Late for my friend's wedding
The best man at the most prestigious grand wedding of the year, lay nonchalantly in bed.....still sleeping after a long night of partying, he opened his eyes and found himself entangled in bed with his latest woman. He stretched his hand towards the bedside table to look at the time.
"Oh shit! I am late!.... the wedding!" Damien quickly got out of bed in a hurry, nearly missed his best friend's wedding, and dashed into the bathroom to freshen up! He came out a few minutes later and patted the lady in his bed to wake her up.
"Get up and leave...you have overstayed your welcome.....I thought I told you to wake me early, in case I overslept. Leave!!" He yelled at her, while he hurriedly got dressed.
Stephanie got up to get dressed, she wasn't given enough time to even freshen up, due to Damien's haste to kick her out.
Moreover, Damien's attitude toward her always irked her, but she just couldn't stop caring for him, even though she knew he would never accept her feelings or love her back.
Damien didn't even touch her, despite sharing the same bed with her, for a whole night. Stephanie picked up her bag to finally leave, but paused for a moment and turned towards him.
"You have my number right, I am just a call away." she added and blew a kiss his way.
She already knew these actions of hers always infuriated him, but that was the only way she could playfully express what was deeply hidden inside her heart...Her undying crush! She knew he won't see her again the moment He found out about her actual feelings for him. She decided to just be satisfied to have him by her side, she had learned over the years, not to get greedy.
"Bye! baby, It was the best night ever." Stephanie jokingly added, which earned a scorn from Damien.
She opened the door and left without giving him a second look, or wait for his reply, so she missed the disgusted expression on his face, as he watched her leave.
"I don't blame her!...why can't I quit this habit of mine? it's slowly getting the better of me." these were Damien's thoughts all along.
He simply disliked how he lived his life, but he had no choice. He just couldn't sleep by himself, since childhood.
Formally, He had his mom to always stay with him till he fell asleep, but he always ended up awake in the middle of the night, sweating profusely and breathless after one of his awfully recurrent nightmares. His only relief was to always find his mom by his side, and she helped calm him until he goes back to sleep once more, or tell him stories for an entire night if he failed to go back to sleep.
His Mother's embrace and comfort magically soothes and relaxed his mind, He really missed her the most on those times.
That was the reason why he never bothered to quit this weird habit of inviting different ladies into his bed, hoping to share the same comfort his mother once granted him. He hoped he will one day meet a warmth, just like his mom's, and finally find some peace in his nights. He rarely slept without nightmares ever since he was a kid, after his unfortunate tragedy. He resulted to mostly knocking himself out, thanks to a few glasses of wine each night, and always woke up with a splitting headache.
Damien cleared his thoughts from wandering over the past. He checked the time again and hissed.
"I am so late, Edward Reed is going to kill me." He picked up his car keys and left his apartment in a haste.
Damien's apartment was on the top floor since he was a fan of heights. He loved to be on top of the world, to appreciate the view of an entire landscape, and its beautiful sceneries at night when He found it hard to sleep after his nightmares.
Damien arrived in a nick of time, to stop the elevator door from closing. Three ladies were inside the elevator along with him, so he nodded to the ladies in gratitude. He noticed how they secretly sent flirtatious glances his way.
There were obviously checking him out from head to toe, which made him uncomfortable. Especially when they secretly whispered something amongst themselves. He could care less about what they were talking about, as long as they don't pounce on him. So he simply ignored them and waited impatiently to get to his car.
The moment the door to the elevator opened at the ground floor parking lot, Damien rushed out towards his car and drove away at full speed.
Minutes into his drive, He took out his phone to check his messages but he noticed several missed calls....eleven missed calls from Edward then he swore.
"I still got some thirty minutes before the wedding starts." He added when he peeked into his wristwatch, the latest Rolex watch to check the time.
He dialed the groom's number which was answered in just one ring. The furious groom snapped immediately after he picked up!
"Where are you?! do you know what time is it or how many times I called you?" Edward questioned impatiently.
"Calm down buddy, we still got some thirty minutes. why the rush?" Damien's reply to the groom's impatience didn't help matters. He fidgeted with the tie around his neck to loosen it, thinking of ways to distract the nervous groom on the other end of the line.
"Are you seriously telling me to calm down? As the Best Man, you were supposed to be here an hour ago. Yet, you seem relaxed and unbothered." The groom questioned in frustration, sounding nervous as hell.
Edward suddenly lowered his voice enough for Damien to hear him, then discreetly spoke into the phone.
"We have some serious problem buddy, so hurry up and get your ass down here!" then He disconnected the call after his urgent summon, and left Damien shocked, with the phone still attached to his ears, waiting for further explanation. Damien couldn't help but wonder what exactly could be the problem when it was merely thirty minutes to his wedding, so He increased the speed of his car and arrived at the Star Hotel earlier than he thought, within a few minutes.
The famous luxurious hotel, where the wedding ceremony was supposed to take place. One of the most expensive and highly influential hotels in the entire city.
Damien got down from his car midway towards his parking space and gave his keys to the Valet to park his car. He rushed towards the venue to meet Edward restlessly pacing back and forth. He seemed nervous with worry, it was completely evident on his handsome face.
"What happened Edward, you look worried. Or is it the tension before the wedding?" Damien teased and asked if He was already cold feet before his wedding.
Edward glared daggers at him for arriving late, as The best man. He pulled Damien aside for a private conversation.
"The bride is pregnant, It's not mine. But there is no way I am calling off this wedding. I spent too much and from the contract we signed, the guilty party pays for damages. The booked fund is nonrefundable too. You also know how I hate the media too. They won't let this be. They will pester and harass us for details. They only know how to nitpick into a small problem, and turn it into a massive bomb. It's what I hate the most about them. The Media really pisses me off, but I seriously can't marry her too. I need a solution out of this mess... right now! I mean now!!" and the groom finally pauses to stare at his Best-Man for an answer to his problem.
On the other hand, Damien was so shocked about everything he just heard, and stood rooted at the same spot, rendered speechless.