Page 92 of Just for Fun
I’m still laughing and shaking my head while I do what she asked. That is not the right thing to do, and I realize it the moment her stare changes into one of disappointment.
“I’m sorry, baby. I know how important it is to you not to be late. And we won’t be,” I promise. “The church is only a thirty minute ride, and…”
Zara takes off in a run. “I have to finish my hair and put some makeup on!”
The next twenty minutes pass in a blur. She locks herself in the bathroom, doing god knows what. Meanwhile, I am left with nothing to do as I wait for her. I mess with my bowtie for a while until it almost comes undone and I panic. Then I make sure my tux is okay until I think I see something in the back. I take the coat off to inspect it but can’t find a thing.
“Oh my god, why are you not dressed?” Zara snaps at me. She chose that exact moment to come out of the bedroom.
For a moment, I forget to answer. She looks incredibly beautiful with the way she put her hair up and the eyeliner on her lids is making her eyes pop.
“You’re so beautiful…” I drop the coat to the couch, ready to pull her into an X-rated hug.
She puts a hand up to stop me. “If you don’t put the coat back on and we are not out of this house in the next two minutes, I swear I scream.”
If she were anyone else, I’d laugh. But I told her before that I respect her obsession with punctuality, and I don’t want her to get there already stressed out. The fact that she is about to meet the rest of my friends for the first time is getting to her bad enough.
I wisely decide not to say another word. Sliding my arms into the coat, I smooth it down once it’s on, then check the pockets. I have the fob to my truck, my cell and the invitation that I have to show when we get there, for both church and reception venue.
“You have everything, right?” Zara asks as if she can read my mind.
“Just one more thing.”
I walk over to her and cup her face, my thumbs resting on each side of her mouth.
“Kyle, my lipstick…”
I pull her into a kiss before she can finish that. Her body relaxes in my hands the moment our tongues come together, wishing like hell that we didn’t have to go anywhere.
“Your lipstick is perfect,” I tell her once I let go. “And now I have everything.”
Grabbing her by the hand, I pull her out of the apartment. She follows with a dazed smile on her face, and I am happy that I could distract her enough for her not to realize that we are indeed going to be a little late for the church part of the event.
“You shouldn’t drive this fast in this area, Kyle,” she chastises me about fifteen minutes into the ride. That’s when she realizes what time it is. “Oh my god, we are going to be late.” She shakes her hands like they’re on fire. “Go faster!”
That’s how it pretty much goes until we get there. So many cars are lining up the adjacent streets as we get closer, leaving no doubt that the church parking lot is packed.
“This is incredibly embarrassing, Kyle,” Zara informs me in a shaky voice.
We are not parked, and we high step it to the church building. The doors are closed when we get there, and a woman with a headset on stops us in our tracks.
“Do you have an invitation for the church ceremony?” she asks us with a suspicious glint in her eyes.
Without saying a word, I reach into the inside pocket if my jacket and pull out the invitation I received from Ray and Hayden. They lectured me to no end how I am not allowed to lose it.
The girl with the headset grabs it, then brings some sort of a device that scans the piece of paper. The light on it turns green, and she hands it back with a haughty look on her face.
“You’re late.”
Zara whimpers next to me at hearing that, and I want nothing more than to tell this woman off. But we don’t have time.
“There are assigned seats,” she informs us. “Yours is the second bench from the front.
“The front?” Both me and Zara say it at the same time.
“Try to be quiet,” the gatekeeping lady warns it.
She pressed a hand on the massive handle on the door before pulling it slowly. She then ushers us in before closing it back up. We find ourselves in some sort of a lobby area. There’s another set of double doors ahead of us, and I can only assume we have to go through those next.
