Chapter 10

“It was good.”

“Oh come on, I need more than that!” replied Ella as she sat down at the buffet cafeteria table with her tray of breakfast food.

Kelly rolled her eyes while she took a bite of her scrambled eggs. She took her time chewing, both to formulate a good, clean response as well as to annoy gossip-girl Ella. She held up her finger as she swallowed and then reached for her glass of orange juice. None of this phased Ella, though, as she kept her eyes wide and ears prepped for the details. Kelly put the glass down and looked back up at Ella.

“It was a very good night,” said Kelly. “We really just started talking at the bar and… he’s really, uhh, he just has a lot more going on than it seems on the surface.”

“Oh yeah? He’s got a LOT more going on, huh?” said Ella with a giant grin on her face. She picked up one of her sausage links and took a theatrical bite out of it. Kelly shook her head and did her best to hide any blush or smile, but she failed.

“Dear god, get your head out of the gutter,” replied Kelly. “Yes, ok? Yes, it was good sex.” A couple of tables around them heard that part and started glancing at them with various reactions: annoyance, disgust, sudden interest. Kelly perceived the judgment and lowered her voice, “But that was just, you know, icing on the cake.”

“Oh man,” replied Ella, “don’t tell me you’re already madly in love. I mean, I know we’re on a Disney cruise and all, but…”

“No, no, no. Calm down. It’s possible to find a guy more interesting beyond just sex while somehow still not being head over heels.”

“TLC and Hallmark would disagree. But whatever; you do, you girl. I just wanted you to get laid and stop being so…” Ella paused to raise her hands and move them around like she was modeling clay in Kelly’s direction, “constricted. You already seem more relaxed.”

“Oh my god, yes, ok? Yes, you were right.”

“Great to hear. I guess you’ll be in peak mode for our brunch photo session in the Forest Room?”

“Did you forget? I’m playing piano for the wedding,” said Kelly awkwardly.

Ella grunted. “Guh, so I have to get everything ready myself? Why wasn’t this put on my schedule?”

“I think it was…”

“Whatever, I guess I'd better get started then, since I’ll be all alone.” Ella started chugging her milk after eating the two slices of mixed fruit she had left. She got up, returned her tray, and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Click, flash.

“Alright, did you have any others needed before the ceremony?” asked Jason, now surprised by how tired he was from the photo sessions. He let the camera dangle loose around his neck while wiping sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. The three of them were now standing just outside of their wedding venue: Up House Cafe. On the outside, it looked exactly like the old man’s house in Up; multiple, vibrant colors and all. It even had balloons at the top that looked like they went into the ceiling, painted like the sky. They’d taken a great set of photos on the porch to imitate it all floating away.

“No, all set for now,” replied Greg as he let his photo smile fade away.

“For now?”

“Yeah,” said David, “we still have all the photos after the ceremony with the family, of course.”

Jason felt like an idiot. Of course, there was more. But he couldn’t be annoyed; this whole trip was free. At least there was a break now for the actual wedding. He slung the camera to sit more comfortably on his side. He couldn’t be annoyed; this whole trip was free.

“So how much time do we have before things start?” asked Jason.

“Oh, about five minutes or so,” replied Greg. “You kind of pushed us close to the edge, but I suppose we still made it!”

Jason finally realized that he’d screwed up everything. They were supposed to help set up the cafe with decorations after taking photos. He peeked into the house’s window to see what the interior looked like. Suddenly, he was shocked to see that the room was filled with all of the various family members. And it wasn’t bare at all, but instead wedding decorations made the whole room look even cozier than Pixar had pulled off in the movie. Kelly was already in the corner on the piano, playing music in a beautiful blue dress. He looked back at Greg and David.

“What, like, how did this all get done in time?” he asked.

“Oh, please, Jason,” replied David, “We just asked family members to help when we realized you were running late.”

Jason felt some of the most confusing emotions he’d ever experienced suddenly punch him right in the sternum. He could feel tears doing their best to escape his eyes, but he clenched his jaw and held his ground as hard as he could. David and Greg stood there in front of him in great suits, looking dapper as hell. But more than that, he could see that both were completely unhindered in their joy towards one another. A moment passed as he stared at them before he could formulate his words in a way that wouldn’t open the floodgates of emotions.

“Hey,” started Jason, “Real quick, before we get going, I feel like I need to say this.”

Both Greg and David turned their attention from each other to Jason.

