You Belong To Me
Chapter
Six
(Next day... Wedding rehearsal)
Belle sat on the front pew in the church smack dab in between Mimi and Phillip.
She sat in silence and watched Brady, Chloe, the priest discuss a few last
minute details. Mimi and Phillip were jabbering on about the latest Julia
Roberts movie, leaving Belle silent and confused.
"Don't you think she's getting a little old to play the romantic leading
lady?"
Mimi groaned and rolled her eyes. "Old? She's not that old, Phillip... And,
she still looks just as good as she did 10 years ago."
"That's not what I meant... I'm just saying, she's not getting any
younger."
Belle rolled her eyes and slouched down even further in her seat. "And
neither are we..."
Shawn had been sitting on the other side of Phillip and muttered quietly,
"No kidding..."
Mimi looked towards the bride and groom to be and shrugged her shoulders.
"Can't be much longer now... We do have dinner reservations, don't
we?"
Phillip nodded. "Seven o'clock at Tuscany..."
Shawn continued, "And plenty of mouths to feed..."
Belle glanced at her watch nervously. "Yeah, well, they better get this
show on the road or Timekeeper-Chloe will have an aneurysm. You should have seen
her earlier when she thought they had the wrong number of chairs delivered for
the reception."
Mimi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I thought we were going to have to hose
her down."
The other three on the pew laughed out loud, and Belle looked at Mimi strangely.
"Well, that's one way to put it, Meems."
Mimi shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm just saying... she was acting crazy...
that's all."
Chloe turned from her pow-wow with the priest and tried to grab the attention of
everyone. "Alright, it's time to get this thing started. You all know where
you're supposed to be, so we're just going to do a quick run-through and head
over to the restaurant."
Everybody sat up and grumbled quietly. Shawn and Phillip stood at the altar with
Brady, and Nancy, Marlena, John, Hope and Bo took seats in the pews. The rest of
the group made their way to the back of the church and got in line. Jack and
Abby sat down, while Jennifer carried Ali to the back of the church. Jennifer
handed Ali an empty basket and kneeled down to give her instructions.
Ali looked at the basket strangely and then looked back at her mom. "Mommy,
there's no flowers in the basket. How am I supposed to practice without my
flowers? I'm the FLOWER girl."
Jennifer smiled at her and nodded. "Don't worry, Ali. There will be flowers
tomorrow, we just didn't want to have to clean them up tonight."
JT walked over and grabbed Ali's tiny hand. "Don't worry, Ali. I'm supposed
to be the ring bearer, but Brady wouldn't put the ring on there. He said I might
lose it before tomorrow."
Ali shrugged and decided to go along with JT. "Okay, then... You guys act
like you know what you're doing, so I'll just listen to you."
Jennifer laughed and ran back into the church to sit with her family. Belle
looked at Mimi and laughed too, "She's like four going on forty, that
kid."
The music began and Mimi tapped JT and Ali on the shoulders to go ahead. The two
kids nearly ran down the aisle until Jennifer yelled, "SLOWER...
please." They paused and resumed a more normal pace until they reached the
altar. Mimi went next, and Belle followed. Belle made her way down the aisle
just as instructed and stood on the bride's side facing Shawn. The music changed
and Chloe entered, escorted by Craig.
Belle smiled as she watched Chloe rehearse for what was going to be the happiest
day of her life. But, as she looked at Shawn again, the echo of something Mimi
had said the day before still echoed in her head. "Hey, isn't this the same
gate where..."
*****FLASHBACK*****
(The day after the previous flashback, 2002)
Belle stood at the gate flanked by her best friends, all of them but one. She
sighed softly and looked towards where the entrance was, hoping that he would
come running through the glass doors any second now.
Chloe put an arm around her shoulder. "He'll be here, Belle. He will."
Belle shrugged sadly. "It's not looking too good."
Brady nodded and put his arm around her too. "Maybe he couldn't find a
parking space."
Phillip interjected, "Yeah, or maybe he's caught in traffic..."
Mimi muttered under her breath, "Traffic? He only lives a few blocks
away."
Chloe cleared her throat loudly. "Mimi!?!"
Mimi turned and looked back at the group. "I meant... maybe he had to stop
and get gas, and when he gets here he'll give you one of those gas station roses
that are all wrapped in plastic and they cost a 1.99."
Belle laughed but shook her head. "I don't think so, Meems. You know...
you'd think he'd at least want to say goodbye."
Phillip shrugged. "Maybe it hurts too much."
Belle wiped a tear away and took a deep breath. "It hurts me too, Phillip.
