Well that went as good as fuck all, I think to myself as we pull up in a limo in front of the Bleeding Heart Tavern in Farringdon where the reception is already in full swing. I was moody and contemplative the entire joy ride around London. Thankfully, Leslie and Theo just let me stew. One way or another, I have to get Vi to listen to what I have to say. If I can just get past her thick fucking brother.
All of her brothers did a proper job of scaring me off all week. They parked outside of C. Designs, or drove by over and over and over. Any time I had the urge to walk to Vi’s and beg her forgiveness, one of them was there…staring me down like they wanted to use my head as a football. So, much to my great dismay, I withheld calling Vi and ruminated over it the entire week. I anticipated tonight being the night that I’d get her to hear everything I needed to say.
I never once suspected that she’d bring a bloody bodyguard with her.
Round one goes to Bunny.
We waltz into the tavern and Jaci no K is there to greet us. “Okay everyone, you’re going to follow me. We’re going to enter the reception where Theo and Leslie will cut the cake and then immediately begin their first dance.”
“What about refreshments?” Frank croaks from somewhere behind me.
Jaci cuts him an evil glance. “There is a bar downstairs. You may grab a beverage as soon as the first dance begins. Not before. Not. Before.” Her eyes turn glacial.
“Blimey,” Frank murmurs beneath his breath. “Scary bird.” Leslie giggles into Theo’s shoulder as he whispers something in her ear. The two look like a couple of horny teenagers while we wait for Jaci to walk us down.
“You…boy,” Jaci says, snapping her fingers in my direction. “You will hold the baby during the first dance. The mother of the groom has her down there now. We want her to be able to enjoy her son’s first dance, so you shall fetch her.”
“Her name is Marisa,” I mumble.
“I know!” she snaps back defensively. “Marisa Winifred Clarke. Her birthday is March 11th and she’s got two teeth coming in already, which is unusually early for a three-month-old baby, but not unheard of.”
My brows lift. Round two goes to Jaci no K.
She whisks us down to the lower level, 600-year-old converted wine cellar. It’s apparently where Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon hosted a five-day party in the 1500s. It’s an impressive crypt full of exposed beams and candlelit oval tables. Every table is overwhelmed by spreads of wildflowers, as well as overflowing baskets scattered throughout the cosy room.
Jaci walks us by the filled tables where people have been eating hors d’oeuvres and sipping champagne for the past hour. We pause near the head table at the front of the room and wait patiently as Leslie scoops Marisa up into her arms from our mum. Leslie presses her lips to Marisa’s chubby cheeks, and I can’t tear my eyes away from my brother as he watches Leslie with a fondness that can’t be faked. Christ, he really loves her.
I quickly scan the room for Vi but come up empty-handed. Gareth is sitting next to Benji and what look like the rest of Leslie’s coworkers from Nikon. He scowls at me angrily and I just shake my head. I refuse to let him intimidate me. I don’t care how many bloody goals he’s stopped.
I chug down some water at the head table as Theo and Leslie cut the cake. Jaci no K snaps her fingers and two busboys come fumbling in to roll the cake away. Leslie looks over to me as the music for their first dance begins. I grin happily and stride over, pulling a face at Marisa as I approach. She flails her arms happily when I scoop her into my chest.
We retreat to a safe distance as Theo pulls Leslie against him. “Mummy and Daddy loved you enough to include you in the ceremony, but some things are just better for two people,” I whisper into Marisa’s ear. She lets out a mighty giggle as I nuzzle her neck with my chin. Leslie and Theo look over at me and smile as I sway her along with the notes of Ingrid Michaelson’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The candlelight twinkles on the two of them, moving together to the music, and I can’t help but think back to the night I asked Vi to dance with me in her living room. My heart sinks.
“Hey,” a voice says from behind me, interrupting my wayward thoughts.
I turn to find Rey standing behind me, looking a little sheepish in a black floor-length gown.
“Hiya,” I say cautiously, recalling our last encounter not going so well.