An Unusual Beginning Ch. 02

David learns he has no choice but to tell Diana his fiancee about what happened in Vegas and when he tells her, she's not going to be happy. She's going to want heads to roll and people to pay.

CHAPTER 2

'Please, just leave me alone. I know what happened between us wasn't your fault, but I'm not handling it too well, if you try to talk to me, or apologize for what happened, I'll lose it right here, right now, and I don't want that to happen. So please just go.'

Arlene's words invaded David's mind, the frail tone of her voice and the way she looked when she said them stung his heart.

It was now three weeks after their trip to Vegas and David was home preparing for his upcoming marriage in a week to Diana Weston.

This should be a very happy time for David, but it wasn't because his mind was filled with what happened between him and Arlene and the possible ramifications. The fact that she understood that what happened between them wasn't his fault made the guilt he felt an even heavier burden for him to bear. He had to tell Diana about what happened; he couldn't and wouldn't start his marriage to her with a lie hanging over it.

David and Diana have known each other all their lives, their families are close. They started dating their junior year of high school. They went through all the normal things every romantically involved couple went through while dating. They would argue and break up, but always managed to find their way back to each other after a while.

However, after graduating from high school, they broke up because they would be attending different colleges, in different states and neither of them felt they could nor wanted to maintain a long-distance relationship.

It was after they graduated from college, and they were both attending their families' annual combined Fourth of July barbeque that they once again became a couple. Because they were more mature, their relationship was going a lot smoother this time around.

They'd been seeing each other for about two years when Diana brought up the subject of marriage. David was caught off guard and didn't know what to think or how to react when she brought it up. He never thought about it, at least not when it came to Diana. He considered their relationship to be fine the way it was and saw no need to change it.

That was his response to Diana every time she mentioned the subject of marriage to him. She responded by getting angry and threatening to end things between them, saying that if he felt that way, there was no reason for them to continue seeing each other. She asked David if he loved her. That wasn't a question David could say yes or no to. He cared about Diana, and he wanted her to be happy, but he couldn't say that what he felt for her was love. He didn't know what label to put on his feelings for her.

After giving the idea of marrying Diana some thought David finally gave in one night, years later when he and Diana were having dinner one evening at his parents' home. He surprised her by taking her for a walk out in the garden after dinner where he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

Diana was so happy and surprised; she started crying, but she told David she had to think about it, (which surprised David) a week later she said yes. That was six months ago.

Now he was standing in his living room, three weeks after returning from his bachelor party in Vegas, trying to decide if he should tell Diana about what happened between him and Arlene. He tried to do as his brother and friends suggested and put the event behind him. However, he couldn't because he was having flashes of memories about that night that if they were true, had possible consequences that he wouldn't be able to forget about nor live with.

When they returned home from Vegas his relationship with his brother, Franklin Jr. and his friends had changed. David was so angry that he distanced himself from them, cutting off all contact. He wouldn't communicate with them either in person, on the phone, or through emails.

His parents and Diana noticed the change in his attitude towards his brother and his friends since the Vegas trip and wanted to know what had happened between them, but because he didn't want to get his brother into trouble with his parents, David didn't tell them. He simply told them that it was something they would eventually work out.

It was only when his parents grew tired of the distance and tension between David, Franklin Jr., and their friends and they tricked him into seeing his brother and his friends, forcing them to talk about what happened that David started to rebuild his relationship with them.

David needed someone to talk to; he took out his cell phone and started dialing a number. He didn't know why he called Raymond over to talk about how he was feeling, especially when he already knew Raymond's opinion on, he how he should handle what happened in Vegas. Maybe that was the reason why he called Raymond. He wanted him to convince him one more time that not telling Diana was the right thing to do.

When Raymond arrived at the Fitzgerald's home, their butler, Carter led him to the living room where he found David pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace.

"Hey, man," Raymond said, letting David know that he was in the room.

