He Wants To Get Married

By: Stephanie

"Hello?" I said slightly out of breath.

"Hi ya sweetie, are you ready for Saturday night?" Lance asked.

How many times is he going to ask? I thought to myself before answering him. "I’m as ready as I’m gonna be. How about you are you nervous yet?" I asked. I thought back to the conversation we had the night before and how excited he was about the upcoming wedding. He talked about how many children he wanted and celebrating twenty-fifth and fiftieth anniversaries surrounded by family and friends. He asked to see his wedding band about a dozen times and said he couldn’t wait to wear it.

"I’m cool." Lance said. "I’m ready to stand before God and everyone to say ‘I do’."

"Lancey do you want to rent a movie tonight and order in Chinese?" I asked trying to change the subject. I wanted to spend as much time alone with him before Saturday.

"Sure I’ll pick it up on my way home around 5, k?" Lance asked.

"Okay I’ll see ya then. Goodbye."

"Bye Stef." Lance said.

I hung up the phone and wondered how blessed I was to have found my one true love, my soul mate. I wondered if he knew that he was everything I’ve ever dreamt of since childhood. I’ve always wanted someone who would stand beside me and love me. Someone who would be a great father, who would teach his children everything, they needed to know and instill values as they grew. He was the type of man who would never cheat on his wife or look at another. The phone interrupted my thoughts. "Hello?"

"Hey Stef, it’s just me again."

"Hi Lancey. What do you want?’

"I forgot to tell you that I’m going to bring Gabie with me tonight. It’s our last night together before the wedding. You don’t mind do you?" Lance asked.

"No problem." I answered. "The more the merrier."

"Thanks, I knew you’d understand. Are you practicing your song for Saturday? I want everyone to hear what a great voice my ‘best person’ has."

"I’m practicing Lancey, everything is going to go perfectly. I’ll see you and Gabie at 5." I hung up the phone again. Now what was I doing before he called I thought. Oh yeah, cheating. Maybe that’s my biggest problem. He only thinks of me as his best friend. He wants to get married, but not to me.

As five o'clock approached I got anxious to see Lance. Damn I wish he wasn't bringing her home I thought, as I got dressed. The doorbell interrupted her thoughts. I found her heart pounding as I raced for the door. Why did he have this effect on me? I pondered. Why wasn't he using his key? I wondered. I swung open the door and found Gabrielle standing there.

"Hello Stephanie."

"Hi. Where is Lance?" I asked.

"He's on his way. I've got to leave early, so I told him that I'd meet him here."

"Come on in and make yourself at home. I'm sorry about the mess, but Lance hasn't finished packing yet." I explained.

"I know. I keep nagging him about it. I really didn't want him to spend the night here tomorrow night." Gabrielle snapped.

"I didn't know that. Lancey, never told me he wasn't staying here tomorrow night." I knew that Gabrielle hated when I called Lance, Lancey. I'd called him that for so long, that when he started dating Gabrielle it was a hard habit to break.

"That's because once again he choose you over me. He told me that he was going to spend his last night here with his best friend."

Boy, she really doesn't like me I thought. "I’m sorry if that upsets you, but where did you expect him to stay?" I asked, but before Gabrielle could answer Lance walked through the door. He walked to Gabrielle and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Hi Sweetheart. What are the two of you discussing?" Lance asked.

"Gabrielle was just telling me about final wedding plans." I lied. "How was work?" I quickly added.

"Fine, I'm glad to see my two best gals are getting along so well." Lance smiled at me. He knew I really didn't like Gabrielle, but could see I was really trying to get along with her for his sake.

"Honey, I'm starved. Let's eat." Gabrielle announced while grabbing the bags out of Lance's hands.

"I'll get some wine." I said and headed for the kitchen. Once out of sight I looked back and made a funny face. I really can't stand her I thought. Lance is so stupid for picking her over me. What am I talking about, Lance doesn't even know that I like him. I grabbed two bottles of wine and three glasses. As I was getting ready to return to the living room Lance came through the kitchen door.

"What the heck were you guys fighting about?" Lance asked.

"You of course, we have nothing else in common to argue about." I said bitterly.

"You know I really appreciate that you tolerate her for me. I am also pleased that you allowed her to interrupt our movie night." Lance walked over and gave me a big hug.

"We better get back before she eats all the food." I teased. We walked out of the kitchen laughing and found Gabrielle staring at us.

"Lance, sweetheart, what's so funny?" She asked.

"Nothing." I replied.

Gabrielle sneered at me. As the night went on the tension between the two of us increased. Around nine o'clock Gabrielle announced, "I'm going home now. Lance walk me to my car." On command Lance stood up and helped Gabrielle on with her coat.

