Tom licked the last of the envelopes, pressed the flap closed and placed the completed invitation on the top of the pile. Leaning back in his chair he stretched with a satisfied yawn.
"That's it," he said. "They are all finished."
"All except Christopher." Janine remarked in a clipped, well educated voice. "We can't get married without inviting Christopher, can we?"
Tom smiled back at his soon-to-be wife. He hadn't forgotten their old college friend.
"You know he never responds to letters," he laughed, "I thought we might just pop down and see him in person."
Tom looked over at Janine and clearly saw a twinkle flash in her wide, blue eyes. They were the eyes that Tom had fallen for the first time he had seen her back in college and he knew instantly that Janine was as keen to return to see their old friend as he was.
Tom's mind wandered back the few short years to the drunken, debauched and absolutely wonderful time that he loosely referred to as his higher education. He and Janine had come from very different backgrounds; his parents were hard working folks who had just managed to scrape together enough money to send their only son to college, while Janine's father – her mother had taken off when she was very young – appeared to have a financial interest in most of the major businesses that Tom had ever heard of.
At first, Tom had watched from afar as Janine surrounded herself with willing friends and acquaintances. He tried determinedly to see her as a spoiled little rich girl who just craved attention. But the more he tried, the more he realised that he was drawn to her. The sun reflecting off her long blonde hair made his breath catch in his chest and lit up his whole day. The way she moved casually among her friends; smiling and laughing. And yes, her supple, pert figure had him totally mesmerised.
But Tom soon realised that the object of his waking fantasies and dreams was never going to be short of male admirers. Although she never actually had a boyfriend, she seemed to pick up and then drop young lovers at quite a startling rate and before long it was clear that she had earned herself quite a reputation. Not that Janine seemed to mind this. Tom saw the way that she seemed to revel in the attention she provoked. There were other girls on campus with similar reputations but Janine was different. She seemed completely undeterred by what some of the more prudish students thought of her. It was clear that she rarely tuned down an offer simply because she loved sex.
It was towards the middle of their second year at college before Tom made his move. At the time, Janine's latest conquest was a student called Christopher Riley. Unusually, Janine and Chris had stayed together for nearly two weeks and the word around the college campfire was that the "Campus Call-girl", as Janine had affectionately become known, was about to be taken off the market.
But as Tom manoeuvred his way easily into Janine's affections, Christopher remained as well. The three students became almost inseparable and it was heavily rumoured that they had developed their own little sexual threesome. With his hand on his heart, Tom could never deny these rumours, but Janine knew, and Christopher knew, and Tome certainly knew that there was more than just sex between him and Janine. It only took a few more weeks before Tom finally asked her to marry him and Janine had willingly agreed.
Christopher Riley suddenly looked up from his studies; he just knew something was going to happen. It was almost a sixth sense with him. As he glanced out of the second floor window he smiled to himself. Tom's car was unmistakable and as it pulled around to the front of the building he could see his two friends in the front seats.
Absolutely delighted with the prospect of seeing Tom and Janine again, Christopher raced out of the reading room, almost knocking over a tired, slow moving librarian, and leapt down the stairs two at a time. He had just enough time to compose himself before Tom and Janine exited their vehicle and began walking towards him.
"What the hell took you so long?" Chris shouted as his friends came into earshot.
Tom laughed. "Might have guessed you wouldn't be working! You been standing out her waiting all day for us?"
The three friends hugged as they greeted each other. Conversation was loud and babbling as they all attempted to impart their own news since last meeting over a year ago. Eventually, Tom managed to find a break in the dialogue to tell his friend about the impending wedding.
"I know." Chris said with a coy smile. "I talked to Julie Simmons last week and she told me she'd got an invite. I've been expecting you!"
As if presenting an Olympic medal, Tom reached out and placed a gold trimmed envelope in Christopher's hand.
"This it then?"
"Yep. That's it. That's your invitation." Tom replied.
"Hope you don't expect me to reply!" Chris laughed.
"I think we can take it as read that you're coming!" Janine interrupted with a smile. "As I remember, you always did!"
