Chapter 5: That's What She Said
"You're joking right?" I asked with forced laughter.
Elizabeth's mother, Jane, shook her head slowly. My jaws dropped and my eyes widened considerably as I ran my hands through my partially wet hair.
"I don't know what to say though! I wasn't aware you had to speak at a bridal shower!" I hissed frantically.
Jane looked at me in confusion. "It depends on the bridal shower, but Victoria didn't tell you? She was supposed to call and remind you."
I scowled, of course this would be the work of Victoria. Before I could say anything, Jane turned towards said blonde, motioning for her to join us. As she reached us, I gave her a tightlipped smile which she returned.
"Victoria, weren't you supposed to call Harley and remind her about the speech?" Jane asked, her eyes narrowing onto Victoria's dark blue eyes, accusingly.
The blonde scowled over at me quickly, something that only I saw, before her lips parted slightly and her eyes wide. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry Aunt Jane, I completely forgot!"
I could see Jane faltering slightly at Victoria's "oh-so-innocent" face, but she kept her ground. "I think you should be apologizing to Harley."
Victoria's eyes hardened at the sound of that, but she reluctantly turned towards me. I waited, looking at her with a triumphant smirk. The blonde opened her mouth to talk, but no words escaped from her mouth; it looked like it would kill her if she spoke.
"Did you want to say something Vicky?" I asked, smiling innocently which covered the smug look on my face.
"I'm… sorry." She spat out the last word like it had burned her tongue. "I should have remembered to call you or text you. I meant to send a text, but it completely slipped my mind the next moment."
I mentally scoffed. I knew for a fact that she no longer had my number just like how hers was blocked on my phone, not that Elizabeth knew of course.
"But." Victoria chirped, regaining her confidence as she smirked over at me. "I can speak in your place instead. I have a few words to say."
"How convenient." I stated, sarcasm dripping off my words.
She gave me a fake smile. "I just know what to say. Elizabeth, after all, is my favorite cousin; we're practically sisters."
I knew exactly what she was doing and it only made me more amused. From the start, everyone knew that either Joanna or I would be Elizabeth's maid of honor, but Victoria always thought that she was a shoo-in for the title. When Elizabeth revealed that I was her maid of honor, no one was as upset as Victoria. She was chosen as a bridesmaid; however, she was still second to Joanna.
"You know what? I think I can do the speech Jane. I have a few clues on what I would say. After all, no one knows Elizabeth better than myself; it's why I was chosen to be the maid of honor." I stated, turning towards Jane.
She smiled and I knew that Victoria was fuming at my little jab.
"That's very true, I'll announce you in a few minute." Jane stated with a wide smile, completely disregarding her niece.
"You're making a big mistake." Victoria stated, her words were lace with malice.
"I think you're delusional." I answered slowly. "Obviously that speech was written when Elizabeth announced her marriage and it was finished right before she announced, months later, that I would be her maid of honor, not you. You just can't handle the fact that you lost to me, again."
I watched as she involuntarily flinched, taking a step back. Her eyes hardened at my words.
"I never lose. You of all people should know that by now, right Lee-Lee?" She spat back.
This time, my eyes hardened at the nickname. I took a step forward, causing her to take another involuntary step back. I drew closer, till we were only a few inches back. I looked down at her, something that was possible because of my heels, and I stared into her dark blue ones.
"If you even dare mention that nickname again, I will ruin you." My voice was soft, but full of malice.
"Is that a threat?" She asked. I stared into her eyes and I knew that I detected some fear in them. Good.
"It's a promise." I hissed at her before turning on my heels, heading back towards the table. I slid into the seat next to Joanna who immediately broke from her conversation with Elizabeth's aunt, Aunt Mira.
"What happened?" Joanna asked.
Aunt Mira huffed at my interruption, but we both ignored her.
"I'll tell you later." I stated, noticing that a few members of her family had inched closer, trying to listen in.
She nodded, and we both began making small talk with Aunt Mira. She was interrupted once again, but this time it was by Jane.
"Excuse me, we're gonna have the maid of honor come up, and make a small speech on the behalf of us all." Jane stated.
