Unfair Expectations

Prologue

It was a beautiful summers day. Everything looked amazing: the church, the bride, the groom... Jasper couldn't deny his feelings for his friend and, what made it worse, the bride was like a sister to him. If he hurt Sadie, he would never be able to forgive himself. So he sat with gritted teeth as Sadie and Mike exchanged vows. His friend, Hattie who was also unmarried, sat next to him. She wasn't oblivious to his feelings, she knew that he preferred men and, being the amazing person that she is, she never told anyone. Not a soul; mainly out of fear of losing her friend to the prisons unjustly where they kept people like him.

You see, this is an era where people can get arrested for having sex with a partner of the same gender under the charges of sexual indecency. So to this day, Jasper has remained a virgin. Twenty-four, unmarried and very lonely. He gazed at Mike, noticing how happy he was, how wide his smile was, and part of his soul withered away inside.

Sadie was wearing a beautiful dress, it hid her figure and was the height of fashion. It was a cream colour with flowers embroidered onto it, it came to just above her ankle and swayed whenever it moved. Jasper presumed this was to stop the bride from fidgeting because women had "short attention spans and a small mind for composure", as Ed always used to say. Her mousy brown hair had been styled into an up-do which you couldn't see because of the elaborate headdress; It covered the whole of her head and was covered in pearls and had peacock and ostrich feathers sticking out of the top. The bouquet was also a sight to behold. It consisted mainly of red and white roses, blue periwinkles and wild daisies decorated the sides.

Mike looked just as amazing, in Jasper's eyes. Very smart. He was wearing a plain black suit with black and white dress shoes. His dark brown hair was slicked back with very little oil, his green eyes being framed by creases that were made by his smile. You could tell he was very much in love with Sadie.

Hattie looked at him and smiled sadly. A promiscious girl with strong morals that made her seem ever so ironic. Her ginger curls were pinned back at the sides and her freckles were very prominant because of the sun. She leaned over and whispered, "He's happy. You'll be happy one day. Soon all of these prejudices about people like you will disappeared. You see Sadie?" Jasper nodded slowly. "One day, people like you will be able to marry. I'm sure of it."

"Not in my lifetime," he muttered back, not tearing his eyes away from the happy couple. The main part of the ceremony ended, and the bride, groom, and other people who were meant to leave, left to sign the registration which would confirm the marriage. "No going back from here, my friend," Jasper muttered under his breath. Hattie pierced her lips and glared at Jasper but said nothing. She was the mother hen of the group and if you saw the 'look', you were in trouble and you didn't have to be spoken to. Had a temper on her, did Hattie.

Jasper heard someone give an almighty sigh. He looked to his left and saw that Elmer, his nephew and Ed's son, was kicking his leg. "Louise is chewing on your sleeve," Elmer stated with a small pout. "You never let me chew on your sleeve." Jasper sighed and looked down at little Louise, only two, sat in her baby chair on one of the pews, chewing on his new suit. Normally children as young as five and two wouldn't have attended a wedding ceremony but Sadie had always insisted that children should be included in most activities. When she's older, Jasper suspected, with children of her own, she would have a different opinion.

"That's because you have all your baby teeth, Little Louise still needs a little helping...suit jacket to help her get them," he whispered. "Now be a good little boy and watch." Elmer sunk in his seat and kept tapping the ground with his foot.

"I can't believe she didn't ask you to be Head Bridesmaid," Jasper murmured. Hattie hit his arm and he glared at her.

"I told them not to use either of us. It would give our parents to much of an opportunity to out pressure on us to marry," Hattie hissed back. They sat in silence, Jasper kissing his teeth and Hattie holding her head proudly. Sadie and Mike walked down the aisle, arm in arm. Everyone stood and politely applauded the couple as they walked. They were followed by Jasper's older brother and his wife - Ed and Diana - who somehow ended up being Best man  Head Bridesmaid, then by Mike's parents, and finally by Sadie's parents.