrong.
The months following their breakup were the hardest and loneliest months of his life. He couldn't get her out of his mind or his heart. He tried; he most definitely tried to forget about Janet. He tried to use woman and alcohol to forget about her but nothing worked and after seven long months, he quit being stubborn and the two of them finally sat down and talked and by the end of the night on what was supposed to be Hannah and Ray's wedding they were in Janet's bed making love. Six months later they were engaged and tomorrow, nine months after Janet said yes they were going to become husband and wife.
Eddie was doing what he assumed was his duty by standing there and thanking everyone for coming and thanking everyone for their help with the wedding but he couldn't keep his eyes off of his fiancé. She was wearing the most beautiful, the biggest smile he had ever seen. She was so happy and he felt the exact same way. From across the room Janet turned and caught Eddie staring at her and her smile grew bigger and even more beautiful, something Eddie didn't think was possible and he couldn't help but smile back.
Fifteen minutes later everyone had left and Janet and Eddie were finally alone. Eddie wasted no time in wrapping his arms around his fiancé and kissing her. "God, I thought they would never leave." He said when they broke their kiss.
"That's just a preview of things to come tomorrow. I don't expect that we will be spending a lot of time together at the reception."
"I guess I can suck it up because after tomorrow I have you to myself for an entire week and that I can't wait for." They shared another kiss. "Are you ready?"
"Yes. We have a big day tomorrow."
"Yes we do." Eddie wrapped an arm around Janet's shoulders and the two of them walked out of The Johnson Inn. Once they got to Eddie's truck he opened the passenger door and Janet climbed in. They were following tradition and not spending the night before their wedding together. They weren't going to see each other until Janet came walking down the aisle so Janet was staying at Hannah's with her bridesmaids and Eddie was staying at their house. They rode together to the dinner and now Eddie was taking her to Hannah's.
The two of them spent an hour parked in Hannah's driveway, talking and kissing but mostly kissing. They hadn't spent a night apart since Hannah's faux wedding and they were quickly realizing how hard it was going to be to be apart tonight. "God I should go. I've got some stuff to do." Eddie finally mumbled.
"Stuff like what?" Janet was perfectly content staying and making out in the truck.
"Pack for our honeymoon."
"And write your vows."
"That's the easy part." He gave her a wink.
"If you don't want to write them, we can go with the traditional ones."
"I want to write them. "
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." With a soft smile he leaned over and kissed her. "I am so excited that tomorrow we will be husband and wife." He told her, tearfully when they broke apart.
"So am I."
"I love you Janet, so much."
"I love you too." They shared another kiss and when they reluctantly ended it Janet climbed out of the truck and once Eddie made sure she was safely inside, he left.
For the first time since they had gotten back together he was not wanting to go back to Janet's place or more accurately their home since he had officially moved in a couple of months ago. It was going to be incredibly lonely but it was probably a good thing that he was alone because he did have to write his wedding vows.
He had lied to Janet. Writing his vows was not the easy part. In fact he was really struggling with it. Over the past few months, he had sat down with a blank piece of paper and an hour later he was still looking at a blank piece of paper and it really bothered him. It was his idea to write their vows and now, he was stuck and it was so frustrating. He loved Janet, more than anything and he told her that on a daily basis but he was finding that he was having trouble actually putting down his feelings onto paper.
He got home and headed straight for the fridge for a beer and then for the paper. With the beer in hand he sat on the couch and began to let his mind work. He had so many feelings for Janet. He feels more for her than he has ever felt for another woman before, which is why he was marrying her so what he had to figure out was how to convert what was in his heart to a piece of paper for the whole world to hear or at least for the town of Knights Ridge to hear.
"Eleven years later and you are still the man." Janet commented as the two of them walked into the high school football stadium for the annual homecoming game. They weren't even at their seats yet and they or Eddie had been stopped numerous times.
"As soon as someone else makes a halfway decent play then I will be forgotten."
"You're hoping that won't happen aren't you?"
"Maybe a little. I do love the attention."
"I know you do." They eventually made it to their seats, after getting stopped a couple more times and as soon as they were settled they were joined by another old classmate.
"Mark Miller. What in the hell are you doing back in town?" Eddie asked his old friend as they shook hands.
"I never miss the homecoming game. I tried to find you last year but this joint was packed it's impossible to find anyone here. It's pure luck that I found you." Mark looked around at the crowd. "Remember when we were the ones out on the field, when we were the ones people came to see?"
"It was good times." Eddie glanced at the woman next to him. "Hey I would like for you to meet…"
"Look we should meet up at Sully's after the game? You know, catch up on old times and maybe pick up a couple of girls for old times' sake." Mark interrupted.
"I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate that last part but I'm more than willing to go to Sully's and grab a beer and catch up."
"Are you and Rory back together?" Mark never even acknowledged Janet sitting beside him. "I always knew you two were meant to be together." Eddie reached over and took Janet's hand.
"Mark, this is my girlfriend Janet Meadows. Janet this is an old friend, Mark Miller."
"Nice to meet you." Janet told him, ignoring the look of shock on his face.
