28
A few hours later Jim was in the lobby of the hotel wearing his tuxedo and waiting at the front desk. Next to him were two men talking. The older man, who wore a suit said, "Tim, just make sure you're in position when she walks down the aisle."
Jim smiled thinking that this must be the wedding videographer.
The younger skinny man held an expensive-looking video camera and said, "Got it."
"If you miss her reaction, it will cost me two hundred thousand dollars at least." Jim looked at both men closely and became a little confused. The older man handed over an envelope. The skinny guy opened it, and Jim spotted a wad of cash.
"I won't miss it."
The older man said, "Pull it off, and there's an extra grand in it for you." Jim watched as the men walked away.
Ten minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to start Jim and Brian stood together talking. The older man Jim had seen an hour earlier approached and shook Brian's hand. Brian said, "Albert this is my brother Jim. Jim this is Jillian's agent, Albert Blair."
Albert shook Jim's hand as he said, "Nice to meet you, Jim. You're getting quite a sister-in-law." Jim smiled, and Albert added. "I'd better get to my seat."
As Albert walked away, Jim said, "I saw him speaking with your videographer earlier today, and it was stran—"
"What videographer?" Brian looked at him confused.
"The skinny guy with the video camera."
"We didn't hire one."
"Maybe I misheard them or something."
The hotel's wedding coordinator approached them. "They're ready for you."
Five minutes later the three-piece orchestra began playing a slow and romantic song as Brian stood in his black tux before the outdoor altar, looking down the aisle toward the crowd of nearly forty guests. Behind Brian, was the gorgeous white sand beach and perfect blue ocean, and in front of him the striking profile of the hotel Eden Rock’s breathtaking structure, which appeared to be carved out of the hill.
Eric, the first groomsman walked down the aisle with his bridesmaid. Then Lisa followed with her groomsman, followed by Rob and Laura, and then finally Jim and Victoria. They all took their places on either side of Brian as the processional music grew louder. Then Jillian appeared on the arm of her long-time editor, Rolland Pike.
She looked gorgeous in her tea-length, strapless, taffeta sheath dress, which was accented by a facial blusher veil. Jim fought to hold back his emotions as tears streamed down Victoria's face. Jim watched as Albert signaled to someone behind him. When he looked back, he saw the skinny cameraman moving closer to the altar with his camera pointed at Jillian.
Brian smiled sweetly while also struggling to hold back his emotions. As Jillian reached the middle of the crowd, Natalie removed her sunglasses. Brian instantly recognized her and without thinking, called out, "Natalie!" Jillian's eyes immediately moved to the smiling witch. Rob looked over as well. The music screeched to a halt. The cameraman moved in as Albert grinned.
Jillian glared as she asked, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I have an invitation," Natalie replied smugly as she stood.
"There's no way," Jillian cried as Brian rushed to her. "First you sue me, and now you try to ruin my wedding!"
The cameraman moved in and got a great shot of Jillian smashing the bouquet of flowers into Natalie's chest. Natalie lost her balance and then tumbled backwards, taking her chair down with her as she fell to the ground. Natalie glared up to Jillian as she struggled back to her feet. "What the hell is wrong with you, you old bitch?"
Brian was two feet away as Natalie dove into Jillian, nailing her with a perfect shoulder tackle down to the turf. All eyes watched the girl fight, mesmerized as they pawed at each other while rolling around on the white runner.
The cameraman got every second of the stunning scene. Brian moved to Jillian and pulled her away. Natalie's date, attorney Josh Roth, helped her to her feet. The two men stood holding back their women as Brian glared at Natalie. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I told you already. I received an invitation." Natalie gave Jillian a smug look as she continued, "I thought you brought me here to apologize, you know for all the lies in your—"
"Apologize?" Jillian interrupted as she stared at her dumbfounded. Then she noticed the cameraman and pointed at him. "Get that camera away from me."
Jim headed angrily over to Tim. The skinny guy put his hand up and then pointed the video camera to the ground. Jim noticed the wide smile on Albert's face and then the realization hit him. He rushed to Brian. "That's the guy I saw earlier. He was talking to her agent. Albert handed him an envelope full of money."
