"A Best Man's Duties"

Mike drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he glanced at the dashboard clock again. 9:29 and still no John. They were supposed to be at the church at nine. The ceremony started at ten-thirty. This was just supposed to be a quick stop at John's apartment to pick up the gift John planned on giving Julie during the reception. John was supposed to run in real quick, grab it and run back out. He'd done the running in part well enough, it was the running out part that he seemed to be having some trouble with.
Mike shifted from staring at the clock to staring at the apartment building door. They were in Williamsburg, so it wasn't really an apartment, more like a house in the backyard of some old lady's property that was split up into a bunch of different suites. John rented one by himself and had since his second year of college. That had been Mike's first year, and he remembered being impressed by John having his own apartment. Two rooms all to himself, and a bathroom and kitchen. It was a far-cry better than the communal life of dorm rooms.
John and Mike had been pretty good friends for a while now, enough so that John even made Mike his best man for his wedding. The wedding Mike was supposed to deliver John to, and the one they were going to be late for if they didn't get moving. Mrs. Gunther was going to have Mike's hid if he didn't deliver her son on time, and Julie was going to be even worse. She didn't even really like Mike to begin with, and somehow, this was all going to get pinned on him.
"Damnit." Mike turned the car off and yanked the keys out. He shoved the car door open and crawled out as fast as he could in dress shoes and slacks. He jogged around the car and down the sidewalk. The landlady's house was on the left, a squat historical brick house with white trim and wild red rose bushes down the side. The sidewalk leading to the back ended about half way, and Mike grimaced as he stepped into the tall grass in his special shinny shoes. The grass was still wet and tall enough to get his pants damp too. He hurried through it and up to the apartment. It was bigger than the landlady's house, with white plastic siding and two square windows on each floor. John's was the bottom one on the left, but the curtains were drawn as usual, and Mike couldn't see anything through it.
He hopped up the front steps, yanked back the screen and shoved open the door. He paused just long enough to make sure the door didn't slammed like the nice little sign by it ordered him to, then spun around to pound on John's door. He didn't wait for a response before shoving it open and stalking in. "Hey! John! We need to get moving, now!" He yelled, only glancing at John's TV room before moving passed it into the kitchen and through to John's bedroom.
John's mom had been through recently. There wasn't any dirty laundry piled up on the floor, or coke cans everywhere. The only things out of place were the cereal bowl on the computer desk and the comforter piled up on the floor. There were even sheets on the bed, and the smell of some kind of cleaning stuff in the air.
John came out of the bathroom then, his cheeks flushed and his face damp.
"Yo. You ready, or what? We need to get going!" Mike reminded him, walking over to John's desk. He snatched up the little box covered in silver wrapping paper with a white bow. "We've got the surprise, and I've got the groom, now let's get in the car and get over there before we're both in trouble."
Mike turned to face John, and smiled at him. John was still standing by the bathroom door, the sleeves of his fancy white shirt rolled up and his hair looking like he hadn't combed it yet. It'd been only a few minutes, but John had managed to go from the calm orderly looking young man that had left his parents' house in his best friend's car, to looking like a high school kid still getting ready for his first prom.
"Dude, I don't know what you've been doing, but straighten your hair and let's get going." Mike told him with a laugh and a smile and a gesture towards the door. "Wedding. Remember?"
John stared back at him with his eyes comically wide and one lip caught between his teeth. "I don't think I should do this."
Mike frowned for a second, before laughing. "Okay, sure man. I understand. But let's talk about this at the church, hm? They want us there early, remember?" Mike moved towards the door, and gestured to it. "Come on, Johnny boy, time to get a move on."
John shook his head. "I'm serious, Mike."
"No, you're John." Mike quipped back. Mike stepped over to his friend and slapped him on the arm. "Come on, nothing to worry about. Trust me. You're the love-sick fool that wouldn't take no for an answer form this girl. You spent a year just trying to get her to date you. If that's not devotion, I don't know what is." Mike laughed again thinking of all the fun Mike had had teasing John that year. "You'll be fine." He said again, giving John an encouraging shove towards the door.
John stumbled forward a few steps before turning around to face Mike, his brow furrowed and his hands held out in front of him. "I mean it, Mike, I don't know about this."
Mike smiled. "Nobody ever does, but people still get married."
John ran his hands through his hair in a quick jerking kind of motion. "And what if it's a mistake? What do I do then?"
Mike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. A mistake. All you've been able to talk about for forever has been this girl."
