March 27, 2004 – 18:45
While the staff collected plates from the tables, Mark stood up and gathered everyone's attention.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, what a memorable day it's been so far. I wanted to be the one with the most memorable speech today, I'm the best man after all, but I don't think I can do one better than the bride. Coralis's vows and Frank's reaction to it is what we will remember from this day. She has raised the bar pretty high for all of us in what we should seek in a life partner. Frank, I'm jealous of you, now."
Giggles could be heard from the people in attendance.
"I can't say I'm surprised that Frank would be the first one among our group of friends to get married, but I'm hearing the opposite from Coralis's side," continued Mark, looking at Victoria and Maribel who were still laughing. "Although technically, we could argue that his sister beat him to the punch. Frank is not the first one after all."
"I'm the better sibling, that's why," said Stephanie.
"Debatable," continued Mark. "I used to be concerned for Frank, seeing how busy his girl was all the time. You don't see many people our age working 80+ hours a week and it made me wonder if Coralis was leading a double life somewhere."
"If you only knew," said Henry with a large grin.
The guests laughed and Frank's hand rubbed Coralis's thigh.
"If only, yes, but Frank knew and I could never get it out of him, so Coralis, I may not know what you've been up to, but he is indeed yours to trust, and you can, definitely, trust him."
Coralis blushed and nodded at him. She couldn't remember what she said at the altar. Her mind was still fuzzy.
"After what I have heard and witnessed earlier at the church, I will lay my concerns to rest. I am seeing Coralis under a brand new light now and have found a deep respect for her," continued Mark, addressing the guests. "When you have a famous rock band performing at your wedding because of a bar fight, that's how you know you made it. Respect."
People started laughing again.
"Now, I gotta find myself a girl who is going to burn down the world for me," said Mark before requesting the newlywed couple to kiss.
The staff started serving dessert and coffee as Mark sat back down.
"That was a nice speech," said Kief.
"Thank you, but let's be real, it wasn't as good as Coralis's."
"Can't argue now that there's nothing serious between you and her," said Maribel, looking at Frank.
Victoria chuckled.
"You scared us for a moment," said Carlos, looking at Coralis, "but I need to ask, was it planned? Was Frank supposed to say his own vows too but forgot?"
Frank tried not to spit out the sip of wine in his mouth and coughed. Coralis gently tapped on his upper back.
"We didn't discuss writing our own vows, so no, it wasn't planned and no, I'm definitely not questioning her anymore," said Frank, glancing at Maribel. "I was considering writing one, but I didn't. On the spot earlier, I couldn't even remember if I made one."
"I just blurted what was on my mind," said Coralis.
"Meaning you won't remember it by the morning," said Henry.
"Meaning you meant every single word you said," said Maribel.
"It's okay. We all will remember it for her and I'm sure Frank isn't about to forget," said Mark.
"You know what? I think I also want to find myself a woman who'd be willing to burn down the world for me and who will tell me all these things," said Carlos.
"Right? Like I said, she raised the bar pretty high," said Mark.
Coralis was overwhelmed, sleep-deprived, and still hammered from the night before. Everyone kept reminding her of what she said at the altar, but she couldn't remember. Frank could tell she was exhausted and wondered if something happened the previous night, as her friends were also looking tired, chugging the coffee as if it was the most delicious beverage they had ever drank.
A few hours later, when they retreated to their room for the night, Coralis fell asleep while Frank was in the bathroom. Frank was disappointed, but he wasn't upset. They had been sleeping together for a few years and all that mattered to him was that she didn't back down and told him Yes, I do. For better or worse, she was now officially and legally his wife.
The next day, around noon, Stephanie knocked on their door. Coralis was still asleep.
"Good morning, Steph, I wasn't expecting to see you. Is there anything wrong?" said Frank as he let her in his suite. "Although I think you'd have called if something happened. Coralis is still asleep."
"That's not surprising, she didn't sleep the night before. I was hoping she'd be up. Yesterday when Aunt Lizzy was doing her hair, I reminded her about the name change. I told her that to make sure she wouldn't intentionally forget about it, I'd pass by today with the documents ready for her to sign and that I'd even mail them for her."
Frank laughed.
"I don't think she would have forgotten, but I can see the paperwork sitting on the table for a while just because she'd always be busy with something else."
Coralis woke up confused, wondering if she dreamt the previous day. She could hear muffled voices across the door and realized where she was. She was in her underwear. She search for a shirt and her cloak, and she put them on before walking out of the room.
"Good morning, sister! How are you feeling?"
"G' morning. Confused?" said Coralis, looking around her. "My head wants to explode, I feel drained, but nothing coffee can't fix."
Frank handed her a mug of coffee and kissed her.
"Do you remember yesterday?" said Stephanie, amused.
"Bits and pieces. I'm not sure if I dreamt it all, it's mostly blurry."
Stephanie and Frank laughed.
"I won't take it personal, good thing I remember it all, my beautiful wife."
Coralis noticed the ring on his hand as she sat on a chair.
"Yeah okay, I didn't dream it, and thanks for not taking it personal. I don't remember much, but thankfully I didn't do anything I will regret… or did I?"
"Remember what I told you when Lizzy was doing your hair?" said Stephanie, grinning.
"A lot of things were said," said Coralis as Stephanie handed her some documents.
"As I told you, you're one of us now. All you have to do is to sign there, and there. I'll mail it out for you."
"Here I thought it was yesterday that I signed my life away," said Coralis while grabbing the pen Stephanie handed her. "No waits, that was months ago through burned skin. What do I need to sign again?"
Stephanie left soon after Coralis signed the documents to have her surname legally changed.
"I'm sorry, last night was a blur. I remember the feeling of relief when we left the reception room, but I can't remember anything past that… did we at least have a fun night?" said Coralis, looking at Frank, who was making another cup of coffee for her.
"You fell asleep shortly after we walked into the room. I sat you on the bed, went to the bathroom and you were out cold, head on the pillow, when I walked out. I could tell you were exhausted, so I got you out of your dress and pulled the blanket over you."
"Holy gods from above," said Coralis, getting up to go him and lifting her hand to rest it on his cheek. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it," he said, bringing her closer to him to kiss her. "We got a lifetime's worth of fun times ahead of us."
As things were getting heated, Coralis' phone rang.
"I should probably answer before whoever is calling comes banging at our door," said Coralis as she parted from Frank to retrieve her phone. "What's up, sis?"
"Finally, you're up. This weekend in Montreal was meant to be," said Veronica from the other end of the line. "Guess whom Charlie stumbled onto when on a walk around the city just before dawn."
"Probably not someone I want to hear from."
"He ran into the Waldorf clan's second-in-command. You know, one of the members we missed because they disappeared again? When you told me about the vampirish feral wolves 3 months ago, we searched for another warehouse associated with them, but couldn't find anything, until a few hours ago. Want to go on a hunt with me tonight?"