Chasing a Story

Sonya was the first to apologise, followed by Felicity and Brianna, and soon all was back on track.

A pavilion appeared on the back lawn of the Fairchild property, caterers scurried back and forth between the kitchen and the pavilion. Rows of white plastic chairs also appeared on the lawn with a red carpet down the middle, and white bows hanging from the aisle chairs. At the front, a flower bedecked dais with a floral arch waited for the wedding party. The celebrant paced back and forth rehearsing his lines as the guests, all fifty of them, filed in and took their seats. My side of the seating was populated by a few close friends and my work colleagues, along with the overflow from Naomi's side. I stood with by Best Man and Groomsman, waiting for my bride to make her appearance.

A string quartet burst into Mendelsohn's Wedding March and she appeared. My god she's gorgeous. She looked at me as she approached and smiled at me. My father had stepped in to offer his arm to her and give her away, and he looked so proud of his participation in this. As he passed her to me he lent towards me and whispered, "She's all yours now, don't fuck it up." We smiled at each other and I became serious as the celebrant began the ceremony.

The reception went relatively smoothly until Dad got up to make a speech. He suddenly became as Aussie as a Vegemite sandwich. "G'day, I must say that this is some shindig you've bunged on here for me lad Ben and his blushing bride Naomi. I've only known her for a short time, but struth she's a bonzer sheila. I reckon they make a great couple don't you? Liz and I expected Maggie to be some snooty bitch who wouldn't give us common folk the time of day, but let me tell ya, she's the grouse, couldn't ask for a nicer person. But seriously now, I know that a lot of you wouldn't understand what I've just said, but it was all good. Everything is perfect, the wedding ceremony was great. Naomi looked even better than I expected, this reception is great, the food is awesome, and as for Naomi and her mum, Liz and I couldn't ask for nicer people. Now enjoy, the tap gets turned off in one hour, after that you have to cough up for any booze. Just kidding, get stuck in and enjoy yourselves." He sat down to loud applause. I don't know whether it was the thought of free booze that brought this on.

The reception took on a particularly Aussie flavour after we had departed for the first night of our honeymoon. I don't know whether it was their Aussie charm or the alcohol but my Best Man Scott, and Groomsman Lliam, were seen, to use the vernacular, going the grope with Felicity and Brianna. You know what I mean, playing hide the sausage, getting friendly, what the hell, they were spotted fucking behind some bushes.

Naomi and I had checked into a hotel for the night, so we climbed into one of AMF4's Bentleys, a Mulsanne complete with chauffeur, borrowed from the collection, for the drive into the city. I remember little of the journey and it seemed to have taken only minutes before the Bentley eased to a halt outside our hotel and the doorman opened the door to welcome us. We had a wonderful night of lovemaking before flying back to Sydney the next morning for the next part, a cruise in 'Fair Winds' up to the Hawkesbury.

The next month saw major changes. Andrew Malden Fairchild IV was found guilty of conspiring to procure the murder of Elena Martin and James Proctor, for which he was sentenced to 20 years on both counts. He was also found, in a separate trial, guilty of numerous counts of fraud and embezzlement, for which he was sentenced to a further fifteen years, to be served after he completed his other sentence. The judge declined to excuse himself from the case, even though he was one of many people who'd been a victim of AMF4's many get rich superfast schemes and had lost a lot of money. He claimed that it would be difficult, almost impossible, to find any member of the judiciary who hadn't lost money.

The house was sold, the notoriety from the trial seemed to have boosted the price, it fetched more than the realtor's estimate, and Maggie moved to Sydney, 'to be close to Naomi, as I have no close relatives left', and bought a harbourside apartment just up the road from Mum and Dad. She might as well have saved her money and moved in with them, the amount of time she spends with them.

As for Naomi and me. I resigned from my job, and we run the yacht charter business on a part-time basis. We are looking forward to an increase in our immediate family, a daughter, due in six months.

Just goes to show what can happen when you go chasing a story.