What We Do For Love

CW: implied sexual abuse of a minor

“Friends, family, we are gathered here today in holy matrimony to witness the union of Elliot and Luna,” began the officiant. His voice was smooth as silk and syrupy sweet. He was the perfect person for the job.

That was exactly what Maxine had said upon meeting him. He could still see the untameable curls framing her face, her body all soft curves and caramel-coloured skin, a face not to mess with. “So. Nathaniel. You wanna join my crew?” She had looked him up and down in a way that Nathaniel could feel all the way down in his toes.

She had cocked her head and said, “Trustworthy. Loyal. Can hold your own in a fight. You do keep to yourself most of the time, so no one would turn their head at you.” Finally, she had nodded. “The perfect person for the job.” She had brought herself down so that they were eye-to-eye, even with Nathaniel in his chair. She smelled of citrus and revenge, and it took everything in Nathaniel not to inhale her scent. “You, my friend, will be the officiant.”

Now, Nathaniel was trying to keep his focus on the task at hand. All he had to do was marry the two people standing in front of him, and the baton would be passed to someone else to finish the job.

“Luna,” started Nathaniel in a voice which wobbled only slightly. “Do you vow to love Elliot from now until forever, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

The blushing bride smiled wider than Nathaniel had ever seen someone smile before. “I do.”

Nathaniel turned to the groom and almost stumbled over his own feet in surprise. Not only was the man handsome and well-dressed — he wore a fitted tuxedo and his hair was clearly gelled within an inch of its life — but it was the expression on his face that startled Nathaniel. The man looked at his bride with so much love, so much joy, that Nathaniel simply could not understand. Was that what love felt like?

Nathaniel had always found Maxine to be beautiful. The former had been best friends with her brother, Jakob, since they had been in diapers, and they were all the other had. They had grown up in a rough neighbourhood; Nathaniel’s father had skipped town before he had even been born, and Jakob and Maxine’s mother had remarried a man who beat them every day, so much so that Nathaniel could hear the screams from his house.

One time, Jakob ran to Nathaniel’s house in tears, so much blood covering his face that he had become unrecognizable. Nathaniel let him in right away and found out that the stepfather’s fun that day was in putting a wrench, a whip and a baseball bat on the kitchen table and asking Jakob which one he wanted.

There was one night that Nathaniel refused to think about. His sixteen-year-old self had been walking by Maxine’s house when he heard her scream. The stepfather’s yell. The mother’s tears and pleads. Maxine’s clothes were thrown out of the window — the clothes she had been wearing that day.

“You’re hurting me!” she had repeated at the top of her lungs.

“You like it,” Nathaniel had heard her stepfather snarl.

So, yes, Nathaniel refused to think about that night. He wanted to put the past behind then all.

“Nathaniel! What’s the hold-up?” barked Maxine from his earpiece, bringing him back to the present moment. Hearing her voice was an odd mix of love and hate surging through him. All he wanted was to give her the life she deserved, but not once had she given him the time of day.

Nathaniel cleared his throat and regained his composure, then said, “Elliott, do you vow to love Luna from now until forever, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“Absolutely, I do,” Elliott said, earning a small chuckle from the crowd. The officiant could not help but think that he would say the same, if given the chance. Ever since they were teenagers, Nathaniel had tried to tell Maxine that he could be good for her, but she had never wanted to hear it.

Nathaniel plastered on a fake smile. “Then it is my pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride.”

As soon as the lips of those two in front of him locked, Nathaniel knew he had done something terrible. This was true love, and one of them was about to die.

That was when all hell broke loose.

The first shot did not hit its target but instead found a vase of roses to the right of the bride. The glass shattered and everyone screamed. The entire crowd started running at once, trying to get away. The second shot was right on track, until the groom threw himself and his wife to the ground, and — BANG! — glass from the struck window went everywhere. People screamed and ran around, trying to find exits, throwing themselves to the ground, grabbing their loved ones to protect them from harm.

Nathaniel was hiding behind a pillar, his entire life flashing before his eyes. All he had ever wanted was to love and be loved in return, but this had all gotten out of hand. Had he really believed that he could win Maxine’s hand — the hand of a woman who could do something like this, something so horrid — by playing a pawn in her little game?

Suddenly, Nathaniel knew what he had to do. The shooter had been unlucky with his shots, but would certainly not miss a third time. Without thinking, Nathaniel stood, ran, and threw himself in front of the groom just as the bullets rained down.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Three shots were fired. Three shots hit Nathaniel: one in the arm, one in the shoulder, and one in the head. He was dead before he could think.

The bride had run, but the groom remained. The room was eerily quiet; then, out of the shadows stepped Maxine.

“Well done,” she praised Elliot.

The latter furrowed his brow. “I still don’t understand why you had to stage this whole thing just to kill your brother’s best friend — a man you haven’t talked to in years.”

“Well, Elliott, a man wronged me when I was a teenager. Nathaniel knew — I know he was right outside — and yet, he did nothing. But you’re right. I did not need to stage this whole thing.” The corner of Maxine’s mouth lifted in a terrifying smirk. “It’s just more fun this way.”