"But it's not the same any more!" John said, his voice rising. He shook his head, then stepped around Mike and farther back into the room.
"John, come on." Mike said quietly, turning to face is friend, and holding his arms out beseechingly. "Everybody gets nervous. It's normal, you know? But we need to get moving now. You'll calm down once we get there. You weren't nervous about this yesterday, remember?"
John shook his head as he fiddled with his sleeve, rolling it back up further. "I wasn't thinking about it yesterday." He muttered.
Mike smiled reassuringly. "Of course you weren't. You knew it was right then. It's just that's getting a little close, and you're getting a little nervous, and it doesn't mean anything."
John was shaking his head again. "No, there's more to this than that."
"No there isn't." Mike said as firmly as he could. There was not more to this than that. He just needed to talk John back into the car, and everything would be fine. He'd have done his job as best man and made sure the groom showed up. He'd make sure his best friend didn't screw up the best relationship he could probably ever have. Despite some of the problems Mike and Julie might have with each other, John and Julie definitely fit to the point where it made everyone else sick. No two people could spend that much time together, over that long a period and not fit each other. John knew that, he just wasn't thinking.
"I mean it, Mike!" John replied, his voice starting to grow harsh. "I really don't think I should do this. It's better I don't do this now, than decide a year from now that I just can't take it any more."
"Dude, you've been obsessed with this girl for years now," Mike snapped back. "You think you're going to just wake up one day and not like her any more?"
"I think I already did!"
There was a very distinct bad feeling that was curling around in Mike's stomach and tightening about his throat. The kind of feeling he got when he knew he'd screwed up something really really bad but that it was too late to ask if he could fix it. "You love Julie." He managed to get out, hoping that one truism would be enough to get him out of this situation.
"Then why has she been the last person I've wanted to see for weeks now?" John shot back, his hands clenched at his sides. "Mike, I've really screwed this one up, but I am not going to get myself into more trouble by doing something permanent. You're right, she means a lot to me, but I just get tired of talking to her now. It's like the same old thing over and over and if it's boring the hell out of me now, then what's it going to be like later? I like her a lot, but I can't do this."
"You were fine five minutes ago!"
"No, I wasn't!" John's face twisted into a grimace before he glanced away. "I just didn't know what to do, but I know now that I can't do this anymore."
"Shit." Mike stared at him, thinking about the hundred and fifty some-odd people waiting for them in a church down the street, and how annoying Mike had found Julie a few months before when they had been sitting at lunch and she'd been talking about the wedding, and the way she'd smiled and laughed too much for him back then. She was already at the church, waiting for them.
"What are you going to tell her?" Mike finally whispered. He didn't even really like her. She annoyed him when she was around too much, but this was going to be bad.
"I don't know." John replied just as quietly. "I don't think I can."
Mike shook his head and glanced at his watch. 9:47. "Well, you'd better think of something. We have less than a half hour."
John's head shot up and he stared at Mike. "I can't go there now!" He exclaimed. "I can't tell her! And all those people." He stumbled over to his bed and fell down to sit on it.
"Well, you're going to have to tell them something." Mike snapped back. He definitely didn't want to be in John's position, but something had to be done. There was a church full of people waiting for them.
"How about I just don't show up?" John asked quietly. He had his head down, cradled in his hands, and Mike could just barely hear him.
"Yeah, right." Mike said with a snort. He reached up and rubbed at his left eye and sighed. Just trying to get Julie alone at the church was going to be a problem. Maybe John could pull her into one of the church offices and Mike could stand guard outside and make sure no one interrupted long enough for John to break it to her. This was not something they were going to want an audience for.
"I'm serious." John said, lifting his head slightly. "I could just never show up. They'd figure it out."
Mike jerked his head around and stared at his friend. "I hope to god your fucking with me. Just never show up? Leave her sitting there waiting for how long? Jesus Christ, John, at least be a man and tell it to her quickly."
But John just shook his head. "I can't. Oh god, I can't."
Mike gritted his teeth and glanced at his watch. 9:56. They were running out of time and John was being a moron. "Come on. Let's get in the car. We'll think of something on our way over."
"Are you even listening to me?" John exclaimed. "I can't go there now!"
"And just when do you plan on telling her? A week from now?"
"How am I supposed to tell her this? I can't, Mike."
"You're going to leave her there waiting?" Mike snapped at him. "You wanna talk about a crappy thing to do? Marrying her then divorcing her would probably be better than leaving her waiting there for hours!"
