Chapter 4 Four

"No, no, no!" I say as I pace around the living room as thoughts are flooding my mind.

"Read that out loud," I tell Dave and he frowns.

"To Luke Grahams. Emily Michaelson and Damien Foster together with their families, invite you to celebrate their marriage on Tuesday, 14th of September 2021. At eleven o'clock in the morning. 47 North main street- Brondale. Reception to follow," Dave reads the letter out loud and I shake my head even harder.

"Nah, this is a prank. Complete nonsense. Emily is in Brondale organizing an event; she can't be getting married to some guy named Damien Foster. I bet this is a prank, maybe it's that little kid from next door, Mason," I complain and I notice that Dave is staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"How sure are you Emily is in Brondale and that she's organizing an event for her company?" he questions.

"Are you seriously asking me that? She's Emily for fucks sake! She's never lied to me," I state as I wave my hands in the air aimlessly. There's something brewing inside me and I don't want to find out what it is.

"People lie, all the time. I just lied to Gigi that I'd go straight to the grocery store and back, but guess where I am right now. Small lies, great lies, any lie is a lie, Luke. But we really need to find out if this is true," Dave says and I bite my inner cheeks so hard that the skin begins hurting.

"I'm calling her," I say and I fish out my phone from my pocket and call her.

"Her phone is off. That's odd. Her phone is never off," I say as the worst of all scenarios start playing around in my head again. What is happening?

"Let me try," Dave says and calls her, "Yeah it's definitely off," he says and I stand while staring at the floor.

"I know this is a joke, but I must find out if it's not. Come on, let me get my car keys," I say and I rush to the little basket where we keep all sorts of keys in and I take my car keys and walk back to the living room and grab the letter.

"Wait, where are we going?" Dave asks as he follows me out of the door.

"If there's anyone who knows what the hell that letter means, it must be Trixie," I say and I slam the door and in four long strides, I am at my car and I drive off speedily.

At the mall, Dave and I rush past the doors as we head to Trixie's shop and honestly, I am freaking the fuck out! I am in complete doubt and fear. What am I supposed to do if what is in that letter is true? What the hell am I supposed to do?

Die, maybe.

The moment we storm into the shop that's full of different kinds of clothes with all sorts of shimmery colors, Trixie turns her head to look at us.

"Oh, hey guys," she says with a smile and Dave and I frown at each other.

"Where's Emm?" she asks and I shake my head.

I take a step forward and I look into Trixie's eyes.

"Didn't your best friend tell you where she's going before she left? Or where she actually is, right now?" I ask impatiently and I notice a look of confusion on Trixie's face. I guess she doesn't know about anything at all.

"What do you mean? I haven't talked to Emm in nearly two weeks now. What's wrong? Has anything happened to her?" she asks, her voice all panicky.

"She doesn't know, Luke," Dave says and I pinch the bridge of my nose with one hand, as the other remains on my waist.

Trixie moves and stands in between Dave and I and she looks from me to Dave, curiosity drawn all over her face, as she pushes her curly, blue dyed hair out of her face.

"Is everything okay?" she questions and I shake my head.

Then I hand her the letter.

"What's this?" she asks.

"Just read it," Dave says and by the time she's done, how mouth is agape and her eyes as wide as saucers, like those of a deer caught in headlights.

"Is this a joke?" she asks.

"That's what I said," I reply. "Are you sure you don't know anything about it? Because if you do, you better tell me why this is happening," I tell her.

"Luke, if I knew she was getting married to another person, I would tell you. Plus she didn't tell me anything at all. Where is she right now?"

I inform Trixie about Emily's 'project' and how I got the letter less than an hour ago.

"Have you tried calling her?" she asks and I tell her we did to no avail.

"I'll call her," Trixie says and she moves to the counter and takes her phone and as she calls Emm, she puts her on speaker.

It's ringing. Her phone must be on now. I don't know why, but my throat immediately goes dry as soon as I hear her voice.

"Hey, Trix," she says with alot of enthusiasm.

"Hey girl. How are you? It's been a while since you passed by," Trixie says and her eyes shift from her phone to me.

"I know, I've been a little busy. I'm actually in Brondale right now but I'll definitely pass by when I get back. How's work so far?" she asks.

"Meh! Not that bad, it's kind of hectic especially when I run out of stock and I have to get new ones, but it's nothing I can't handle," Trixie says and I signal her to give me the phone even though Emm is on speaker.

"Err, someone wants to talk to you," Trixie says and she hands me her phone. I swallow hard before speaking.

"Hey Emm," I say, trying to sound as calm as I possibly can.

Silence.

"Emily?" I say.

"Yeah, I'm right here, sorry. Must be the poor reception where I am right now," she says and chuckles and I frown at the phone.

