Chapter 9-The Virginal Bride…Not
Elizabeth was exhausted and running on pure adrenaline. Rushing to get ready, she spent less than fifteen minutes in the shower cleansing off the scent of Spike. Delicious shivers coursed throughout her body fueled by thoughts of their sweaty union. She was anxious to see him again but she regretted telling him she would see him soon. The truth was she had no idea when she would see him again but his kisses were so overwhelming, her body overruled her good sense. Liam was coming home soon and she still had her mother to deal with.
She glanced at her bedside clock. She was really late and knew her mother and friends were going to be furious with her. However, they would forgive her tardiness but her mother would not. The elder Summers was going to question her whereabouts like a detective. Elizabeth sighed, wishing she had come up with something better to tell her mother rather than telling her she was at the country club. After all, there were ways of verifying if she was there and knowing her mother, Joyce was going to check. Shopping at the mall was a better reason for losing track of time. Stupid . Not only was it a given she would have to apologize to everyone for being late, she would also have to perfect her ass kissing skills and stick close to home for the next couple of days just to ease her mother’s suspicions.
Elizabeth realized the best way to handle her mother was to simply take a more active role in her wedding. There were still a few more things to do like meet with the wedding planner to go over and finalize some last minute details, purchase gifts for the wedding party and the dinner rehearsal. Everything she wasn’t looking forward to. Elizabeth chuckled. She was probably the only bride in history who didn’t like planning her own wedding. I will be glad when it’s over.
Although Elizabeth was two and a half hours late, she still felt the need to rush. Without putting much thought into what she was going to wear, she put on a pair of DKNY low rider capri jeans and a Bebe hot-pink tight fitting t-shirt that barely covered her midsection and a pair of matching hot pink flip flops. She knew her choice in outfit wouldn’t go over well with her mother but she didn’t want to spend even more time trying to match the perfect outfit. She did a quick appraisal of herself in the mirror before grabbing her plastic covered veil from her huge walk-in closet. She hurried out the door and got into her convertible. She let the top down so her damp hair could dry in the breeze and applied some make-up at each stop light. Thirty minutes later she arrived at her destination. Immediately, she recognized her mother’s silver Mercedes and Willow’s blue Audi. None of the other cars in the private parking lot belonged to Cordelia, Harmony, or Faith. I guess they got tired of waiting.
Elizabeth walked into the boutique and smiled at an elegantly dressed receptionist, who immediately frowned when she did a brief appraisal of Elizabeth from head to toe. Picking up on the woman’s obvious dissatisfaction, Elizabeth returned the dirty look.
“I’m sorry but I think you’re in the wrong place. Wal-Mart is on the other side of town.”
“Excuse me” Elizabeth replied.
The woman was about to repeat her statement until the owner approached her. “Ms. Summers we’ve been waiting for you dear girl…come, hurry and try on your dress.”
The red-faced receptionist was stunned and looked at Elizabeth again.
“I’m trying but this bitch was too busy directing me to the fucking Wal-Mart.”
“ELIZABETH SUMMERS!!!!” Joyce shouted, stunned and embarrassed by her daughter’s behavior.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the receptionist who looked at her apologetically.
“I’m sorry dear child.” The owner pulled Elizabeth close and whispered, “She’s new.”
Joyce approached her daughter and grabbed her by the arm, quickly rushing her away from the owner towards the back of the boutique.
Elizabeth wanted to yank her arm away but thought better of it, considering she was the one now three hours late.
“I can’t believe you. First, you forget your appointment and then you embarrass me with your awful language and look at you. You do look like you should be shopping at Wal-Mart. This is not the outfit you wore this afternoon and look at your hair….what have you been doing?”
If she only knew. It took Elizabeth a few seconds to reply. The receptionist put her in a bad mood ruining her plan to kiss her mother’s ass. She looked away focusing on the creamed colored walls of the boutique. “I told you I was at the country club.”
“What for…you said nothing about going there…you told me you were on your way home from your grandmother’s house…why the sudden change Elizabeth? Honestly, you act like you don’t want to get married. How could you forget such an important day?”
