June 30th, 2012
4:50 PM

She wasn't coming.

Donnie generally tried to avoid jumping to conclusions, especially large ones. There were logical reasons behind everything that he had yet to fully accept or recognize - that it was normal to be a little late for things because some families raised their children to be no more than 10 minutes early or 10 minutes tardy, and some raised their children that it was unbearably rude to be early for ANYTHING, and sometimes it really didn't matter what someone had been raised to be like because they'd since developed a serious case of self-centeredness, or, alternately, responsibility - but that didn't mean that today was a day to honor one's predilections about punctuality. The wedding was supposed to have started at 4:30 PM. He'd heard something about the upswing of the hour, that it was better luck or something when the minute hand was moving up instead of down, and that was okay with him. He'd waited twenty-five years to be in this situation and weathered the embarrassment of Jaime's rejection over the last two months, so he could certainly wait another five minutes. But 4:35 gave way to 4:40, and 4:45 came and went. By then he'd ended up sitting in the first pew, not quite feeling up to making small talk with the minister or his bride's parents other than introducing himself as the stranger that was marrying their daughter. Donovan's younger half-sister, Miriam, had made it and sat primly next to him as the only guest of the groom in attendance, although she seemed more like she was studying the behavior of primates than an active participant in the joining of Mei and Donnie's lives; however, as the clock struck 4:50 and the minister started looking as edgy as he felt, she turned to him and echoed his thoughts in the most sympathetic manner she could muster, "I don't think she's coming, Donnie."

Apparently someone else shared the same sentiment - he wasn't sure whether the person was a coordinator or just didn't have anything better to do than deliver bad news, and had far more important things to worry about than this stranger's motives and occupation - and came down the aisle to mumble something in his ear. Donnie's heart sank. She was there, she just didn't want to come out of the dressing room. It was probably better to get a parent to try to talk her into it. Brides did this sometimes, there wasn't anything to worry about. He frowned blankly at this stranger and the accompanying soothing prattle for a few long moments before politely asking for directions to his betrothed, and excused himself from the assembly to track her down. Caring for Mei was going to have to be his responsibility if she did decide to marry him despite the likelihood of their losing their venue to do so today - he was simply going to have to rise to the occasion a little early. Women liked a guy that took charge, right?

Rapping his knuckles against the door a few times, Mr. Kimball leaned against the jamb and crossed his arms, trying not to watch the varnished wood. How was it that the saying went? A watched pot never boiled? He supposed the same theory applied with watched brides and dressing rooms. He also supposed the fact that she was apparently having cold feet wasn't terribly insulting, given that she hadn't seen or actually had a conversation with him other than to quickly debrief over the phone... but really, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and very much genuinely concerned. "... Mei? Are you alright in there?" Then, realizing that she might not recognize his voice from their short call, "This is Donovan. So, uh." Oh god. What was he supposed to say? He didn't want to guilt her into walking down the aisle if she was really having strong second thoughts about this whole thing, but hell, he needed to at least try to figure out what was going on, if something was bothering her (other than, you know, this whole I DON'T KNOW WHO THE HELL I'M MARRYING bit, which Donovan certainly had in spades too). "... please don't be dead or anything."

Donnie this is exactly why no one wants to marry you.

Today was the day. Mei was going to get married today. And the petite woman still couldn't believe that she had been matched to someone so quickly. But Donovan had seemed nice on the phone when they had decided to meet at their wedding. So she had shown up to find what she had been looking for. A man to love her the way she was, without

Having arrived at the chapel early, Mei was already dressed and was ready to walk down the aisle.Everything was set. The dress was on she had on something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. The only thing she was missing was the part about the six pence in her shoe. That part wasn't too important though, after all how many women actually had six pence? Her mother was already out there waiting for her to walk out there and marry the man the Vow Inc. had matched her to. And her father was waiting outside the room waiting to walk her down the aisle. But there was one problem.

Mei couldn't move.

Her nerves had finally worked themselves up and she was absolutely terrified. She was supposed to stand up and walk out of this room, from where her father would escort her into the chapel. Her father would give her away to a man in there wanting to marry her in front of a group of people who had travelled up here just to see her on her wedding day. All of that, and Mei couldn't get out of her chair to walk down to say 'I do.' How could she when she had finally realized that this was real and that as soon as they left this church they would probably be going home together.

