The Things We Crave

Chapter Eight

The photo shoot went well. Tammy wanted pictures with Catherine and their mother. They posed in ways like both girls kissing their mother’s cheek, Bride and sister: big sister having little sister in a head lock and other playful poses, Bride and sister and parents. It was very difficult for Catherine to behave. She would make silly faces, cross her eyes or stick out her tongue. Tammy knew without even looking and would warn her before the picture would snap. Vincent stood by and watched with amusement. He was impressed with how carefree and genuine Catherine was. She put up no airs, her personality was as bold as yellow next to black. She looked comfortable in her skin and had no shame. He loved it! She was goofy, bubbly, energetic, and playful.

What Vincent didn’t know was that she wasn’t comfortable in her skin at all. She acted this way to cover her true feeling of insecurities about herself. Only a few people knew how she saw herself in the mirror. Fat, ordinary, a mess. Which is why she put so much thought and energy to make others laugh, even if she makes herself look like a fool. A fool, like the one you see in a king’s court, juggling, dancing, and cracking jokes. That is how she saw herself. Now that she had Vincent as her “date”, she had someone to entertain. So, she was looking forward to the reception. She tried to recall all the thing Lexie had told her would build s****l tension without bringing too much attention to them. She did promise her mother to behave and make this day special for her.

She noticed he watched her every move. His smile was captivating, and his laugh was pleasant. As Tammy and Catherine walk to join the wedding party, Tammy whines, “I can’t believe you licked my face, I have concealer on you moron!” Catherine just laughs even harder, holding her stomach.

Brad and Vincent joined in on the laughter. Vincent found Catherine’s laugh contagious. It warbles like a songbird with a soft snort as she gasps for air. He couldn’t understand how this one woman has made him feel like this in such a short time. He looks forward to the reception where he could finally be alone and talk. The games that are planed are going to be a blast. He’s interested to know if she is as competitive as he is. He wasn’t about to go easy on his buddy and he was sure Catherine wanted to give her sister a run for her money.

No doubt about it, Catherine and Vincent were going to have fun this afternoon. That was the other thing Tammy couldn’t stop talking about all week, the games. Tammy wants to go to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Brad said she lived by a beach her whole life so he wanted to go to Paris, France. So to decide where they’re going they are relying on the out come of the number of tokens won at the games. Every guest will get 100 tokens. They rented the whole resort to set up game booths; it was like a mini carnival. At each booth depending on the game you could play by putting tokens in her jar or his. Catherine even talked Tammy in renting two dunking booths to “dunk the bride or groom”. She was totally for it, not realizing Catherine just wanted to see her sister’s face as she fell into the water. They have one game where only the bride and groom play called the shoe game. Also a few couple races, a three-legged race and an obstacle course.

The game booths have everything from dart throwing, spinning the kissing wheel for the bride and groom; the operator sends a text to Brad to let him know what they got to do(Bride and Groom kiss, pick a couple to kiss, eskimo kiss, spank bride or groom), ring toss to yard games like badminton, croquette, lawn darts, and archery. For the kids they have a bubble booth, kickball, giant board games, arts and crafts, and the resorts playgrounds. They thought of everything. They even took a quick vote before the wedding started for who they wanted to get smashed in the face with the wedding cake. Tammy got the most votes. Catherine cheated and voted five times and talked a few relatives to vote for her too.

Before the games, the bride and groom must do the traditional cut the cake, eat the lunch banquet, then open the dance floor with the first dance. Tammy’s dress was designed to come apart to remove the bottom part to just below her knees. This was so she could be a part of the games.

Catherine pats Tammy on the back. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. You looked so delicious.” She jokes.

“Lets just finish this shoot so we can get into the reception hall.” Tammy grumbled as she grabs Brad’s hand.

An hour later they finish, and they all made their way inside. Vincent boldly pulls Catherine to his side resting his hand on the small of her back. They both smile at the closeness of their body and touch. To say she wasn’t enjoying his attention, would be a lie. She thought he was too good looking for this, but she was going to through caution to the wind. She knew she’d never see him again, so she was going to put her all into it. She was an escort, so making him feel like he’s the most important person in the room was easy for her.

Inside, everyone took their seats. The wedding party sat separately from everyone else. However, Catherine was invited to sit with Vincent. Over the meal, Vincent did most of the talking, Catherine just directed the conversation by asking calculating questions. She learned quiet a bit about Vincent.

He (and Brad) are originally from Stephenville, Tx, although the college there is pretty good, they still wanted to go to Yale University getting their business degree. Their first club was started in their hometown, they took an old hole in the wall bar and turned it to a strip club that eventually grew into a gentlemen’s club. Vincent did do professional bull riding for a few years during the summer breaks at college along with team roping which he did with Brad. The won once getting them a special belt buckle. Both Brad and Vincent were wearing tonight, so she got a chance to see it. He admitted he hasn’t done much for fun in the past year but work and grow their business. He is a diehard Cowboys fan and occasionally still wears cowboy boots and hats. She was thankful he wasn’t a country fan, although he does like UpChurch, he was more into hard rock.

Vincent learned that Catherine has an associate degree for executive administrative assistant. She graduated top of her class, but admitted she thought it was boring and had no intention of ever using it unless she absolutely had to. He liked the fact she was into outside activities and thought it fascinating that she raced almost her whole life on ATVs, go-carts, and bikes. He also learned she went to the city often with her friends to visit clubs and shows that were held there. She didn’t care much for sports, which wasn’t a deal breaker, however she was a race fan, her favorite racer is Rusty Wallace.  It surprised him that she liked electronic techno music or bands likes The Score.

The conversation felt natural and flowed smoothly. He told a few stories that caused them to laugh, she talked about the first time she crashed and how it took the encouragement of her mother to get back out there again. He could tell she was very close to her mother and could already she wouldn’t handle her mother death well if she couldn’t pull through.  Throughout the conversation, Catherine gradually scooted closer. She would casually touch his arm or hand. They got talking about hair that caused her to boldly comb her fingers through his hair to pull it down toward his face, so it looked ruffled. It was long enough to hang two inches that made a fringe over his forehead while the rest looked choppy.

Vincent had to close his eyes and try counting because her touch sent a surge of desire through his body and every time she bite her plump rose colored lips, he wanted to press his lips to hers. He couldn’t keep his hands to himself. He would rest his arm on the back of her chair and play with the hair that stopped just below her shoulder blades or touch her face or her back. She smelled like a fruit basket and her hair reminded him of an apple.

They were enjoying the conversation so much; they didn’t notice Brad and Tammy had left the table. They talked through the cake cutting and Tammy getting cake smashed in the face with cake by Brad. They talked through the first dance. They were startled when the announcement came that the time for the games has arrived. Catherine stands and stretches, and Vincent follows. Let the games begin.