Chapter Three

They were in the car on the way back from town. They had been to six different wedding boutiques and he lost count of the number of dresses Nicole had tried on. She was in the back seat next to Ella, they had picked up more wedding magazines than he thought existed and were looking at them marking the pages of the dresses they liked.
Miles sat in the front beside him, he was awake but cautioned not to speak to him. Every so often the other man chuckled.
"I warn you, shut up." Roman muttered. "I want you never to mention it again!"
Miles burst out laughing, unable to control it anymore.
"It was funny!" he defended himself.
Roman shifted gears with an audible crunch sound coming from the engine. All he wanted to do was get home and put on different clothes and go for a long run along the beach. Ella had not drunk one drop of Champagne in all the shops they had been in and kept looking at little girls bridesmaid dresses every time he turned around. And for Gawd's sake why did they come in Baby sizes? It wasn't like a baby could actually be a bridesmaid. She kept lifting them off the racks and "cooing" over them. He felt his collar grow tighter with each time she did it.
Then Nicole seemed to be unable to stop talking. As in she hadn't shut up the whole time. And it was things like which cake would go with this dress or that dress? What shoes she needed? How high the heels would be? How could she dance in it?
He asked himself again. 'How could a cake influence a dress choice?'
When he'd said as much out loud they'd both looked at him like he was some sort of idiot and said that the cake should reflect the bridal outfits. For example if there were a ruffle in the icing on the cake but not in any outfits it would be a miss-match.
He'd shaken his head then and he shook it now.
And as for Miles being a friend. Where was he when he had to try on the suits? Why didn't he back him up when he'd said that he wouldn't wear top hat and tails? No, the other man had laughed. And then to add insult there was the incident.
Maurice had come sidling up to him and measured, MEASURED the bicep in his left arm, telling him that he didn't know if he had a suit in his size, and could he just flex a bit and see just how big it went. Followed by much humming and hawing before Maurice finally said "I suppose we could make a Jacket in his size."
Oh yeah, today had been a laugh riot and if he didn't get home and out for that run then he was liable to punch someone.
"You want to be careful changing gears like that, you'll wear them out, perhaps you shouldn't flex your muscles so much!" Miles said with a laugh.
Roman glanced at him with narrowed eyes which only made Miles laugh harder.
Turning his attention back to the road he increased his speed to get home quicker.

Geoff picked up the phone before he changed his mind and dialled the number that Nicole had given him. After three rings it was answered.
"Hwello" came a little girl's voice from the other end, somewhere across the other side of the country.
Geoff nearly dropped the phone in shock before he heard coming form the background at the other end, "Give Daddy the phone sweetie!"
"Hello" Geoff said.
"Hey!" Aden said. "What can I do for you Bible boy?"
Geoff laughed.
"Well I have something to ask you!" Geoff started to explain.
He was interrupted by the little girl's voice in the background shouting.
"I wanna talk Daddy!"
"Er… Geoff would you mind having a chat with my daughter, she's got a thing about phones at the moment and if we don't let her chat on them she…" he paused. " S" Aden spelled out.
"Er Sure!" Geoff said.
Then thought. 'What the heck do I talk to a kid about?'
"Hwello." He heard.
"Hello. How are you?" Geoff said formally.
"Ah, I is good." The little girls lisped. "I is Amy-belle."
"Amy-belle is a beautiful name for a princess." Geoff thought mention of princesses should keep all little girls happy, It certainly worked when he called Nic a princess.
"Tell me story of Amy-Belle Princess!" he was suddenly ordered and his mind went completely blank.
"Er… she was blonde and she had blue eyes and she had a daddy who looked a bit like her." He improvised. "And she liked to eat cheese." He continued looking at the sandwich he'd made for his dinner.
"Nice like me," he was told. "Gotta go mummy has 'ghetti now." She hung up the phone and he was left with a disconnected buzz in his ear.
He pulled the phone away and was about to hit redial when it rang.
"Thanks for that Bible boy!" Aden said. "When she starts screaming it lasts for about an hour and the neighbours can hear it." Aden chuckled. "And they live five miles away!"
"It's alright." Geoff said distractedly. A child could scream that loud? He thought.
"What can I do for you?" Aden asked. "And don't worry I'm in my office, the kids aren't allowed in here so I can talk without you have to finish the princess story."
"You had it on speakerphone didn't you?" Geoff groaned.
"Of course!" Aden said with a laugh.
Within moments Geoff saw the funny side and joined in with the laughter.
"I want to ask you a favour." Geoff said.
"Sure." Aden replied. "No problem. Anything."
"You don't know what it is yet!" Geoff protested.
"Doesn't matter. What do you want?"
"I want you to be my best man." Geoff blurted.
"Are you serious?" Aden said stunned.
"Of course. I'm always serious, you should know that by now."
"Well you know that Nic and I…" Aden trailed off.
"Yes. And I know why. I'm not worried about that." Geoff said softly.
"Wow!" Aden murmured. "Wow!" he said again.
"You are Belle's husband and sort of my brother-in-law." Geoff explained.
"Geoff," Aden began using his name and not the Bible boy nickname. "Mate, I would be honoured to be your best man. And I know just the thing to say to liven up the best man speech."
Geoff laughed.
"Alright Aden!" he murmured.
Just then his phone beeped indicating an incoming call.
"Look I'll send you some details nearer the time I have to go I have call waiting."
"And it's probably Nic!" Aden said.
"Usually is!" Geoff confirmed.
They cut the connection and he answered the other call.
"Hey hun" Nicole dulcet tones came through.
"Hello Babe. You're the second Princess I've spoken to tonight!"
"Well I better be the only Princess you're thinking of Marrying!" Nicole huffed.
"Thinking off Princess?" Geoff asked. "I will be marrying you and I don't want any argument about it!"
Nicole laughed.
"Well I won't bore you with all my yak about the dresses I saw today," she said. "But I will tell you a funny story about my Dad!"
Geoff picked up his sandwich and took it over to the sofa. He sat down and sank back amongst the pillows and took a bite.
Nicole told him all about Maurice at the first boutique and Geoff started laughing so much he thought his head was going to fall off. He sat gasping for breath on the sofa. His sandwich discarded on the table in front of him.
"We need to talk about this wedding stuff, Nic." He said when they had both sobered.
"I know." she sighed. "I keep telling myself to calm down but then I think about the veil or shoes or the cake and I'm a bridezilla again."
He sighed.
"I love you Nic. " he said softly.
"I love you too." She told him back. "I did see the sexiest lace underwear today." She teased him in an ultra sexy voice.
"uh huh!" he murmured.
"Would you like me to tell you more?" she asked, her voice going even huskier.
"Nic, are you trying to distract me form the Bridezilla thing?" he asked.
"Is it working?" she said with a chuckle.
"No." he replied.
"Oh well!" she laughed again. "Just call me Bridezilla and I promise not to mention anything about the wedding for at least an hour. Now are you going to eat that sandwich or not because I'm starving."
Geoff looked up in surprise at the door.
She clicked the phone shut.
"I was talking to you and I suddenly missed you." She confessed.
"Oh Nic!" He stood and opened his arms. She ran into them and they kissed. His lips were warm and tender, but she knew he was passionate! She thought with a smile.