"I know. I know it seems crazy, but it's been amazing with him. I'm honestly still in as much shock as you." She let out a scoff and smirked. "I admit I only started dating him to make you jealous, or at least I thought I did. But... once I let myself see it I realized he's just... perfect," she furrowed her brow, looking distantly, "And when he asked me it just felt right, and everything with him just feels-"
"This is next month?!" Jon blurted out as he read the details.
"Yes, I know it's sudden but-"
"Wait, that's the same venue... that's our date! You just kept the booking?!" Jon exclaimed in disbelief.
"I KNOW, I know it's crazy, please Jon believe me, it was HIS idea as much as mine when I admitted I hadn't canceled it yet. I had already decided it was the best place around, and we didn't want to wait over a year for the next available date and... oh come on, quit laughing I'm trying to have a serious heart to heart here." Elaina said, crossing her arms.
Jon sat chuckling silently with his hand on his forehead, leaning against the desk, feeling just as surprised as Elaina at his own reaction.
"No it's fine. Elaina, it's fine, fuck it, keep the date and switch fiance's, it's perfect actually. It's very... you."
Elaina frowned in annoyance.
"No, I don't even mean that in a bad way I swear," Jon quickly continued. "To me it proves he's perfect for you if he went along with it eagerly."
"For the record I tried to give him an out, and told him it would make it awkward, and we could look elsewhere, but he insisted," Elaina defended.
"Exactly," Jon said, bewildered at how comfortable and relieving this dreaded encounter had become. "It already sounds like he's better for you than I ever would have been."
"Well... I would have to agree," Elaina said, crossing her arms again, but then softening her look as Jon leaned back and gave her a soft smile.
"I didn't at first, I'll admit," she continued, looking away somberly. "For a few weeks after you left I kept hunting for you. I still don't know where you went or how you kept it so hidden. Everything kept leading me back to the old address. I almost took my chances with security at the clinic, and I tried to to follow you home once after you left work, but I lost you in traffic. Where did you end up-..." she stopped herself. "Sorry, you don't have to tell me. Honestly, it's probably better if you don't."
Jon simply nodded, with a more serious look as well.
"I'm... sorry Jon. I did hurtful, selfish things. I was crazy. I don't know why it was so hard for me to see it for what it was, but I do now. And... you were right," she said, letting out a shaky breath. "I thought about so much of what you had said, after the fact, and I should've listened. We were hopeless. I didn't want to give up on us, and fail, but I should've let our relationship... die in peace."
Jon watched tears start to fall down each of her cheeks and felt his own eyes welling up.
He finally spoke, "I appreciate you saying that."
"Can you ever bring yourself to forgive me?" she asked.
He stared at her piercing eyes, glimmering even more than usual from her tears, and could only see honesty within them.
"After today, I... think I can maybe start to," he replied carefully.
She nodded appreciatively and he felt her delicate fingers squeeze his hand on the desk.
"I'm sorry too," he said.
She shook her head no, but he continued.
"I cheated on you Elaina. Even though we weren't doing well, it was still wrong and no one really deserves it. I've wondered how much you knew, even subconsciously, at the time, and maybe that was what was driving you crazy?" he suggested.
She shook her head, "No Jon, that wasn't it," she reassured him. "I mean... I accept your apology, but I've been working through a lot of things with my therapist, and even though you were a part of it at the time, in the end I'm responsible for how I acted and what I did."
Jon nodded, feeling more genuinely that she really seemed to have changed, though keeping some healthy doubts in the back of his mind.
They sat and stared at each other, wiping away tears. Jon finally looked down at the card again, at first simply to distract himself, but then he read it further.
"So it's myself and a guest?" Jon asked.
Elaina nodded, "Of course."
Jon tapped the card on the desk and looked up at her, worried about ruining the moment, but asked anyway, "Is it okay if it's Carly?"
She paused and seemed to stop herself from making a sour face. "You're still with her?" she asked, straightening her back.
"Yeah," Jon said, meeting her stare confidently.
"...And you're happy?" she asked doubtfully.
"Yeah. More than I ever have been. I'm in love with her, Elaina."
She kept her lips tight and let out a breath, seeming to search his eyes, eventually seeming to concede the point to herself.
"Well I'm... glad you're happy I suppose. Yes you can bring her, as long as she'll be civil."
"Yeah, of course. IF she even wants to come, and I kinda doubt it."
"It's a FORMAL dress code," she clarified.
Jon ignored the implication and gave a somewhat tighter smile, "Yep, we'll keep that in mind, honestly we probably won't come, but we'll talk about it and see."
"We need numbers by the end of the week," Elaina said.
"Sure. We'll let you know before then," Jon reassured her.
There was a far more rigid politeness between them now as the silence wore on.
"I'm glad you're happy too Elaina," Jon finally said.
She gave him a small appreciative smile, and squeezed his hand on the desk one last time.
"Well I shouldn't keep you too long," she said, standing up. "Thank you for letting me have this talk Jon. It was... therapeutic, for ME anyway. And I really mean it when I say we both would love to see you there. I like to think maybe that could be therapeutic too. I know it might feel awkward, but I think it might help me to know that we've really moved on."
Jon nodded, "I'll consider it. Thanks Elaina."
"Goodbye Jon,"
"Bye."
...
Now, a month later, here they were. Carly had given a long belly-laugh and an endearing "fuck no" when he first asked her, but then she kept mentioning it and by the end of the next day she had decided she did actually want to go. She admitted that Elaina still felt like a looming threat under the surface of their otherwise comfortable life together, and thought it might be a good way for all of them to bury the hatchet.
Grace had flipped her lid when they eventually admitted where they were going. She had begged Carly to do something to ruin the wedding, but Carly laughed it off. She and Jon had both agreed they wanted Elaina and Matt to succeed. Jeff had agreed, other than to feel worried for Matt.
Right now though, Matt looked like he was in seventh heaven. His wide, classically handsome smile greeted Elaina with an excited admiration as she stepped up to take his hand on the stage. Jon wasn't sure at first, but it was eventually clear that tears were filling Matt's eyes, and by the halfway point they were running down and dripping off his chiseled jaw.
Elaina simply looked serene, as she and Matt held hands in front of the elaborate archway, surrounded by the lush trees of the orchard estate. She stood tall, proud and beautiful, the definition of a perfect bride, in appearance anyway. Her brilliant mesmerizing eyes held no hint of tears, but seemed to stare in a blissful satisfaction at her fiance across from her. A cool smile spread elegantly across her well-defined face. Her dress clung to her slender sinuous figure, the same as he rememb-... No. Something was different about her.
She had never taken her jacket off when she saw him in the clinic, but now, wearing this close-hugging dress... she had a belly. Small enough to not be blatantly obvious at first but the more he looked at her the more he was sure, she had either put on a bit of weight in an oddly specific way, or she was...
As if to read his mind, Carly leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Hey does it look to you like she's... you know..." she patted her own belly to make her point.
Jon was almost afraid to reply, but nodded, "Yeah it kinda looks like it."
Carly raised her eyebrows in a cute look of surprise, "Good for them," she said, and snuggled back into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Jon sat through the rest of the ceremony not really being able to pay attention to much else, but eventually half-succeeded in putting it out of his mind. The whole thing didn't seem to take too long and was tastefully done. After the exchange of rings and the kiss he looked down to see Carly sniffling and wiping a tear away.
He gave her a surprised smirk.
"What?" she whispered with an embarrassed shrug, "It's romantic."