"Yeah." Mark quickly turned his attention back to Eddie. "So I'm here until Sunday night so maybe we can get together tomorrow." Mark handed Eddie a business card. "Here is my cell. Give me a call."
"Sure." The two men shook hands and as Mark walked away Eddie ripped the card in half.
"Why did you do that?"
"That guy is an ass. He always has been and he obviously hasn't changed and I have no desire to be around someone like that." The game was finally starting and Eddie wrapped an arm around Janet, pulling her close to him.
During halftime Janet and Hannah made the mistake of going to the bathroom, which took forever because everyone else had the same idea. When Janet returned to her seat she found a tall busty brunette sitting in her seat. Instead of panicking like she would have done in the past she stayed calm and relaxed. In fact she smiled when she saw Eddie trying to ignore the woman sitting next to him and shrugging away from her every time she touched him. When Eddie looked at and saw Janet heading towards him to save him, a look of relief crossed his handsome features.
"And then my bathing suit top just fell right off." Janet heard the brunette saying and she just rolled her eyes.
"Excuse me." Janet said politely and the woman in her seat didn't even look up. She just moved her legs to the side, assuming that Janet just wanted to pass by. "Excuse me." Janet repeated and the girl turned to her.
"Do you mind? I'm having a conversation."
"Not there you're not. You are in my seat and I would like to sit back down. You are more than welcome to finish your conversation but you need to move." Eddie smiled proudly at his girlfriend. The brunette glared at Janet but got up anyways.
"Hey babe." Eddie leaned over and kissed Janet and the look on the brunette's face was priceless. It took everything that Janet had not to laugh.
"Well if things change you know where to find me."
"Things won't be changing." Eddie informed her.
"Let me guess; another notch on your bedpost?" Janet asked, somewhat bitterly.
"She's no one important. The only thing on my bedpost that matters is your bra." He told her with a grin but she didn't smile back. "Hey I got a huge kick out of the way you booted her from your seat."
"Yeah. I just love doing that." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and Eddie decided not to push her; not yet at least. He would wait until they got back to his place.
During the second half of the game there wasn't much conversation between the two of them. One reason was because the game was really good and they were concentrating on watching it and the second reason was Eddie knew Janet wasn't in the mood to talk. He knew that she wasn't mad, at least not at him but he knew that something was bothering her and hence it was bothering him.
Once they got back to Eddie's house, Janet greeted Pizza Girl, engaged in some idle chit-chat and then she headed up to Eddie's room with him following close behind her. Once he reached his room he closed the door, walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and Janet instantly responded by relaxing her body against his. Eddie moved her hair to the side and placed gentle kisses on her neck. "What's…going…on…sweetheart?" Eddie mumbled in between kisses.
"I don't want to…hmmm…do any…talking…right now." Eddie kissed up her neck and then suddenly pulled away.
"No sex until you tell me what's going on."
"Arrggh. You are so damn frustrating." Janet said with a grin. "It's really no big deal."
"Something is bothering you and therefore it's bothering me so talk babe." Eddie sat on the bed and patted the empty space next to him. With a glare, Janet sat next to him.
"It's not you or us for that matter."
"Well duh."
"It's me. I just lately…well actually most of my life, I just feel like I'm a nobody. When people look at me, they look over or through me not at me and it's always worse when I'm with you." She saw hurt flash across his face. "No sweetheart it's not you, well actually it kind of is. You are Eddie Latekka: the legendary Hail Eddie Latekka. Everyone wants to be around you or with you and when we are out together people practically swarm around you and ignore me. God, how many people came up to you tonight and they never acknowledged my presence until you forced them to. It's not that I care what people think about me because I don't. I only care about what you and my close friends think of me but when I am around them or the rest of the world I feel like a nobody and I'll admit that it bothers me."
"I need to tell you something very important." Janet nodded. "I totally get why you feel like you do. It pisses me off when people are rude to you but here is what I say to them. Screw them. These people, they have no idea what a wonderful person you are and part of me is happy about that because if "the world" knew how wonderful you are than some other bastard would probably be sitting here with you, well not actually here since this is my bedroom but you would have been scooped up a long time ago babe."
"Well in that case I am glad that "the world" didn't see what you saw because there is no one else I would rather be with."
"Janet, babe, to the majority of Knights Ridge you are just another person. When you go to the store, you are just another costumer, or when you pay your rent, you're just another tenant. When you go to a concert you are just another fan but those things, those people they aren't who is important. To your parents, you are their precious daughter. To your brother, you are his sister. To Sam, you are his beloved Janet. To Hannah, you are her best friend and to me, to me, you are my everything. You are the reason I wake up in the morning. You are the reason that I am totally complete. Janet Meadows you are my world."
Eddie got off of the bed and went to his dresser. After digging around in a draw for a minute he returned to Janet and knelt in front of her on one knee and took her left hand in his. "Janet I love you."
"I love you too." Janet's voice was shaking. She couldn't believe this was happening.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" Since they had gotten back together, Eddie knew that he was going to marry Janet and imagined proposing many times but this scenario; in his bedroom without a real engagement ring was not one that ever crossed his mind.
