Chapter 16: Now or never
After he had picked his suite up from his house, fed Garfield, and found the wedding band he had lost, he rushed to the park. There were tents set up all over. There were two small tents that were far off from the wedding ceremony and far from each other. Those were for him and Jessica to get ready and change in. The one huge tent that could be seen from far away was where the reception was to be held and the little tiny half tent that sat in front of all the chairs was where the ceremony was to commence.
He walked inside the tent and found Kevin and Nick waiting for him. �There he is.� Kevin announced. �Finally! Dude we've been waiting here forever for you. I was going to bet Kevin that you were going to chicken out and not show up to your own wedding.� Nick joked as he stood up from one of the chairs. �No, I just had to make sure I had everything. What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were in Europe finishing up your solo thing.� AJ said as he hung his suite up.
�Yeah, but then I heard you were getting married and I couldn�t miss that for the world. Besides I had to come back next week anyway for the court thing.� He told him as he looked at his suite and fumbled with things he saw in the tent. �So, you ready to do this?� Kevin asked enthusiastically. �As ready as I�m going to be.� AJ replied as he turned to look out of the tent at the people arriving. �That doesn�t sound like a man that�s happy to be getting married to the girl of his dreams.� Nick said as he laughed. �Nick.� Kevin said shooting him a look that said shut up and be polite.
�What? It�s true. No one likes her, Howie doesn�t even like her and he likes everyone, even that one girl AJ went out with that had the underarm problem and the twitchy eye.� Nick said being serious and smiling at the same time. �She didn�t have an underarm problem. She was from Europe and over there a lot of girls don�t shave under there arms.� AJ told him. �Hey man, I say it�s a problem when fowl order spreads whenever you lift your arms.� Nick said looking really serious this time. �It doesn�t matter. Anyway, my point is Jessica is the snobbiest person I know, not to mention fake. How can you stand to be with her? Let alone marry her.� Nick said looking at AJ blankly.
�Nick, don�t start. I have an idea. Why don�t you just wait outside. We'll call you if we need you.� Kevin said, pushing him out of the tent. �Fine, I still say you had a better shot with the twitching smelly girl!� Nick yelled as he left the tent. �I think I feel sick. I�m confused.� AJ said as he sat down in one of the folding chairs. �About your marriage or your sickness?� Kevin joked. �Don't let Nick get to you, you know how that kid can be. If anything makes you have second thoughts don�t let it be him. He couldn�t even pronounce his last girlfriend�s name right.� Kevin told him.
�Yeah, but what if he�s right? What if the twitching girl was better then Jessica?�
�Believe me, the twitching girl is not better then Jessica. Hum, that makes me think. Why did she twitch anyway?� Kevin asked as he sat in a folding chair.
�She had a bad contact or something, I dunno, Kevin do you think I�m making the right choice here?� He asked looking serious now.
�It sounds like you've been having second thoughts before Nick. What happened?�
�Well, I was with Serenity and...�
�Oh, Serenity. Is that her name?� Kevin interrupted with a goofy smile on his face.
�It�s not even like that. She�s Barry�s daughter, the one I was watching for him. Anyway, it turns out she was the exact same girl I was trapped in the elevator with at Barry�s office.�
�Wow, seems a little weird. What happened?� Kevin asked as his eyes widened.
�The first dates I went out on with her were kind of bad. I mean, I kept thinking what I did to deserve such torture. But then it changed, and I started to actually have fun. It was like she showed me the guy that I use to be. And it didn�t seem bad, I was okay. I don�t know. But anyway, she just started making me think about Jessica a lot. About the way our relationship is I guess.� He finished as Howie came in.
�Hey bro, so you�re finally doing it, you�re actually getting married.� Howie said as he gave him a hug. �Yap, I�m doing it.� AJ said as he stood up.
�Well that�s cool. I�m proud of you man. I guess there�s just me and Nick left now.�
�Hey what�s up?� Brain said as he walked into the tent. �Brian you made it!� AJ said surprised. �Yeah, well I had to come here next week anyway and a flight came up. Leigh couldn�t come because of the kids and stuff but I had to see you get married. I mean that�s a pretty big thing. AJ McLean is getting married.�
�Thanks for coming man.� AJ said as he gave Brian a hug.
�So don�t you have to be getting dressed or something?� Howie asked smiling.
�Oh, yeah.� He said as he took his suite from where it was hanging. He went behind the curtain that hung there and started changing. �Hey listen were going to go say hi to some people okay AJ. We�ll be back.� Brian told him. He and Howie left the room and Kevin stayed behind.
