"You have the key to my heart, love me forever, we will never part." Valerie read aloud.
"So romantic." Chris sighed.
"Not much of a poet." Valerie said refolding the note.
"It's the notion that matters." Chris smiled.
"So now all we have to do is find this guy." Valerie said. "What do we do?"
"What can we do? Go to the wedding chapel and find out if they remember you and this guy." Chris said as they got off the bed.
Valerie cast a look at the bracelet on the bed. She didn't know whether or not to take it or not. She started to move toward the door but at the last second she pocketed it.
"What if they don't recognize me? They must have thousands of people go through there." Valerie said.
"Don't worry. I think you are a fairly memorable bride." Chris said as they made their way out of the room.
"I was afraid of that." Valerie sighed as she locked the door.
Happy Acres Wedding Parlour
The Happy Acres Wedding Parlour was across the street from the hotel. The location gave large hints about how easy it was to stagger in wasted, or not, and get married and have a nice hotel room available. The sign on the front of the pasty pink building indicated a deal with the hotel, a certain price got you married, a room and dinner for two days. Chris's mouth watered at the thought of a lusicous buffet when Valerie warned it could be like a continental breakfast, the basics, and not much of it.
"And it will taste like cardboard." Valerie warned.
"Your breakfast didnt taste liike cardboard." Chris said.
"I think it was a special order. There was enough for two." Valerie remembered.
"Yes, but I somehow doubt they thought your husband would not be around to eat. I got it instead. Poor chump." Chris laughed.
"Hey!" Valerie said pretending to be deeply offended. "You are talking about the total and complete stranger which I am married to."
"Sorry." Chris apologized.
"Thats ok. Another remark like that and you don't get the pineapple I saw in the fruit basket." Valerie warned as they approached the front door of the chapel. It was like a door to a cathedral, but half the size.
"There was pineapple? I love pineapple." Chris smiled.
Valerie shook her head at her friend and opened the door. A bell rang as she did so. It played to the tune of Here comes the bride.
"Aw cute." Valerie snarked as a man came out of a small office door. He was about four feet tall and mexican. "You gotta be kidding me."
"Hola." The man said.
"Oh man do you got to be kidding me." Valerie looked at Chris. She smacked her hand against her forehead in a "heaven help me" gesture.
"Do you know who Valerie Parker married last night?" Chris asked the short mexican man. "Can you look it up?"
"no hablo ingl�s, se�ora, qu� usted desean?" The man said quickly.
"That figures." Valerie crossed her arms. "He doesn't speak english. How convienent."
"I think he said he doesnt speak english." Chris said.
"Like that was obvious. I thought you took spanish in high school." Valerie pointed out.
"I did. I dropped out the second day to I could join choir class. There was a cute linebaker in it." Chris blushed.
"I don't think this is going anywhere." Valerie said as she turned and left. "Lets see where the guys are."
After Valerie left a man in a suit same door the other man came out.
"Where are they going Miguel?" He asked him.
"Beats me boss." The man said. They both turned on their heels and went back into the office.
"The Music Room"
Mike and the guys had only rehearsed two songs, "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and of course "Valleri" when Elijah and the band they were touring with, Riverbend, decided to crash their rehersal. Elijah had nervously looked around for Valerie or Chris in case she felt like slugging him in the gut again. After about five minutes of his paranoia the guys left the band to get wasted on the contents of a mini bar they just happened to have along for the ride.
"Does he sing better sober or drunk?" Mike mused as they took their instruments off the stage.
"We've never been around him sober long enough to tell." Micky said. "He always smells like rancid mouthwash."
"Where were you guys today?" Mike asked the trio as they left the "Music Room" club section of the hotel. "It took you an awful long time to get here. You guys also mysteriously disapeared when you went to look for Val and Chris at the flea bag hotel."
"You didnt miss nothing. The owner of the place seemed mad at his kid for having a party. Course the kid claimed he didnt do a thing." Davy rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, never trust anyone under four feet high." Micky suppressed a chuckle.
"I am over four feet high! I truly am, guys." He said. "I am even taller in me riding boots."
"Since when do you go riding?" Peter asked. "We rarely see you around a horse."
"I did a lot of stuff before I came to America." Davy protested as they met Valerie and Chris on the walkway on the side of the hotel. "Right girls?"
"I never know what the sam hell that guys talking about." Valerie smirked.
"Okay, yeah, whatevah." Davy waved her off.
"That was a short rehearsal." Chris observed. A loud clatter was heard. Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound. "And I think we know why."
"Elijah and the guys hijacked our space." Peter said. "Elijah is actually afraid of Chris now."
"He better be. I can soften him up a little more of Valerie wants me to." She smiled at her friend.
"No." Valerie said. She then tilted her head to the side and thought for a moment. "Well..."
