Finally an update! 100°F/37.78°C weather and staying inside or staying up late with my ice cream, popsicles and Dr. Pepper have really got me going. I swear I'm a-gonna cook up a load of updates before school starts. Or, for some people, should I say "s*#%$ " instead of…oh never mind.
"You didn't go to her?" Amelia still had a hard time accepting that. Jeffrey ignored his sister as he hung a tuxedo in an armoire. "And don't give me 'what's done is done'. I still don't forgive you; in fact I'd be more than happy to disown you."
"Amelia, dearest, you just don't around disowning people like flies." Her mother spoke up.
"Well, when I become a lawyer, I can." She returned. "So, who are you escorting down the aisle for tonight's rehearsal?"
"I don't know." Jeffrey spoke up. "Harold forgot to tell me, so I won't find out until tonight."
Tonight was the night before Harold and Allison's wedding. With Jeffrey being a groomsman and the Hawkinsons invited to the wedding, the family was staying at an inn for the night somewhere in Northampton. The wedding was going to be held outside at Racecourse Park, which was right beside the University campus. Not only was it the night before the wedding, but also the night of the rehearsal. Jeffrey had to be there in about twenty minutes.
One good thing about having a rehearsal outside in the summer is that the sun didn't set yet. It probably would be well on its way down by the time the rehearsal was over.
"Ah, Harold." Jeffrey greeted the groom-to-be and shook his hand. To his surprise, Harold pulled him into a half hug.
"Evening, Jeff." He smiled widely. "You ready for tonight?"
"I might as well be." Jeffrey shrugged.
"Great! Just what I wanted to hear." Harold gave his chum a light slug on the arm. "The party's over there. Just, you know, relax, have a chat or two, and when everybody else gets here, we'll get things started."
"Alright." He muttered, straightening up. He looked over at a trio of girls surrounding Allison.
"I swear, Ally," Emma over the ring on the bride-to-be's finger. "It's so gorgeous. He is one lucky guy, even though he's my brother."
"Lucky alright." Charlotte commented. "And one heck of a guy, too. You're lucky yourself."
"You really think so?" Allison asked as she blushed.
"Oh, we know so." Gretchen, Allison's older sister, answered smugly.
Meanwhile, Christopher arrived with one of the groomsman-bridesmaid pairs, Claude and Melanie.
"Okay," Allison spoke up, making herself take deep breaths. "Hey, Gretchen, what about Leisl?"
"Don't worry, sis." Gretchen replied. "I'll be at the end of the aisle when she and our ring bearer Ricky, Harold's second cousin, come down."
"Alrightie, ladies and gentlemen," Harold called to everyone's attention. "Let's get ready to go. You all know your places, so line up." The bridal party organized into two single-file lines. Getting in line, the distant genius and immigrant abruptly bumped into each other.
"Excuse me," Jeffrey apologized.
Charlotte didn't respond but looked up bravely at him. "Hello," She softly greeted
"Hello." He replied. A few seconds later after turning away and focusing on their part in the march-in, he asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm (clears throat) one of Allison's bridesmaids," She answered. "Next to the Matron of Honor, her sister Gretchen."
"Ah." I'm escorting her? Jeffrey's mind ran around in circles like gears on full-speed-ahead. Well, of course, yes; I saw her and Miss Hardy together quite a bit at college. Still, blast it! 'Serves me right for being shut up and not catching on or saying anything. Maybe that's a good thing. After all, this is their wedding, not mine.
Before everybody knew it, the rehearsal was over. While the boys left for a small bachelor party at the Weaver home, the ladies of the bridal party walked over to a not-far-away cafe for light chitchat and a few sips of champagne and bites of small sandwiches. Albeit, it was a pleasant night for the girls and the future Mrs. Weaver. Towards the end of the light festivities, Allison quickly went over to Charlotte.
"Oh, Charlotte!" She blurted quietly. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I totally forgot all about what happened between you and Jeff."
"Ally, calm down." Charlotte grabbed the bride-to-be's shoulders, ready to tame her emotions. "It's okay. It's gonna be fine. It'll only be for a few minutes. We'll link arms for only a minute; we won't even have to look at each other. You remember the dummies they use in movies, right?"
Allyson nodded and thought about the question. She giggled and broke out into a sweet chime-like laugh. Self-conscious, she cupped a hand over her mouth, still muffling her laughter.
"Jeffrey? A d-dummy? Oh golly. I hope no one heard that." She whispered. "Hopefully. I think we'd better get going back before it gets dark out."
"Alrightie, Al." The two friends hugged each other goodbye. "Enjoy your last night as Miss Hardy."
"Thanks much. Sleep tight, Charlotte."