�Yeah okay, talk to you guys later.� AJ yelled out. �So your still going through with the wedding?� Kevin asked. �Yeah, of course I�m going through with the wedding, why not?� AJ replied as he changed. �What about all the stuff you just said before. About the second thoughts?� He asked him. �I can�t just stop a wedding because I have cold feet Kevin. There�s people out there waiting for me. Even Brian and Nick shut their trips short for me, everyone out there is counting on me. Besides that, Jessica needs me.�
�So are you getting married for the people out their who are waiting for you?�
�No, I�m getting married for Jessica, she needs me and marriage will be good for me too.�
�AJ, marriage isn�t something that people need. If you feel like you need a change or like you want something new in your life get another dog or something. Marriage is not the route that people usually take. And you don�t get married for other people either. Jessica doesn�t need you. She defiantly needs something but Believe me, you are not it.� Kevin said with a chuckle. �Kevin why are you doing this? Why are you trying to put all these bad thoughts into my head?�
�You�ve already put the thoughts into your own head AJ, remember? Listen, just make sure your doing this because you love her and not because you want to try something different or because you feel like Jessica needs you. You can�t fix people and if you think in some way marrying her is going to help her or change her you are wrong. You can�t fix things you have no control over.� Kevin finished. The words stayed with AJ. You can�t fix things you have no control over. Serenity had told him the same thing. He stepped from behind the curtain in his white tux. �Kevin, I don�t think I�m going to do this.� He said dryly.
�What do you mean?�
�I mean...I�m not going to get married. Something you just said it...it reminded me of something someone else would have said. ....So how do I look?� He asked.
�Good, so your going after her now hu?� Kevin asked with a cricked smile. �How did you know?� AJ asked him while smiling. �It was kind of obvious, I mean all you could talk about was her when you came over for dinner, and you didn�t even know her then.� Kevin laughed. �Okay, whatever. I have to go.� AJ said as he started for the entrance. �Good luck man. And bring her back, I want to meet her!� Kevin yelled to him. �Dammit, I owe Nick now.� Kevin said quietly to himself. AJ walked over to the other little tent. He found Jessica inside with her sister and people she had hired to help her. �AJ! What are you doing in here. It�s bad luck to see the bride.� She said as she saw him standing there.
�Um, ladies can you please excuse us, we have to talk.� He told the other women inside the tent. They walked out as he walked closer to Jessica. �What is it? Did something happen? Did something go wrong? It�s the cake isn�t it? It�s not going to be here on time? I knew it, I knew we should have gone with the other bakery and the other cake. I can�t Believe this, now we have no cake. What are we going to do?� She said as she looked as if she was going to brake down in tears.
�No Jessica, it�s not the cake. I have to tell you something and I�m sorry, but I...I don�t love you.� The words spilled out. �You don�t love me? Okay, I can handle that, it�s okay. So all of this is just for publicity? That�s okay, it�s actually kind of smart. I can take the publicity thing. We should try it though, you know? Just to see if it can actually work. Better yet, we should break up after a month and then get back together after like, 3 months. That would be perfect. The press will have a field day over who�s with who and that whole thing.� She said smiling.
AJ couldn�t understand the way her mind worked. What was she saying? What was wrong with her, didn�t she get he didn�t want to be with her? �Jessica, I�m not saying it�s for publicity. I�m saying I don�t love you and I can�t marry you. I�m sorry, but this isn�t going to work. We are horrible for each other, we just can�t get married. This relationship is over, were over. I�m sorry, I really am.�
�You don�t want to marry me? You don�t even want to stay together? What happened? What did I do, what�s wrong AJ? Your starting to scare me.�
�Jessica nothing is wrong with you, nothing. You are...you are...you are, you and that�s fine but I�m just too different I guess. I just realized that I was doing this for all the wrong reasons. I mean, we never should have been together in the first place. This whole thing was wrong from the beginning. I�m sorry that I hurt you but, it just can�t happen.�
�So your leaving me? Your leaving me on our wedding day?� Tears strolled down her face. AJ felt bad as he saw her standing there crying as she held her bouquet of red roses. Some of her tears fell onto her flowers. �Jessica, I...I would do anything if I could make this up to you, anything. I really didn�t want to hurt you, I�m so sorry.� He pleaded.
�You would do anything to make it up to me?� She asked him. �Yeah anything.� He replied back.
�I want to go to Australia. Let me change the tickets we made for Europe so I can go.� She told him. �Okay, okay, I can do that. You can go. I...I have to go right now.� He said looking at his watch. �Where? After just breaking up with me.� She said looking at him blankly. �I know where. It�s another girl isn�t it? It�s that Serenity girl, the lawyer�s daughter. Well go then I don�t care, go. Just get out! Get out!� She said throwing her roses at him.
AJ ran out of the tent towards his car. As the guests sat in their seats they watch him run across the field, get into his car and speed off. �See, I knew it. Kevin owes me 30 bucks.� Nick said laughing as Brian and Howie turned to look at him with confused faces.