Halloween Wedding

When the mingling started back full swing he was a little surprised at the number of women, the ratio of the sexes was severely off center. Ordinarily this would've made him as happy as a kid in candy land but tonight's offerings weren't very interesting for some reason.

There was family on both sides that were either too young or too old. There were women with husbands or boyfriends that didn't even need to be said, off limits. There were quite a few women from Sundays that he knew very well, maybe too well to be interested in dating for any amount of time.

That was when it hit him, he wasn't looking for a wedding hook up, that's why nothing was sparking his interest. It had been a while since he was in a real relationship, not necessarily a settle down forever thing but at least a sex every Saturday night thing. A year. It had hurt when his last girlfriend left him and there'd been nothing since then that had lasted more than a few months. He didn't have commitment issues but hadn't wanted to get married then. She moved in when they were twenty five and two years of living together hadn't changed that, so she left.

He was a catch, a nice guy, successful, tall, dark and he considered himself still good looking. Since being a teenager he never had trouble getting girls; he had trouble keeping them or staying happy with them. He made a mental note to ask someone for a female perspective, again. Juniper, he'd ask her, she always had something to say about that stuff. Why was that?

When the dancing started Juniper was among the first crowd on the floor. She danced with old friends, current friends, the bride's family, men she only knew in passing. She was even on the floor in one of those kinds of songs where a gaggle of women all dance together wildly.

There were a couple men in particular that kept coming back for the next dance, the groom's uncle being most persistent. He had to be almost sixty, but he was a good dancer and could keep up with the music. He was little handsy to be a harmless flirt but she had dealt with worse before. A fair trade for a good dance partner. The other tenacious dancer was less harmless and more flirt. He was so charming she worried about where she might let herself be taken if given enough to drink. She decided to leave her glass on the bar.

Where the dirty old man took the hint and left her alone when she had enough groping. The charmer was slick, he looked to swoop in for more. All she wanted to do was have a good time, visit with friends, dance and laugh. She really didn't want to deal with the hassle of a pick up, and just looking at him it was obvious he had nothing more to offer than one night. She'd sure enjoyed looking at him, but then he would open his mouth.

Scanning the room she thought about an exit strategy from any more of him. There were other people she wanted to visit with, and some of them were starting to leave. At least she thought that's who they were, she hadn't identified everyone and what they were wearing.

Donovan scanned the bar area over the shoulder of a woman he knew from school, she was boring him to near tears. He caught Juniper's eye and saw that she had a touch of that expression she got when her personal space was being invaded. He had always laughed at her personal space comfort needs, they shifted from situation to situation. When talking in a crowd where most people would lean in to be heard, she wanted elbow room. When on the dance floor, with the right man, and the right song, she wanted almost no space between them. He'd even been lucky enough to be caught at the time and place for one of those songs a few times. From across the room, this didn't look like the right anything.

He wrapped up the boring chit chat on the verge of being rude about it and headed over to Juniper with two fresh drinks. Da da da dah super Donovan to the rescue. His height and the posture he assumed for the task combined to be an intimidating force. He knew this and had used it to back off unwanted attention for many of his lady friends. She spotted him on his way and grinned with relief; she knew the spiel, they'd done this before.

He walked up square to them. He passed a drink to her far hand, his arm effectively making space between the two. A kiss on her cheek before an arm around her shoulders got a half step back from Mr. Slick. A wide smile and low voice while introducing himself got another half step after a handshake that might have been a bit firm. That's right, you'd better back up. She's mine. Mine? My what?

"Did ya have fun dancing? I'm getting lonely without you," he addressed Juniper but then turned to their new friend. "I'm a terrible dancer. She won't dance with me anymore. I step all over her toes." Donovan's tone of voice was dangerous even if his words were superficially harmless. She'd heard it before, he used it well.

She didn't wait for a minute of small talk before she finished up their little one-act play. The poor guy wasn't so slick or charming with Donovan. She wanted to move on. His arm around her always made her feel safe and secure.