"I tried calling you earlier and you were off. Everything okay over there?" I question.

"Yes," she says.

Something is not right. Emm wouldn't just say yes and keep quiet just like that. If nothing was wrong, she'd definitely have continued saying more.

I clench my jaw and hold the phone tightly in my hand. Trixie is biting her nails and Dave's eyes are glued to the phone in my hand.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yes."

There she goes again.

For an unknown reason to me, my armpits are heating up and I can tell that I am already sweating. My heart rate is unsteady.

"Emm... someone mailed me a very odd letter. A wedding invitation letter to be precise and it has your name on it next to some other guy's name... Damien," I say as I look at the letter and frown.

Silence.

"Emm? Do you know anything about that letter or is it just a stupid prank?" I ask and she hangs up.

"Did she just..." Dave's words trail off and I nod my head.

"I must talk to her," I say as I look around Trixie's shop and I spot an employee and ask her to lend me her phone for a few minutes.

I am sure Emm won't receive any calls from either me, Dave or Trixie.

"This is crazy. I just hope it's not true," Trixie says and she releases a heavy sigh as I dial Emm's number.

"Hey, who's this?" her voice fills the room and I tightly close my eyes.

"It's still me, Emm. Just answer my question. Is that invitation letter real? Are you... are you getting married... to someone else?" I ask. Saying those words makes my heart ache.

"Luke I–"

"Please, just answer me. Yes or no?"

"Yes," she confirms my worst fear.

Suddenly, everything is at a standstill. I can't hear whatever she's saying. All I can hear is a loud and sharp ringing in my ears.

Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnggg!!

She's getting married.

To someone else.

Not me.

Why?

What did I do wrong?

"Say something," Trixie brings me back from my thoughts. My heart is aching, pounding so fast against my chest. My eyeballs are burning and I think my entire body temperature just lowered.

"But why?!" is all I manage to say.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't have this conversation right now," she says.

"Emm, you know how much I love you, why are you trying to break my heart? We've been together for such a long time and–"

She hangs up even before I finish pouring my heart out to her.

I clench the phone in my palm so hard and I let out a bitter cry.

"Urgh!" I yell.

If this was my phone, I would have thrown it to the wall long ago. I hand Trixie the phone and I hurriedly stomp my way out.

"Luke! Luke! Wait!" Trixie yells from behind me as she and Dave try to catch up with me.

"Wait up!" Dave yells and I halt abruptly and Trixie slams her face against my back.

When I turn around she's rubbing her face.

"Luke, we're so sorry. I had no idea she's getting married," Trixie says and I lick my dry lips.

"Do you know who that guy is?" I ask impatiently and she shakes her head.

"I'll help you find out who he is. It's not too late–" I cut Dave off.

"It's already too fucking late! She's getting married on Tuesday and there's nothing I can do. Fuck!" I yell and everyone at the mall turns their head to stare at me.

"At least try to convince her. I know how much she loves you but I still don't understand why she decided to run off with another guy. You two are meant for each other," Trixie says and I snort.

"If we truly are meant for each other, then why did she decide to get married to someone else? How long has she been keeping this behind my back and how..." my words trail off as it all dawns on me. It wasn't a project that she was planning all along.

"She's been planning her wedding," I say and gasp. I close my eyes tightly and grit my teeth as a sharp pain stings my heart.

"Bro, let's go back home and talk this out. Figure out a way to stop that wedding from happening. Are you with me?" Dave says and sighs heavily instead of saying anything and we leave.

***

"Pour me another glass," I tell Dave but he refuses. I've been drinking heavily for three hours straight and I can barely count my fingers.

"Give me the damn bottle!" I yell drunkenly and hiccup once I have taken the bottle of vodka from him.

"Take it easy–"

"I won't fucking take it easy! My... my Emily just left me. Fuck! You have no fucking idea of how I fucking feel right now! I... I don't understand what made her change her mind. Tell me, is it because... I took too long to ask her... to be my wife? Hmm? I feel so stupid right now, Dave. I just want to die," I say as I chug the vodka mercilessly until the bottle is empty and I burp carelessly and slump myself on the couch.

"I know you're hurting right now, but you can't just give up on the love of your life. You always say that she's your everything. Fight for her," Dave says and my eyes widen up and I ascend from the couch, nearly stumbling upon the table.

"I'll stop that fucking wedding and show that... asshole, Damien, that I... am the only one who Emily will ever love. No one else but me!" I say and I pick up the bottle from the table and I throw it to the wall and it breaks into tiny shards on the floor. The sound of breaking glass fills the room. Dave just sits there staring at me as I am panting like a dog on a hot summer day.

Emily is mine and only mine.

I must stop that wedding!