Epilogue goes up tomorrow! This was the last chapter but not the end!
TWENTY SIX: Kendall
I watched him as he crossed the room and it was then that I saw Jim standing near the door looking at me. As Mark passed him to leave the restaurant, he briefly broke the eye contact between us to look after Mark. When the door shut behind Mark, Jim made his way over to the table I was sitting at and handed me a card.
"This is the hotel we're staying at, room 25," Jim said. "I don't expect you to come by, but I know he kind of just dropped a bomb on you, so if you decide you need more answers.. I don't know. I think you just deserve the option."
I took the card from him with the same hand that held the envelope Mark had just handed me and sat, speechless still, as he gave me a small reassuring smile before setting off after Mark. There I sat at the corner table, now alone, trying desperately to process everything that I had just been told. Mark was dying. Not only was he dying but he still loved me, or as he claimed, never stopped. What had he meant that someone had made him end things between us? Who would ever ask him to do something like that?
I tried to suppress all the questions that were rising in my head as I set the envelope and card I was holding down on the table in front of me. With shaking hands I wiped away the tears that still hung around the rims my eyes and looked over at my fiancee who was sitting at the bridal party table, looking over at me. I gave him a weak smile and mouthed the words "Don't worry, I'm okay." He took those words as his cue, excused himself from the group, and walked over to me. Sitting down in the chair next to me he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, looking down at the items on the table in front of me and asked, "What did he want?"
"He didn't want anything," I said before thinking to myself, "That's what I don't understand."
"So why was he here," asked Josh. "And what's all this then?"
I looked back down at the envelope and hotel card that sat atop the white linen tablecloth and shrugged before saying, "I'm not sure, I haven't opened it yet."
"Well, why don't you get to it then," he asked.
I knew that he didn't mean it to sound so careless but his words struck a nerve with me."Why don't I get to it then? I don't know Josh. I just heard that someone who means quite a great deal to me is going to die and very possibly just said my last goodbye. I thought maybe I'd give myself a little processing time before opening the last thing I'll ever get from him."
With that I stood up, grabbing my things from the table, and made my way to the coat check to get my clutch and jacket. As I started to walk away I heard the static screech of a microphone turning on and the voice of Josh's brother, Colin, come over the speaker system. "Ladies and gentleman, if you would all take your seats, we have a nice little video for you which will be followed by toasts as the dinner is served." As everyone shuffled about to find their seats I looked over to Josh who was looking down at the floor, wide eyed and tight lipped. "Yes, find your place cards," Colin continued. "Okay, now where is the bum of a groom and his lovely Bride?"
Eye's throughout the room looked about to find us, until one by one they all settled on the uncomfortable couple standing feet apart. One of them with his head in his hands, and the other watching him knowing how much she is hurting him. I faced the crowd with a smile as I walked over to Josh and pulled his hands away from his face, taking one of them in my own. He stood up looking disoriented and dazed and while I searched his face for a clue of what to expect him to do next I heard Colin joking, "Oh looks like my brother has already had one too many, that's Irishmen for you, enjoy him Kendall!"
