Page 42 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding

“G ood evening, everyone,” Sebastian said as he stood up from the table. “I’m Sebastian. Victor’s best mate. Or, as he likes to call me, Perfectly Adequate friend, which I think is his version of a compliment.”

There was the rumble of a few laughs around the table.

Pandora felt her own lips curving up as she glanced over at Victor at her side, the warmth of him chasing away the chill inside what was, essentially, a long, ancient, greenhouse.

When Lucy and Pandora had found out that Pandora’s family had set up their wedding-party dinner inside a greenhouse on the grounds where the wedding was to take place the following evening, they’d scrambled to find portable heaters and comically long extension cords, just so it was relatively comfortable for the members of the wedding party who actually did feel the cold.

Pandora had to admit that with the long table lined in flowers and fine china, and the flickering candles set in their standing candelabras lining the room, it was a perfectly romantic and charming spot for their little get-together.

Even if it had taken some last-minute maneuvering to pull it all together.

The food had been served by Ravenna and Henrietta. And it seemed that the more practice Ravenna had researching and working on appropriate modern-day human meals, the better her cooking had become.

Lucy had let out a moan that had given Pandora some secondhand embarrassment when she’d taken her first bite of the apple-stuffing pork loin.

“When I first met Victor, we’d bonded over a mutual distaste of all things forced physical activity in school. Little did I know, Victor only wanted to avoid sport so he could spend more time with his nose in books, not slacking off like me.

“But by the time I learned how much he was reading and mumbling about vampires and obscure blood rituals, it was too late – we were best mates. Though, I’ll admit, I thought that the chance of him finding a girlfriend, with his particular interests, was about as mythical as the creatures he was studying. ”

There were a few polite laughs from the crowd that was made up primarily of those “mythical creatures” Sebastian was talking about.

“Victor, you’ve spent ages studying the undead. Some of us, present company included, were starting to worry there wasn’t a single living woman who could attract your attention.

“But then, enter Pandora. Someone capable of looking past the furrowed brows, the thesis-induced caffeine shakes, and his ability to talk about his books in excruciating detail, and see the kind, loyal, somewhat intense, but wonderful man he is. And you’ve made him happier than I’ve ever seen him.

“Pandora, you are about to marry a man who will love you with the same intensity he once reserved for seventeenth--century folklore.

“So let’s raise a glass to Victor and Pandora – the proof that there really is someone out there for everyone. Here’s to your next chapter. May it be filled with laughter, love, and endless arguments about the most fearsome fictional vampire. Cheers!”

“Cheers!” everyone chorused in unison before bringing their glasses to their mouths.

“OK, my turn,” Lucy, slightly buzzed and pink in the face, said, as she got to her feet.

“Hey, everyone. My name is Lucy. I’m Pandora’s best friend, partner in crime, and fellow lover of all things romance novels.

Which, I have to say, prepared me perfectly for tonight.

Because if there’s anything romance novels can teach you, it’s to spot a love story brewing.

“And what a love story is has shaped up to be,” she went on, smiling at Pandora and Victor. “Filled with all the right tropes, too.

“First, they’re clearly the perfect grumpy–sunshine. There’s our hero, Victor. The brooding intellectual who can outstare a marble statue. And, of course, our heroine, Pandora. The brightest bit of sunlight in everyone’s lives.

“Then, as we know, there is the slow burn. And I mean slow. How many months passed where Victor came into Luna Bean to study instead of noticing the absolutely perfect woman right before him?

“I have to admit, there were times when I thought all his studying was going to end in a research paper, not a wedding. But I had faith in the plot. And, eventually, Victor looked up. Sparks flew. Hearts skipped. Bellies fluttered. Knees went weak. Like every good romance novel.

“Pandora, you have proven yourself to be the leading lady in your own story. And, Victor, you have shown us that even the most stoic of heroes can fall head over heels for the right woman.

“So, to my best friend and her very own Mr. Darcy – may the rest of your story be filled with grand gestures, witty banter, smoldering stares, and only the absolute best plot twists ever.

“And, of course, may there always only be one bed, notes in the shower steam, and kissing in the rain. Here’s to your happily ever after. Cheers!”

“Cheers!” Everyone smiled brightly, buying into the story Lucy had just read to them.

