Masters & Lovers Box Set One

Nods and smiles greet my words. People happy to be congratulated. Flattered...

"... As luck would have it, thanks to Michael's efforts to ensure he can keep his new wife in the manner she deserves, we have a hotel handy to offer you all accommodation for the night, so everyone can enjoy themselves as late as they wish. "I should mention that I had no idea before all this, that Michael comes from such a large family. And of course, many of you are here today, doubtless to see for yourselves who it is that has volunteered herself the task of keeping him in hand. I suspect that Charlotte will find it a novel experience to suddenly have such a crowd of relatives..."

More smiles and exchanged agreements... But a few furrowed brows...

"On which subject, thank you also to Richard, for standing in, to give away the beautiful Bride..."

Richard tilts his glass to me, beaming...

"... I think we can all agree that Charlotte looks amazing today. Michael has found someone who is beautiful, charming, intelligent, loving and honourable... Who says that marriage must be a partnership of equals...?" More laughter. Cheers and hoots, some admittedly drunken. But the audience is with me.

"... And finally, to the Groom himself. Thank you, Michael, for allowing me to be your Best Man. And for giving me the chance to make a fool of myself in public..."

Michael meets my eyes, raises his chin, lowers his lids. From the floor, the laughter is loud and long...

It drags out. I have a few seconds to compose myself, shuffle my notes, organise my thoughts.

"When it came to deciding what I should say today, I was searching for a suitable quote, something to capture my thoughts. This is the one I chose... 'The real act of marriage takes place in the heart..."" Quiet falls over the dining room...

"... not in the ballroom or church or synagogue. It's a choice you make - not just on your wedding day, but over and over again - and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife...'

"I know that my friends here have made that choice, not just once, but over and over again, and moreover, will continue to make that choice, over and again in the years to come."

My audience is silent, but I hesitate, considering the wedge of paper in my hand...

Why on earth did I write this lot?

I put the notes down, straightening up to face the gathering.

"I wrote a lot more, but I don't need notes to say what comes next... I have known Michael for many years. He is my oldest friend. And there was a time when I never believed he would ever choose, or want, to marry. But then he met Charlotte...."

I look her way, and the words almost dissolve on my tongue as her eyes meet mine, then hold them....

".... who I think everyone here will agree, is one of the most beautiful women you could wish to set eyes on. Michael was smitten, I think it is fair to say, from the moment he first saw her. He is my closest friend, so you can trust me when I say that I know this....

"However, what was less obvious upon first meeting her, are Charlotte's other qualities, which regardless of her beauty, are far more important. Charlotte herself once pointed out to me that it is no virtue to be beautiful. That's just luck. Over time, Michael learned... We both learned... that Charlotte is intelligent, brave, tenacious, honourable, loyal, often funny, and frankly, quite bonkers sometimes.

"And I know from my personal experience, that Michael is hard-working, honest, reliable, courageous, and a man of utter integrity. He is a gentleman. And although he seldom has much to say for himself, when he does speak, it is always worth listening to.

"I am honoured to call both of them my friends. I could not wish to know two better human beings."

I turn from the audience to face them. "Michael, take good care of her. Charlotte, take good care of him. And I will always be here for anything you wish to ask of me.

"Michael, one last piece of advice. Never forget to use those three words any wife wants to hear... 'You're right, dear.'

Chuckles and titters ripple again. I'd wondered whether to carry through with my next idea, but the laughter lifts me, and I want to keep it coming.

"Just before I finish, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like you to do me a favour. Could you all please stand...."

Palms and fingers lifting, I encourage them upright, and bit by bit the entire room rises to its feet....

Including 'Wheelchair Auntie'....

.... who has already finished her champagne...

"Yes, that's it. Up, please.... Now, Ladies, please raise your arms above your heads, with your hands a few inches apart. Gentlemen, please do the same, but place your hands together... Thank you..." Snatching my mobile from my pocket, I point and click.

"Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen. That will look like a standing ovation when I put it on Facebook later."

There is general laughter and nodding then, as they settle again....

"And now, seriously, please charge your glasses, and be upstanding as we make a toast. The very best of luck, the greatest of happiness, and the longest of lives together.... Michael and Charlotte Summerford." Raising my glass, I tilt it first to Michael beside me, then Charlotte beside him.

I could weep.

*****

As I sit, a waitress appears at my shoulder. "A top-up, sir?"

"Thank you, yes."

She fills my glass, then leaves the bottle on the table. Gulping down the wine, I empty the flute, then refill it.

*****

I've done my duties. The reception has, for the most part, gone well and I retire to the safety of the bar, watching the activity as the floor is cleared for dancing later. I'm happy to sit here. Perhaps I should get changed, but my suit is comfortable enough and I'm happy to fade into the background.

But when I see Marie drifting by, wearing that fatuous smile of hers, I pour myself a brandy and beat a retreat to the library.

A waiter hovers by the door. "Would you like the fire lighting, sir? The evenings are still cool."

"Thank you. Yes."

"Is there anything else?"

"I don't think so, but could you tell the rest of the staff where to find me if anything needs my attention."

"Of course, sir. We'll make sure the Bride and Groom are not disturbed."

"Exactly, thank you."

I settle to read a book I ensured was waiting for me here. It's a long book, and one I left it until now to read so that, things being what they are, if I could not sleep, I'd have something to keep me occupied. Flipping to the first page, I sip my brandy. Then the second page. And I'm quickly hooked....

The flames flicker, warm and welcoming. The brandy is excellent. And I try hard not to think about what will happen tonight....

And which I won't be part of....