"I'll be back in a minute." Lance said while leaving the apartment.

I finished off the bottle of wine and opened the second. I haven't drunk this much in quite some time I thought. I'm really drunk. I hated the way Gabrielle treated Lance. I finished the glass of wine and poured yet another. I finished half the bottle and stood up to clean up the dinner dishes. I felt woozy and found myself sitting back down. I began to laugh at myself. I can't believe I let her get to me. I can't believe I've drunk myself silly over her. I started to giggle again; just then Lance came back into the apartment.

"What are you laughing at silly?" Lance asked.

"I'm so drunk I can't even stand up." I giggled.

Lance walked over to where I was sitting and picked up the half-empty wine bottle. "How much of this did you drink?" He asked.

"Enough to make me forget all about what's her name."

"Can't you two just learn to like each other?" Lance asked as he sat down of the floor next to me.

"We will never like each other." I said. "She is not the right woman for you and she knows I know it."

"What are you talking about?" Lance asked.

"Lancey, you have to know why she hates me. Don't you?" I asked.

"She doesn't hate you."

"Oh yes she does. She hates me. She is jealous of us, of our friendship." I paused slightly to remember where my thoughts were going. "She knows how I fell about you." I added with a giggle.

"That we are friends?" Lance questioned.

"No Lancey, silly. She knows . . . " My speech was getting even more slurred. I was getting tired. I put the glass of wine to my lips to take another sip before finishing my thought, but Lance grabbed the glass from me.

"I think you have had enough Miss Woodworth. I'm cutting you off."

"You can't do that to me!" I yelled.

"What does Gabrielle know Stef?" Lance asked. He was getting fed up with me. He had never seen me this drunk before. Why was Gabrielle causing her to do this? He looked over at me and noticed that I was beginning to nod off. He grabbed a hold of my arms and shook me lightly. He repeated his question this time he yelled it. "What does Gabrielle know Stef?" He needed to hear me say this.

"I can't tell you." I slurred. "I need to get some sleep, Lancey." I tried to stand again, but slid back to the floor. "Maybe I will just sleep here." I added.

"I'll put you in your bed." Lance told me. He stood up and picked me up.

"Lancey, I love you . . . " I managed to say before passing out in his arms.

The next morning I woke up with a nasty headache. What happened last night? I wondered. I got out of bed and headed for the kitchen. I need coffee. It will make everything all better. On the way I stopped off in Lance's room only to see that he wasn't there. I started making a pot of coffee and noticed a note on the table. I picked it up and read it.

Stef-

Morning sleepy head! I'm guessing that you'll have a huge headache when you wake up. Please don't forget that we are decorating the hall and noon. Don't be late!

Love,

Lancey

PS - We will continue our conversation from last night later.

What conversation? I tried to remember, but my head was thumping. I drank my coffee and hurried to get ready. It was already 11 A.M. and I knew I wasn't going to make it to the wedding hall by noon.

As soon as I walked into the hall Gabrielle greeted me. "Nice to see that you finally made it."

"Nice to see you too." I snapped. Lance stepped in between the two of us and gave me a hug.

"I see you got my note."

"Yes, but you could have woke me up when you left." I grabbed Lance's hand and lead him away from where we were standing. "What happened last night? Everything is really fuzzy for me."

"Nothing much, I walked Gabrielle out and when I came back in you were laughing and pretty drunk. You tried to walk to bed and couldn't even stand so I carried you. You passed out on the way to your room." Lance told her. He wasn't sure he wanted to bring up their conversation right then.

"Well, where do you want me to help?" I asked. Lance pointed me in Gabrielle's direction and told me to ask the boss. After everything was decorated I headed home to get ready for the rehearsal dinner.

I was getting out of the shower when I heard Lance come in. "Stef, how soon till you are ready to leave?" Lance asked.

"About half an hour." I yelled back.

"I think we need to talk." Lance yelled back through the bathroom door.

I opened the door and stood there with just a towel on. "You have never yelled through the bathroom door before, Lancey, why are you starting now?"

"I wasn't sure if you would want me to just barge in." Lance told her.

"Come on in, I need to do my hair, but you can talk to me while I curl it." I said. "What's the problem?" I asked.

"Do you remember any of our conversation last night?" Lance asked.

"I must have really had a lot to drink. The last thing that I remember is eating dinner and Gabrielle leaving, after that it is all a blank." I explained. "Did I do something I shouldn't have?" I asked. Oh God, I hope I didn't try to kiss him or something dumb like that. He is going to marry Gabrielle tomorrow. He'd never choose me over her I thought.