Elizabeth decided indifference and an apology would be the best way to avoid explaining herself any further. “Look, I’m sorry…can we just get on with it…where’s my dress?”
Joyce rolled her eyes. “This is not over.” She said through clenched teeth.
As soon as Elizabeth asked the question, the owner approached her with the dress housed in a large garment bag. The dress was so heavy the receptionist had to help Ms. Grey carry it. “You can change in there.” Ms. Grey pointed to a huge elegantly decorated room with a pedestal platform surrounded by mirrors. She placed the dress on the hook in the dressing room then clasped her hands together. “Wonderful…let us know when you’re ready.”
Elizabeth bent over to pick up her pocketbook and her crumpled veil she had absent mindedly dropped on the floor. This action proved to be unwise.
Joyce’s eyes bulged out of her head and her mouth fell open. “Elizabeth what have you done?” Joyce gasped as she pushed her daughter’s t-shirt further up her back to reveal two small blue birds adorning her daughter’s lower backside.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. Can things get any worse? She waited for her mother to have her heart attack. “I guess you don’t like it…huh?” She asked, sarcastically.
“Of course not, how could you do that to your body?” Joyce looked in horror at the tattoo. “Does Liam know about this? I can’t believe he would allow you to do something so trashy and drastic.”
Elizabeth gave her mother an annoyed look. For some reason, her mother was under the impression Liam was going to be her father rather than her husband. She did not need to get his permission.
“What’s going on?” Willow asked, walking towards the back to join the others.
Joyce looked at Elizabeth. “Show her”
Elizabeth turned around.
Willow grimaced. “Oh that”
Dawn ducked and stuck her head between her mother and Willow’s body to see what was going on. Elizabeth’s tattoo was staring her in the face. “Cool, can I get one too?” Dawn reached out to touch it.
Everyone shouted ‘no’ at the same time.
Joyce turned to the unaffected red head. “You knew about this Willow.”
Willow hated being put on the spot. She could feel herself sweating and wished she had left with the others. “Uhhh, yes”
“And you didn’t stop her?”
“I’m sorry Mrs. Summers. I didn’t know about it until a few days ago.”
Joyce rolled her eyes and looked at Elizabeth. “I just want to know one thing?”
As a gesture to continue, Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at her mother.
“Were you intoxicated when you decided to permanently scar your body with that?” She pointed in disgust.
Elizabeth knew what her mother was hinting to. She hasn’t exactly been the model daughter, but damn it how much longer was her mother going to hold her past behavior against her? “No mom, I can assure you I was of sound mind when I did this.”
Joyce fanned herself and placed her hand over her heart. “This is madness. I don’t know what’s going on with you Elizabeth. I need to sit down. I feel a headache coming on. Dawn could you see if Ms. Grey has aspirin and a bottle of water please.”
A disappointed Dawn frowned at Elizabeth and shrugged her shoulders. “Yes, mom” She walked away from her big sister. This was suppose to be a happy and exciting day but everyone was upset.
Joyce found a seat on the other side of the room just a few feet away from the platform. She wasn’t happy with her eldest daughter. In fact, she wanted to strangle her for being a total embarrassment to the Summers family. No doubt this would get out. Ms. Grey struck her as a nosy busy body and soon, it will be all over town that her daughter wasn’t perfect. Brides were suppose to be happy and excited about getting married whereas Elizabeth was treating it like a chore and why now when her daughter was about to marry a rich handsome man who adored her? Was she getting cold feet? That had to be it and that was understandable, but why couldn’t Elizabeth do something normal like cry or treat herself to a spa day to help soothe her nerves. No, her daughter was the opposite. She wanted to give her attitude, blow off appointments, get a horrible tattoo and judging by the smell of Elizabeth’s breath, take up smoking again. That was a whole new argument Joyce didn’t have the strength to bring it up.
As the list grew longer, Joyce added that late night phone call she received about the mysterious man on the motorcycle. Maybe it was Elizabeth riding on the back of that dangerous thing. Joyce was going to find out what her daughter has been up to and one phone call would do it. Now she needed a plan and the first thing she was going to do was back off and give Elizabeth some space. It would be difficult but she had to acknowledge her husband was right. Maybe less interference from her would be the solution. Elizabeth wasn’t a teenager anymore and maybe if she turned a blind eye, Elizabeth would come around. Maybe if Liam was back, things would get better too. Yeah, that would definitely help. Joyce tried to remember when he was returning.