"Did you see Bob? We need to talk to him before he leaves, come on. Thanks for the dance." She tossed over her shoulder while walking away. Yes, she used the 'we' word like a weapon. She released her grip around his waist to walk out from his arm then turned to take his hand in hers.

She flashed that 'we're such a happy couple' high-dollar smile that Donovan had seen many times before and knew was reserved for occasions that she was lying. He knew what her 'happy couple look' looked like, and this wasn't it. He had never gotten it from her; in fact it had been a while since he'd gotten that look from anyone. Hand in hand and closer than they needed to be, they crossed the room to Bob and his wife who were on their way out.

Mission accomplished.

"What do you expect? You dance like that for half the night and think there's nothing on a guys mind. You know what that body can do to a man. Any man." Damn it, he thought, me too. "Come on, let's dance. He's still by the bar." He steered her onto the dance floor with his hand on her low back. Both his natural, easy smile and the theater smile he used for occasions like this, were gone. A tinge of irritation showed on his face, or was it something else, she wondered.

"I know what I said to him was bullshit, but whatever happened to the rule about dancing with the one that brought you? I'm a good dancer." He tried to sound relaxed.

"What rule is that? I don't know anything about that," she said, narrowing her eyes to look up into his, partly to laugh with him but also to assess his temperament. He had a tendency to be moody when drinking too much, and she didn't know where he was with that. It could go either way so he had to be figured out on a case by case basis.

He swayed to the slow song and pulled her in, claiming all her personal space, just how she liked it. He knew what she wanted, she shouldn't be out looking for it with jerks. Jerks that treated her badly, lied, and cheated. He had to snap his mind back to the dance floor. He returned his happy face to its place, but it was only half real.

His clown shoes weren't conducive to dancing, so they ended up doing nothing more than the high school prom sway. But that worked well for the cock-blocking story they had just used for Mr. Slick anyway. Her head was resting on his shoulder, and they easily shared gossip and carelessly laughed about costumes. He eyed the bar to make sure he was seen as he bent down to whisper in her ear while running his hand along her back. The same back he'd felt earlier while zipping her. He didn't notice her tremble slightly, and she didn't notice his chest stop moving for that moment.

"Why do you do that?" He was still annoyed and not sure why. The wedding was really a lot of fun and had turned into a great party. He was happy to see so many old friends in one place and knew it might be the last time they'd get together. He shouldn't have been so irritated.

"I was fine," she replied, curious of his mood.

"I know, you're always fine. But why do you let yourself be backed into a corner like that? Are you that drunk? It's not even midnight. What if I wasn't here to save you?" He looked away from her eyes that were searching for what was really bothering him. He didn't know the answer to her unspoken question either. Not yet.

"I'm not drunk. Are you? Is that why you're being all..." Her thought dropped, she couldn't name it.

"I think he's given up now. It should be safe to go back to dancing if you want." He turned back to face Juniper having regained his playful smirk. "I'll be ready to save you next time too." He winked as he unwrapped her from his arms and headed over to a group of guys. They were standing against the wall communicating with fist bumps, handshakes and the general caveman style grunts of testosterone.

It was less than an hour later that she needed the restroom. She turned the corner into the hallway and bumped into one of the bridesmaids. She had to hold onto both arms to keep her from falling. She looked down at the young girl with the uncontrolled giggles. Juniper tried to hold her up against the wall and noticed that the whole side of her mouth and most of her cheek were smeared with red and white stage makeup that didn't fit with her costume.

"Are you okay?" The only response was more giggles that were joined by some from another girl staggering down the hall. "Here, help your friend, she's not in good shape." The new girl took the weight of the bridesmaid as they slid back toward the main room, trailing laughter behind them.

She watched them go with a head shake and a grin, remembering the days when she found herself in a similar state. Not like now. Now that she's older, wiser, and more mature. Her own giggle escaped. She couldn't even think that with a straight face.