I don't want to do anything without Shawn, but... if I don't go; this town is
going to drive me crazy. No offense to you guys..."
Brady kissed his sister on the forehead. "None taken... We all know how
hard this is for you."
"I know, and all of you have been so wonderful. I'm going to miss you guys
so much."
Mimi frowned and hugged Belle tightly. "Not as much as we're going to miss
you."
The speakers above them called out, "Last call for boarding on Flight 1250,
international service to Paris, France. I repeat, this is your last call. All
ticketed passengers should board through gate 17 at this time."
Belle looked at her feet as one solitary tear dripped from her face.
"That's it... he's not coming."
Brady squeezed his sister tightly. "Oh Tink, it will be alright. He'll
still be here when you get back, and we'll make sure he's as good as new. Just
focus on how much fun you're going to have."
Belle lifted her head and looked at her friends. "I love you guys, so
much... I'm going to miss you all."
Everyone nodded and crowded around her. Mimi was trying not to cry so she
gleefully shouted, "GROUP HUG!" They all started to laugh as they
crowded around Belle, everyone throwing their arms around each other.
Belle laughed the loudest until the hug got too tight. She jokingly yelled at
them, "Hey... I love you guys too, but you're crowding a very
claustrophobic person right now. Any second now, I will stop breathing."
The group back off and Belle smiled in appreciation. Their general silliness had
kept her mind off of Shawn for just 30 seconds, but it was enough. They shared a
moment of silence filled with love all around, until Mimi started waving her
hands wildly.
"Don't just stand there, Belle. Go, go, go! Don't miss your flight because
of us loonies!"
Belle grabbed her bags and hurried towards the gate, shouting the whole way.
"I LOVE YOU ALL! I'LL SEE YOU SOON!"
Belle quickly gave her boarding pass to the attendant, and ran down the ramp
towards the plane. She found her seat at the window and fell into it with a
sigh. Belle dug in her purse for something and found it. She pulled her cell
phone out and stared at it for nearly 5 minutes, her fingers lightly flitting
over the digits that would dial Shawn's private line. Taking a deep breath, she
quickly punched in the seven numbers that she could always dial without even
looking.
The phone rang four times until she heard a click on the other end. "Hey,
this is Shawn. Leave me a message," followed by a long beep.
"Shawn... it's me. I'm on the plane, so I have to make this quick. I just
wanted to tell you that I'm not mad that you didn't show up. I wanted to at
least be able to say goodbye. So, that's why I'm calling... I love you, Shawn. I
always have and I always will. I'm going to miss you so much, and I just want
you to be happy So please be happy for me. Take care of yourself. I love
you."
Belle's voice wavered on the last couple of sentences and she quickly hit 'End'
and turned the phone off. She had spoken the truth on his answering machine, she
was no longer angry with him, only disappointed.
*****END FLASHBACK*****
Belle snapped back to reality just as the practice ceremony was finishing up.
The priest looked at Brady and Chloe and winked at them. "This is the part
where I'd say... You may now kiss the bride."
Brady grinned at Chloe. "My favorite part..."
He swept her into his arms and bent her over backwards as if he was dipping a
dance partner, kissing her dramatically. The small crowd began to laugh, and
Chloe did too as she broke away from him. "You're not gonna do that
tomorrow, are you?"
Brady shook his head and helped her back up. "Not if you don't want me
to."
The priest interrupted by motioning for them to turn towards the congregation.
"And this is the part where I introduce the new Mr. and Mrs. Brady Black to
your guests."
Chloe and Brady shared a happy smile and walked arm in arm down the aisle to the
back of the church. Shawn offered Belle his arm, and she begrudgingly latched
her arm around his and walked with him down the aisle. As they walked, Shawn
leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Belle... are you okay?"
Belle rolled her eyes and quietly replied, "I would be if everyone would
stop asking me that."
"Sorry... I just... You don't seem well... Kinda distracted."
Belle shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't let it worry you... I'll be fine."
Shawn and Belle made their way to the back of the church, and the rest of the
group followed. Chloe began herding the troops to their cars, shouting
"SEVEN O'CLOCK PEOPLE! THE RESERVATIONS ARE FOR SEVEN O'CLOCK! GET
GOING!" the entire time. Belle got into Mimi's car and buckled her
seatbelt. As Mimi was starting the car, Belle looked at Mimi and sighed.
"The good news is that after tomorrow, Chloe will be returning to her
normal self..."
Mimi put the car in gear and laughed. "Well, thank God for small
favors."
Belle nodded and silently thought to herself, "I just hope that I can
too."