"Sorry, once in a lifetime offer. You will never get it again." Chris poked her in the shoulder.
"Rats." Valerie said. "Where are you guys going?"
"We have the whole afternoon free now. We could go to one of the casinos and blow what money we do have." Mike offered.
"No." Chris said.
"Davy saw a game center near the hotel. Its got a baseball batting cage." Peter mentioned.
"Baseball, since when have you ever played baseball?" Davy asked.
"All the time, when you go on dates." Micky informed him. "What do you think we sit on our butt all the time and wait for you to come back?"
"I thought that is what we did do." Peter said.
"Shaddup Peter." Micky "lightly" tapped his friend on the shoulder.
"I could do baseball." Valerie said bringing the conversation back to where it should be.
"I don't know anything about baseball. What does a shortstop do?" Chris asked as they walked toward the "game center".
"He plays tambourine." Mike cracked.
"Hey!" Davy said. "I play maracas too."
"Good one though, Mike." Micky laughed. He grabbed an unsuspecting Chris by the hand. "Beat you there, come on Chris!"
Chris yelped as she was pulled along the path to the game center. It had some table games, and some kind of racing game as well as a baseball batting area. Instead of a batting cage though, Valerie noticed, there seemed to be a small scale baseball diamond.
"Wow." Chris said as they looked at the field.
Valerie and Chris looked at the field. The boys, except for Mike who was paying at the main office, joined them.
"What happened with the wedding place?" Micky asked Valerie.
She shrugged. "It was a bust, the guy that was there only seemed to speak spanish."
"Typical." The guys chorused.
"Show them the thing." Chris said.
"The thing?" Valerie echoed.
"The thing, show em the thing. You know, the thing." Chris nudged her.
"If this is gonna get personal I'm gonna get a sandwich." Peter said so quicky no one was sure he actually said it.
"Its okay Peter." Valerie took the charm bracelet out of her pocket. "The man I married left this in a basket of fruit and flowers in my room." Valerie said dangling the bracelet in front of them.
"Wow." Peter intoned.
"I know." Micky said. "What kind of fruit?"
Valerie scowled at them. She then turned and stuck the bracelet into her pocket as Mike came over to them.
"We're all set. We can play one inning of baseball. There is six of us so there is three for each team." Mike said.
"Now the heartbreaking part, who gets to choose." Peter said. "I always get picked last."
"I solved that." Mike said. "I already made up the teams. Valerie and Micky are on my team and Davy and Chris are on Peters team."
"Oh boy, I'm a captain." Peter said with a glow to his eyes. "Course I didnt pick but then again I think I wouldnt have done any differently."
The guys made their way to the baseball diamond. There were already bats and balls and other baseball goodies provided by the game center. It was a pretty good sized diamond but probably half the regulation size. The game center had probably only been there a year, and the area started to build up around the game area. It wouldnt have a good chance to expand now if it wanted to.
Mike and Valerie went over by the bats. Valerie picked one up and started to swing it around. Mike went over to her and helped her with her stance.
"This way you won't tip over when you swing the bat." Mike explained.
"I think I will be fine now." Valerie said as she started to swing the bat.
"And correct your grip," Mike said as she started the swing. "it looks a little..." the bat suddenly went flying out of her hand and flew halfway across the diamond. "loose." Mike finished.
Valerie helplessly watched the path of the flying bat. It was flying end over end up through the air. After being airborne for a couple of seconds it descended and picked a target. Unfortunately the target turned out to be Chris's face. The bat, at almost full force, clobbered the side of her face. Chris went down. Davy and Peter ran to her aid. Valeries hands flew to her face.
"Oh my god." She started to run over. Micky ran out of the cage in search of some ice. "Oh god. I'm sorry." She reached Chris's side.
Lucky for her the bat didnt knock her out cold, but left a sizable welt on the left side of her face. "I'm sorry. Oh god, I hope I never have to teach baseball to any child or husband of mine."
"Thats okay." Chris said. "You might have to teach that husband of yours something though." She seemed to be a little loopy, probably not knowing what she was saying.
"Husband?" Mike asked.
"Yeah." Chris said groggily. "Valeries already promised to someone."
"What is she saying?" Mike looked at Valerie.
"She just got clobbered. Would you make sense if you were clobbered?" Valerie said with one hand out.
Micky laid some ice on the left side of Chris's face. It was already starting to turn an unattractive shade of purple. Valerie put her hand on Chris's shoulder. She then turned to Mike not realising he was still looking at her.
"Okay, fine, we might have to talk about something. But first lets get her back to the hotel." Valerie said as they helped Chris to her feet.
"But don't you have a hotel room at flea bag USA?" Mike asked.
"Thats part of the story." Valerie said looking down. "Its a long story."
"This I can't wait to hear." Mike nodded.
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