"I can't do it." John wined. "She's going to hate me."
Mike snorted. "I think that's a given since you're leaving her at alter and all, but the least you could do man is have the decency to tell this in person."
John covered his face with his hands again, and groaned. "I can't."
Mike shook his head. He couldn't believe this was happening. Just yesterday they'd all been out for dinner, John and Julie's family, Mike, a couple other friends, and the happy couple. The two of them had been sitting so close, their shoulders had been nearly touching. They'd been blushing and glancing at each other shyly as embarrassing stories about each of them were traded back and forth.
"You owe it to her." Mike said quietly as he fingered the wrapped box still in his hand. The paper was white and silver, and it reflected the bathroom light just barely if he turned in the right way. It was about the size of Mike's palm, and had a diamond pendent inside. John had picked it up a few weeks ago after Julie had pointed it out in passing. It was supposed to be a surprise.
"You owe it to her to tell her yourself." Mike repeated since John hadn't replied.
John lifted his head and stared at Mike with an odd expression on his face. "What if you went?" He asked quietly enough hat Mike hoped he really had misheard him.
"What?"
John jumped to his feet. "That's it! You can go and tell them, and that way they'll know but I won't have to go!" John said, smiling suddenly. And then he was moving, walking out of his bedroom, through the kitchen and back into the TV room. "Come on." He called out after him.
"Excuse me?" Mike yelped as he realized what John was doing. He jerked into motion, rushing out after John and staring at him. "What'd you mean I should tell her?"
John opened his door and stepped just outside of it into the hallway. "Listen, this makes sense." John was saying quickly. "You'll just slip in at the church, snag someone and tell them, and they'll have to take care of it, right? Someone will tell Julie and I won't have to be there."
Mike shook his head. "You want me to tell her?"
"No," John replied. "Just find someone else to do it. Come on, Mike." He said as he nudged Mike towards the apartment building door. "You're the best man and my best friend, Mike. Just find somebody else and pass the message along."
"You can't be serious!"
John was backing up, moving back into his own apartment. "Please, Mike. As a favor to me, man. I'll talk to you later, alright?"
"Hey!" Mike yelled. John was shutting the door. Mike tried to shove on it, to stop him, but it thudded shut. Mike was left staring at the brass number two on the door, a forgotten wedding present in one hand.
"John!" He yelled, slamming his open palm against the door. "John!" He yelled again, kicking the door this time. What the hell was John doing? He couldn't be serious. What was Mike supposed to do, stroll in the church and announce that the groom wasn't coming? "John, damnit, open the door for Christ's sake."
There was no answer from within, and Mike was on his own.
"Jesus Christ, I can't tell her!" He muttered to himself as he gave up pounding on the door. He stumbled backwards and sank down to sit on the bottom step of the hall stair. He couldn't believe John was leaving this to him. Just find someone and have them tell her? What, so Julie would only hear it after everyone else? John should be the one to tell her, to her face, and as soon as possible, but John was being an ass and wasn't coming out.
"What the hell am I going to say to her?" Mike exclaimed in frustration, hanging his head. "She already hates me." But if she already hated him, it wasn't like he could make it worse, could he? He wasn't going to be nearly as good as John telling her, but at least he could give her a little bit of respect.
"Ah, hell." He was going to do it, he knew it, and it was going to be messy. The gift was still in his hand and he passed it back and forth. She definitely wasn't going to want it now. She was probably sitting in her changing room at that very minute, asking over and over again if John had shown up yet. Her and all her friends and her mom sitting around wondering where the bastard was.
What was he supposed to say, sorry Julie, but he's not coming? It'd be like tell her he accidentally ran over her grandmother. He wasn't the one that had messed up here. He wasn't the one that had waited till the absolute last minute to change his mind.
But sitting around in the hallway wasn't going to get things fixed either. He needed to just get over there and tell her. There would be no nice way to say it. He was going to have to just say it and let her yell and scream at him since John wasn't there to take it.
She wouldn't believe him at first. Then she'd blame him for it. Somehow it would be his fault that John hadn't shown up, like it was all some evil plot on his part. Like he'd done something to make the guy act like this. The evil best friend that was never nice to her. Oh, yeah, he was going to get it. And he was going to go ahead and let her curse him. She already didn't like him, so what if she had a new reason to?
Mike shoved himself up to his feet, leaving the small gift behind on the steps. He shoved the apartment building door open and let it slam shut behind him as he plodded down to his car through the wet grass.