The Wedding of the Fashion Dolls

Marj read the high-priority text on her phone. "Dammit! Double dammit, with nuts! This is from my motel. God DAMN it!" She looked up at El. "Their fire system went off. I don't have a room tonight, and they can't seem to find one. I'm gonna hafta drive ninety minutes home, get like, three hours of sleep, and drive back up. Now I'm glad I never checked in!"

El looked "Huh?" at her. Marj took a breath. "I was running late and got later because I-75 was being I-75 so no one was able to go ninety," she explained. "What should've taken less than hour took more than two. I just called the motel told them I'd check in very late. Anyway, now I get to have all that fun again twice, with just about no sleep tomorrow. I might just have to miss it all. They are so going to pay for this! Three times! I hafta drive it three times, not twice. I have to drive back at the end. Or book another room somewhere. Fuck. Stupid motel. Boy, this is gonna cost 'em. I think I'm going to have to skip it, dammit!"

El held up a hand and said, "Hold on there Hoss! If you don't mind cramped quarters I have an Efficiency over in Southfield. It's a ways from here, but it's only about ten minutes from the Country Club. It's pretty small though, and getting ready would mean two people and a small bathroom. And the loveseat isn't really big enough to sleep on. So, I guess, um. I mean, if you don't mind sharing a bed, I can get you what you need."

Marj raised a speculative eyebrow.

El grinned and said, "Sleep. You're about to be a relative anyway, so even though it normally takes three kisses before I invite a girl to bed mmmph!"

Marj immediately broke the kiss and yelled "SOLD! What's the address?"

They negotiated the address transfer; Marj scanned a QR code off of El's phone, then texted her. El made sure Marj had enough gas for the drive and they took off.

About half an hour later they pulled into the parking for an apartment tower near the regional hospital. El took a picture of Marj's license plate and sent it to the management company. They got all of their stuff out of the Prius and Marj's cute little quote SUV unquote and hauled the overnighters, makeup cases, grocery bags, dresses and whatnot into the lobby to wait for an elevator. There was an initial five minutes of waiting for the elevator while their arms just about fell off holding their dresses up and El grumbled about the interminable and inevitable wait for an elevator. Another couple of minutes messing around with "being careful with the outfits" and getting the dresses, themselves, and all the rest into the elevator in one go. More time getting it all out at the sixth floor, and getting it all down the hall and up to the apartment door. Another minute while El went through all of her jacket pockets and dug around in her purse trying to find her keys. She was just about to go back down to her car when the pile got jostled and the keys hit the floor after falling off of whatever stuff they'd been set on before being subsequently buried under other stuff.

Finally, they were in the apartment. Marj looked around and raised her eyebrows. "You live here? This is tiny!"

"Gods, no! I live in Sebewaing, in a very nice little house. 'Sugar Beet Capital of the World.' I mostly work from home, it's way too far to commute and getting on an expressway is a no go, 'cause there ain't one. Anyway, the drive down from the edge of the Thumb is murder, especially in the winter. I actually have fiber, plus backup satellite, and I have unlimited data on my phone. This rathole," she waved an inclusive arm around the limits of the very nice and small but un-rathole-like apartment, "is owned by the publishing group I work for. They keep it for times when someone needs to be in the area on company business, and let us use it for personal stuff if it happens to be free.

"Which reminds me. I've gotta let Donna know I have a distressed wedding guest in here with me." She tapped at her phone for a second, glanced up and said, "hey, lock that other deadbolt, will you?" Marj looked around and twisted the lock as El went back to tapping.

When she finished on her phone, she helped Marj move all of the stuff into the living area. "I told Donna you'd be here for two days. Trust me, I'm not driving back up to north boondocks late after a wedding reception tomorrow night. I'm gonna assume you'd rather be sleeping than driving into south boondocks tomorrow night?"

Marj nodded. "Too right. My reservation was for two nights. So—what's the deal with the extra lock?"

El rolled her eyes. "We've got this copy editor." She made a sour face. "'Todd the Stud.' He should've retired years ago, I'd put his age at maybe sixty-seven. The stupid motherfucker is 'God's Sexual Grift to Gay Women.'"

Marj shot her a puzzled look.