All eyes went to Albert. He stood and said, "I, uh…"
Jillian stormed up to Albert. "You hired this cameraman?"
He stammered, "Remember there is no such thing as bad publicity."
Tim looked around to be sure he wasn't being watched and then began recording again as Jillian stared at Albert in confusion. "But, how'd you know there'd be something to…Wait. Wait…You knew she'd be here."
Natalie yelled out, "Someone sent me the invitation and plane tickets. Oh and also the book." Brian glanced at Natalie. Josh put his hand out, "Hello, I'm her attorney, Josh Roth."
Brian dismissed Josh with his eyes and his gaze moved to Jillian. Her face was blood red as she snarled, "You set this whole thing up. You ruined my wedding and for what? To sell a few more books. You goddamn bastard."
Brian stared at Albert with his anger building. He rushed over and punched him right in the jaw. Albert went down hard, taking chairs with him. Jillian gazed at Brian proudly, and Natalie stared along with her, becoming incredibly turned on as she once again witnessed Brian's dark side.
Albert looked up groggily to the cameraman. "Tell me you got that?"
Jim headed toward Tim. Tim grabbed his case and took off toward the resort. Jillian glared down to Albert. "You even think about pressing charges against Brian, I'll make sure you don't see a dime more from this book. I'll even pull it just to be sure you don't." She turned toward Brian, paused, and then turned back, "Oh and you’re fired."
Albert stood and brushed himself off. "I'm waiting on a call back from The View I think I can—" He shut the f*ck up when Brian took half a step toward him. Albert put his hands up to protect himself as he said, "Okay. Okay."
"Maybe you should skip the wedding," Brian said. Albert straightened his tie and slinked away with all eyes on him.
Victoria stood directly in front of Natalie and gazed down to her angrily. Natalie grinned uneasily, grabbed Josh's hand and they rushed away. Victoria grinned then walked over to Jillian and glanced at her dress, which was a mess and covered with grass stains. She said, "It's ruined."
Jillian wore an odd smile as she looked at the front and then craned her neck to check out the back of the dress. She spotted a chair and took a seat, looking like she could either burst into laughter or have a giant meltdown any second. Brian's gaze slowly traveled from Jillian's face up to the ominous dark clouds quickly approaching from behind the crowd. Victoria and Jim spotted the approaching storm just as Jillian chuckled. "I'm pretty sure the worst is behind us. I mean, what else could, uh…" She stopped talking when she saw the concerned looks in front of her. Jillian looked behind her skyward and turned slowly back to Brian.
"Don't they say rain is good luck for a wedding?" Brian asked.
Jillian nodded casually as huge drops began to fall. Everyone except Brian and Jillian took off running toward the resort. They just stared at each other with silly grins as the rain began soaking them. She screamed over the rain drops, "Rain might be good luck, but bar fights generally aren't."
"You're taking this all in stride. I'm proud of you," he said while nodding casually. He held his hand out to her. "Shall we?"
Jillian stood and moved to him. The crowd watched from inside the resort all wearing smiles and shaking their heads in disbelief. Brian swept Jillian up in his arms, and they shared a passionate kiss that went on for a good thirty seconds. When they finally pulled their lips apart their clothes were completely soaked. They shared a laugh and then they turned toward the resort and smiled at their audience. Oblivious to the driving rain, Brian picked her up and carried her at a leisurely pace toward the building. Jim held the door as they slipped inside. Brian placed her carefully down and they stood dripping wet just shaking their heads. Brian announced, "I think we'll, uh, need to move the wedding inside." He walked to Victoria and motioned for Jim to join them. "Are you guys okay?" Both nodded and he continued, "We're going to go change…Can you guys get everything set up and make sure everyone is comfortable? We'll be down in twenty minutes."
Victoria pointed to Jillian's completely wet, drowned-rat hairstyle and said, "Better make it thirty."
Brian nodded, and then he walked to Jillian, took her hand, and they headed toward the elevator.