**~~**
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Her mother could be so dramatic. She picked up her purse and veil then removed her gown from the hook.”
Willow assisted her, holding onto the bottom of the garment bag.
“Thanks Willow.”
Both women carried the gown into the dressing room.
“I’m gonna need you to help me zip and button it up.” Elizabeth said.
“Of course, it’s my duty as your Matron of Honor to help you.” Willow saluted her best friend and smiled.
Both women laughed.
While she was undressing, Elizabeth couldn’t help but think about what her mother said about Liam and her tattoo. Elizabeth could care less what Liam thought. That is why she never told him she had gotten it. He found out about it the same way her mother did. He wasn’t thrilled but she would have guessed if it was his name tattooed on her ass, he would have thought differently. To him, it would have been a sign of ownership and that would never happen. She loved Liam but sometimes she didn’t like him. He was too much like his dad. He could be controlling and had a temper, which she witnessed only once and didn’t want to ever again. She cringed thinking about an argument they had regarding Cordelia. Elizabeth was told the two had slept together while she and Liam were dating. Of course, he denied it but her source was very reliable.
At a party, given by Faith, a drunken Lindsay approached her and decided it would be a good idea to puke on her. After she pushed him onto the floor and cursed him out, he responded by saying she was no fun and it’s no wonder Liam went running back to Cordelia for some real fun. And the way he stretched out the word real only left Elizabeth to conclude Liam had slept with her. At first she didn’t want to believe him but alcohol was a truth serum and Lindsay was his best friend. Quickly, she went searching for Liam and found him talking to a few of his friends. Rudely, she grabbed him by the arm and took him into a room and asked him about it. He repeatedly denied it and quickly became enraged when she didn’t believe him. However, when he put his fist through the wall that was inches away from her head, she thought he may have been telling the truth or unable to deal with the guilt. The heated discussion ended with a trip to the emergency room and left no doubt in her mind, Liam certainly had a temper and that he still had feelings for Cordelia. Elizabeth never confronted Cordelia. She considered breaking up with him that night but decided against it. She loved Liam and after moving to Sunnydale, meeting him had been good for her. He helped her through the death of her grandmother and made it easy for her to settle into Sunnydale. It didn’t take her long to fall hard for him, which made falling in love with him easy. He was a good, caring person and the fact that he was handsome and had a great body didn’t hurt. Becoming his girlfriend made Elizabeth instantly popular and she had more friends then she could count. They were the perfect couple but there were times when Elizabeth felt she couldn’t always be herself when she was with him or around their friends except Willow. The lovable red-head knew the real Elizabeth and oddly she thought Spike did to considering they had only known each other barely over a week.
“Can you believe her Willow? She thinks my father Liam is going to scold me for getting a tattoo.”
Willow didn’t answer. She was too shocked to see what appeared to be fading bruises and other small faint marks that appeared to be hickies on her best friend’s ass and on the back of her legs.
“Willow?” Elizabeth turned around, wondering why Willow didn’t answer her.
“What’s wrong…why are you looking at me like that?”
“What’s going on Elizabeth?”
“Huh...what are you talking about?”
Willow turned Elizabeth around and pointed. “These” She pointed to the fading bruises. “These” She pointed to the small hickies on Elizabeth’s butt.
Elizabeth turned beet red. The bruises she could explain. Willow was the only other person who knew she slept with Spike. As for the hickies, she didn’t know those were there but it was obvious Spike had been doing a little more than just worshipping her backside with licks and kisses. It was feeling so good she didn’t want him to stop. “Oh…uuuh” Elizabeth was speechless.
“Are you going to answer me?” Willowed continued. “It’s obvious what those are.” Willow pointed to the bruises. “But I know for a fact Liam is out of town, so who gave you hickies?”
