Page 26 of Billionaire's Fake Bride
Chapter Nine
Nate
As I checked my bowtie in the mirror of the large guest bathroom of the historic mansion, I marveled at the ease with which this day had come to fruition. It was my fake wedding day, and as one would expect from the bride and groom, I hadn’t seen Tammy all day and Riker and Zeke had spent a lot of time with me upstairs, sharing a few drinks and helping me get ready for my big day.
Tammy and her two friends were downstairs, making use of the master bedroom and bathroom where they wouldn’t have to navigate stairs in heels and dresses. The parts of the mansion that would be used for the ceremony and reception were decorated with beautiful flowers, ribbons and rental plants. The cake was a real wedding cake ordered from an upscale bakery that Tammy often used. The cake and other finger food was enough to feed the short guest list of under twenty people including the kids, and Tammy had assured me that she would handle procuring a wedding gown for herself if I would figure out our rings.
Rings were expensive, especially the ones Mack would expect to see on our fingers during the ceremony. Luckily, when I walked into a local jewelry store with the vague hope that I could figure out a deal, the store owner recognized me immediately as Nathaniel Jackson, the recently retired star quarterback of the Lexington Colonels.
When I explained my friend was a wedding planner, and we were staging a photoshoot of a couple getting married for advertising purposes, he offered to let me borrow a stunning set of matching wedding rings. In return for my signature and a promise to mention his store in the ads, he loaned me the rings. And I actually really liked them, so that task had been simple.
Aside from a bit of initial worry about the rings, everything had gone off without a hitch. All we had to do was tie the knot for the cameras and Mack. Then we would have our reception and head off to our honeymoon this same evening.
The honeymoon was the one part of the wedding I hadn’t let Tammy plan, and I could tell that irked her a little. When I told her it was a surprise, though, she went from mildly annoyed too curious. I promised I would tell her when we got into the jet to go there, and she unwillingly agreed to let me keep my secret until then.
First, we had to get through this ceremony, though. I knew it was fake. Tammy knew it was fake. All our friends knew it, too. Yet, when I thought about standing before Tammy in the huge grand hall of the mansion, a hint of nerves tugged at my movements, making me clumsy enough to drop things.
I busied myself with finishing my drink, knowing that Riker and Zeke would come back to get me for the ceremony any moment now. Probably due to the small size of the wedding, everything was running right on schedule, and I didn’t know whether I should be relieved that I wouldn’t have to wait or even more nervous that time flew by so fast.
The door swung open and Riker let himself inside, closing it behind him. “Ready?” he asked, looking me up and down. I couldn’t tell if he was checking that everything was okay with the tux because he wanted this wedding to go well or because the tux actually belonged to Riker, and he wanted to make sure I didn’t mess it up.
“Yeah, I’m ready. Is Clinton here?” I had put Clinton in charge of officiating the fake ceremony since he was a notary and a justice of the peace. He could handle the fake paperwork Tammy and I would have to sign, subtly making a show of it for Mack.
“He’s in place and everyone is ready,” Riker told me.
When I left the safety and privacy of this room and took my place at the end of the fine red rug we had laid over the length of the grand hall, I would have to look the part of a blissfully happy man about to get married to the love of his life. I felt like I should go back in time, scrap my degree and go to an acting school before I stepped out of that door.
“You look ready,” Riker commented a bit sarcastically, but not without sympathy. “Try… try remembering how you felt when you realized you won the Super Bowl.”
I did and achieved immediate success in the smile department.
“Exactly. Look, you’re a Super Bowl winning quarterback and about-to-be general manager of the team you played for. Your presence makes people nervous. People don’t make you nervous.” Riker clapped me on the back a good deal more gently than normal to avoid wrinkling the tux.
“You’re right.” I took a deep breath, giving my limbs a bit of a shake and bouncing in place like I just broke out of a huddle on the field.
Riker nodded approvingly. “Go get ‘em, Tiger.”
I shot him a dirty look as we left the room together. “The Colonels’ mascot isn’t-” I didn’t have time to finish because my glare wouldn’t make a good expression for the guests, and we were rounding the corner into the hall. Shooting the short rows of familiar faces a grin, I took my place in front of the tall, marble fireplace to wait at the end of the red carpet for Tammy.
Clinton smiled at me placidly and shook my hand. And I hid my chuckle with an even bigger smile knowing Mack, his photographers, and the pianist were the only people who didn’t have a clue all of this was just a big fake. And of course, the only reason the pianist was present to provide the music - the grand piano was already here.
The longer I stood in front of the waiting audience, the harder I struggled to keep my composure. This was taking way too long. Tammy never actually told me that she had a wedding dress for sure, she just said she would handle acquiring one. What if something had gone wrong and she couldn’t get the dress? Or maybe she got cold feet and decided to stand me up. Wait… she might still be mad at me for leaving her at the end of high school. Was this her way of getting me back for that?
The seconds inched along and my mind formulated increasingly ridiculous and disastrous scenarios, all with the same end result. I would be jobless. I would have to sell my mansion. I would have to-
Then the pianist began the first notes of the ‘Wedding March’, and at that moment, the piano was the most wonderful instrument that had ever been invented. The ornate front doors of the mansion stood open wide, and Clinton announced, “Please stand for the bride!” Everyone present stood, and I had to check myself as I nearly laughed out loud at the antics of Riker and Elena’s young daughter Bree as she jumped up and down with excitement, the embodiment of my giddy relief.
Then I saw Tammy, and everyone else vanished from my mind. I looked the part of a real groom, and it was obvious that Tammy would look like my bride, but she went to every length and then some. Her dress gleamed the pure white of winter snow, trailing a path through the rose petals that littered the red carpet, and its sleek design hugged her curves like she had it tailored to her body. She clasped a simple bouquet of red roses, white calla lilies and some kind of tiny, delicate flower that trailed nearly to her knees in a waterfall of soft blooms.
Flaws appear as perfection until they are observed close up, but not today. Not in Tammy’s case. Not a single hair fell out of place, not a flower shifted and not a speck of makeup interrupted her perfect symmetry. Tammy looked perfect. Tammywasperfect.
Gradually, I realized that the piano had faded into silence, and Clinton had begun saying his piece. His introductory remarks turned out to be a bit long-winded.He’s doing this on purpose as a private joke… no doubt.
As it turned out, though, I needed that time to come down from my Tammy-inspired high and remind myself of the cold, hard truth - this was not real. It looked real. It even felt real for a moment. I might even wish somewhere deep inside me that itwasreal, but it wasn’t.
I blinked when Clinton told us with a gleam in his eye, “Please repeat your vows to one another.”Really? We are already at this part?I guessed it was just me who was frozen in time.
I had thought long and hard about what to say for my vows. Eventually, I realized that I had plenty to say, and I jumped into it, easily meeting Tammy’s gaze because I meant every word. I apologized for what I put Tammy through back in high school. I talked about the twist of fate that brought us back together at Zeke’s wedding. But most of all, I told Tammy how deeply glad I was that we had found each other again.