On the surface she was a successful adult, good job, nice house (a rental but still). Hell, she'd even started a retirement account. She didn't want to feel like a boring grown up; she wanted to laugh over pizza and lay in the grass, so she did often.

When she turned back to the hallway she was startled again when the tall shadow of Donovan stepped out from the corner. When he moved into the light she burst into laughter at the sight of his white and red clown makeup smeared across his face.

"Oh my God! She's a little young don't you think? But I guess she's legal so..." the words died in her throat when the expression on his face sunk in. Behind what was left of the greasepaint grin his eyes were shocked, stunned, maybe a little panicked. The clown tie and suspenders were crooked and his shirt was untucked.

"What's wrong?"

"I, I..." His spooked eyes darted down the hall and back to her. "She, she..." As he tried to straighten his clothes. "I got attacked." She'd never seen him look like this, almost scared. Scared of a little girl. Still she couldn't hold in her own laughter that escaped through the hand over her mouth.

"Oh honey bee, it's okay, you're safe now from that big bad little girl." She reached out to fix his wide red tie making that sad puppy face at him.

"I've been molested and you're making fun." He leaned back away from her in offense. "It's not funny. She grabbed my package, shoved her hand right down my pants and grabbed me. It was... I was... I don't even know how that happened? I just closed the door and turned around and she grabbed me." A heavy sigh escaped him as he looked to the ceiling. Her amusement settled down when she saw just how bothered he was.

"Here you can't go out there looking like this, especially not with her looking like that. It's too dark out here in the hall. Come on, I'll help fix you up." She turned to open the next door down, the ladies room.

After inspecting the damage in the light she shook her head, "I don't suppose you brought the makeup with you for touch ups did you? Of course not, you're a guy." She opened her purse to fish around in it. A well-prepared woman always carried supplies, and she was well-stocked for a wedding. "I think it needs to all go. Okay?"

First she wiped the majority of it away with toilet paper. She did it for him knowing that he'd make a bigger mess. She cleaned more of it away with a moist towelette from her purse. He was hardly aware of what was happening until she stopped touching him. It felt as if it were the most natural thing, her hands on his face.

"I don't even know how that happened," he said as if looking for the answer. His dilemma didn't stop him from checking out the ladies room like it was a guarded mystery.

"Why are you so upset? So you got a little grabass. Surely you've been groped before?" She kept working to get all the red off from around his lips and he wasn't helping by talking.

"Here you finish this." She handed him a fresh towelette getting his attention, and he checked himself in the mirror to continue cleaning.

The door opened, and their friend Tasha burst through obviously a little drunk. She was swaying and laughing a little too loud but stopped in her tracks when she saw the two of them together. He straightened up thinking he should make a quick exit after being caught in the sacred place for women only. He realized they had been caught in what could look like a compromising position.

"No, no, don't leave on my account, you go ahead and finish what you started there. I just need to..." She seemed to lose her train of thought and turned to the stall door to concentrate on making it through.

"You know, I always wondered why the two of you weren't together back in freshman year. What took you so long? Or how long have you been hiding?" Tasha went on talking from behind the stall door like it was any other conversation, making him a little uncomfortable.

"I have to say Don, I thought you were a little more classy than screwing in the ladies room."

Juniper laughed out loud at Tasha's assumption but also at Donovan's feathers visibly ruffled from the nickname that he hated. No one had used that more than once since the last middle school bloody nose he served up. She couldn't keep from snickering as he sputtered in denial; the night was not going well for him.

She could only shake her head at the seemingly compromising position. Tasha's presumption was understandable, unfortunately untrue but understandable. When the door had opened she had found herself between him and the mirror while he was leaning in to check his reflection. They had been very close and face to face. It wouldn't have been very far to go to have been up on the counter with her legs wrapped around him.

The gossip and rumors that went around the circle were really not as bad as the truth sometimes, so a story like this wasn't going to create any major shockwaves. She wasn't worried about it; he probably wouldn't have been on any other night. But he was thrown off his game by being felt up by a strange young girl.

