The reluctant invitation

Marissa quickly dialled the number before she changed her mind. She'd decided that she was just going to be up front and straight forward and her mother could either come or not. Marissa didn't care either way. At least not that she was prepared to admit to.

"Hello?" Julie answered.

"Mom." Marissa replied recognising the American accent immediately.

"Marissa? It's … it's " Julie didn't know what to say. She was very pleased that Marissa had returned her call from Friday but she didn't want to say the wrong thing and upset this very precarious connection that they had made and have her daughter hang up on her.

"Yeah . I know." Marissa said cutting Julie off. She didn't want to get into some long and heartfelt discussion with Julie at this point. She knew it would have to happen sometime … but right now the most important thing was to get the invitation over and done with before Ryan got back. She knew that he wouldn't be long so she was just going to have to come straight out with it. "Don't get too excited. I still haven't forgiven you but I am at least trying."

"Thank you." Julie replied.

"It's probably better that you thank Ryan. Without him it would never have happened. But that will have to come later. Sit down." Marissa instructed.

"What?" Julie asked surprised by Marissa's terse manner.

"You heard me sit down." Marissa replied. "Are you sitting?"

"Yes." Julie replied wondering what was to come.

"I'm about to give you some information that is completely confidential."

Julie's heartbeat started to quicken. All she could think of was that Marissa was pregnant. It would make sense of their rush to get married. But she didn't know if she was ready to accept the thought of that yet. She had barely come to terms with the idea of Marissa being married.

"The only people on this earth that know it are people that I would trust with my life. If any of it leaks out to the press then I will know that it is because of you and I will never … repeat N E V E R … talk to you again, whether my husband wants me to or not."

Julie was stunned. She didn't know if she was supposed to reply or not. She'd never heard Marissa sound so definite about anything before in her life.

"Do you understand?" Marissa asked.

"Yes." Julie replied meekly.

"Okay … but I'm warning you, if you divulge this information to anyone then we are over. For good."

"I understand."

Marissa hesitated … she still wasn't completely sure that this was such a good idea but after her talk with Ryan about family she knew that she had to try. "Okay … so … I am organising a second wedding for us next weekend."

"You're what?" Julie asked flabbergasted.

"You heard. But it's a surprise for Ryan. If you do anything to spoil it, I will never forgive you." Marissa said. "And I promise you … THAT … is a solemn vow."

"I understand." Julie said. And then qualified her statement. "I don't really understand why you are having a second wedding but I promise that I won't tell anyone about it."

Marissa considered what her mother had said and then proceeded on. "Our wedding in Las Vegas … " Marissa started and then hesitated unsure of just how to explain things. She didn't want her mother getting the wrong idea. "Was great. But unfortunately … because we were trying to keep it all quiet … we missed out on having some important people present."

"Do you mean …?" Julie asked almost daring to think that Marisa may have been referring to her.

Marissa realised what her mother was hoping for and still couldn't help herself but to have a dig at her mother. She may have been prepared to give her a chance but she certainly hadn't forgiven her yet. "I mean the Cohen's … and our friends." Marissa replied.

"Oh. Of course." Julie said completely deflated.

"And it's put Ryan in an awkward situation with his family. So I'm organising this as a surprise for him. The Cohen's are all coming and so are some of our closer friends." Marissa explained. "And I guess …if you want to … you can come to." Marissa said. She knew that it wasn't exactly a gracious and heartfelt invitation but it was all she could manage at this point; the memory of the pain that her mother had caused them still too fresh in her heart and mind.

Much as Julie wanted to say no because the invitation sounded so forced … she also knew that if she did say no then Marissa would probably never give her another chance again. And she certainly wasn't ready for that and so she answered softly. "Of course … I'd love to come."

"Will Dan come with you?" Marissa asked.

