That Sexy Librarian and Me

41st

41

red roses and summer days

The wedding was, surprisingly, not at the beach down by Maddie’s beach house. Interestingly enough, he was being chauffeured down to the groom-to-be’s household. It was a beautiful house, much like his parents, which made him realize that somehow, in some twisted manner, Maddie had managed to find her fairytale.

He was greeted by an army of maids and waiters who insisted he was the best man of the wedding, when he wasn’t.

“I can’t possibly be.” He told the butler when he was led to Simon’s room, where the groom himself stood in all his glory, his tuxedo far more dazzling than Remy’s old one.

“You are.” He told him then. “My father refuses to be my best man at fifty two.”

“No cousins, friends?”

“None I care enough about.”

“And you care about me?” Remy asked, an eyebrow quirked. Simon grinned at the question, his eyes on the man’s elfishly done bow.

“I know enough about you to know I can care.”

Remy rolled his eyes. What an egotistical loser.

“Help me with my bow, why don’t ya’?” he asked, then turned around with a smile. “Oh, wait. You’d better not, laddie. Your bow is quite horrendous for the both of us.”

A maid helped with the tie before the two of them walked down the beautifully made out garden of greens and reds, the flowers in full bloom, the sky its brilliant blue. A wedding in the summer, how much more could Maddie possibly have? Remy didn’t know much about weddings, but he knew it was every girl’s dream to get married in the spring. Summer was close enough.

He smiled when she came into view, the bride, the beauty that was this wedding. She stopped on her way down the aisle to smell so many flowers that he wondered if Simon would lose his patience. Oddly enough, her father did, as he hurried her down the garden and told her she was to marry within the hour, no less.

“You take care of her,” he told Simon sternly, his eyes old but stern. “You take good care of her.”

The smile he gave her as she neared the priest was enough to say everything.

“Clink, click, everyone,” Maddie started with a giggle. Remy thought she looked drunk, but the evening was so beautiful that she didn’t look any less beautiful. Why did his traitorous thoughts always go back to what Athenia would look like in a wedding dress like that, strapless and white and long, with her hair braided and not bunned up like usual? Why did he care, anyway? “It’s time for the bride’s speech.

“First of all, Simon,” she looked at him before kissing him for a good five seconds. “Thank you for finding me.”

“Thank you for letting me find you.”

The smile that passed around the table was irresistible. He smiled as well.

“Anyway,” she looked up again, her eyes glossy as she spoke with a cracked voice. “I’m sorry my best friend couldn’t be here. I didn’t have the heart to have someone else take her place. She’s the best best friend there could ever be.”

Remy wanted to scoff. He wanted to grunt his disapproval. He wanted to stand up and throw a scene, really. He did nothing, instead. Somehow, it felt like everyone was waiting for him to do something. He regretted not putting up a show, just to let off some steam. He hated Athenia in more ways than one now.

“Thank you for coming daddy, Scott and Irma.”

A couple of glasses went into the air.

“Thank you, Remy, for being our best man.”

There was the actual sound of clinking glasses.

“I don’t know the man.” He stated in a slurred voice.

“You’d do well to give us a speech, lad.”

Scott drove a hard bargain, so Remy stood and tried to find his glasses between all the glasses he’d drunk. Then, suddenly, he felt that dizziness in his heart, his confused, broken heart.

“I envy you guys,” he said, unthinkingly. “I envy you so much for having found something to keep forever.

“I won’t lie, I didn’t believe this was the real deal,” he said as he pointed with a finger, his eyes narrowed down on Simon. “None of us did, probably. But... some things... you can fake many things, but this feeling we all feel, like you guys are really married, like that was real love we witnessed out there... you couldn’t have faked that.”

The laugh that escaped Maddie was the only sound heard as she hugged her friend.

“Thank you, Remy.”

And right then, he missed Athenia more than ever, against all better thoughts, against all better judgments.