"Hey Tasha, you got a ride home tonight?" As she washed up at the sink next to Donovan.

"Actually we moved out of town this spring so I'm staying at the hotel at the end of the block with my fiancee. He was Axl Rose tonight. Did you see him? He's so... He started work at ... He gave me..." On the third swipe she got a hold of the door handle and continued to babble down the hall leaving them alone again.

"There you go, all handsome again, well a handsome clown anyway." She stepped out from in front of him to look at the reflection in the mirror. She swatted him on the butt to avoid an awkward pause and because she liked to.

"You feel better about your sexual assault? Not going to press charges? Welcome to the world of getting mauled like women do." He turned to face her letting out a sigh.

She never knew how to handle him under these kinds of circumstances when he was upset. She usually only ever reacted with humor and that would distract him for the moment. Tonight that didn't seem to work so she tried her only other method.

"It's ok, you're ok." And wrapped her arms around his neck. His nose lowered to her hair, breathing in the flowered scent. She could feel the tension leave him. Leaning into each other they took comfort from one another like they'd done countless times before.

His palm brushed down the back of her head and he took a braid between two fingers. Her breathing stopped in anticipation of a tug on her hair. She worried he might have caught on to her reaction the last time he had her by the hair. He only watched as he wrapped it around his fingers.

"Let's go before anyone else comes in. You look like you need a beer." She moved backward away from his warmth. Her ulterior motive was to get back out in the open where she wouldn't be tempted to do more than just hug a friend.

He was also happy to hide in the crowd to keep himself from being visibly hard under the clown pants. The feel of her body against him both calmed and excited him. The smell of her hair was intoxicating. He thought he'd felt her stiffen in his arms. He really wasn't above screwing in a public restroom. Had he just missed a chance there, not for sex but for something... more?

"Is that what it's really like for you, for women I mean, being touched like that?" He lifted the beer but stopped at only a small sip, since he hadn't wanted another. The night went from a good time party to confused feelings that as a guy he avoided at all costs. He didn't know what it was that kept nagging him. Or he knew, and... didn't want to know.

"No, as a woman we're usually physically intimidated as well. What are you? About six foot one? Maybe two hundred ten pounds?"

"More. More of both."

"She was five four tops. Think about how it would've felt the other way around." She scanned the room and leaned to look over his shoulder with an odd twinge of protectiveness. She caught him lost in her show of cleavage and quickly pushed aside the feeling. She hadn't meant to flash him. This time she hadn't meant to.

"I don't see her or any of her little friends. Hopefully they've gotten her down for the night before she can scare anyone else." She reached across the table to pat his hand like a child's at the flash of embarrassment across his face. He didn't last long before being able to turn back to his usual mode of fun and teasing.

"I feel so dirty and ashamed." With a wink and a tip of the beer bottle. They sat quietly watching the festivities, the dancing, taking in the Halloween spirit.

"Hey now, about what Tasha said." He just couldn't keep the fun, carefree, easy time there, something else was on his mind.

"I won't ever call you that name I promise. Don't worry." Thinking that's what had really bothered him and wanted to rib him about it.

"Yeah don't. But the other thing, about us never having gotten together. Why is that? Looking back on it now, I can't think why we never did?" She swallowed her drink and paused another beat before she turned back to figure out what he was really asking. It didn't look like he was making fun, neither did he look overly serious. It was just curiosity. OK she thought, I can play this out.

"We've never gotten more involved because you're a jackass." His lazy grin was amused by this, alright he can play too. He was good at this game.

"The problem with that point is that I'm not a jackass."

"You're right, you're not." She took her stance to fight him with sarcasm. Verbal sparing was a good way to handle this. That would keep it casual.

"Maybe it's cuz you've always been such a cold hearted bitch?" They were playing like they usually did, and he always pushed it farther. He knew what he could get away with and what pushed her buttons. He really enjoyed the color she turned when they really got into it. She didn't blush; it was more of a wash of warmth all over. Her eyes would twinkle and her lips would get tight at the upturned corners.