Elizabeth stuck her head out of the closed off room. Her mother and Ms. Grey were chatting and Dawn was fawning over bridle magazines, all of them waiting for her to come out. However, Elizabeth was more concerned about them listening. She turned to Willow and pulled her down to sit beside her on the satin covered bench. “The bruises are old. I got those the night I was with that blonde guy. Where we were, we didn’t quite have use of a bed. We ended up doing it on a pier.”
“A pier…why not go to a motel?”
Elizabeth didn’t want to give Willow too many details about her night with Spike. She simply told the red head the sex was incredible and that she was sorry for bailing on her at the bar and abandoning her to clean up her mess.
“Well speaking of motels.”
Willow was silent, waiting for Elizabeth to continue.
“He stays at the Sunnydale Motel and I was with him again.” Elizabeth blurted out.
“WHAT!!!”
“Shhhhh…keep your voice down.”
“Is everything in there alright girls? Ms. Grey asked.
“Fine…I’m about to come out.” Elizabeth replied.
“You saw him again…where?”
Elizabeth giggled. “You aren’t going to believe me when I tell you.”
Willowed folded her arms across her chest. “Try me”
“He’s one of the construction workers fixing up my grandmother’s house.”
“WHAT!!!!!!!”
“Be quite or that nosy woman is going to come in here. Come on…help me put on this dress.” Elizabeth unzipped and unbuttoned the back of her gown and stepped into it while Willow helped her. They began adjusting her dress while Elizabeth continued. “That’s why I was late. I went to his motel room and let’s just say it was phenomenal…better than the first time.”
Willow shook her head. “You are so going to get caught. This was suppose to be a one time deal but I guess you’re still doing research.” She said sarcastically.
“I guess you can say that.” Elizabeth giggled.
“Are you going to see him again?”
“I want to Willow…he’s so, so intense, so exciting, so damn sexy and he seems to understand me.” Elizabeth hunched her shoulders. “It’s something about him Willow. He and I have this unexplainable connection. I felt it when I first kissed him. Not immediately because I didn’t expect the kiss to go that far but when he pulled me against his body and I felt his tongue caress mine, something sparked inside of me. I felt connected to him. It was weird and scarred the hell out of me. I never felt anything like it.”
Willow was engulfed and almost drooling as she listened to what Elizabeth was saying, secretly wanting to experience everything her best friend was telling her. Coming back to her thoughts, she shook her head. “You do know Liam will be here in almost two weeks. How much longer are you gonna keep doing this?”
“I don’t know but what do know is that being with him is an escape for me…from all of this.” She looked down and touched her dress then threw her arms up in the air waving them around acknowledging her surroundings. “Sometimes it’s just too much Willow and I feel like I’m going to go crazy. If I don’t have some kind of release, I may do something irrational.”
Willow’s face contorted in disbelief as she tried to hold in her laughter. Since her best friend met that blonde guy, most of the things Elizabeth was doing could be categorized as irrational. Willow placed her hand over her mouth.
Elizabeth smiled and chuckled after she realized what she had just said. She began to laugh which allowed Willow to remove her hand away from her mouth to let it out too. After the laugher died down, Elizabeth inhaled deeply and let it out. “I’m going to try to see Spike as much as possible until Liam comes back.”
“Spike, his name is Spike.” Willow chuckled. “Who names their child Spike?
“It’s just a nickname.”
Willow shrugged. “Well I hope you get this guy out of your system quick.” The red head zipped up the back of Elizabeth dress and buttoned the last button. “You’re ready…let’s go.”
Elizabeth turned to Willow. “How do I look?”
Willow smiled. “You look beautiful Elizabeth…really beautiful.”
“Ahh thanks Will…so let’s go and see what the others think.”
Elizabeth stepped out of the room. She heard several gasps. Wow do I look that good? She stepped onto the platform in front of the mirrors. Immediately, she placed her hand over her mouth. She looked amazing in her Vera Wang dress. She viewed it from every angle. The fit was perfect. She had to hand it to her mother. Old Joyce had excellent taste. She took the drawing Elizabeth sketched of her wedding dress and found the perfect one. Tears flooded her eyes. Elizabeth felt like she had been punched in the stomach and the culprit was reality. She was getting married and certainly wasn’t acting like it.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Its been a long time since I last posted. Welcome back old readers and hopefully some new ones.