Vampire Princess

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Visitor

“What do you think, Garret?” Roxanne asked, frowning over the pink and white flowers that were lying on the table. “Should we pick the pink or white?”

I sighed. “I don’t know.”      

She shot me a dirty look. “This is your wedding we’re planning, my friend. Not mine. You decide what color you want your flowers to be.”

“It’s not like I wanted to get married, Roxanne.”

Her eyes softened a little bit and then she turned to the wedding planner (a friend of Richard’s). “I think the groom wants to have white flowers,” she told her.

The wedding planner nodded and wrote something on her clipboard. Her phone suddenly rang and she excused herself. While she was talking to the caller, Roxanne sat down on the bench beside me and patted my back. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you don’t want to be part of this marriage, but really, Garret, this is your future. You need to get used to it.”

“What if I don’t want to get used to it, Roxanne?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Life doesn’t work that way.”

I didn’t reply and we just continued being silent. It was three weeks after Melanie and I had our “last day” and we were planning for the wedding. It was a little bit too early but then Richard told us it’s the right time for Ashley’s sake.

I haven’t seen Melanie ever since that day. Roxanne told me that she and Heather took a trip in Europe – only the two of them. Ever since the Halloween party, I haven’t trusted Heather. I don’t know why but there’s something about the girl that seems unnerving. Not to mention our weird conversation three weeks ago while I was waiting for Melanie.

There’s something she knows that all of us don’t.

The wedding planner (I do not even know her name – that’s how uninterested I was in the wedding) came back with a small smile on her face. “The dressmaker would be here in thirty minutes. She’s going to design your tux for the wedding.”

I just nodded.

“Well, we better get some coffee before she arrives,” Roxanne said, getting up from the bench. “Garret and I are parched.”

The wedding planner shrugged, as if she doesn’t care and then Roxanne grabbed my wrist. I followed her out of the wedding planner’s office. There was a coffee shop just three minutes away from here.

“You don’t really give a damn about your wedding, do you?” Roxanne said conversationally.

“Nope,” I said, as if we were just discussing the weather. “I mean, really, why do people get married? Why should there be a ceremony to show two people would vow to live with each other for the rest of their lives?”

Roxanne gave me a weird look. “Weddings are ceremonies for people who wanted to show others how they love each other and they’re ready to spend the rest of their lives to be with each other.”

“But what’s the point? It’s just a waste of money.”

“You’re not paying,” she pointed out. “And you’re just saying these things because you’re not going to marry Melanie, but someone else.”

“Ashley is a nice person, Roxanne, and in a way, I’m glad she’s the girl I knocked up. If it was one of those flings from the five years Melanie was in London, it would be the end of me.”

When Melanie was staying in London, I slept with a lot of girls that I lost count. I was just too depressed and I was (kind of) hoping that when I sleep with a girl, maybe someone would be like Melanie and I’d finally move on. Unfortunately, there was no girl like her.