Page 69 of Belle Amour

“Yeah, He won't come either.” Casey sniffed. “Said I was lucky he was staying for the father-daughter dance…” Their voices faded as they walked away.

“Funny, I wasn't asked to do a mother-son dance.” Francesca downed her drink in one shot. “Excuse me; I need another.” Victor shook his head quickly.

“You sit with Eleanor and Mirabelle, Love. I’ll get your drink.” Francesca nodded and let Mirabelle and Eleanor lead her over to a seating area in the corner as Benji came up wearing a huge smile.

“Package delivered. He murmured as he passed Mirabelle and Bastian. “Hey, Darlin'.” He hugged Lila from behind. “Things are about to get real fun.”

--------------

When it was announced they could return to the ballroom, they entered to see it had been set up with round tables of ten surrounding a dance floor in the middle. The guests found their seats and began talking among themselves as they waited for the reception to start and dinner to be served. The DJ got on the microphone and introduced himself as DJ Elevate. He said he would be doing double duty as both the Master of Ceremonies and DJ, and then he announced the Bridal Party and began playingEvery Time We Touch.

Mirabelle had to hand it to them. The bridesmaids came into the room dancing and clapping to the music, trying to get the energy in the room up and reminding people it was supposed to be a happy occasion, but all it did was make the groomsmen's blank faces and direct walk up to the head table so much more obvious. There were a couple of boos, but they ignored them and sat at the head table, staring straight ahead.

We Are Familybegan to play, and the DJ started to announce the parents, but the Maid of Honor made a quick and frantic cutting motion across her throat, and he hurriedly moved on to announcing “The Happy Couple.” Eddie and Casey walked in toCrazy in Love. Eddie looked upset, but Casey was obviously angry. They took their seats, and dinner was served almost immediately.

It was pretty quiet throughout dinner. The food was actually really good, and Mirabelle thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the dinner conversation with the others as they discussed their plans to go to New Orleans and Dallas. Bastian evenmanaged to get Francesca to perk up and banter with him a little bit by trying to convince her and Victor to join them.

By the time they finished dinner and the DJ announced the cake cutting, Casey seemed to have collected herself, and she and Eddie were posing for pictures by the cake when a woman a few tables over from theirs let out a shriek. YOU FUCKED HER!” And burst into tears. One of the groomsmen's faces drained of colour, and he quickly stood up and ran down to her, trying desperately to get her to calm down.

“Oh, Dear.” Bastian picked up his scotch and adjusted his seat so he could see everything. “Seems Charlie had a secret he didn't want to get out.”

“What are you talking about, Brittney? No, I didn't, I wouldn't.” He reached out and tried to hug her, but Brittney wasn't having it.

“I have the fucking emails, Charlie!” She yelled, shoving him away from her hard. Charlie stumbled backward as she ran crying from the room; he watched her run for a minute, shock on his face, then began chasing her. Mirabelle saw groomsmen look at each other nervously as the DJ tried to smooth things over and keep the party going.

“I guess it's time to get to the speeches.” He announced, sounding unsure about what to do. “First, we have a good friend who couldn't be here but called to congratulate Casey and Eddie. I've hooked her into my sound system, so just one second...” He typed a few things. “Okay, Jillian, go ahead.” The DJ left his booth and walked over to the bar, clearly in need of a drink.

“Well. Where do I begin when it comes to Casey and Eddie?”Jillian's voice came over the sound system.“Casey and the guys have been friends since university, and I always wondered why. Why the hell did these guys put up with thisbitch of a woman? Well, thanks to Casey herself, I now know.”Jillian took a deep breath, and it seemed like everyone was frozen. No one was moving, and the room was dead silent.

“It turns out dear Casey has an appetite for drunk, married men. Charlie Hofner, Billie Marchand, and Kevin Carter have slept with her.”Mirabelle watched as two more groomsmen froze, and another woman broke down into sobs, while another just got up and walked out. The two groomsmen jumped off the stage where the head table had been set up and hurried to try to damage control with their significant others.