Lance stood up to leave and said over his shoulder. " I guess I was just overreacting."

I went to talk to him, but he had already left the apartment. What's wrong with him? I wondered. I finished getting ready and packed a bag. I was going to spend the night at my parent's house tonight, because I felt uncomfortable spending Lance's last night with him.

The rehearsal went well and Lance had managed to say only a dozen words to me. I began to wonder what I'd done to upset him. I was about to ask when Gabrielle dragged him off to take yet another picture. I left for my parent’s house and cried myself to sleep.

The next morning I got dressed in the tuxedo jacket and skirt that Lance and I had picked out. I headed for the church. Gabrielle had decided to have all of the pictures taken before the ceremony. It seemed like forever before the pictures were done. I tried to talk to Lance, but he was held up in a corner with his friends, JC, Chris, Joey and Justin. I went back to the groom's dressing room to fix my make-up before the ceremony. I stared at myself in the mirror and wondered why I never got the good men. My true love was about to get married and my heart was breaking. I finished touching up my make-up and went to find Lance.

The entrance march started and Lance and I took our place at the front of the church. "Lance before this starts, I want to apologize for whatever I did." I looked up into his gorgeous green eyes and noticed that he wasn't happy about something. "Lancey, are you sure you want to go through with this?" I asked.

"Look at all of the people. What would I tell them?" He whispered.

"The truth, whatever that is."

"I'm not sure what the truth is anymore." Lance paused then asked me. "Did you mean what you said the other night?"

I stared momentarily before looking back down the isle at the flower girl and ring bearer walking towards them. "Lance, I can't remember what I said."

"You told me that you . . . " Before he could finish the wedding march began and the congregation stood to greet Gabrielle.

I grabbed Lance's arm. "Lance, what did I tell you?" I whispered.

"You told me that you love me." He finished and flashed her a huge smile. "Is it true?" He asked.

Before I could answer him Gabrielle was standing there smiling ear to ear. Lance looked back at me and I shook my head yes. Lance grabbed Gabrielle's hand and lead here to the altar for the ceremony to start.

Like a robot Lance answered all the questions poised to him. When the part came for anyone to object or hold their piece. Lance looked over his shoulder at me. He mouthed 'I love you, too!' I stared for a moment before I heard myself say, "I object."

Gabrielle's head snapped around and she glared at me. "What do you mean you object!" She screamed.

"I object too." Lance said. "Gabrielle I think we should talk." He added.

"James Lance Bass, if you don't turn around and finish this ceremony right now I'll never speak to you again!" Gabrielle yelled.

"Gabrielle, I can't marry you." Lance stated. "I love Stef and she loves me."

"No, Lance, sweetie you love me. We are getting married." Gabrielle whined.

Lance grabbed Gabrielle's hand and led her to a nearby door. After a few minutes he reentered the church and addressed the congregation.

"I have an announcement to make on behalf of Gabrielle and myself. We will not be getting married today." There was a slight murmur in the crowd before Lance resumed his speech. "Everyone is invited to the reception hall for dinner. All gifts will be returned. We are sorry for any problems this might have caused. Thank you again."

Lance walked out of the church to the room where the groom gets dressed. He found me changing out of my outfit. He stood quietly watching before making his presence known. "Where did you stay last night?" He asked.

Slightly startled I swung around then said, "At my parent's house. I couldn't stand to have you next door to me knowing that you would never be mine."

"How long have you felt this way?" He asked.

"For quite sometime . . . . the week you meet Gabrielle. I wanted to tell you, but you told me you'd never love anyone again. Then everything was over and you proposed to Gabrielle." I paused. "How long have you loved me?" I asked.

"For about as long." Lance stated. "I thought you'd only see me as a friend. I thought you saw me as a big brother. Why didn't we discuss this a long time ago? It would have saved a lot of heartache."

I finished picking up my stuff. "Are you ready to go home?" I asked.

"Not yet." Lance said. He walked over to me and placed his hands on my face. He tilted my head up towards his and placed a kiss on my lips. "I love you." Lance stated.

"I love you, too." I whispered.

"Do you know what I want to do?" Lance asked.

My mind raced at the images of the two of us intertwined in each other’s arms. "What?" I asked hoping I was right.

"I want to take you away from here. Do you know what these are?" Lance asked showing me two envelopes.

"What are they?"

"Two tickets to Cancun. Do you have a passport?" Lance asked.

"Yes, I do. When do we leave?" I asked.

"Right now." Lance kissed me again before the two of us left for the airport and the beginning of our lives together.

The End

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