“I have always really loved you as a friend, Greg. I know we’ve had great times together. And I know we’ve had little squabbles here and there. But I’ll always remember that night when you came out to me as-”

“Hold on there, buddy,” interrupted David as he placed his hand on Jason’s shoulder.

Jason was surprised, but then noticed that Greg’s eyes were now fighting back tears just like he was.

David spoke in a very calm, direct voice, different from his usual energetic style. “Save this for reception. We’re both looking forward to hearing it, but right now we need to walk down that aisle and look as handsome as possible for your camera.”

“You’re right,” replied Jason. “Sorry, I’m an idiot.”

“No, no, no. You’re no idiot at all,” replied David. “We are both going to look forward to hearing your speech in a couple hours, truly. Sound good?”

“Yeah, yeah, it sounds good.”

Greg managed to get out one word without starting to cry, “Promise?”

Jason smiled. They cared; he was just bad at timing.

“I promise.”

Jason gave David and Greg a group hug, a couple firm pats on the back, and went inside the cafe.

Jason walked down the side to try and look as ‘not there’ as possible. That’s what cameramen were supposed to do, right? Not be noticed? It was small and simple, but very cute. A few tiny tables had all the family members seated at the moment, and an older man stood at the cafe counter dressed as Carl. Over in the corner, Jason got another look at Kelly playing the Monsters Inc song beautifully on the piano. He grabbed his camera and took a photo of her. He figured Greg and David wouldn’t mind.

Now the song changed to the Up theme. Good lord, Jason thought, this song is great and all until it suddenly gets depressing. Maybe Kelly won’t do that part.

The main door opened, and Greg was standing there with David, arm in arm. Jason hadn’t really thought of how a gay wedding might be different. On one hand, you probably have one partner who’s a bit more masculine than the other. So do they start at the front, and the more feminine man is walked down the aisle by their parent? Would it be their mom or dad? Or does that not always work, like if they aren’t matching the stereotypes? Maybe they’d just both walk in separately? Or maybe both would have a different parent “hand them off”?

Suddenly, Jason realized that A) none of this actually matters and B) he’s supposed to be taking photos of the method they went with. He raised the camera and started doing his job. As he did, he also got the relatives in photos next to them. Trish was crying hard, but John, next to her, looked like he was mentally asking himself all the things Jason had just gone through. Tom, on the other side, looked like he had no emotion to display, but his wife, Sheena, had a warm smile on her face. Grandma Mae was being the same as at dinner, just staring ahead into nothing.

Finally, Greg and David made it to Carl. Kelly stopped playing the piano as Carl raised his arm to the room.

“You may be seated,” said Carl, fully in the character’s voice.

Everyone sat down, but Jason knew he had to keep getting good photos. The best place he could get was up against the door, so he wasn’t blocking anyone’s view. He snagged a few more of the two of them, looking into each other’s eyes. Then they both turned to Carl as he started speaking.

“Thank you, everyone,” started Carl, “for coming here today to see Greg and David’s wedding ceremony. While I haven’t known them personally my whole life like many of you, in the brief time that I’ve helped organize this ceremony with them, what I’ve learned is that these two men bring out the best in each other.”

As Carl kept talking, Jason started thinking he heard things on the other side of the door. It started as little ‘pops’ here and there. Somewhat muffled, but it started happening more frequently. Could he hear a popcorn machine or something nearby? No way, not through a door. That’d be way too loud. He took another photo as he saw David pull out a piece of paper that he started reading.

Then he heard something else. It sounded like screams. That had to be kids enjoying the nearby play place. Then he heard it again, but this time it was louder. And the tone wasn’t high-pitched anymore. Another ‘pop, pop, pop’, followed by a scream that suddenly stopped when he heard one more ‘pop’.

Jason wasn’t paying attention to the ceremony at all anymore. He let the camera go down to his side as he peeked around to look out the window. Outside the cafe in the main lobby, Jason saw absolute chaos. People were running around frantically, some bodies lay on the floor in pools of blood, others were fighting… costumed characters? Jason was confused. Was he looking at Donald Duck holding an assault rifle? Yes, yes he was. And now Donald was aiming at Jason in the window.

Carl was now talking to the whole room, “Speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

Jason darted away from the window and stood up against the door while he screamed, “What the fuck!?”

Everyone else in the room looked back at Jason, standing there in utter confusion, waiting for him to explain his interruption. But before Jason could say anything else, the door blew open and knocked him to the ground.

Prev: Chapter 9

Next: Chapter 11