“And, of course, let’s not forget the one who bit her disgusting worm hook, the groom, Eddie Shea, and most recently, my soon-to-ex-husband.”Zeke began to shake his head as Eddie turned to him.“Yeah, see, she waits to approach them when they’re drunk, then fucks them and tells them she will scream rape and tell their wives if they didn't do what she wanted. What a peach, ladies and gentlemen!”The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, but nobody moved to disconnect Jillian, and Mirabelle could see Casey was sitting with her eyes closed, her fingers in her ears and swaying back and forth. She was mouthing something, and after observing her for a bit, Mirabelle realized she was literally doing the “La la la” thing like a child.

“Oh, and Eddie? According to Casey's email, there is a chance that the child she's carrying is Zekes, and if you don't believe me, check your email. It appears she sent this to all her contacts.”There was a flurry of movement as people began pulling out their phones and opening their emails, wanting to see the proof for themselves.“Thanks for all this evidence, Casey. I'm not sure why you decided to sell yourself out, but it made my lawyer's job very easy. Zeke, all further communication will be through my lawyer.”The line wentdead, and everyone stayed frozen for a few minutes; then Eddie whirled around to face Zeke.

“Did you fuck her?” He demanded quietly, but the room was so still that his voice travelled clearly. Zeke looked at him apologetically.

“I was drunk, Eddie, and she seduced me.” Zeke shook his head, his voice shaking. “I never would have touched her otherwise. I don’t even like her, you know that; it was nothing more than a hate fuck.”

Eddie nodded slowly. “I guess I can't be mad at you; she did the same thing to me the first time.” He turned to Casey and pulled her fingers from her ear impatiently. “So this has just been one big, what? A joke? Scam? What?”

“No, Eddie.” She gasped, tears streaming down her cheeks. “No, it’s not any of that. It's not true!”

“You did try to sleep with Greg! You bitch!” one of the bridesmaids shrieked suddenly and threw her bouquet at her. The other bridesmaids grabbed her and kept her from launching herself at Casey as a man Mirabelle guessed was Greg came up and pulled her out of the room, repeatedly telling her he didn't and wouldn't. Casey was trash, and everyone knew it. Everyone began talking at once as they read the different parts of the email.

“Looks like Helena finally believes Greg.” Robert leaned back in his chair. “I’m glad we were able to do that for him.” Mirabelle smiled as she understood Greg was the one who sent the screenshots to Bastian and made a mental note to send a fruit basket as a thank you.

Eddie shook his head and began to laugh. “OH, this is just... Fuck. FUCK! He slammed his fist onto the table, the bang echoing, making people jump and quiet down again. “All right,I'm really fucking curious. How many of you has she tried to sleep with? Show of hands, come on!”

Bastian put his hand up, and so did Robert, Peter, and Benji. All over the room, hands went into the air. “Oh, for fucks sake, are you serious?” Eddie shook his head in disbelief and began to laugh again. “You fucking whore.” He laughed harder. “Hey, Dad? It looks like you're getting that paternity test after all.” He stood up, and Casey grabbed his hand.

“Where are you going?” She sobbed. “It's your baby Eddie, I swear! I never, I wouldn't cheat on you!”

“I need a little space from you right now,” Eddie informed her and started to walk away, still chuckling and shaking his head. Maribelle watched in amazement as Casey began screaming and throwing things when Eddie walked away from her. Anything she could grab, she threw at Eddie as she cried.

“I really fucking hope this baby isn't yours! You're a broke piece of shit, Eddie Shea!” The other people in the bridal party moved quickly off the stage, wanting to get out of the way of Casey’s rage. Mirabelle was watching everything with morbid curiosity. She really wanted to see how it would end and was practically sitting on the edge of her seat in excitement.

“I'm broke? I'm broke?” Eddie turned as a wine bottle flew past his head. “If I'm broke, what the fuck does that make you? I've been funding your life for the last year and a half! Creditors are breathing down your neck! My parents funded this whole thing! Your parents haven't put a dime toward this whole farce of a wedding because your father is about to be indicted for tax fraud!” He ducked a plate and backed off the stage. People were almost running for the door. Mirabelle guessed the Chalet's staff had called the police to minimize property damage because she could see them trying to get in.

---