"Hey," David replied, walking over to Raymond, and greeting him with a buddy handshake and a chest bump, the male version of a hug. "Thanks for coming over."

"No, problem," Raymond replied. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Sit down," David said, offering Raymond a seat on the couch. David sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?" Raymond asked, noticing the worried look on David's face.

"Raymond, I'm still not comfortable marrying Diana and she doesn't know about..."

"Please tell me you're not thinking about telling Diana, you slept with that black girl," Raymond said not believing what he knew David was about to say to him. "I thought we settled this before we left Vegas."

"Her name is Arlene, and yes, I am still thinking of telling Diana about me sleeping with her," David said. "I really think I should tell her."

"Why would you want to tell Diana about a one-time, one-night stand," Raymond asked, growing frustrated with his friend?

"I didn't use a condom, Raymond," David declared, "and there are two big things that could come from that, two very big things. And the consequences of those two very big things could alter my life and change my relationship with Diana."

"Have you heard from this woman?" Raymond asked, wondering if that was why David was changing his mind about not telling Diana.

"No, Arlene hasn't contacted me," David said. "She wouldn't know how to contact me. I didn't give her any information about me besides my name, and I don't have any information about her besides her name and the fact that she lives in Atlanta."

"Is the fact that you can't be sure she doesn't have A.I.D.S., a sexually transmitted disease, or that she might be pregnant the only reasons why you want to tell Diana?" Raymond asked.

"I want to tell her because of those possibilities, and because I think she should know," David said. "I can't and won't marry Diana with this secret hanging over me like a boulder dangling on a thin thread ready to drop on my marriage at any moment and destroy it. I don't want to live like that, I can't live like that."

"She's going to be very hurt and very upset if you tell her," Raymond remarked. "She might call off the wedding."

"Maybe you, Franklin, William, Jonathan, and Arlene's friends should've thought about that before deciding to pull your little joke!" David groused.

Raymond hung his head.

"Diana may be hurt and upset with me when she hears about what I've done," David said, regaining control of his temper, "but I feel it's something she should know, and hear about from me. I think I should prepare her for the possibility of what happened between Arlene, and me possibly bringing Arlene back into our lives."

"I wish you would think about this a little longer before you say anything to Diana," Raymond said. "I'm sure you'll realize that I'm right. You'll see that not telling her is the best thing you can do for everyone."

"Excuse me, sir."

David and Raymond turned to see Carter standing in the doorway of the living room.

"Yes, Carter?" David replied.

"May I have a word with you in private, please?" Carter said.

David excused himself, turned, and followed Carter out of the living room into the dining room.

"What is it you want to talk about?" David asked.

"Well, sir, I was preparing your clothes to the dry cleaners and while going through the pockets of a pair of your pants, I found a document that I think you should see," Carter said, passing the document to David.

David took the piece of paper from Carter's hand, unfolded it, and read it. As he read the piece of paper David's skin turned the palest shade of white Carter had ever seen. Thinking that he was going to pass out Carter helped David ease himself down onto one of the dining room chairs.

"I'll go and get you a glass of water, sir," Carter said heading towards the kitchen.

"Oh... my... god," David said, looking back down at the document he held in his hand. "This can't be true. This cannot be true."

David was still staring down at the paper when Carter returned from the kitchen with the glass of water for him to drink.

Wondering what was taking David so long to return Raymond went looking for him. He found David sitting in the dining room staring at a piece of paper he was holding in his hand, his skin as white as a sheet, a shocked look on his face.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice filled with concern for his friend thinking he'd received some bad news.

David held the piece of paper out, passing it Raymond to read.

As he read the piece of paper, Raymond plopped down onto a dining room chair next to David.

"I'll go get another glass of water," Carter said as he handed David the glass of water, he brought for him, and watched all the color drain from Raymond's face.

"Why did you and Arlene sign your real names?" Raymond asked.

"What do you mean, why did we sign our real names?" David asked, his voice dripping with anger. "I don't even remember the damn ceremony. When did Arlene and I get married?"

