King's Passion

“Ooof!”

Eamon shut the door and turned around. “Are you okay, man?”

The dude placed a hand over his left eye for a moment and then declared, “I’m okay. What the hell was that?”

They looked down to see that it was only a plastic bowl full of colored popcorn. Then something else hit the closed door, drawing their attention.

“What the hell is in there?” Eamon asked, almost afraid to try to open the door again.

“I think I saw a monkey,” the brother behind him offered.

“A monkey?” he asked for clarification. I don’t remember a monkey being ordered.

“Robert!” Another brother from the bachelor party called out and then raced down the hallway to join them. “Man, we’re missing the wedding.”

Robert, the monkey-bowl victim, shook his head. “I don’t think there’s a wedding without the groom.”

“Is he in there?” the guy asked.

“We’re just about to check, but he might have been killed by a raging monkey.”

That explanation succeeded in making the new guy look just as confused as they were.

“Okay,” Eamon said, starting to crouch before he opened the door again. “Everyone, be prepared to duck.”

“That warning would’ve come in handy the last time,” Robert snipped.

“Sorry.” Eamon turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open.

Oooooh ooohhh aaaah aahhh!

Sure enough there was a white-face capuchin monkey, clearly losing his mind while he jumped up and down in the center of the bed. Eamon found himself echoing his brother from last night.

“Now, there’s something that you don’t see every day.”

“With good reason,” Robert whispered. “Do you see Marcus anywhere?”

While the monkey was busy having a fit, Eamon glanced around the bedroom and came up empty. “No. He’s not in here.”

At the sound of his voice, the monkey whipped his head around and with lightning speed, grabbed one of the bed’s pillows and hurled it at him. Though Eamon wasn’t normally afraid of pillows, he quickly jerked back and slammed the door again before the fluffy bomb smacked him in the face.

Exhaling as if he’d just saved their lives, he turned toward the men and asked, “Is there any chance Mr. Henderson left without you guys?”

“Highly unlikely,” Robert said.

They turned and headed back toward the front of the villa, checked the dry and the steam sauna, then the courtyard and then lastly the private pool. No Marcus.

“I don’t know what to tell you guys,” Eamon said. “He’s not here. Maybe he went and got breakfast.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. After a couple of rings, he reached Johnson’s Cleaning Crew on the line. “Hey, it’s Eamon. Can you go ahead and send your guys on over to the Henderson suite? Yeah.” He glanced around again and spotted the goat still roaming around. “Wait. Actually, wait an extra hour. I need to call animal control first.”

The moment he disconnected the call, the villa’s front door opened and in walked Marcus Henderson, smiling and gushing at…Delicious. “Good morning, everybody,” he said with a goofy smile.

The rest of his friends started peeling themselves off the floor while most of the women were making a beeline to the bathroom.

“Where have you been?” Robert asked.

Another guy in the villa, smiled just as broadly. “Everyone, gather around. Marcus has an announcement to make,” he broadcasted like he was the King of England or something.

Intrigued, Eamon folded his arms and wondered why Delicious—a.k.a Michelle—was bouncing around and holding Marcus’s hand, but he had a suspicion that he wasn’t going to like it.

It took a few seconds, but everyone gathered around and waited.

“All right, Marcus,” the man said. “The floor is all yours.”

“Thank you, Kent.” Marcus smiled at Michelle, squeezed her hand and said, “First, I want to thank you all for giving me a wonderful bachelor party. I’ve never had anything like it.”

The small crowd clapped and Eamon was pleased that he had indeed pulled off another successful party.

“However,” Marcus continued and then started gushing as much as the woman beside him. “There’s been a change in plans…or rather…a change in brides.”

“Please no,” Eamon moaned, filling in the blanks a second before Marcus held up Michelle’s hand and announced, “Delicious and I just got married!”

Eamon groaned. “Oh God.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention?” Mondell Gregory announced in the center of the Waldorf’s Park Avenue lobby. Three hundred sets of eyes zoomed to the larger-than-life man with rapt attention. He took a deep breath and with his head held high he continued. “First of all, I want to thank you all for coming today, but I regret to inform you that the wedding has been called off.”

As expected there was a collective gasp followed by a low, steady murmur as most of the invited guests turned to one another to express their surprise.

“However, since we are all here and since we have a mountain of food and good music arranged for you, I don’t see why we can’t just turn this into an old-fashioned brunch party and take pleasure in one another’s company.” He held up his glass of champagne, though he wished that it was something stronger. “Enjoy!” Mondell nodded his head and then downed his drink in one gulp.

Plastering on a smile, he strolled briskly back out of the grand ballroom, ignoring a few questions being thrown at him as he passed. “How did I do?” he asked his wife, Celya, once he exited the room.

“Great. Given the circumstance,” she answered as she began the difficult task of trying to keep up with his long strides. “What do you think has happened?”

He took an impatient breath and then shook his head. “He better be lying in someone’s hospital bed. That’s all I know. If not, he’s going to be once I get my hands on him.”

Celya didn’t like the sound of that. Instead of enjoying her daughter starting a new chapter in her life today, it looked like she was going to have her hands full trying to calm and soothe two people. That meant a full plate when dealing with her husband and daughter. They were too much alike when it came to temperament. If Marcus was smart, he’d forget that the whole state of New York even existed, because if he ever came back, it would be to attend his own funeral.

When they returned to Victoria’s suite, they found her exactly where they left her. Sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at her cell phone as if willing it to ring. Grace hovered around closely, though it was clear they were also at a loss as to what to say. No one saw this coming. Marcus Henderson seemed as dependable as they came.

Mondell swore under his breath. He didn’t like seeing his daughter looking so distraught and it was clear that it was eating him up inside.

“Is it done?” she asked without looking back at them.

Celya instantly went to her side. “Yes, sweetheart. Your father took care of everything.” She squeezed her daughter’s shoulders.

Exhaling a long sigh, Victoria leaned over and rested her head on Celya’s shoulders. “Did they laugh?”

“Of course they didn’t laugh!” Mondell thundered. “They wouldn’t dare.”