Chapter 24
A week later and I was having a farewell party in my local pub, organised by my friends and family. Obviously my parents were quite shocked at my sudden desire to move all the way to America, after all, they had no idea about AJ, and I still hadn’t got around to mentioning it to them. How do you bring something like that up? I couldn’t tell them I’d married a famous pop star, whom I’d only met that night, whilst drunk in Las Vegas. They would’ve been so disappointed in me. No, it was better to just keep it from them. What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.
“Going to miss you Steph” Izzy said hugging me tightly
“Me too” said Jess
“Me three” called Chloe
“Aw thanks girls and I’ll miss you too, but you know, you can always come over once I’ve settled in” I promised
“It’ll have to be after the baby is born for me” Jess said, rubbing her hand over her now visible bump. She wasn’t going to take any risks after reading lots of information on the internet, although she could fly if she wanted to.
“Well count me in!” said Izzy
“Me too, I want to see if it’s anything like the movies” Chloe announced “you know, Pretty Woman and all that”
“Oh god, me too! I hope it’s not a let down” I added. I hadn’t even seen the house; I’d just bought it from the internet photos and AJ’s recommendation. What if I hated it?
“Well, you’ll have AJ nearby” Jess teased
“Yeah, you can always pop over to borrow a cup of sugar” Izzy giggled and I slapped her arm playfully.
“He’ll be about twenty miles away” I explained “and anyway, I’ll only be seeing him when I have to…at the meetings, y’know”
“Whatever you say Steph!” Chloe added “we believe you, right girls?”
“Right” they both agreed.
I just sighed and kept my mouth shut after that. The more I protested, the more they teased. It was better to give in and just enjoy the party.
My parents left the party quite early, assuring me that they would come and see me off at the airport the following day. The rest of us didn’t leave much later. I still had to finish some packing and was keen to get on with it; I had always been an unorganised kind of person.
It was whilst I was going through one of my bags that I’d taken to Las Vegas the first time that I came across the dreaded wedding DVD. I held it between my fingers and contemplated what to do with it. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and I got up off the floor, walked over to my TV/DVD (which by the way, was not coming with me, all large items were being shared out between friends and family) and switched it on. With trembling hands, I slid the DVD into the slot and moved backwards until my legs hit the sofa and I had to either sit or fall down. I sat.
The title screen came up with Elvis’s ‘Love Me Tender’ as the background track and a picture of myself and AJ in a big pink heart on the screen. How frigging cheesy could you get? I picked up the remote and stabbed at the play button before I changed my mind.
“Oh god” I groaned as I saw myself on the screen. Expecting to see myself falling all over the place drunk, I was quite surprised at how normal we both looked. Well, maybe a little drunk!
The camera zoomed in on us both, and to my horror, I was gazing at him adoringly. We were holding hands and just looking into each other’s souls as the Elvis impersonator began the service.
I’d had a flashback of the wedding after it had happened, but seeing it with my own eyes, on the screen, was something else. I couldn’t deny this or say it was a figment of my imagination – it was real.
I watched as we said our vows to each other, as he slid that hideous skull ring onto my finger and as I drew a wedding band on his finger with a pen. We looked like we really meant it. We looked like any couple in love. Except for the fact that really, we’d probably only known each other a few hours at the time. Once the Elvis guy announced us to be husband and wife, I watched as AJ swept me up into his arms and carried me out of that little chapel. Obviously, the recording must’ve stopped there and the chapel staff must’ve gone chasing after us to give us the discs. But I couldn’t get over how much in love we looked. I shuddered.
I pressed stop on the DVD and ejected it, placing it back into the little case and shoving it back in my bag. Then I walked into the kitchen a poured myself a glass of wine, I needed it after watching that!
Needing a distraction, I double checked all around the house, making sure I had everything ready for tomorrow. I wasn’t taking a huge amount with me on the plane as a lot of things had already been shipped on ahead of me.
“Right then, I think that’s me done for the night” I said to myself as I looked around the stark looking place. All that was left were the large items like sofa, TV/DVD, my bed, wardrobe, kitchen items and appliances and a large bookcase which had housed my many books, CDs and DVDs. Everything else was either packed, shipped to America or at the charity shop, with the exception of the bags which were coming with me tomorrow. The fridge was just about empty, and the food cupboards were bare. I couldn’t believe I was really doing this. I was moving to Los Angeles.
As I was getting ready for bed, I heard my phone going off. I was too late to answer it by the time I got to it, but then a text came through.
Thanks for doing this Steph, I’ll be seeing you in sunny LA – AJ
“Aw, what a sweetie” I said to myself as I re-read his message and then replied.
No problem, and thank you for your help with the house, will call you when I’ve arrived – Steph
I hit the send button and then climbed into bed; I had a very long day ahead of me tomorrow.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks for reading, here's more. She's not there yet, but she soon will be!
