Once upon a time I had given up hope that good things could happen to me…
Really good things.
But as the doors of the chapel open up to let in the radiant sun and her, I realize that everything I want is right there at the end of the petal-covered aisle, in a dreamy dress that makes me think of a field of flowers, a hammock swaying lightly in the breeze, a lazy summer day in a French village. She is the girl of my dreams, my answer, my whole world. I watch her face light up as she walks confidently, a princess claiming her kingdom, and my heartbeat dances. It is finally happening. This woman with her beautiful mind and gorgeous body and infectious smile is about to become mine. Her smile slips for a second and I follow her gaze to the middle of the room to some guy. He’s a nobody, someone she cheated with early in our relationship. I knew, and it was over almost before it started.
It is the only time she ever cheated. I made sure.
It is good to know that I know everything about her, all her secrets, just the way it should be. I should have him escorted out after the ceremony however, just because I can. I dismiss him and turn my attention back to her. She really is beautiful, and I knew from that first day I met her that I would do anything I could to make her mine. And here we are. It feels like everything is finally going to be alright. She steps up beside me and squeezes my hand as we face the priest.
The priest smiles at us and pats our shoulders. I cringe inwardly. I do not like priests....
"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God..."
God. Yeah right. For me, there has only been one reason ever to get married. God has nothing to do with it. Or maybe he does. Meeting her when I did was definitely a miracle.
My best friend had talked about his beautiful, spoiled little rich princess friend forever. At first, I thought he had a thing for her, he could never shut up about all the things she did while they were in high school, and all the time she was in her private college far away. But he insisted over and over that she was not his type, and was too quick to shove us together that first day at his apartment. Just the miracle I needed...
No one here knows that I am the Black Sheep of my family. The Fallen Heir. The disgraced son. Only my mother's pleading and my father's pride have prevented it from becoming a national scandal. I could just picture the headlines: "Oil Magnate's Son disowned and banished from Family Business" "Family Secrets: What Really Happened Abroad?"
Luckily, I have been spared the public humiliation. But as much as we present a united front to the world, my father has ensured that I will have to depend on him for as long as he lives or face the world with all that I have done, with no hope of ever having the kind of money I am accustomed to. The money that is my birthright. How I hate the sanctimonious bastard!
Sure, I made some mistakes; I got caught up, I did some dangerous things. That's what young men do. The drugs are only for fun, an escape to free my head of the tediousness of too many years of school. At first the arrests were minor, overnight. A bar fight here, a drunken misdemeanor there. A warning phone call from the old man, a tearful, pleading visit from mother dearest. Always, the news was covered up quickly, the records quietly buried. Until that one night. I still swear he was alive when I left him on the sidewalk, bloody and whimpering. But the cops showed up later at my condo with warrants and handcuffs: Everyone had heard me threaten to kill him. Everyone saw me beat the crap out of him. No one saw him move after I left. Manslaughter. I got 7 years because my father got the best lawyers money could buy, and served 4 years for being the best-behaved inmate anyone ever met. But it was too late. He had cut me off, without him I was as good as a pauper. No education, living under his roof and taking scraps from his lofty table, a hired “son”.
So, I had to marry a princess, someone with an empire waiting to be taken over. The first few did not work out. They always ran, saying I was too angry, too violent. And then her. The first-born daughter of one of the few men whose wealth could rival my father's. He would need a capable son-in-law, and I vowed I would be that man. It was not hard to explain away my spotty past; our family has holdings in many corners of the world and it only made sense I would be off getting a true education in business. My family would never reveal their secret, and the truth was too far-fetched for anyone who wasn't looking to imagine... It was a whirlwind romance, but who could blame us? I am a man in love. She is smitten. Her sappy parents are happy. My family is relieved and too eager to help me at my game. Everybody wins...
"Now, if anyone knows of any reason why these two should not be joined together in Holy Matrimony, speak now, or forever hold your peace..."
I scoff. Who would dare mess with me now? Until I hear the words, barely above a whisper, "I DO"
I turn around with a murderous glare in my eyes...
Coming up: Our Family Wedding III (Best Man)