"Wow." Janet whispered. Before she answered she bent over and kissed him softly. "Yes Eddie. I will marry you." With a large smile Eddie slid his high school class ring onto her ring finger.
"I'm sorry that I don't have a real ring to give you. We'll go shopping and you can pick out any ring that you want."
"Any ring I want?" Janet asked with a grin and raised eyebrows. He knew she was kidding. He knew that she would never pick out a ten thousand dollar engagement ring but if she did he would get it for her.
"Any ring you want."
"I think that this ring is a little too big." Every time she dropped her hand down, the ring slid off her finger.
"I guess I didn't think this through." Eddie dropped to his knees and looked around the room and tried to figure out a solution. After a minute his eyes fell onto the necklace that Janet wore. As he stood up he removed the ring from her finger, stood up, leaned over her, mover her hair to the side, unclasped her necklace, slid the heart pendant off and slid his class ring onto the chain. "Is this okay?"
"It's perfect." Janet whispered over the lump in her throat. Eddie leaned over clasped the necklace back on and then brought his face down next to hers.
"You have just made me the happiest man in the world."
"Probably not. I'm sure that they are a lot more people that are happier than you are right now."
"Not. Possible." Eddie pressed his lips to his fiancé's lips and the two of them fell back onto the bed and celebrated their engagement.
Eddie was wearing a goofy smile as he remembered the night they spent in his bed consummating their engagement. It was a wonderful, magical, tender and totally hot night. As Eddie recalled that perfect night the vows that he wanted to share with Janet came to him. He knew exactly what he was going to say and he didn't even need to write them down. The words he needed had been in his heart the entire time, he just had to find them and now he couldn't wait to share them with the love of his life.
Eddie had heard that most men are nervous on their wedding day but he wasn't. He was perfectly calm and he knew that he was calm because he and Janet were meant to be. When "Here Comes The Bride" began to play, Eddie looked towards the back of the church and when the door opened and Janet stepped through, wearing a white gown, her arm linked with her father's arm, his heart skipped a beat and then began to pound furiously. He had never seen anything as beautiful as the vision in white walking towards him. When she was finally in front of him he noticed that the necklace she wore was the gold chain with her first engagement ring attached to it. His eyes met hers; he grinned and then found that he was unable to break their gaze.
"When you asked us to write and say our own vows I was shocked and so happy. Saying our own vows, to me, it's much more intimate. Eddie Latekka, I love you more than anything. You make me so happy and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you have made me. You were the first man who made me feel wanted, desired, loved and beautiful. I was finally able to be the woman that I was always meant to be. You believed in me like no one had ever believed in me before and because of that belief I was able to fully give my heart to you and you have treasured it." Eddie reached out and wiped away a solitary tear. "I promise you that I will never turn to another. You will always be my one and only. I promise to love, honor and cherish you, through good and bad times every day of my life. I love you Eddie Latekka."
"I told you this on the night we got engaged but I want you to hear it again. Janet you are the most amazing woman that I have ever known and I am so lucky that you agreed to go out with me. The day you said yes changed my life forever and led us here to our wedding day. You told me that the world doesn't see you but the world does see you. You are impossible not to be seen but the world doesn't see what I see. The world sees you as just another tip at the restaurant, another head of hair at the salon, another chicken salad sub at Murphs, another Bud Light at the bar, another patient at the doctor's office and another prescription at the pharmacy but not to me. When I see you I see the woman who always leaves a huge tip because you know how it feels to live off of tips. I see the woman who gets her hair cut every three months without fail. I see the woman who hates tuna and that's why you order chicken salad. I see the woman who only orders Bud Light because every other beer makes you sick. I see the woman who only goes to the doctor when she absolutely has to because she has tried every other home remedy that didn't work and I see the woman who hates to get medication from the doctor because you hate taking pills. Should I go on?" Janet shook her head. "The world is a huge place and you are just one of millions but Janet, to me, you are one in a million. To the world, you aren't important but then again no one is but to me Janet, you are my world and in my world you will always be the most important part of my world." This time Eddie had to wipe away his own tears. "I promise you that I will never turn to another. I promise to always love, honor and cherish you every day of my life and make sure that you know that you are the center of my world, the only world that counts."
"Now it's time to exchange rings." Janet and Eddie reluctantly let go of each other's hands and broke eye contact and they turned to Nick and Hannah to retrieve the rings and then with shaking hands, they placed the wedding bands on each other's ring finger. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You sir, may now kiss your bride."
"Finally." Eddie said happily just before his lips descended onto his wife's lips. Eddie didn't care that they were in a church in front of most of the town; he was feeling too much at this moment to hold back so he kissed the center of his world with more passion than he ever had before.
"Wow." Janet said breathlessly when they finally broke apart.
"I love you Mrs. Latekka, my beautiful wife." He whispered tearfully.
"I love you Mr. Latekka, my handsome husband."
This was done by special request of Happy Donut. If there are any other requests, please feel free to let me know.
By the way, I am going on vacation and I won't be able to update for awhile but I will update when I return in about a week.