I took this as my introduction, getting up carefully. I made my way to the center of the room, after smoothing out my dress. I took the microphone that Jane had; they probably rented it for this event.
"Hi everyone, how's it going?" I started off.
There was a chorus of 'good's' and 'great', and I spotted Victoria and Nana grumbling their responses, both of their arms were crossed over their chests.
"Well I just wanted to start off by saying that I wasn't prepared to make a speech, so forgive me if I screw up somewhere in between." I stated.
There were many laughs in the crowd. I noticed that some of the older generation crinkled their eyes at the word 'screw up', with the exception of Annette who was laughing the loudest, bless her soul.
"But, luckily for me, this is a speech for my best friend. Two of my favorite things in the word: talking and Elizabeth." I stated, smiling over at her.
"I could name some other things she likes to do."
I bit my bottom lip, trying to not respond to Joanna's comment. I looked over at her, mouthing two words at her. 'Fuck you.' I only prayed that no one else could read lips.
There were a few laughs in the room, but I suspected it was from Joanna's comment so I continued.
"Anyways, I've known Elizabeth for a long time now, and I've gotten the pleasure in knowing everyone person in this room because of her. We've been best friends for 13, almost 14 years and nothing makes me happier than standing up here as her maid of honor. I remember actually in sixth grade, we were watching Bride Wars and we made a pact to each other that we would become each other's maid of honor. Oh and we also vowed to never get married on the same day." I added with a laugh.
The rest of the audience laughed with me and I noticed Elizabeth smiling fondly at the memory.
"And of course we can't forget Joanna, the third member of our Troublesome Trio." I teased.
She grinned at the title and I noticed some eye rolls in the audience, at some point they have all witnessed our terrors.
"And when we entered high school, we only got worse. I remember at some point, I was convinced that none of us would ever get hitched. We would all stay single, and live in the same neighborhood so our cats would have play dates." I stated.
Everyone laughed at that with the exception of Victoria, Nana, and Aunt Mira- oops, I had forgotten that was exactly the life she lived.
"Oops, sorry Aunt Mira." I stated lowly into the microphone.
The laughter only got louder and she scowled at me. I gave her a sheepish look before returning to my speech.
"The first time I met Cam, I instantly knew that he would be perfect for Elizabeth."
There was a loud snort from the audience that I knew probably made Nana cringe. "Bullshit." The same voice coughed.
I glanced over at Joanna who gave me a knowing look.
"Okay, okay. I confess. When I first saw them, I thought they were just a one night stand." I blurted out.
There were some coughs from the audience; Nana was probably having a heart attack by now.
"You go girl! Get some!"
I bit back my laughter when I realized that the voice came from Annette. I was almost positive that if she were my age, I would turn lesbian for her.
"Mother!" I heard Jane gasp.
"Anyways, anyways. Back on track people." I scolded mildly into the microphone, regaining the attention once again. "Anyways, the second time I saw him around, I was pretty surprised to know that he was the same pretty boy from the beach. The more I saw him, the more I realized that he was different. I knew that she was in love and I couldn't be any more happier. I would say more, but I'm afraid I might be out of my creative juice. So I'm gonna cut this speech short. I need to make sure it's long enough for-"
"That's what she said!" Joanna piped up.
"You would know." I shot back instantly.
My eyes widened slightly and I heard some laughter in the audience.
"Anyways, I need to make sure that the speech is long enough for the wedding. So cheers to Elizabeth!" I quickly stated before anything else could go wrong.
I reached down, grabbing the first glass I could find. I was disappointed to see that it was water.
We all pointed out glasses in the air, and I glared over at Annette and Joanna whose glasses were filled with wine.
"This is to a great wedding, where nothing could go wrong." I made the toast.
I then bit my tongue. I was sure I was going to jinx it.
Maybe, I should have left the speech to Victoria.
"Some people have a way with words, and other people… oh, uh, not have way." ~Steve Martin
Author's Note: How did you all like the chapter? Leave a comment to let me know! On the side is the picture of what I portray Victoria to look like!
xx