The Guest

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    Their wedding turned out not to be much like a wedding at all.  Sure, there were flowers, and most things looked rather expensive.Oh, and everyone's invitation had included crumpled plane tickets to Hawaii on Valentine's Day. This was considered quite romantic for the mercenary and his young fiance(e)2

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But when the last guest finally arrived, what they entered into was more like... a bunch of hippies in a bar.  The lot of them were wearing tuxedos, suits, evening gowns though the majority of them were dirty, ripped, out of date and patched.  Slipping into the noisy crowd wasn't going to be so easy while wearing a clean, expensive tuxedo.4

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Then again, it didn't appear that this group would care much at all.  Drinks, cigarettes, blunts in hand, they stood on tables and stretched 'Yellow Submarine' into a mysterious 12 minute ballad. The odor of Bohemian living poured off their paint and tea stained skin, while absinthe was being poured into their yellowed mouths. Certainly the last guest, in his Bijan men's perfume, would stand out like a flower in a garden of weeds.6

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Apparently not, however.  The crowd was a constantly moving, jumbling mess. Through this whole odd ordeal, there was not a trace of an aisle, a priest, or the happy couple. Anxiety; it would make sense if this guest had shown up at the wrong shindig, or at the wrong time.  Alas, the invitation was checked.  Now awkwardness was really setting in; an odd feeling for a man so composed.8

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Barely avoiding a sick-looking writer-type, attempts were made to escape this rowdy mass of vagabonds.  Of course, by making a path around an oddly shaped table covered with unwrapped lozenges, this guest found that he stood directly in front of the groom, and was therefore in the epicenter of activity.  10

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The newly-weds, or soon-to-be-weds, glowed, and the guest was frozen in midstep. Should revulsion keep a person from congratulating the closest thing they had to family? Perhaps there was a way to  greet one of them- the one whom he loved- and not the othre?  Ah, but their arms were around each other.  There was no way...12

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Oh, of course it was different when the two had visited at Christmas.  But seeing them here, with wedding rings, over-the-top affection and other people was just overwhelming! This seemed so unbearably wrong!  His light, laughing child with a, with a KILLER! 14

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An orange nearly missed his ear, and sadness, desperation, and aggravation multiplied.  Clearly the letter, gift, and card could be given immediately (or perhaps set on the lozenge table??) and a path out of this mess would be found right after.16

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Jolted forward by a gyrating line of motley dancers, he was within direct-line of sight with the person who had dominated recent thoughts.  Without a word, he handed the parcel, card, and boldly labeled envelope into soft, elegant hands. Turning away, he frantically searched for an escape route.  As he spotted one, he heard a sweet, smooth voice talk to him.18

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"I'm so glad you came! You actually made it! I can't wait to show you the- " was broken off. And in a desperate voice 'Aren't you staying?'20

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The guest was paralyzed.  He knew that one step away could break the heart he cared most about. One step closer could cause a burst of desperation, or mend their past arguments.  A burlesque queen strutted past with a martini in hand. The guest stayed where he was. 22

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