22 - Joanna

22

Joanna

Standing in front of two hundred people was the kind of thing that turned a woman's bowels to water. Especially when they were strangers. Especially when you were expected to give a speech that you hadn't prepared for, let alone practiced.

What the hell was I supposed to say?

Danicka was giving me an encouraging motion. Next to her, Landon looked the same way I felt: absolutely terrified. I had a sudden urge to throw the microphone on the ground and run out of the room, out to the parking lot, and drive home. These people didn't know me, and Landon could handle the fallout by himself.

But of course I didn't do that. Even if my job prospect wasn't hanging in the balance, I wouldn't have abandoned him like that.

Think of something , I told myself. Everyone was still staring at me. Waiting.

"I'm Joanna," I said with a nervous laugh. "Most of you don't know me. I was asked to be a last-minute fill-in for a bridesmaid, and now it looks like I'm a fill-in for the Maid of Honor's speech. Lucky me!"

A few people chuckled at that. But not enough. It was mostly silence.

"I haven't known this family long," I said. "In fact, I only met the beautiful bride last week! But I've had a chance to talk to all the people around Marisa last night and today, and it's obvious that she's surrounded by a lot of love. And that's not even taking into account Bradyn, her new husband!

"I also got a chance to talk to Marisa today, while we were all getting ready. I won't lie: she was pretty nervous. Who wouldn't be on their wedding day? But all of that nervousness was on the surface. Beneath it was a strong foundation of love. In the short time I've gotten to know Marisa, it's obvious that there's a certainty within her heart that today she was going to marry the one . And when you're that certain about something in life, everything else has a way of falling into place."

Standing at the edge of the room to the right, Theo was smiling with pride. Austin was nodding along at his table, which was nice to see.

Then I locked eyes with Landon. He was my fake boyfriend, after all. I kept my gaze on his while finishing the speech.

"A love like that is rare in this world. It's special . When you find it, you should hold onto it with both hands and never let go." I looked around for a glass of champagne, and the DJ quickly handed me one. "A toast to the new Mr. and Mrs. Cozart. Now that they've grabbed on, may they never let go."

Theo approached me as everyone clapped and toasted. "You fucking nailed it," he said, taking the microphone from me.

"Not the only thing I nailed in the last ten minutes," I whispered at him with a private little wink.

His laughter filled my ears as I returned to my seat. "Well done!" Danicka told me, squeezing my hand. "I was worried when I saw how sweaty you were, but you didn't seem nervous at all."

Landon leaned close to me and said, "Did you have that speech prepared?"

"I completely winged it," I admitted.

"Quick thinking," he said, resting his arm across the back of my chair. "Nicely done."

Up on stage, Theo was clearing his throat. "My name is Theo Manafort, but many of you know me as Teddy."

One rowdy table at the back erupted in cheers. "TEDDY! TEDDY!"

"Can we get security to escort those ruffians out of here?" Theo asked. "Just kidding. And before you ask, J.T., I'm not going to do a keg stand. I need at least three more drinks in me before I get that wild."

That man is a dentist, I thought. With his own practice . It still blew my mind that nobody here knew what he had done with his life.

"He's sweating, too," Danicka said. "It must be hot under those lights."

"Oh yeah. It's definitely the lights," I whispered.

Theo stuck one hand in his pocket while pacing around the stage. With his sleeves rolled up, and his jacket gone, he was the perfect mixture of formal and sexy. If we hadn't just consummated our evening in the parlor, I would've wanted to jump his bones immediately.

Later tonight we'll have an encore.

"My speech is forty-five minutes with an intermission, so buckle up. They're going to have to cut out everything else on the itinerary to make room for what everyone here wants to see: me. Just kidding, I wouldn't do that to all of you. My speech is pretty simple. I have some worldly advice I want to share with the bride and groom and everyone else in this room: don't marry someone you love."

There were a few surprised murmurs in the crowd. I was just as confused as everyone else.

"I know this isn't conventional advice, but stay with me," Theo said with that winning smile of his. "Don't get me wrong: love is great. Love gets all the attention. Songs are written about love. And rightfully so: it's one of the most powerful human emotions. But there's another emotion I want to tell you about tonight: like ."

I exchanged a look with Landon. Where was he going with this?

" Like is love's little brother," Theo explained. "And like all little brothers, it gets overshadowed. But it's even more important than love. Marisa, now that you're marrying my best friend, you're going to need to like him. When Bradyn leaves his dirty dishes on the couch, you aren't going to love him… but hopefully you'll still like him. When he's in a bad mood because the Bears lose to the Packers again, he's going to need a partner who likes him to cheer him up. During the next pandemic when you're both rationing toilet paper, you're going to need to like each other to get through it."

Theo's tone became more conversational, like a comic doing crowd work. "Someone smarter than me would probably sum this up by saying you should marry someone who is your best friend. But this is my speech, so I'm going to ride out the metaphor I started with." He cleared his throat. "So like I said: don't marry someone you love. Marry someone you like . And based on everything I've seen from Marisa and Bradyn, I can tell they're going to be in like with each other for a very long time. So raise your glasses with me for these two people that we all like so much."

The crowd roared and cheered for Theo, who held out his hand and then dropped the mic dramatically. After we all toasted, he ran over to the bar where a keg was sitting in a tub of ice, and he grabbed onto the handles like he was going to do a keg stand. Then he stopped and waved it off as a joke. A few people booed, so Theo shouted, "Maybe later!"

But I was thinking about how Theo had looked at me several times during the speech. His words reminded me of what he said at the Metra station last night: "I really like you." Those words held a lot more meaning now. I felt my heart twisting inside my chest.

"I didn't know Teddy had it in him," Landon said.

"He probably found the speech online," Danicka said. "But he delivered it well."

"He certainly didn't write it himself," Clark agreed.

I shouldn't have said anything, but their comments pissed me off. "I think he spoke from the heart. His speech felt genuine, not stolen from someone online."

Everyone at the table frowned at me. Even Landon looked surprised.

"Trust me, dear: Teddy is a good friend of the family," Danicka said with no small amount of condescension. "I think we know him better than you do."

"You're probably right," I forced myself to say. But in my head I was thinking: you have no idea who Theo is.

"All right everyone," the DJ said. "Who's ready to dance?"