"Is he invited?" Julie said not wanting to presume anything. She knew that this connection with her daughter was precarious. She didn't want to risk upsetting it for anything. She knew that her depression since Friday … when she had spoken to Marissa and she had confirmed that she and Ryan were in fact married …had been more about missing her only child's wedding than the fact that she had actually married Ryan. She had been resigned to that happening since she had returned from Newport. And in fact, not that she was quite ready to admit it publicly … but she thought that he would make Marissa very happy. But the thought of having hurt Marissa so much that she had gone ahead and excluded her own mother from her wedding was what had hurt her the most. But it looked like she was being given a second chance. And she intended to take it … with both hands.

Marissa was surprised by the question. Julie really was scared of doing anything that would upset the status quo that they had reached. "Of course." She smiled to herself thinking about the fact that her mother seemed to actually be a little scared of upsetting her for once. It made quite a change. She couldn't help but think that it just showed that there was a first time for everything.

"Then we'd love to attend." Julie replied.

"Don't you think that you should ask him first?" Marissa suggested.

"He knows how much you mean to me. There is no way that we would miss it." Julie assured her.

"Okay. Just make sure that I don't regret asking you." Marissa said. "And lay off my husband." Marissa said wanting to make sure that Julie didn't start on at Ryan as soon as she saw him. Julie had never liked Ryan but there was no way that Marissa would allow her to upset their wedding.

Julie swallowed thickly. Surely Ryan hadn't said anything to Marissa about their little meeting at the Mermaid Inn? If he had then she didn't think that anything would have convinced Marissa to talk to her again. And she knew that Ryan would be able to hold the knowledge of just what she had been prepared to do over her head if she ever tried anything with either of them again. "I promise that I'll be perfectly well behaved." Julie replied.

"You'd better." Marissa threatened still with some misgivings.

"Just tell me where and when?" Julie asked.

Marissa gave her mother the details and even told her where she was allowed to stay. There was no way that she could stay at the same hotel as Ryan and Marissa. She couldn't take the chance of Ryan running in to someone they knew before the ceremony. All of the guests were staying at another hotel run by friends of Cathy and Tony's that was close by.

"So I'll see you on Saturday." Marissa said about to hang up.

"Marissa?" Julie said causing Marissa to hesitate.

"Yeah?"

"Is there anything I could do to help?" Julie asked wanting to volunteer her services. She had always imagined that she would be the one organising Marissa's wedding not that she would be attending as a reluctantly invited guest.

"No. It's all under control." Marissa replied and then felt a little bad. "But thanks for asking."

---

Julie replaced the telephone and then went to find Dan who was working in his study.

He glanced up as she walked in to the room and he was surprised by the smile on her face. It seemed like it had been a long time since he seen her do that. "You're looking pleased about something." He commented.

"I just got off the phone from Marissa." Julie stated. "She called me." she added just to make sure that he realised just how momentous an occasion it was.

"Well did she?" Dan asked and couldn't help but smile at the change in his fiancé. It was good to see Julie finally starting to lighten up. Obviously whatever the problems were between Julie and Marissa were what had been causing her moods and depression.

"Yes. And we're going to Venice for the weekend to …" Julie started and was about to tell him why but then thought better of it. She had promised Marissa that she would keep the wedding totally confidential and she doubted that Marissa expected her to keep it from Dan. But … Dan had a marketing and PR company. The temptation for him to have someone there to cover the event would be enormous. It would be worth a fortune. And she couldn't risk it. She wasn't prepared to put her relationship with Marissa in jeopardy for anything.

"To?" Dan prompted her as he waited for her to continue.

"… To meet up with Ryan and Marissa." Julie finished.

"I thought that they were going to come here? Or we could have gone to Paris if they preferred. Why are we going all the way to Venice?" Dan asked.

Julie thought quickly and then replied. "I guess that she wanted to meet on neutral territory. Or maybe she's there for work. I'm not sure. But I said that we'd be there. If you don't want to go then I'll go on my own."

Dan was surprised. Julie had shown no initiative for weeks now. To think that here she was suggesting that she would do anything on her own was amazing in itself. "No. I'll be there. I'm keen to meet Ryan. From what I can tell … He seems like an exceptional guy."

Julie thought about the fact that it seemed that it was Ryan that had convinced Marissa to give Julie another chance. She smiled and replied. "You have no idea."