LUCA
"Yo my man!!!" I turned around to see Sergio. This crazy bastard made it.
He brought me in for a hug and I hugged back because damn have I missed my best friend.
I knew he was going to be around but a day before the wedding?
"So what do you say? An exclusive boys night out just like old times" Sergio was more hyped about this than I was.
Wait till I tell him how this all came to be because I gave him only the tip of the whole gist.
"Are you celebrating something?" I asked him while I poured both of us a drink.
"Excuse you? Your stoic ass is getting married tomorrow and you can't see a reason to celebrate?" He looked stunned as he asked.
"Your optimism and excitement are nauseating sometimes, in fact, all the time" he laughed. He was having more fun than I was prepared for.
"Normal men have a bachelor party a night before the wedding"
"Normal men you said, I don't quite fit the part" I was pouring myself another glass of scotch.
"C'mon Man! Don't be a killjoy!" Sergio said, imitating a puppy's eyes I was still not impressed but if there was one thing to know about Sergio, it was the fact that he could go on and on and not stop.
"Alright, alright boys night added to the schedule". I said and rolled my eyes.
"Yes!" Sergio said, beaming with excitement and anticipation.
"Chop chop then, go get ready. I'll make calls and make reservations!"
"You are in my city, remember? I make the reservations"
"Oh please, just imagine what you would be doing tonight if I didn't show up" he looked like he was proud of himself.
"Sitting and downing a bottle of scotch just like I am doing right now and staring into the night's sky" I answered him.
"Ewwwwwww, you are so boring I wonder what the girls back in school saw in you".
"I'm just so cool like that, I don't have to do too much," I said, dusting my shoulders in self-adoration. He hissed and got on his phone punching numbers or God knows what while I went about getting ready.
It was time to leave and Sergio insisted Carlo would not be taking us. He was taking the "exclusive" in exclusive boys' night out so seriously.
I thought I was a crazy driver but Sergio was worse. "Are you trying to get us killed?!" I said while looking for something to hold on to as Sergio continued to swerve from side to side on the highway.
"Woohoo!!! Best night of your life!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
"More like worst night, or my last with the way you are driving" I retorted, still trying to keep my grip on the grab handle of the car.
We finally got to the lounge in one piece. We walked in and the array of lights of different colors greeted us first.
I expected a tad softer music but I could feel the vibrations from the speaker hidden somewhere in the room.
It felt like the whole room was shaking. "Don't you just love life?!" a dancing and annoying Sergio yelled at the top of his voice.
"I would love life if I was back in my room!" I yelled back.
A waiter came and showed us to our reserved table and I sat looking around and examining my surroundings while Sergio ordered us drinks.
"So, moron how did we meet our gorgeous wife?" Was this sober reflection or boys' night out?
"I told you she's just a contract wife".
"My old man threatened me and I had to find a way out of my dilemma or embrace impending abject poverty," I said, trying my best to summarize yet still sound detailed so this busybody wouldn't poke.
"That's not how you spoke of her," he said whilst giving me the side eye.
"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow.
The waiter dropped off our drinks and Sergio took a sip before answering. "I've known you for donkey years and I've heard you talk about other girls...."
"And?" I asked, wondering why he paused.
"And you have never spoken about any of them with even the minutest amount of respect".
"At one point I thought you hated women". He concluded, looking me in the eye as he spoke.
"The way you spoke about her was different, maybe if I could see you at that time there would have been stars in your eyes" he teased.
"I spoke about her like I would any other person, I picked her up from the street and used her to my advantage," I said, trying my best to sound uninterested while speaking about Samantha but I could hear all the members of my inner council scream "liar!" at me.
I saw fast picture flashes from when she rushed to hug me and I felt jittery all over again. The whole week I immersed myself in work just to escape from the voices in my head suggesting I had a soft spot for Samantha now this buffoon was here trying to awaken sleeping demons.
Sergio scoffed and laughed lightly, shaking his head and sipping his drink.
"I can't wait to meet her by the way. Unlike the others I can't place a face to her. Someone's description lacked depth".
He was trying to drive home the same point and knowing him, he would do that till he left.
We drank and watched the scenery and enjoyed the music with Sergio cursing us with his embarrassing dance steps.
The night was going fairly well. "Luca?"
"Camille?" What the fuck! I screamed internally.
"Hi!" She said in her pitched voice as she approached me, arms stretched out wide.
I stood up to take her hug and she planted pecks on both sides of my cheek.
"Hi" I said back, trying my best to evade this awkward moment.