Their home. Alone. The woman was afraid to be alone in her apartment with any man who wasn't family. If she was going to marry Donovan, Mei was going to have to be able to be alone with him sometime. "Damn you Justin. Damn you to hell," she muttered as she looked up at the ceiling. This was all his fault. Or that was the story Mei was going with anyways. He had scarred her deep, and he was the reason she was afraid to be around men alone. If only she had known what he was capable of. Maybe then she wouldn't be in this predicament. Sitting alone in the back room, late for her own wedding.

Her brain going into overdrive produced thoughts that horrified her. What if he was like Justin? What if she didn't notice until it was too late? Standing up Mei started pacing the floor, her breathing fast and panicked. What would she do if she couldn't get away? Oh this was too much. The brunette couldn't go out there with that possibility in the air.

"No. No no no. This isn't true. He's not Justin. He will not hurt me," The brunette muttered to herself as she paced back and forth trying to get a grip on herself. It was four fifty. She had already delayed the wedding twenty minutes, if the woman didn;t get it together they would probably lose their venue and everyone one would go home very peeved with her. This was her wedding day for heaven's sake! Most women were excited and crying tears of joy! But no...Mei was in the back room having a mild panic attack.

Just then someone knocked on the door. Spinning around, as quickly as her dress would allow her, she faced the door. It had to be her mom coming to tell her that people were starting to leave. Mei was just about to answer the door when the most unexpected thing happened. A man spoke to her. Freezing in place, the petite brunette listened to him speak through the door.

"... please don't be dead or anything." Mei's heart fell, she had hurt him. "I-I'm not dead...Just...nervous." That would make him feel a little better wouldn't it? She hadn't meant to hurt him. Hell she hadn't even realized that she had been taking that long to get her act together. Moving to sit down on the floor the corner, not really caring if her dress got a little wrinkled, Mei sighed. "You can come in if you want. I'm not a strong believer in the bad luck of seeing the bride before the wedding." Maybe talking to him a little would calm her nerves enough to where she could get out of this room and actually get to their wedding.

Donnie was a little surprised that she was actually in there. The negative part of his brain had supplied him with a dozen explanations as to why his fiancee had yet to appear, and while he generally tried not to assume (after all, it made an ass of u and me) it was difficult not to wonder if she'd somehow slipped out. But no - through the door he heard a small, feminine voice. She was nervous. Him too. He wondered if this was her first time getting married; this was his initial run at the chapel, being that his first match had decided not to pursue their relationship, and Donnie didn't exactly blame her. Who the hell married their student, much less one that was terrible at the class in question anyway? Maybe Mei had bad luck and was thinking that this could be another mistake.

She invited him in, and he almost wanted to say no because he rather wanted superstition on his side. In the end, however, concern for his soon-to-be-wife-that-he-hadn't-even-met-yet won him over, and he gently pushed the door open, gaze casting around the small room for Ms. Singer. He found her in a corner in a sea of white satin, and, while he might have approached her further if he'd actually known the girl from Adam, instead he hugged the wall, settling into a lean against a piece of wall near a mirror. "I'm nervous too," he admitted, running a hand over the back of his neck as he struggled to find something - anything - comforting to say to his bride. "But I'm really glad you're not dead."

Oy.

"It's kind of weird," he added oh-so-helpfully; maybe this understanding that he wasn't exactly gung-ho about marrying a complete stranger would give off the impression that he wasn't a psycho that got off on entering legally binding contracts with people he didn't know at all, ooooooor maybe it would just inform her in no uncertain terms that Donovan Kimball, with his habit of understatement and not being altogether too excitable, was not the man she should really be spending the rest of her life with. "I uh... My family... was from a place. Where they arranged marriages. It was pretty terrible." He didn't really know where he was going with this, but his jaw had seemed to unhinge in the strange, sudden desire to convince her that he wasn't utterly crazy - so far he probably wasn't doing too fabulous a job of it. Usually he didn't even like to talk about it, and the thought of Hildale and his siblings left a twinge in his heart where there should have been happiness, but he figured that maybe he needed to get it out to make room for Mei. "So I understand if this seems really out of place for you. It's the same way with me." He bit his lip and drew his eyes back to his impending wife, noting her pretty face and dark gaze and the way that she seemed to be absolutely swimming in that dress. Physically she was really everything he'd asked for; painfully, she looked startlingly similar to Jaime. "We can just talk for a bit, if you'd like."