No Means No

“What the hell are you doing here?”

I couldn't even attempt to mask the disgust in my voice. Rebecca's eyes gleamed with fear as Jonah took a protective step in front of me.

“I...I...” She stammered as she took a step back. The confidence that had struck her moments before she called out my name was suddenly gone.

“I...I...” I mimicked her. Jonah looked over his shoulder and without saying a word gestured for me to stop. “Did Kadie not make it clear? You're not welcome here.”

“Look Rebecca...” Jonah said in a calm voice. “I don't know how you got here, but take your drama and go home.”

“How'd you know we were gonna be here?” I blurted out loud as the thought crossed my mind. “Oh my God, have you been stalking us? That's low Rebecca, even for you.”

Frustrated, Rebecca threw up her hands and shouted, “Can you just let me talk, for like, one minute please?”

I turned to Jonah as I whispered. “Wow, and then she's gonna be a bitch about it.”

“You know we really don't owe her much.” Jonah whispered back. “After everything we did for her? We shouldn't even acknowledge her.”

“I can hear you two.” Rebecca huffed as she folded her arms across her chest.

I snapped my head towards her and shouted back,“Good!”

“Look, I just wanted to apologize, okay?” She sighed as she lifted her hand up to rub her forehead.

I stared at her with an open mouth. “You tried to seduce my fiance and then lied about it.” The words rolled off my tongue slowly with irritation. “Sorry doesn't cut it.”

“Seriously, Rebecca. I vouched for you time and time again. I was the only one on your side and you used me for God knows what reason.” I never heard Jonah sound so disappointed.

“I know” Rebecca shook her head. “I know, okay!” A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Jonah and I looked at each other. As much as we hated her we weren't horrible people. Seeing her get emotional during an apology shut us up. We stood quietly and listened to what she had to say.

“I was going through a tough time back home before I came here. Turns out the guy I was seeing was cheating on me. Not with just one other woman, but multiple. God, it was so embarrassing!” She held her hands over her face. “So embarrassing that I couldn't even tell anyone. I just packed up my shit and moved here. When Jonah was being nice to me I wanted to prove to myself that I was still worth it.”

I cut her off, “by having him do to me what another man did to you? That makes a lot of sense, Rebecca.”

“I'm not saying it was logical, okay? It was that nasty inner voice that possessed me into doing it. You know me Lynn, that's not something I would ever do.”

“The sad part is I thought I did.” I shook my head. I wasn't quiet buying what Rebecca was trying to sell.

“Regardless, I feel horrible about the whole thing. When I found out you were pregnant, I cried for a week thinking about how I could have potentially broken a family apart. So, I promised myself that I would try to make amends when I came back here.” Rebecca noticed the questioning looks on our faces. “Don't worry, I didn't move back. After our little debacle I left to Memphis to live with my cousin. She has a gig in town so we're just here for the night.”

“You spoke your peace, but I'm not sure that we're ready to forgive you yet...”

I cut Jonah off, “we're definitely not ready to forgive you.”

“Either way, you need to leave before Kadie finds out your here. She has some questionable activities planned for the next time she sees you.”

Rebecca's eyebrows quivered as she turned around and walked away into the darkness. Jonah wrapped his arm around my shoulder as the two of us watched her disappear.

“I'm so irritated right now.” I huffed as we finally turned around and made our way back to our apartment.

“I know you are, babe, it's okay.” Jonah tried to calm me down.

“It's just, I had so much to say, you know?” I shook my head.

“Even if you didn't get to say what you wanted she still got to see one of her oldest friends disappointed in her. Trust me, she'll have to live with that guilt forever.” Jonah kissed the top of my head as we walked up to our apartment door.

“I guess” I shrugged. “Can we please just leave to Italy already?”

Jonah laughed. “Patience is key, Lynn.” He shouted as he walked into his office.

It was mid-week when Jeremy finally called Jonah to let him know Rachel, Jeremy's international wedding planner cousin, was up for our challenge.

That meant we only had four proper weeks to plan everything out. If we were really going to do this, we'd be pulling off the impossible.

That night Jonah and I compiled our guest list for the wedding. Since it was so last minute Jonah and I were planning on covering the travel expenses for those who couldn't afford it, so we really wanted to limit our guest list to just our closest friends and family.

That weekend we invited everyone over to our apartment for a dinner party. It was a small gathering with a little less than half the guests being in Texas.

After dinner Jonah and I sat everyone down for the surprise. Casey and Jeremy were able to swing by, but we had to FaceTime Mandy, Anna, and my parents since they couldn't be here.

“Can I get everyone's attention please?” Jonah tapped his glass and waited for the room to quiet down. “I know most of you are wondering why there's a random mix of people here..”

“Seriously” Kadie whispered loudly causing a couple of our guests to laugh.

“The reason we wanted you all here” I was so excited about telling everyone I cut Jonah off. “...is because we'd like for you all to join us on our wedding day...next month...”

Everyone's face lit up as they quietly waited for us to finish.

Jonah looked at me and smiled. The anticipation on everyone's face grew as he waited to make the big reveal. “...in Italy!”

“Oh my God!” Kadie shouted in excitement.

There were cheers and applaud and laughter filling the room. Everyone was ecstatic to join us on this journey. Everyone except our parents.

“No, no, no, no!” We fell silent when we heard my parents and Anna.

“Mom, Dad...” I pulled my iPad off it's stand to reason with them.

“Absolutely not. You're my only daughter, Lynn. You're going to have a big wedding with ALL of our family and friends.”

“Mom, are you seri-” before I could finish my rebuttal, Anna cut me off.

“I agree, Jonah. Your family would be devastated not to share the day with you.”

Jonah and I looked at one another disappointed at yet another obstacle that stood between us and the alter.