A Happy Marriage?

Chapter 14: A Wedding

"No. No. No! Oh Dang it!"

Listening to they aggravating sound of his wife trying on her fourth dress this morning is simply amusing Daryl. It came to his attention that the reason for her madness was that an old rival from school had invited her to a wedding. This rival was apparently the woman who stole one of Beth's "boyfriends"- though they were only teenagers and real dating doesn't start until you're an adult- Beth still is fuming over it. As he stays in his spot of the couch with Mouse beside him, who is now a good buddy of his, Daryl watches World's Dumbest and ignores his wife's aggressive out bursts.

"Fuck it! I'm not going!" She yells from upstairs and Daryl just laughs. She comes down stars in a black and white checker'd cocktail dress with the side zipper still open.

"Would you like help?" Daryl asks and Beth pouts but soon goes to Daryl and stands in front of him. Arms crossed and angry she allows him to zip her up. When the zipper is up all the way, Daryl stands and clips the clasp. With his hands just under her armpits, he looks at her in the dress and smiles. "You look very nice. Go make 'em jealous."

Before she can say anything, he kisses the top of her head and then smacks her ass in the direction of the door. It takes her by surprise but she never says thank you. She just leaves.

At the reception, Beth walks around and sips her martini. It isn't until two woman come in front of her that she feels out of sorts. The first woman, a young token woman with poofy hair and a baby bump, laughs as the second woman, a strawberry blonde tells her a story. Both stop when they see Beth.

"Oh Bethany! So nice to see you!"

"Amy Vanderbilt." Beth says as kindly as she can. "Long time no see."

"Oh yes. It has been tragic not seeing you run around with your big thick glasses and braces chattering away." Amy snidely says and the token woman just smiles.

"How are you?"

"Oh Sasha, I'm doing good. You look...wow."

"I know. Second one. I feel huge!" The woman says sarcastically and Beth and Amy giggle.

"No. You look absolutely stunning." Amy says and the bride, Sherry, comes over."

"Oh Beth! You made it. I didn't expect to see you here." Sherry says and Dwight, a man Beth used to have a huge crush on and is now married to Sherry, comes walking over and stares at Beth. "You remember my...husband haha, Dwight Callaway."

"Yes." Beth meekly says and Dwight just kisses Sherry and pulls her along behind him as they pass the women. Beth takes a long sip of her martini and it's empty. The waiter comes over and Beth puts her empty glass on his tray and takes a fresh one.

"So, what's new Bethany?"

"Well, just working. Running my company."

"Oh you mean your father's motorcycle company? It's still around? Ha, I thought they went out of business trying to compete with Harley Davidson. My sister sells engines. I thought she said something about a small company refusing to use their engines- the top engines in the country, so it's no wonder your business is floundering with the equipment you put into it." Amy bites and Sasha looks away from the embarrassment that is her friend. Before Beth can defend herself, Amy keeps going. "And I also heard that you're still riding the single train? Too bad ya know. I thought that fat little girl from school would at least give woman a chance by now."

"Amy...you're being mean." Sasha whispers and Amy continues.

"You used to be so sure of yourself when you lost all that weight and got contacts, that you were actually going to marry a rich man and have children and a big house. I honestly think Fat Beth would have had an easier time haha. But I see the weight hasn't gone too far." Amy reaches over and touches Beth's waist and laughs even harder. Beth has tears in her eyes and she looks to Sasha, but Sasha doesn't say anything. She just walks away and Amy does too, laughing and hollering in a buzzed comatose.

Setting her drink down, Beth walks out of the ballroom and hurriedly walks to the back exit. Tears are stinging her eyes and as she walks down the street, she feels that pain in her stomach once more. How could someone be so outright mean? Amy attacked her verbally for no reason. Without looking up she continues to run to main road to get a cab when her heel breaks and she falls onto the pavement. Her knees are scuffed up and so are her hands. Her ankle is twisted in pain and her tears become heavier. Head casted down, through the tears she finds a pair of shiny black boots in front of her. As the figure crouches in front of her, she's about to mace them when she notices the familiar holey black pants. Looking up, Daryl is in front of her, arms resting on his knees and a half smile on his face.

"You okay?" He asks and she just starts crying and putting her arms up for him to pick her up. It's as if she's a small child who wants someone to hold them after a tantrum. "Oh come here."

Scooping her up, he carries her bridal style and heads back towards the main sidewalk. When they get there, she notices his motorcycle parked in a tight spot and she is just glad she doesn't have to ride home in a sketchy smelly cab. Buckling the helmet on her head, Daryl sets her on the back and then swings his leg over. The whole way home, she holds tightly to him. Tonight was by far the worst night of her life.

Well all up until now.