"You and Arlene were sitting at the table talking while the rest of us were dancing," Raymond said, taking a moment to swallow, hoping his saliva would keep his throat from going dry, so he could continue to speak. "I don't know what you were talking about, but I saw you and her trying to sneak out of the club. I alerted everyone else, and we all rushed over to stop you. We asked the two of you where you were going. You said that you and Arlene were going to get married. I was about to tell you that you couldn't marry Arlene because you were going to marry Diana when Arlene's friend Brenda thought it would be a good idea to make you and Arlene think that the two you had actually gotten married to each other as part of the joke."

"You've got to be kidding me," David said not believing what he was hearing. "The rest of Arlene's friends went along with this?"

"After Brenda convinced them, it was a harmless joke," Raymond replied as he shrugged his shoulders, "they went along. We all drove over to a Justice of the Peace, but before we went inside, we instructed you and Arlene to try to appear to be sober because we knew the Justice of the Peace wouldn't perform the ceremony if he knew that you and Arlene were both drunk."

"I can't believe the Justice of the Peace thought that Arlene and I were sober," David said, staring down at the marriage license he held in his hand.

"He almost caught on," Raymond said, "but we convinced him that you and Arlene were giddy because you were getting married on the spur of the moment."

David sat in the dining room, in a chair listening to Raymond tell him how he, Jonathan, William, his own brother, Franklin Jr., and Arlene's friends all in the name of a joke had hijacked his life.

Now he had no choice but to tell Diana about what happened in Vegas and go to Atlanta to see Arlene so that they could talk about their marriage and how to handle it.

David wondered if Arlene remembered what happened or if any of her acquaintances told her what they had done. He wondered if they were actually married. Las Vegas was the marriage capital of the world and because of that; there had to be laws in place that could possibly make their marriage illegal.

He cringed, thinking of Diana's reaction when he told her that he might be married to someone else and that their wedding might have to be canceled until he dealt with his marriage to Arlene.

But, the first thing he would have to do is have to tell his parents.

"I'm sorry about this David," Raymond said his words bringing David out of his thoughts.

"You're sorry!" David almost screamed as he struggled to keep himself from punching Raymond in the face. "You sorry bastard! Is that all you have to say to me is that you're sorry?"

"You weren't supposed to sign your real names," Raymond said, trying to shift some of the blame onto David.

"We were drunk, Raymond!" David reiterated to Raymond, his voice tight and tense. "We were asked to sign our names and that was what we did. You can't lay this mess at my and Arlene's feet. We didn't start this, so it isn't our fault. The blame for this mess starts and ends with eight people that she and I trusted not to ruin our lives and betray us."

"It was meant to be a joke," Raymond said, getting up off the floor and standing.

"I need you to get the hell out of my house and out of my sight right now," David said, walking out of the dining room, "because if I continue to look at you, I'm going to jail."

Raymond watched his friend as he walked away from him, wondering if he had lost a friend and a friendship that he'd come to treasure over the years because of his own stupidity and the stupidity of others.

(((((((((((((((())))))))))))))

David left the dining room and went looking for his parents. They needed to be told about his possible marriage to Arlene, a woman they didn't know and the possible cancellation of his marriage to Diana, a woman, he'd known all of his life. He hoped their reaction to the news would be a calm one.

He found his parents sitting out on the patio, lying in each other's arms, enjoying what they both call their end of the day chill out.

Because, of both their busy careers David's parents, Franklin Sr. who owns a digital security company where his sons worked with him and Pamela Fitzgerald, who owns an interior design company, kept the end of the day, specifically for themselves. It was their special time, a time where they were both unreachable to all. Family and friends included. Everybody knew that unless there was an emergency not to bother, either of David's parents. And there were very specific guidelines about what an emergency was.

'The house isn't burning down, I'm not bleeding, Franklin Jr. isn't bleeding (yet), and the world isn't coming to an end,' David thought to himself. 'But I think they'll consider me possibly being married to another woman while I'm making plans to marry Diana to be an emergency.'