The next day, in the afternoon…
Jeffrey fidgeted with the green necktie he wore. Yes, he was very experienced in many fields but a definite amateur in the field of tie-tying. Even though a good deal of it was under the shield of his black tuxedo jacket, it would still be pretty noticeable of what a screw-up job he had done. Putting the red rose from the left side of his chest and onto the tie would look even more ridiculous. "Blast it!" He whispered. Come on now…we don't have much time left.
"Need help?" A voice to his right asked. He turned around to face his American escort. She wore a spring green tea-cup style dress with her sleeves being only a matching silk shawl that covered half her upper arms. Her outfit matched the other bridesmaids' except that Gretchen wore a light yellow shawl instead of green.
"…Sure." He answered hesitantly. Upon leaving the bachelor shindig, he returned to his abode without saying a word about his unexpected encounter.
"So…how's your doctorate coming along?" She asked. She had already untangled the piece of fabric and was just about to finish up.
"Fine, I suppose. I should be able to graduate on time June 1959."
"That's good to know." She pulled the narrow end of the tie to a perfect fit. "There you go."
"Thank you." He mumbled so softly she couldn't hear when she turned away. Having watched her for the past two years since that shaking day, she had proven to be the same person she was before she was "American". Now, as his feisty sister had demanded, he had to complete the test. "What's happening with you?" He asked out of the blue.
"'What's happening with you?'" She thought, surprised yet a bit outraged. "Why would he care? I'm well on his list of hates and boy do I know it!" She turned to him. "Well, easy does it, Lottie. Let's give it a go." "I'm going back home, in Pennsylvania, next summer."
"Does that mean you're not coming back?"
"Sadistic. No, only for a little less than two weeks. It was a surprise gift for graduation."
"That's nice."
"So you're still staying with the Weavers, even though Harold won't live there anymore?"
"Yes."
"I'll be danned." She half-thought, half-muttered. "What in what brought that up?"
The slurred first notes of Pachelbel's Canon played by a small instrumental orchestra caught the bridal party's attention. Each member stood in a single or double file line, prepared for their part of the wedding. The party's debut was the groom escorting his mother down the aisle to the front pew. After he kissed her soft cheek, Harold stood off a short distance from the minister.
"Jeffrey," Charlotte whispered. "Great; he's gonna kill me! Well not exactly, but still, yikes!"
"Hm?" He looked at her.
"I'm sorry," She expressed. "About everything. For goofing up and making a fool out of myself , being the charlatan I was. Come to think of it, even my first and middle names sound almost exactly like 'charlatan'."
Leisl and Ricky began their seemingly long trod down the makeshift yet gorgeous aisle, fidgeting on the occasion when their stepping seemed off.
"You know what?" He spoke up, watching the youngest pair. "I'm sorry too." With those three words, his always high dignity hit rock bottom. "I'm sorry I let a few of life's mishaps misjudge you."
Claude and Melanie gracefully stepped their way toward the altar. They were running out of time.
"I was blinded by that and never realized until a short while ago that you really did admire what scientific works I showed you. And that the only thing you lied about was your nationality."
The third pair reached their position. Emma and James began their turn down the aisle.
"I forgive you, Charlotte. Will you forgive me?"
"I already do. I already have." They wrapped their arms around each other, joyful to be finally reunited as friends.
"We'd better get ready." He whispered, straightening his tuxedo jacket.
"Yes or 'Here comes the bride' will turn into 'Here comes the bridesmaid'." They linked arms and followed the thrice-trodden trail to the altar.
…six months later, February 1958…
"Soooo…" Amelia spoke up. "When you made up with Charlotte, did you mean it with all of your heart?"
"Amelia, will you ever stop?" Jeffrey asked. He sat down on the sofa and began writing furiously in a notebook. "Of course I did."
"Take a wild guess." She replied smugly and crossed her bare arms. "You seem to be yourself nowadays with the darling Lottie at your side." He didn't respond. "Well, are you?!"
Still receiving no response, she nonchalantly bent down towards her brother's book. She browsed past the scientific mumbo jumbo and stopped at a for-once-in-his-life note written in his slick, suave handwriting:
"Campbell Residence: 748 Redding Way, Hatfield. August 18, 9:00 AM sharp."
Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets and she squealed, nearly screaming. Laughing hysterically, she threw her arms around his neck like a feather boa. "You madman, you!" She cried, constantly kissing his cheek. "I love you so much I could eat you up! I swear up and down you're the best brother in the world!"
Jeffrey, a bit uncomfortable in her clutches, rolled his eyes. Now she admits it.
"Oh, man alive!" She shrieked. "You get to go to America?! You lucky dog! Man alive! You're the luckiest person on Earth!"
I've got relatives in Pennsylvania that I really want to visit. Hopefully I will pretty soon and take the chance to see New Hope. And I might (next summer hopefully) get to see the world around my story. My family's planning to go to Scotland, my ancestral crib, and maybe Ireland and England if things work out. Heh heh heh, I'm sure I can finish this story before I go.