First Quarter: Third Place Winner
TEQUILA KISSES
by Aisling Burke
Sometimes a kiss is tender and wonderful. Sometimes it’s an embarrassing clash of teeth and gums. When combined with tequila it’s always trouble. Everyone was whispering about why Luke, the groom’s brother and my fiancé had dumped me two weeks ago. I’d had enough of being good and sensible and decided to get disgustingly drunk.
The last thing I remembered for certain was downing my third shot at my sister Rose’s bachelorette party in Las Vegas. I woke up with a carpet sprouting on my tongue and polyester sheets scratching my tender skin. And the guy who put worms down my neck at age ten sprawled naked across the bed. I reached out to touch his dark hair and spotted the gold wedding ring on my finger.
“Mmmm... morning, Steph,” Nick muttered and opened his blue eyes.
“Did we get married last night?” I shrieked.
“What!” He was wearing an identical band. I sat up and clutched my stomach as last night’s dinner threatened to make a reappearance. He darted out of the bed. “If you’re going to puke head for the bathroom!”
“Charming!” My stomach stopped spinning and I clutched the psychedelic pink satin duvet to my inadequate chest. “Well, did we?”
“I don’t remember, princess but we’ll have to deal with it later.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s past midday.”
“Hell! Mom will skin me alive.”
“Me too. I’m the new best man.”
“What!”
As chief bridesmaid I’d been dreading dealing with Luke but now I was stuck with Nick doing his grunting cave man impression. I wasn’t sure which was worse.
“It’ll be okay, princess.” He leaned down and brushed his mouth across my forehead. I screwed my eyes shut and jerked away. He straightened. “Relax, Steph, I won’t touch you.”
“Please don’t say anything to my family. I don’t want anything to spoil the wedding.”
“Okay. We may not even be legally married. I’ll check it out tomorrow.” He sauntered over to the bathroom. “I’ll ask about hiring a car once I’ve had a shower.”
I waited until I heard the shower running. Then I leapt out of the bed and dragged on my crumpled scarlet mini-dress and too high heels. I staggered to the door and paused to look in the mirror. I groaned at my greasy black hair and the dark shadows under my green eyes. Cursing, I tottered out of the room. I was not going to arrive at my parent’s house with that knuckle-dragger.
*****
“Where were you?” Mom shrieked as I walked in. “Lisa has some strange symbol tattooed on her chest. The dress won’t hide it. Do something!”
“Hi, Steph.” Lisa rolled her eyes. The tattoo was indeed visible above the neckline of the icy-blue bridesmaid dress. Her grubby sneakers peeped out from beneath the hem. “We lost you last night. We ran into Mark’s bachelor party and Nick said he’d look for you.”
“He found me.” The ring was hidden in my sweaty fist. “I better get dressed.”
*****
“You look beautiful.” I fussed with Rose’s voluminous skirts as we stood outside the church.
“You look horrendous.” Rose touched my cheek. “Are you sure you’re all right about Luke being here?”
“Of course.” The wide smile hurt my mouth.
“But you two have only just split up and...”
“It’s fine.” Music swelled through the church. “That’s our cue.”
*****
I collapsed onto the chair and sighed. The wedding was over and the dancing had begun. I kicked the tight shoes off under the table and wriggled my toes.
“Avoiding me, princess?” Nick sat beside me. “We need to talk. I checked, we’re legally married.”
“That’s a temporary aberration.”
“Gee, I’m just a simple home boy. I don’t understand big words. Meet me outside in five minutes.”
“Not here.”
“If you don’t I’ll get up on the stage and declare my undying love for my new bride over the microphone.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Five minutes, Steph.” He was still wearing his ring.
He stood up and sauntered off. I wasn’t going to let that Neanderthal order me around. I stood up and marched away. Lisa was standing in a corner with Luke. He was holding her arm and his face was scarlet.
“Let go of me!” Lisa struggled but he kept hold of her.
“I have to talk to you,” Luke said.
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you! I told you before, I’m not interested!”
“You were last week.”
“You creep!” she yelled and pulled free. He let out a roar.
“Leave her alone!” I stepped between them. His alcohol-laden breath stank.
“You!” He poked me in the shoulder. “It's your fault Mark won’t talk to me. Stupid skinny slut!”
“Don’t touch me!” I grabbed a drink from the nearest table and threw it over him. The music stuttered to a halt.
“You...” He raised his fist but a hand grabbed his wrist.
“How dare you raise your hand to my wife!” Nick growled.