El shook her head and rolled her eyes again. "Everybody at the magazine can check the availability of this apartment, although nobody can see who's using it. So, this bastard lives in the area, and when he sees the apartment is in use he drives by the lot and checks whose car is there. He apparently has had his heart set on 'turning a dyke' since forever, but he's not really very selective; straight women are fine. His only problem is that there isn't a woman on this planet who would even glance at his shriveled dick—and no I have not seen it, but yes, I am absolutely certain it's shriveled like a beer-soaked pretzel straw. He had a habit of 'accidentally' showing up because he," she made an air quote, "'thought the apartment was free and he couldn't stay at his place because mumble, sorry he didn't know you were here, would it be okay if he stayed?'"

"Ummm, 'hashtag metoo?'"

"He wouldn't know a hashtag from a skintag. And you know guys that age who are that way really don't think any of that applies to them."

"Sweet Mother! And you're not kidding?"

El shook her head. "I wish I was. Anyway he had low friends in high places back when he started this shit, and weaseled out a couple of times. Somebody apparently got nervous, and now the only one he comes after is me. I'm reasonably close to retirement, and they think I won't make any noise unless he goes completely over the top, which explains the lock. The deadbolt there doesn't go through to the outside. It can only be locked and unlocked from inside the apartment, so if he gets in it's because I let him in and it was my decision."

"Holy shit! And he hasn't been canned?" Marj couldn't wrap her head around it.

El put up more air quotes. "'Someone in the parent company,' and whatever. I dunno the details, but about five years ago he stopped being a problem for everyone but me. I'm the only gay woman working for them at the moment. I never know when the drunken fuck is gonna show up 'accidentally' with a dozen roses and a porn flick, but according to Donna it's a 'he said, she said' and I need to have," she paused as the great light dawned while she looked at Marj, "a live witness! How would you feel about backing me up?"

"Oh, HELL yes!"

"Good. Depending on how drunk he is, he may try to pretend he's delivering pizza or something and we'll be able to open the door and get it all on video. Although really I'd rather not have to deal with it at all." She fell silent for a few moments, and stretched her neck and shoulders. "We should get some sleep. You said they changed the start of pictures to ten?"

"You know how that goes, El! They say 'ten,' and then you hang around until eleven-thirty and they put you in a couple of pictures and then you hang around some more until you have to go to get water or use the bathroom. Then, all of a sudden, they need you to retake the full family shots right now or whatever, and you're the one holding up the entire goddamn' wedding just because you needed to pee!"

"Not your first rodeo, I see."

"Not by half, Pard." Her bantering tone fell away. "Always kinda wished I could get a look at it from the front of the house, but Obergefell vs. Hodges came about twelve years too late."

And then she just stopped talking. Her gaze focused on a point lightyears away from a tiny apartment on an insignificant planet, and stayed there for second after slow second.

After a quarter of a minute Elody began to feel alarmed. "Um, Marj?"

*** Trigger warnings: The following scene makes reference to identifying the victim of a violent auto accident, and official intolerance of homosexuality.

Marjani fell apart standing in front of the kitchenette. Her face transformed, twisting into a half-angry, half-agonized mask. She looked away and drew a shuddering breath. "Sorry. Ancient history. Don't know why it's hitting me... now..."

She teared up and shifted her eyes back to El's, then away again. "She left me." Marjani's voice was grey and flat and dense as a lead sheet when she started talking, but it rapidly melted into rivulets of flaming bitterness. "She was stupid and she died and left she me alone, god damn her! Rearended by a semi on I-94 just west of 23. She pulled over because someone had spun into the inner wall in slush and mush. He saw her, but he was avoiding the spin-out and hit her as she was opening her door. The 'illegal, unbinding, meaningless wedding' was two months away." Her face contorted in anguish as she burst into tears.

"I had to identify her. Her so-called family wouldn't've come. I got to be 'a family friend' and tell a labcoat in scrubs that the ring in the twisted blood in the drawer really was the one I gave the love of my life. It was hers. I gave it to her."

El stood woodenly for a split second, then put her phone down and reached out to embrace the distraught woman, gathering her in, arms and body. Marji held her face in her hands while El held the back of her head.

"She was my forever.

"They told me her things... her 'family' had to collect... I...

