Love Drunk

A Bet & A Drunken Wedding

In a hotel room back in Las Vegas, a television was showing a couple's wedding footage...

"Today, we celebrate a very special love and look forward to days of laughter, joy, and even tears for years to come. Today, Jacques and Alexandra, we will celebrate the biggest day of your lives," Elvis announced in his signature lilting voice in front of a giggling bride and her beaming groom as they held onto each other like they never wanted to let go.

"This will be the day you'll become husband and wife," he continued before posing for a picture causing the couple to laugh out loud as they too took on a wacky pose in front of the camera.

"Okay, it's time for you to repeat after the king," Elvis stated as he resumed his post at the podium, and ordered the bride and groom to face each other.

As soon as they were face to face though, the besotted groom leaned forward to capture the lips of his smiling bride who happily returned his kisses.

"Hey you guys, let's follow the correct flow of the wedding ok? You can kiss the bride later after you said your vows," Elvis comically cut in between them, breaking the two of them off amidst laughter.

"Okay Mr. Groom, repeat after me," Elvis instructed and Jacques' eyes turned warm as he stared at his bride's beautiful face, his hands tightening on Alexandra's as he spoke. "I, Jacques Henry Cole, take you Alexandra Lee to be my wedded wife, my best friend, my soul mate, to have and to hold, from this day forever…"

For a moment, there was an ineffable silence which hung between them as warm almond eyes stared at those bright doe pools. It was as if a hidden message passed on between wife and husband before Elvis cut between them for Alex’s vows.

Alex then repeated after Elvis, spoke the same words her groom said a while ago.  Her eyes misted and Jacques' smile turned gentle as he assured her with his touch.

For onlookers, the two of them looked like a besotted couple with the way they exchanged glances and touched each other. Nobody suspected that the two of them were nothing but inebriated fools who decided to get married out of the blue because of a bet they made in their drunken state.

None of them could remember what the bet was about, however. But it wasn't important— at least for now. What's important was that they're now together, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in spite of saying they'd never fall in love with each other. Ever.

~

When the video ended, two souls remained dumbfounded staring at the television screen.

“That’s so not me,” Alex denied, and Jacques turned to her with an incredulous look. “Switch that off. I don’t want to watch anymore,” the wife continued as she hid her face in her palms. She totally felt like crying her heart out. “Oh my God, that wasn’t me,” she wailed.

The word ashamed was a total understatement of her current feelings. “That’s not meeeeeeee.”

“Well unless you have a twin who has a penchant for Elvis weddings, then I say that’s you,” Jacques countered, totally amused with his wife’s embarrassment.

To be honest, he was somewhat embarrassed seeing how he acted in the video. He swore he’d never let anyone else watch the most memorable moment of their lives that the both of them wiped out from their memories the morning after. Just how much alcohol they drank, he wondered.

The last he counted was the sixteenth shot of tequila.

 “That’s a doppelganger— definitely a doppelganger,” Alex stated stubbornly, obviously in panic which made her husband laugh.

At times like this, the young president found his new wife a little adorable.  Several hours ago, he was so against marriage that he was sure he’d be miserable when he wedded but somehow, he was now thinking it wasn’t so bad.

“Why are you laughing? Are you making fun of me?” Alex hissed, totally annoyed, and Jacques shook his head.

“Why would I make fun of you?”

“I don’t know. You tell me,” she countered. This argument was turning more ridiculous by the second but she felt so irritated at the moment.

She prayed to God that nobody else had a copy of their wedding ceremony. She knew she wouldn’t be able to live down the embarrassment if someone else knew.

“Wait, are we now having our first marital spat?” Jacques asked but Alex was too pissed to care how immature it was.

“Yes we are,” she answered as she threw a punch at her husband which the latter dodged easily, his almond eyes dancing in mirth. “Go find that chapel. Kidnap Elvis! Make sure no one else has a copy of that thing. It’s so embarrassing Oh God,” she wept like a baby which made her husband smile.

So much for someone who had asked to be treated like an adult just a while ago, she’d give a real kid a run for his money with her brand of tantrum. 

“What the heck are you smiling about?” she almost shrieked as she lunged at her grinning spouse, but Jacques caught her fist easily and pulled her against his body.

 “W-what?” her wind snatched away from her with their closeness, Alex suddenly felt aware of the hard body pressed against her and she tried to push at his chest but he wouldn’t let her.

Badumph, badumph, her heartbeats were so loud they echoed in her head.

“Are you still angry?” Jacques murmured against her ear which of course meant Alex kissed her tantrum bye-bye as her thoughts fled her brain.

All her neurons seemed to care about now was the scent of the man holding her and the hot breath fanning her neck, and she shivered.

“I know you’re very confused about what happened,” Jacques said softly as he caressed her back, calming her down— or he was supposed to, but his touch only made her senses go haywire but her body limped at the same time.

Goodbye bones. They all turned into jelly.