Chapter 150
1727words
One time we played monopoly and somewhere in the middle of the game when I thought I had the upper hand noticed how he suddenly had so much money and property. He kept denying any accusations of him cheating, but he soon relented under my steel glare and confessed that he robbed a bank on his way. He didn't want to lose so badly that he stole from a toy bank!
My stomach had never hurt so much until that day. I couldn't hold back my laughter at how childish he was.
Next to that I have learned that he can't stomach broccoli, so whenever I was angry at him, made sure to prepare only broccoli filled dishes. His face would just blanch at the sight of the small green looking trees.
Like that, there were many other small things that I've learned and came to love about him. I think that our time together was so enjoyable and stress free because the matter of him being a contract killer was never brought up on the table again. We made a silent agreement that it wouldn't do us both any good to talk about it so we just avoid any conversations that contains the subjects, killing, stalking or Casper. Whenever Casper calls Mark to talk about work Mark would take the phone to a different room were my hearing has no reach.
I also got to meet his parents last week which was nerve-wracking. He said that his parents wanted to meet their future daughter-in-law so we booked a flight to Virginia. My nerves were consistently attacked by jitters and it only became worse the closer we got to our destination, but I soon learned that those worries were for nothing. His parents were the sweetest people ever. They received me with open arms and made me feel at home right away. I could see where Mark got his good looks from, but where he got his personality from was still a mystery.
My mind got racked with bewilderment whenever I saw Mark together with his parents, wondering to myself where it had gone wrong.
"Brandon, do you take Cherry to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, for as long as you both shall live?"
"Yes," Brandon answered to the priest with a bright smile that was aimed at Cherry who gazed dreamingly back in his eyes.
I was standing at the side, suppressing the tears of happiness from escaping while holding the colorful flowerily bouquet, wrapped in a white satin lint. Today was Cher's and Brandon's wedding. All the guest were seated in the church. On the right side sat Cher's family and on the left side sat Brandon's family. Mark was also here and sat at the front left side. His hair was styled back neatly wearing a dark navy-blue suit.
"Yes," Came the chocked voice of Cher who wasn't able to withhold her tears anymore as it was her turn to answer to the vows. Though crying, her dazzling smile shone through the stream of water coming out of her eyes.
"I pronounce you now as husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The priest standing behind the podium table announced with a benign smile on his face and Cher and Brandon did not wait a second longer to unite their lips for a passionate kiss.
Everybody clapped their hands, showing their support and happiness for the couple.
With her flowy white dress Cher walked down the aisle with Brandon at her side, holding each other's hands.
After the ceremony we moved the location to the venue. As the maid of honor, I gave a speech, unfolding Cher's dark past that received a stinky-glare from Cher but a bunch of laughter from the crowd. Soon after that Cher and Brandon held their first dance and now everybody is showing of their moves on the dance floor or they were eating from the buffet like me. Mark needed to go to the restroom and thus left me behind to be doomed as a wallflower. My back was perched against the wall while I was holding a plate filled with food. Stabbing the fork in the sausage I brought it to my mouth to take a bite of it as I scanned around the beautifully decorated room to see Cher making rounds to greet all the guest and thank them for coming.
Wondering where Brandon went looked around to see him talking with Mark, standing next to the buffet table. They both wore a serious expression as they were discussing something. Like a curious cat my eyebrows rose.
That's strange, I thought. They had never exchanged a word with each other before even after I had formally introduced Mark to Brandon. They didn't try to make any effort to get to know each other so why now?
Placing my plate of food on a random table I advanced slowly to where they were so that I could hear what they were talking about.
Mark was holding two glasses of red wine as he was listening to what Brandon was saying. When I saw that they were both going to look in my direction immediately hid myself behind one of the round blanket tables, crouching down while peeking my head over it.
I tried to strain my ears to catch anything but the foghorn music in the venue outweighed their voices and I couldn't hear anything. Brandon then stood closer to Mark, placing his hand on Mark's shoulder as he whispered something in his ear while wearing a malevolent smile on his face before leaving to go to where Cher was.
The sinister smile got replaced with a mellow smile when Cher turned around to look at him.
What was that all about? I wondered inwardly. I had never seen Brandon smile like that before and that gave me a foreboding feeling that something was greatly amiss. My mind went then back to that day when I still had no clue about Mark's identity. Didn't Mark mention something about Brandon being a player? I mean he did say that out of jealousy rage, but Mark isn't the type of person who would say something like that out of nowhere.
There was even a time that Cher suspected Brandon of cheating. It wasn't true of course, but what if? Glancing over my shoulder I casted an apprehensive stare at Brandon who was chatting happily with one of the guests, his arms secured around Cher's waist. It can't be, right?
"Are you enjoying your hide and seek?" Came the amused voice of Mark and I snapped my head back to gaze up at him. He was still holding the two wine glasses as his upper body hovered over the table to gaze down at me with a curious look.
"I've got you some wine," He handed me one of the red wines. I slowly rose up and received the wine, taking a sip from it.
"I can take us home if you're that bored for some better activities." He offered with a grin as he took a sip from his wine.
"I saw you talking with Brandon." I said to hear Mark chuckle. "Is that why you were hiding? You should just have come up to us."
I shrugged, "It seemed like you guys were engaged in a serious conversation. I didn't want to interrupt you." Gazing at my reflection in the wine I started to swirl it in my hand before flitting my eyes to Mark, eyeing him curiously. "What did you guys talk about?"
Mark's eyes drifted to look at Brandon before shifting his attention back to me, taking a sip from his wine, "Nothing interesting." His voice made it clear that it was anything but 'nothing interesting', causing me to furrow my brows.
"Is Brandon…cheating on Cher?" The words came out carefully in a small voice to make sure that no one else would overhear it, but the loud music made sure to obscure any sounds from my mouth.
At my question Mark silently blinked at me copiously before releasing a toe-curling laughter that released butterflies in my stomach. "God, if only that was the case." His body trembled from his laughter as he shook his head. "No love, the chances of him cheating on your friend is nihil." While still releasing some chuckles he took another sip from his wine.
"Then why did you say that he was and I quote "a fucking player" that one time?" I pressed to have Mark rub his chin thoughtfully before he answered, "That's because I saw him walk once with his sister, but I mistook her for his date."
Though his explanation was plausible I was still doubtful. Mark saw the skeptical look in my eyes and leaned in to capture my lips in a languid kiss that blew my suspicions away.
"Stop causing your head unnecessary aches and dance with me." He whispered lowly, taking the wine glass from my hand to place it on the table next to us together with his own wine. Taking my hand in his he guided me to the dance floor.
"I may break your feet with my missteps." I warned him as he wrapped my hands around his shoulder so that he could rest his hands on my hips as we swayed to the beat of the music.
"That's why I'm wearing steel plates in my shoes." He winked at me playfully. "We have to dance for our wedding too so now it's the time to practice and make mistakes."
I laughed. "I will make sure to use all my weight then."