"I went to the hospital alone, because... and I... and nobody...

"They took the ring to 'return to her relatives.'

"I gave it to her. She was... We were...

"They took her ring." A thunderstorm of tears fell unheeded through Marjani's splayed fingers. "They took her ring."

***

El held Marjani while she cried like the world was ending and started talking to a memory; "You were so stupid, you were so stupid! You fucking had to help, didn't you!? No matter fucking what. You cared more about some incompetent idiots you didn't even know than you cared about me!   You.   Left.   Me.   ALONE!"

Elody patted her back and rocked her gently from side to side, while Marj sobbed, and gasped, and repeated "she left me alone, she left me alone," like a broken toy.

―――――

"I never cried before. About it. I couldn't. It was just..."

They'd been sitting on the loveseat in silence for a long time, surrounded by little wadded white balls of used tissues. Elody sat with an arm around Marjani's shoulder, handing her new tissues when she needed them.

Marjani sniffled, and said to the wall "I should just go home and skip it."

El squeezed her shoulder. "I would understand if you did, and I think the girls would understand too. But even if nobody understands, you should do what's best for you."

After a few seconds she added, "that sounds so trite, doesn't it? I'm sorry. But in all seriousness, if you think you are going to have a hard time with the wedding, you can just stay here. I don't have to go to the reception, I just need to put in an appearance. Bandi and Ani will understand. You can bow out and they won't be upset."

"Ani wants me in the pictures."

"Well, we could do the pictures and then we could come back here. Or just you, if you want. I'll give you the key."

Marj sighed. "I really don't want to. But I don't want to have a breakdown in the middle of the ceremony, either. I can't believe I had a breakdown in front of you."

El squeezed her a little tighter. "I'm glad you did. That is a lot to carry for such a long time. I'm sorry you had to carry it alone." Marj made a strangled little whimper, and Elody winced. "I'm sorry! That was stupid, and insensitive, and I didn't mean that the way it sounded! I just meant that the people who should've been"

Marj cut her off. "I know what you meant. I wish I'd had someone like you around when Charlotte died. I think you don't dance around the truth." She snuggled into El's neck.

"I mean, I kinda do? I'm as bad as anybody about paraphrasing the painful."

"That's cushioning, not avoiding. And if I hadn't been pushing people away for years I wouldn't be sitting on a strange woman's love seat while she helps me work out a relationship that ended in 2003," and she started crying again.

"Hey. Hey now." El stroked her temple. "Really, do you think you ought to drive to Maumee tonight? I definitely think you should just stay here, or work something else out."

Marj was silent for a minute, then said "you're quite a bit like her, you know."

"Hmmm?"

"You're kind. You want to help. You're funny. Hilarious, even. And you're a very good kisser. At least, for the short duration kisses. And..." Marj pushed her face in beside El's ear.

"And? What?"

"Ur mumbifum."

"I can't hear you when you talk into the side of my head, dear."

Marj turn her head a little and whispered "beautiful."

El stopped to consider what she'd just heard. "I. It, um. It may seem like that, Marji, but under the circumstances that might be a little bit of romanticizing, don't you think? Anyway, I'm a bit too old to be in the 'beautiful' category.

"You on the other hand," she thought, "are a vision."

Marj frowned. "You're not that old."

"I'm about a decade older than you, young lady. I'm fifty-six."

"And I'm fifty-four, and you don't get to tell me if you're beautiful or not, and you are, so deal with it. Did see that picture of that soap opera star in the black leather pants? She's seventy! Tell me she's not stunning!"

El was left speechless for a few seconds, but finally managed to squeak "Fifty-four!?"

"You heard me." Marj wiped her nose. "And you're a hottie. End of story."

They were silent for a few minutes. Marj finally leaned away from El, and said, "we need to sleep."

"Right decision. We do. Are you gonna be okay, staying?"

"I, um, don't know. I don't feel like I'm going to freak again, but who the hell knows. I don't think I've ever lost it like that before in my life."

"I don't think, uh. Well. Look, I wouldn't worry about it. I'll be right there if you do get upset, so you just feel free to hang on to me and let me handle the externals. Deal?"

"Okay."