Pandora wanted more than anything for it to be true. And her heart ached at the reality of their situation. Of the actual tropes their story featured.

Fake dating.

Marriage of convenience.

Nothing that featured all of the grand romantic gestures that everyone around the table assumed.

Victor’s arm slid around the back of Pandora’s chair as he turned his head away, so no one else could see what he was saying.

“You OK?”

“Yeah,” she said, but she didn’t even bother to put any conviction in her voice as she raised her champagne to her lips and took a sip, the bubbles popping on her tongue.

“Pandy,” he said, tone pleading. His breath was warm on the shell of her ear, making a shiver move through her. “Cold?”

“Yeah,” she said, lying. Or maybe she wasn’t. But it was not the kind of cold that he meant. It was in her heart.

Because, despite her bone-deep belief that things had changed between them since touring the flat, nothing had happened since.

She tried to convince herself it was simply because he was working flat-out to finish his thesis and session at uni.

And what little free time he did have, it was full of wedding planning and furniture-shopping, since everyone was going to expect the two of them to want to live together immediately after the wedding.

That was what real married people did, after all.

The thing was, she was starting to worry that, to him, all it was between them was the occasional spicy, mutually satisfying stolen moment. And not, as it was for her, feelings. Of the love variety.

While this may have started as a fake-dating marriage of convenience, somewhere along the way, she’d fallen head over heels for her fiancé.

Victor’s hand started to chafe her arm for a moment before he shrugged out of his blazer and draped it over her shoulders.

It was still warm from his body and smelled of that perfect vanilla, cinnamon, and leather scent of him. It only made the longing worse.

A little whimper escaped her, despite herself.

“I think you’re just exhausted,” Victor said, voice low. “You’ve been running around at warp speed for months. Working. Planning the wedding. Meet-ups. Dress-shopping. Finding us the perfect flat. You need a nice, long break.”

He wasn’t wrong about her having been busy.

Sure, any wedding required a lot of work. But hers doubly so because of the shortened timeframe, as well as trying to thwart her family’s crazy plans. Including some insane blood ritual requiring the kind of chanting that would have had his family and friends running for the hills.

And, yes, she was burnt out. But not physically, like Victor thought.

She was emotionally spent. From pretending to be in a happy, loving relationship, from never so much as letting her smile slip because she knew Bellatrix and Ambrosia were watching her every move, looking for anything to be off, so they could pounce and expose her.

Increasingly, all she wanted to do was curl up in her bed with the covers over her head. Not even with one of her beloved books. Because, suddenly, love stories just made her all the more aware of her one-sided romance.

It was almost over, she had to keep reminding herself. Even if, objectively, this last part of the whole ordeal was the most painful.

Sebastian’s and Lucy’s speeches had been gutting.

She knew she should have been thankful to her friend for coming up with something so personal and heartfelt, but Pandora’s heart ached more with each word she said. Because Pandora wanted them to be true so badly.

And once this event was over, there was the wedding the following day to get through.

It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life.

But it was going to take everything in her not to cry.

“Yeah. Luckily, we have our honeymoon,” she said, hearing her own voice getting thick as tears stung the back of her eyes.

“Two weeks of nothing to do but relax.” Victor sounded wistful too, excited about a break. Even though he was still working on the finishing touches of his thesis.

“Yeah.” She glanced around the table, finding her loved ones chatting, laughing, happy. All of them completely oblivious to her own turmoil.

She suddenly felt more alone than she had in nearly one hundred and twenty-five years.

“Can I steal your girl for a few minutes?” Lucy asked, showing up just when Pandora felt her eyes starting to glisten.

“Of course,” Victor said, standing, then pulling out Pandora’s chair for her.

She kept his jacket, not needing it, just wanting the closeness, as she followed Lucy out of the greenhouse.

“Needed to get you out of there before you grabbed the tablecloth to use as a handkerchief,” Lucy said as the night air bit at their exposed skin.

“Why did your speech have to be so perfect?” Pandora asked, sniffling as the first few tears slipped from her lashes to trail down her cheeks.

“Because it’s what I want for you. And I think it’s something you can still have.”

Pandora scoffed. “Right. In my fake marriage.”