Lights, Cameras, Outsiders!

Chapter 68

LCO 68
"Have you even begun thinking about wedding plans?" Rob asked as he put his arm around Christine.
"No. She's still trying to get over the fact that her mom doesn't like me," Matt said. I laid a French fry on his tongue and kissed his cheek.
"I'm still just trying to wrap my head around this," I said. Christine smiled.
"I'm not. You two are going to grow old together and have children and do movies and live in New York," she said.
"And play Yahtzee. Lots and lots of Yahtzee," Matt said.
"What the hell does Yahtzee have to do with anything?" I said.
"I don't know. Is it alright if we play Yahtzee when we get married?"
"Yes, but why does that-"
"Am I invited to the wedding?" Rob asked.
"Yes," I said.
"When are you even going to start thinking about that? I have plans," Christine said.
"I don't know. When do you wanna start, honey?" I said to Matt.
"I guess," he finished chewing, "now. Nothing wrong with it, right?"
"Okay, good because I'm going to be a wedding planner. So first of all, location," Christine said.
"Aw, Geez Louise, where you wanna do it?"
"I don't know. You don't want a beach?"
"No."
"No outdoors?" He said.
"Not really. Unless you want to."
"Nah. I'm good. Air conditioning and all."
"So inside a church. Wow, we're really narrowing it down," Christine scribbled something in her notebook.
"Do you want it here? Do you want it in Florida? Do you want it in New York?"
"New York," we both said.
"Okay, good. Now where in New York? New Rochelle? Manhattan? Saratoga?"
"New Rochelle's spacious. You can find a wedding reception place easily up there. Manhattan's gonna be a lot more expensive and a lot smaller," Matt said.
"You think New Rochelle's a good fir?"
"Yeah, there's a pretty chapel down there too. Young couples get married tere all the time."
"And do they stay married?"
"Yeah. It's an old place. The lady who use to live across the hall when I was kid got married there."
"And how is she?"
"I don't know. I think she got divorced," he said, stone faced. I widened my eyes.
"I'm kidding. Now she lives with her kids in Montana. Do you want to get that chapel? See when they're available?"
"What about her husband?"
"He died in a car accident a couple years ago. Do you want the chapel?"
"I don't know, Matt."
"Essie, if you're even thinking about luck, you better stop. You two are invincible. Just stop," Christine said.
"Alright, we'll check the chapel out."
"I'll call my mom later and ask her the name of the place," Matt said.
"And we'll have to check with them there for a wedding date. But uh, have you thought about honeymoon?"
"No. Uh....where you wanna go?" Matt said.
"I have no clue..." I coughed into my elbow.
"Okay, well, we don't have to figure that out now," Christine said.
"Okay! Lunch is over! Let's get back to stretching gentlemen! We got stunts to do!"
*********
Christine had pressured me all day to think about wedding plans and between thinking the china and the dress and the flowers and the chapel and the organ, I knew I would have more than enough stress on me for the next few months. So when Matt and I got back to the hotel, I decided I'd draw myself a hot bath and lay there for a while. Stress was the main reason I took a bath, but my stomach was bothering me too. And I had bubbles coming up to my neck and my blonde hair pinned up, and my eyes were closed.
"Hey, Essie! You okay in there?" Matt knocked on the door.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. After a period of silence, my stomach began to really bother as if it was churning. I felt something crawl up my throat and with one cough, I threw up in the water and continued to cough, violently.
"Essie! You alright?" Matt knocked on the door. I kept coughing. I couldn't get an answer out. The door opened and Matt came in.
"Aw, baby...you done now?" He said once I stopped. I nodded.
"Here, let's get you cleaned up," he said, grabbing a towel off the top of the toilet. He wiped my face and put the towel back down while extending his hand. I grabbed it and helped me stand up.
"You alright? What the hell happened?" he asked, draining the tub while still grabbing my wrist.
"I don't know. I just felt sick," I said. He smiled.
"Well you're not hungover so..." He laid his forearm on my forehead and then laid his palm on my forehead.
"Oh my god, you're burning up," he dipped his finger in the rest of the water.
"And this water is freezing. Essie, honey, you're sick," he said, wiping my shoulders with the towel and let me do my legs.
"I am not sick," I said.
"Deny it all you want. You're sick. You've got a fever," he said.
"I'm not sick."
"Okay, well you just threw up so let's deal with that first, and then we'll debate. Here, hop out and brush your teeth," he said. I became cold and shaking, I stepped out the tub and to the sink. He started cleaning up the bare tub and threw paper towels away every now and then. Once he was done cleaning up, I was done brushing my teeth.
"I'll get your robe for ya," he said, stepping out of the bathroom and coming back with my red robe. He helped me stick my arms in and tied it for me.
"Just get me some underwear please," I said. He fetched me a pair and scooped me up and onto the bed.
"You okay?" He said.
"Yeah."
"Are you hot? Are you cold?" He said.
"I'm fine," I said. He pulled the covers up for me and kissed my forehead.
"Do you want anything?" He said.
"No. I'm fine."
"Okay. I'm gonna finish cleaning the bathroom. If you need anything, holler," he said, going back into the bathroom. I laid down and turned on my side and saw his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Then he closed the door and I fell asleep.