Postgrad Partners

Our Future Together

Many of the wedding's attendants had expected Tori and Jade to be the life of the party following the ceremony, but they were surprised to learn that the newlywed couple was nowhere to be found in the hotel ballroom, even as celebration was well underway.

Holly and David Vega assumed they were tired from planning the wedding for months on end and simply wanted to relax.

Trina simply shrugged away guessing any reason and went on to offer embarrassing secrets about her newlywed sister and sister-in-law...before her parents stopped her.

Tori and Jade's friends were only told to take over entertaining duties, which was a no-brainer for a group of Hollywood Arts graduates and one Neutronium Records in-house singer.

The wedding minister, Sikowitz, continually dodged the question by asking where he could find more coconuts...which were not part of the catering.

Finally, Nora West-Hastings simply glanced at her ex-husband, Blake Callaghan, mingling with business partners—as if he wasn't at his own daughter's wedding—before she returned to her wife, Piper.

At that point, everyone had resigned to enjoying the reception's food and entertainment and assuming the happy couple was off to their honeymoon already...

...if their honeymoon was simply hanging out in the empty Vega house watching TV.

From the kitchen, Tori smiled as she watched Jade slumped back on the couch in her wedding dress, scrolling through TV channels. On the table in front of them were their phones silently flooding with congratulatory messages and tagged pictures. If it weren't for the wedding outfits they had on, this would be just like the old days for them. The nostalgia made Tori laugh as she carried two full wine glasses to the living room.

"As requested, a celebratory glass of wine for Mrs. Jade West~" Tori handed her wife one of the glasses with a smile that wasn't quite returned by Jade, but taken nonetheless with a quick gulp that made Tori almost double back in surprise. "Wow...maybe we should get something to eat if you're that thirsty!"

Jade looked away from the TV long enough to see Tori's surprised expression and sighed before placing her glass down on the table in front of them. "Sorry, babe...my mind hasn't exactly been on point since the wedding."

"Why? What's on your mind?" Tori settled down on the couch next to her, clicking off the TV.

"I'm sure you saw him," Jade looked aside for a moment, "My...my dad was there; invited by my mom, of all people."

Thinking back to when they processed out of the church, Tori certainly remembered meeting eyes with someone she hadn't seen in a long time. "Oh yeah...he was sitting with your mom and Piper. Well, I mean...did you and he get into an argument before the wedding?"

"If my mom hadn't stepped in, we might have," Jade sighed, "He thought he'd be 'giving me away' like most dads do, but when I told him that my mom was...I think he finally felt what I felt when he left me. I don't know how to feel about it, really. I should feel some satisfaction or a 'victory' over him, but I just feel...sad. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't just lose it in front of you and all those people there."

"Hey..." Tori placed a hand on Jade's chin to look into her eyes, "I may not know for certain, but I think the reason your mom invited him was to see how great a woman you've become after he left. You may have felt 18 again when you saw him there, but think about what 23-year-old Jade has accomplished: you moved to Miami, helped me come out of my nervous shell...in both senses of the word, we graduated college together, and now we're married and about to take on the working world together! He would have to be completely stupid not to be proud of you, Jade...because I certainly am."