"Okay!" El changed the subject to something of more practical importance and less emotionally charged. "Soooo. I didn't bring PJ's. I was just gonna sleep in a T-shirt and panties. I wasn't really thinking about that earlier."

"Same. Don't worry about it. It's not like I've never slept in the same bed with another woman and done nothing but sleep."

Marj glared at the ceiling and added, "it's actually a relatively common occurrence."

El snorted ruefully and squeezed Marj's shoulder again. She got up and reached down a hand.

For the first time in over an hour a smile played around Marjani's lips. "And they told me Chivalry was dead!"

―――――

They dug around in overnight cases for oversized T-shirts, stripped down to panties, put the shirts on and traded some comments (of dubious veracity) about how nice and gravity-defying each other's boobs were, then crawled into the bed.

"You sure this thing's not a twin?" asked Marj.

"HR's official description says it's a 'Princess.' Supposedly a little smaller than a Queen."

"Yeah, well 'a little smaller' is doubtful. Doesn't even look like there'd be room for a pea."

"No kinky stuff," said El.

"Oh hush. You're terrible!"

―――――

Elody woke to the sounds of quiet sobbing half an hour later. She said nothing, she just cuddled Marjani and rubbed her upper chest until she seemed to've fallen asleep.

―――――

When the alarm went off at eight-thirty they were on their sides and face to face with their top arms over each other, their bottom arms wrapped around each other's heads, and their legs situated in a configuration that would allow them to rub each other the right way, if they wanted. Apparently everybody had wanted to be the big spoon.

"Morning," said Marj, rubbing her nose against El's. "I think I slobbered on you a little."

"'Well,'" quoted El, "'that explains the dream!'"

Marj blinked at her a couple of times as that sunk in, then cracked up. When she calmed down she thanked El for providing a good laugh to wake up with. "Gawd, what an awful movie. Funnier than hell, but just plain awful, and predjudiced, and just. Awful. I never thought I'd be in a situation where somebody could aptly quote any line in 'EIDM.' Especially that line!"

"Yah. Me needer, eh?"

"Okay, very good 'Yooper,' but you are just really a terrible person."

"I've been told." El yawned. "I suppose we should get up and get ready."

"Mmmmhmmmm. Seriously. Terrible." Marj wriggled a bit.

"Okay, sheathe those nipples!" Elody pushed backwards against the wall, and got up on her hands and knees to clamber over Marjani while there was still a shred of rationality available to her.

Marj clearly had some issues, and that was worrisome because to El she was insanely attractive. She was everything she had accused El of being the previous evening, and so physically attractive that El got a little dewy every time she let her mind wander. On a purely physical level, Marjani was like, "rip her panties off and head for the buffet right now" attractive. And she was so comfortable to be around, issues or not. The last time she'd gotten a little involved with someone so magnetic, and who'd "had issues," it hadn't worked out very well.

What was that girl's name? She frowned and did a quick review. Eight years ago. Eight years. Holy crap! She hadn't gotten laid since she was forty-eight years old!

"Your face is very interesting to watch while you think, El," said Marj, observing from below, "but if you don't finish getting outta the bed and take those tits with you Imna bite 'em."

"Sorry! Sorry!" El practically leapt out of the bed. There was no question at all that Marj would have sex with her. El definitely wanted to have sex with Marj. But did either of them want to make love?

Should that even matter? She felt like with this woman, it mattered.

She really suspected she wanted to make love to Marjani. She really got the feeling Marjani wanted to make love to her. She really thought she was probably thinking too much.

The thing was, Marjani actually mattered. She mattered even before her little breakdown. Elody wondered if any of this made any sense. Women approaching sixty didn't fall for someone after one party and sleepover like a doe-eyed teenager. Did they?

Well anyway, they weren't supposed to.

Of course, when she was growing up two women weren't supposed to get any more physical than a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and that turned out to be complete nonsense. As it happened, the beliefs of a bunch of people she thought of as "tight assed control freak religious cultists (as if they actually believed)" had very little to do with, well, anything really. Definitely not sexuality.

She remembered her mother telling her that her fashion dolls couldn't get married because they were both ladies. Her poor Mother. Now, she'd probably just say "huh. And they're in love? Well good." She'd just accept it, now.