“Your wife? My sympathies.” Luke’s mouth twisted in a sneer. “Sleeping with her is like poking an ice cube.”
Nick punched Luke in the face and dragged him by his jacket out of the reception room. I clasped a hand over my mouth. Then Nick walked back in and tried to hug me. I shoved him away.
“What are you doing?” I yelled.
“He tried to hit you!”
“I was handling it until you waded in like a bloody caveman!”
“I apologize.” His hands fell away. “I won’t bother you again.”
*****
I sat on the grass and stared up at the glowing moon. My blue satin dress was little protection against the cool night air and the damp ground. I dug my stocking feet into the soft ground and shivered. All I wanted was to make Rose’s day special.
“There you are!” Rose sat on the ground beside me. She wrapped one arm around my shoulders. “I should’ve told Mark to lock his brother up.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll ruin your dress.”
“I don’t care. It’s not like I’m ever going to wear it again.”
“Steph?” Lisa ran over to us and threw her arms around me. “I’m so sorry, I really am but I didn’t sleep with him.”
“I know.” I hugged her back. “He’s not worth it.”
“I was really drunk one night and he kissed me. That’s all, honest.”
“Its okay, Lisa.” I kissed her on the cheek.
“So, what’s going on with Nick? I always knew you liked each other but I never thought you’d run off and get married,” Rose said with a laugh.
“That sounds more like something I’d do.” Lisa sat on the other side of me.
“I don’t remember what happened. I don’t even like him!”
“Sure you don’t.” Rose stood up. “Come on, Lisa. We’ll leave the other newlyweds to it.”
“But...” I looked around. Nick was standing close by with his hands behind his back. “Please don’t go!”
“We’ll see you later.” Lisa waved and walked with Rose back into the hotel.
“Can I talk to you?” His voice was hesitant, like a little boy except this time he offered me an untidy bunch of flowers with dirt clinging to the stalks instead of a homemade valentine’s card. “I liberated these from the hotel gardens.”
“What am I going to do with you?” I shook my head.
“I’m not sorry I hit him but I’m sorry I embarrassed you.”
“I’m sorry too.”
“I can’t believe Luke dumped you for Lisa.”
“He didn’t. I dumped Luke because he punched me. Just the once but...” I rubbed my bare arms.
“Why didn’t you tell someone?” He hugged me and stroked my hair. “Let me guess, you wanted Rose to have the perfect wedding.”
“Bullseye!”
“I’ll kill him!”
“No!” I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. “I don’t need to be rescued.”
“At least let me break his nose.” He massaged the back of my neck.
“I think you did that already.”
“Steph, I’m useless at words but... I’ve been in love with you since my eighth birthday party when you pushed me into the swimming pool after I dipped your hair in paint.” He paused to kiss me. “I know you don’t feel the same way but… ”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I touched my fingertips to my mouth. Emotions bubbled up but I couldn’t form the right words.
“I did, when I was ten. Remember?”
“Be serious!”
“I was… am scared. You came back from that posh school a proper lady. I wanted to ask you out but…”
He shuffled from foot to foot. “I thought you’d never look at a blue-collared idiot like me.”
“You’re an idiot, alright!” I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I’m not sure how I feel but I’m willing to find out.”
“Good.” He kissed my hair.
“Just one thing.”
“Oh?”
“If you ever put worms down my neck again I’ll break your teeth.”
He kissed me through his laughter.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
My name means beautiful dream or vision. Nurse by day, dancer by night (sometimes the other way around depending on the shifts) and writer in between. I write on buses, trains, planes, anywhere I can find a few spare minutes. (Editor’s note: Particular congratulations to Ms. Burke. Her previous short story entitled, “Therapy,” was a winner, as decided by a different judge, in the 3rd Quarter 2009 contest!)
JUDGE’S COMMENTS:
I selected this story as a winner because, quite simply, I enjoyed reading it. It's well written and made me want to finish it. The language and style are effective. That being said, my criticism of the story is that one doesn't really ever get to know these characters. A bit too much is going on here: you have Rose's wedding, Lisa's issues, Nick and Steph, and I'm not sure I ever did figure out who Mark was. To make this a more effective SHORT story, I'd weed out a few extra characters and focus on the main characters, and also, CONVINCE me that these two people would actually, accidentally get married. The "we got so drunk we didn't know what we were doing and got married" device is a bit outdated. So, to sum up, a good grasp of characterization, good pacing, keeps the reader's attention, but needs a bit of work on the sense of "could this really happen?"