Tending The Darkness

Chapter 8

Valerie's perspective;

I am sitting in the sunlight on a wooden patio chair outside of my home. I am admiring the ring Cameron gave me. Tonight is my Bachelorette party. Alice is hosting it at home. The caterer has just arrived and I have already indulged in a mojito. Time to get ready. I go upstairs and take a shower, I scrub my skin with a body scrub and afterwards I moisturize with body oils. I do my hair and dress in my underwear- a lacey pink thong and a strapless pink bra. The dress i will be wearing is one i purchased from an alternative clothing boutique. It is a neon pink latex mini dress. I am a big fan of latex and it fits my figure like a glove. I throw on some chunky black stripper heels to match.

I go downstairs and meet Alice at the bar. She hands me a drink. It is some type of red, berry liquor topped with fizzy lemonade. I take a sip through a small black straw. Its delicious. "Our attendees should be arriving soon." Alice says to me. I am happy. She strategically leaves as I make myself comfortable in the lounge. The guests start arriving with shrieks of laughter and an excited energy. In total there will be 11 of us including me. The barman starts handing out drinks and I am greeted with hugs and smiles. A nice change. I begin to feel truly excited for the wedding. It as though my darkness is excluded from the binding ritual of our marrige. Out of all the lady's the oldest is my mother and grandmother, otherwise the rest of the party are aged between 20-30 years old. We begin to gather with our drinks in the lounge.

Alice approaches me with something in her hands. It is a sash that reads 'the last Bachelorette" I put it on smiling. She then hands me a tiara made of cubic zirconia. I place it on my head smiling. As the ladys begin to settle down, my sister stands before us and announces,

"Welcome to Valerie's official Bachelorette party. As you know, she will be marrying Cameron in three days. Tonight, it is our sacred duty to make sure she misses being single. Our itinerary is as follows: from 6-8pm drinks and snacks will be served at the bar, there won't be any games played because we are not basic bitches. There are cigarettes and cigars in the smoking lounge and the rule is that Valerie has to take a tequila shot every ten minutes. You will all be encouraged to drink to your hearts content and if you skimp you will also have to drink a tequila shot. At 8pm we will be driven by our drivers to start a beach side pub crawl. This will commence until about 11:30pm, then we have a reserved booth at HOOKA MAN. After that we will all return here for sleep over, and then tomorrow, we go to the spa."

I smile at how much effort my sister has put into the night. I am handed my first shot of tequila and already feel more encouraged.

The music starts playing and I note that the playlist is comprised of my favorite songs. I didn't comprehend that this night will be all about me until now. These women have come all this way, drinking their hearts out, because Cameron and I are about to fuck.

As the party continues, I begin feeling drunk. Margaritas, cosmopolitans and mojitos. Champagne and wine. Tequila. Tequila. Tequila. I am laughing and dancing and eating small snacks. I go to the bathroom and apply my pink lipstick.

Its eight and Alice rounds us all up to prepare for the bar crawl. The ladies are all dressed in black. I only notice that now. As we make our way to the vehicles I notice one of Cameron's cousins staring at me. I end up sitting next to her. She cracks and finally asks.

"Have you like sexed eachother already?"

I smile. She is quite a dumb person and I don't usually entertain the thoughts of these kinds of people. But I bite.

"Why do you ask?"

She looks at me timidly, becoming aware of herself.

" I don't know, I've just never seen people act so hastily at Bachelorette party before. You aren't knocked up or something?"

I am on the verge of seething. Why can I not escape the darkness? Why can they not get past the fact that I am from the other side of the spectrum. I decide to ignore her and take a swig of something sour from the flask Alice passes me. I get distracted by my mother's drunken state. I begin to laugh.

We arrive at the first bar and Alice let's us know that we will be walking tonight and that the cars will only come back later when the party ends. We begin with lagers at the first pub. At the second bar we order frozen margaritas. By now my vision is swirling and my senses are numbed. I barely comprehend that I'm chatting. The ladies begin to make toasts. At the third bar, two of the younger ladies begin to flirt with some men. They invite them to join us at HOOKA MAN. I hardly notice when my sister grabs me around the waist and guides me to the HOOKA MAN. When we arrive, the club is in full swing. I am dancing, when I feel two gentle hands on my waist. The women start shouting in protest and I turn around, and my eyes meet two green ones and a grinning mouth. Cameron. As though he is scared I fly away, he pulls me into his chest and kisses the top of my head.

"Fancy seeing my bride at my Bachelor party."

I am so drunk that my reply comes out slurred. Concern crosses his face and I feel him guiding me to a booth that is not ours. He sits down and pulls me on to his lap. His arms enclosed snugly around my body and I feel him begin to kiss my neck. I hear him whisper my name into my ear over and over, as though I am river in a desert.

Cameron's perspective;

She is so vulnerable in her drunken state. I cannot stand the thought of her being alone here unprotected. These silly women, they know nothing of danger. I am kissing her neck. I will not let her go. I don't care if it is against the rules. I am here and she is mine. She is slurring and I find her careless closeness dizzying. I turn her around so that she is half-way facing me and begin to kiss her  the mouth. My fingers intangle her hair. It is dark and the only vision I have is her under the disco lights. The music is thumping and the kissing begins to intensify. She wants me, I can feel it. "Three more days." I whisper in her ear when she nearly insists on it with her body. I lean back and pull her close. My hand is on her waist and I observe her looking at people in the club, her eyes land on a dark haired man. She knows him and not just as a friendly face. I tighten my grip letting her know that she is mine and that she might as well forget about that imposter. She looks at me with a guilty face. I forgive her. She didn't know about me. I give the man a death stare and he averts his gaze.

It has been an hour and I've been kissing and loving her for all to see. Her sister approaches and informs Valerie that it is time to go home. Valerie looks at me. I smile at her. She is drunk beyond speaking, but at least I was here to hold her. I encourage her with a light kiss and a tight squeeze to go home. I tell her I will take her to dinner tomorrow night. I will have to phone and remind her. Anyway, my bachelor party is still in full swing, and I want to do this properly. My best man gathers the gentlemen and informs us that it is gambling time. Us Edgar's don't do strippers. We gamble and pay for booze not women with our money.

I feel eyes on my back and I turn around and see the man who was staring at Valerie's looking at me intently. She's mine. He was challenging that. I'm not going to lie and say that I would have encouraged her to have sex, I don't mind that she's not a virgin, but the thought of her unconquered plays with my mind. He is one of the reasons I could not have all of her, and he probably treated her like a booty call. I snap, and in full lion mode I stride towards him and quite heavily and give him a fat punch across the jaw. My brother is grabbing my arms and the bouncers are forcing us to leave.

Valerie is to be mine in the eyes of God and if I could I would not let any other man ever see her again. I'm looking forward to having her all alone on our honeymoon.