MAD LOVE

Bonus

It is believed that if you are happy, then you can't talk about it, otherwise you can jinx it. But I was happy! And do you want to know why? Easy! Next to me were my beloved husband, my beloved friends, and my beloved parents. Life regained its color, despite the heavy price I paid. And although Wood caused me tremendous pain, we often visited his grave and left fresh flowers.

I don't know if I had really entered an astral body at the time, or if it was just my imagination throwing up vivid images from what I had heard in my coma, but Mark was really dead. For a long time, I could not believe it...

But I won't talk about sad things, because now I was at my wedding, and everyone around me was going crazy. I was not complaining about anything; it was just that things got a little out of hand that day. A flower arrangement flew off the car and got under the wheels of a neighboring car; my veil caught fire, but luckily we had time to get a new one; one violinist had a string break at the ceremony, and the resulting screech set everyone on edge. It was a long day, but I hoped at least something good would happen in the end.

This all faded before the smiles of the guests, which meant that the reception was a success. Turning over the ring on my finger, I looked at Mike and Alex, who were talking about something. What were they up to? My brain would not take another surprise tonight.

The guys went to their places, and the host announced the traditional ceremony of tossing the bride's bouquet. I walked to the middle of the hall and turned my back on all the unmarried girls. I mentally noted where Jess was, and on the count of three, I threw the bouquet.

I misjudged my strength a little... The bouquet flew over the jumping crowd of girls and fatally fell into Alex's hands.

"Dude, you can't run away from fate!" Mike shouted, and everyone in the room burst out laughing. But something told me only the two of them knew the real meaning of those words.

The host invited the bouquet-catcher to the microphone to wish the newlyweds well. Alex, taking Jess by the hand, headed for the stage. My restless blonde recounted the moment I met her, and how I helped her. You could say I saved her life! She wished us a lot - from good health and young children to a flight to the moon. And then it was Alex's turn. The guy seemed nervous, but he didn't back down.

"Mike is like a brother to me; that's no secret to anyone. I knew he was an asshole who valued nothing in his life." I looked at Norton, and he was just smiling and waiting for his friend to continue. "But at some point, Alana burst into his life and melted that block of ice this major called a heart. You have to admit that she's the only one who showed us the other Mike Norton! Their relationship is something special, and they've been through a serious ordeal. And to be honest..." Alex cleared his throat slightly. "To be honest, I envied them."

The audience sighed excitedly. I was also a little tense, but my husband squeezed my hand and, without taking his eyes off Alex, gave a slight nod for him to continue. What was happening?

"I envied their love, their passion, and their expression of emotions toward each other. All because I myself have been very much in love all this time. And my love extends from childhood to the girl with whom we grew up together. But now I'm happy because she's here..."

Alex turned to Jessica, who had no emotion on her face. From the outside, it seemed she wasn't even breathing.

"Jess, do you know why you had to catch this? Because, according to tradition, an unmarried girl who catches the bride's bouquet will soon get married herself. So..."

Alex threw the flowers up into the air and, taking advantage of her being distracted as she caught the bouquet, dropped onto one knee in front of her and opened a small box with a ring in it.

"Jessica Milton, I want to marry you. I want to spend the sunrises and sunsets together. I want to take turns cooking breakfast and arguing about who should do the dishes. I want a lot, and this time you won't leave me. So, I'm just going to ask you for the sake of decency: will you marry me?"

So my 'something good' appeared after a fiery speech of a friend and an equally emotional 'yes!' from another friend. Now I was one hundred percent happy...