"How have you been?" She asked, all smiles.
"Been killing it, what are you doing here?"
"Hi Sergio!" she moved to him totally ignoring my question.
"Hi sweetheart! Been a hot minute!" There was no situation where Sergio was unable to act like all was well in the world.
There my first love and ex stood after almost a decade since I last saw her or communicated with her.
Behind that sweet voice was a scheming devil. I needed to know what she was up to cause there was no way this meetup was coincidental.
"You didn't think I was going to miss your wedding right? Even if you tried so hard to make me miss it" she said, facing me as I just sat there dumbfounded as she pulled a seat to herself and sat in between us.
Hello? Little miss delusional, last time I saw you was some 10 years ago. Bold of you to think I had to try so you would miss the wedding. You weren't invited!
"Drinks?" She said, looking at the both of us expecting that one of us would order her drinks.
Anyway Sergio jumped on that. "What are you doing here Camille?" I asked again.
She had this cat-like look on her face. "Aren't you the least bit happy to see me? Huh?" She asked, blinking rapidly I could honestly barf at this ridiculous display of cuteness.
"I'm not, you left, without a trace. You basically vanished. So why should your presence excite me?" I asked, looking unimpressed by her clownery.
She sipped on her drink, batting her eyelids annoyingly. Her father was an associate of my dads. It would have been easy to find her if her father wasn't equally a mafia and a paranoid one at that.
Mans basically wiped off all traces of her. I gave up after the first 3 months of fruitless tries.
She moved closer to me. "You look so cute when you're pissed" she stroked my face slightly.
I restrained myself from slapping her nasty fingers off my face. "Pissed? I'm not pissed. I just know you are up to no good and I want to know what you are up to" I said, taking her hand slowly off my face.
She completely evaded my questions the whole evening. The rest of the night was a drag for me and I just watched as she and Sergio chatted away about old times and a bunch of other nonsense.
It was time for us to finally leave after sending millions of signals to Sergio indicating that I was sick and tired of the outing.
We got outside and Camille turned to me. "It was nice hanging out with you again, let's do this again soon" she said to me before pressing a very dramatic kiss on my cheek.
No way in hell was I going to hang out with this demon ever again. She walked to her car, got in and zoomed off.
"Did you know she was going to be here?" I asked Sergio, hitting his chest playfully.
"Me? Don't look at me like that. I didn't know". He said as he got into the car and we drove off.
*******
I was up bright and early the next day. I stepped out to take some air simply weighed down by the inadvertent reality of what today was.
I shamefully wanted to see her in that wedding dress. I shamefully wanted to say I do. At Least knowing it's until the end of our contract do us part.
The house was bustling with activities. All the workers moving from one corner of the house to the other, busy with a thing or two. I flashed a weak smile at every worker that stopped to greet me.
I made myself some tea and went back up to the room to get ready. I got in to see Sergio standing in front of the mirror practicing his best man's speech.
"You know this is not a real wedding right?" I reminded him in a bid to rain on his parade but he simply wasn't phased.
"Oh shut up and get your ass ready".
I was always dressed in suits but today I was making a statement with this look. I sprayed two of my minimal scents and proceeded to the garden that was already decorated to taste befitting of the family's status.
A few guests were already seated and more were arriving and the ceremony started in full swing after the priest was notified that Samantha was ready.
God! She looked stunning in her crystal-stoned dress as Carlos walked her down the aisle.
My heart fluttered in my chest and I struggled so hard to maintain my hard exterior.
We exchanged our vows with Samantha's face devoid of any emotion with a wry smile occasionally playing on her lips in a bid not to appear as a sad bride.
"You may kiss your bride". The priest's voice pierced through my scrambled thoughts.
I looked at Samantha. She was still avoiding my eyes. I lifted her chin up and stared at her lips remembering my promise to her. "Can I?" I whispered to her.
She looked at me with what seemed to be terror or something else and said, "Yeah". And then I brought her lips to mine. Savoring her cold lips and trying not to get lost in the euphoria kissing her brought to the doors of my heart.
The reception began right after the vow exchange and I didn't wait for it. Immediately I was done saying my greetings to the business partners and important dignitaries present. I headed up to my room.
The whole ceremony was over by 8:00pm and I saw Samantha come into the house dragging her heavy dress and refusing help from the workers.
My body kept nudging me to say something to her or do something as we had not spoken to each other asides the fake vows, and the kiss from earlier .
The entrance door opened just as Samantha was about to disappear into the hallway. "Camille??" I said, bemused at the sight of Camille at the entrance, a box in hand.