My brandy glass empty, I glance around for the friendly waiter, but he's nowhere to be seen. Tucking a slip of paper into my book, I close it up and make my way to the bar. Sliding my empty glass across the counter, "A large one, please." "Of course, sir."

But as the glass is pressed into my hand, I realise that I'm trapped. Marie is to my left and one of....

.... another one of....

..... Michael's aunts has wedged into my right. She beams. "I'll have a sweet sherry please, young man."

Her accent could crack plates, and when she put on her bright red lipstick, I'm not sure she was aiming for her mouth. But the old biddy's harmless enough and so I resign myself to making small talk with her, my back firmly turned to Marie. An hour later, I'm ready to send the old hag to an early grave, although to judge by her recounted list of ailments, I'm too late. To be still alive, she's clearly a wonder of modern medical science. She's tipped, to my certain knowledge, five sherries down her throat and not one of them touched the sides on the way down. She has that kind of dried-out-by-time toughness to her that suggests, protestations aside, she'll make it to her century.... Wonder if I'll still be sitting here then?

I try to remained tuned in long enough to make some relevant remark. The alternative is to turn and talk with Marie.

".... And the doctor said, we'll look at the state of those feet. I've never seen anything like them...."

"Really?" I tune out for a moment, raising an entreating glass for another brandy. The barman slides eyes to the old woman, winks at me, and almost fills my balloon.

That's what I call a brandy....

.... Or an anaesthetic....

I tune back in....

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"And then, when he said I needed a hysterectomy...."

Noooo....

"Ah, James." It's Michael's voice. "I see you've met more of my family." Laughter lurks behind his apparently polite words. "Auntie, you'll have to excuse James. I need a word with him." I could kiss the man.....

Memo to self: Don't.

One punch from Michael would probably end my days.....

To my relief, the hideous old woman and Marie melt away, except for a final call of "That's another sherry over here please."

Thank Christ for that....

"Thanks.... Couldn't break away."

Michael's sucking in his cheeks with mock apology. "She's a lovely old girl, but she doesn't get out a lot. Um, James, we're...." He glances sidelong...

He's with her.

Charlotte....

My Charlotte....

My Jade-eyes....

.... is there with him. He's holding her hand.

It's their wedding night.

"Go on. I'll handle seeing everyone off."

"James...." He looks awkward, embarrassed.

I cut him short. "This is your night. Goodnight. Both of you." And I touch her face with mine, my lips to her cheek. Brief and chaste.

I scent her....

.... and something inside me twists.

"Goodnight, Mrs Summerford."

"Goodnight Ma... James."

Michael tugs at her hand. "Come on, Charlotte."

And I flee to the chill sanctuary of the library, to hide in my book.

*****

Some while later, the fire burn low; embers flicker and glow, dancing patterns of dragon-fire and nightshade. It's lovely, reminding me of my boyhood home. I toss on a couple more logs. I don't want the fire to die. The fumes from the brandy are heady and soporific and were it not for my reading, I might simply let sleep take me.

Tomorrow is a new day....

Some movement jolts me back to the world; Richard and Beth, watching me from the doorway,

"James?" says Richard, brow furrowed. "Is everything alright? We didn't expect to find you here. We thought..."

"You thought.... what?"

I know what you thought....

And the black humour of it all takes me by the throat, and I manage a smile.

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Beth shifts from one foot to the other. "Um...."

"It's their wedding day," I point out. "This is Michael's night."

The two exchange glances, hovering. "Ah.... Mind if we join you?" asks Richard. "We're having a nightcap."

"Be my guests. I was doing just that, myself." I raise my glass, take an amber sip, enjoying the heat in my mouth and the warmth in my throat.

They each take an armchair by the fire, Richard leaning in to rub his hands over the glow.

Displacement activity....

Looking for something to say....

"I think we can call the day a success," he says.

Safe territory....

"Oh, I think so," I reply. "Finally got the Happy Couple down the aisle."

He blinks, looks to Beth and then to me. "Finally?"

I'm feeling dozy; the fire and the alcohol are working their spell on me. I'd like to sleep, but....

Richard and Beth are here, and they want to talk....

And there are things I can say now that perhaps could not be said at other times.....

"Yes, finally.... I engineered this wedding. There were times when I thought I'd never get the two of them hitched."

Silence falls, the awkward silence of people trying to find the next thing to say.

Beth looks down at my book. "What are you reading?"

I offer it up to her. "It's one Charlotte recommended to me. 'Time Enough for Love'; a Heinlein sci-fi novel from the seventies."

Richard arches brows and rubs the side of his nose. "Doesn't sound like your sort of reading. I'd have had you down as a thrillers and suspense man?"

"Yes, normally you'd be right. But the fact that when I was in the hospital, unconscious, out of all the books she could have chosen, Charlotte decided to read this to me...."

And unconscious as I was, I heard you Green-Eyes....

You stayed with me....

.... Waited for me to come back....

.... And I've given you away....

".... left me thinking that I should give it a try."

"And?"

"I can see why she chose it."

The most appropriate book possible....

Richard looks intrigued. Beth too. "What's it about?"

"A man, born in the nineteen-thirties, who goes on to live over two thousand years. In life, he experiences every form of marriage other than life-long monogamy. The book is essentially a series of short stories taking photo snaps of his life. And it has some wonderful quotes."

"Such as?"

Which ones to choose?

Not the ones I remember her reading to me....

Those are too sharp, too edgy for me to share...

So, I flip through the pages, to find something appropriate. And something to lighten the mood. "I came, I saw, she conquered.' The original Latin seems to have been garbled."

Beth raises a hand to her mouth. Richard guffaws, slapping a hand on his knee. "Ain't that the truth."