"Mom, Dad," David said, walking out onto the patio. "I need to talk to both of you."

"This had better be important," his father said. "You know the rules."

"It's important," David assured his father, "and could have dire consequences for me and Diana."

"Spill it," his mother ordered.

David handed his parents the marriage license. They read it and then they turned and looked at their eldest son their eyes demanding an explanation.

They listened intently as David told them everything, from how his group met Arlene and her friends at the airport when they landed in Las Vegas, with him waking up and finding, himself in bed with Arlene.

When he finished his parents didn't say anything, they just stared at him.

"I can't believe this," his father said finally breaking the silence that surrounded them. "How could your brother and your friends do such a thing to you?"

"They said it was done as a joke," David replied.

"I can't believe Franklin Jr. went along with this," his mother said.

"What about Jonathan, Diana's brother?" his father asked, "he went along with it too; he didn't even try to stop the marriage ceremony? He just stood there along with everyone else and watched you marry this woman?"

"You're married?"

David and his parents turned to see his fiancée, Diana Weston walking out onto the patio, her face showing her shock and outrage over what she'd just heard.

'Damn,' David said to himself cringing at the sound of Diana's voice.

He'd forgotten that she was coming over to finalize the plans for their wedding with his mother. He walked over to her, when he tried to put his arms around Diana, she pushed him away.

"Answer my question David," Diana demanded, holding an arm out in front of her to block his advance towards her. "Did you get married while you were in Vegas?"

"Yes," David replied. "I think so."

The color drained from Diana's face as she slowly lowered herself onto a nearby patio chair.

"How did this happen?" she asked staring out into space trying to digest what her fiancé had just said to her.

David repeated the same story Raymond told him, that he told his parents, to Diana.

"I'm going to kill Jonathan," Diana said her teeth clenched together. "How could he take part in this?"

"From what I understand Jonathan wasn't there when the joke was put together," David said speaking in her brother's defense. "When they spiked, mine's and Arlene's drinks, Jonathan was on the dance floor with me and Arlene dancing with one... of... Arlene's... friends."

David's words were cut off by the angry glare he was getting from Diana.

"You were dancing with another woman?" she asked.

"Yes, I was," David confessed. "But there was nothing romantic about it, it was a fast song. We were just two people out having a good time celebrating something good that had happened to Arlene and was about to happen to me."

"Did you sleep with her?" Diana asked.

"Diana, I think we should wait until we're alone to discuss whether or not I slept with her," David said.

"Did... you... sleep... with... her?" Diana said, her tone demanding.

"Yes," David replied, "I slept with her."

Tears formed in Diana's eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She felt as if her heart was breaking into a thousand pieces. She mentally prayed that God would wake her up from the horrible nightmare she had to be having because this couldn't be happening. She and David were a week away from getting married, and she'd work so hard to make this marriage happen.

"I didn't do this on purpose, Diana," David said, his voice pleading with her to understand.

"Is there anything else I should know about your trip to Vegas?" Diana asked between sniffles and wiping her nose.

"I didn't use any protection." David said, deciding he might as well get everything out into the open. "And Arlene is African-American."

"What?!" his parents and Diana said in unison.

"I've got to go," Diana said, getting up from the chair and standing as she fought to control her emotions. "I don't think I can listen to anything that you might have to say right now."

"We need to talk about this, Diana," David said following Diana as she headed towards the patio door, "and decide if we should cancel our wedding or not."

"You're right," Diana said to David turning to face him, her voice shaky, tears flowing more freely from her eyes down her face, "we do need to talk about this, but I can't discuss this with you, not right now. I'm not in a rational state of mind. I need to get away from you so that I can get control of my emotions to make sure I don't make any rash decisions. As far as our wedding is concerned, I think canceling it is the only option we have because you can't marry me until you deal with your marriage to this other woman."