Charthur: Part II

Peter had left his cousins and was walking back towards his seat when he spotted Chardonnay exiting the bathroom. A sane, normal human would have realized by now that neither Chardonnay nor her boyfriend were willing to put up with his jokes and teasing. However, Peter was Peter, and saw everything as amusing: even their attitudes. This was his day, and he wasn’t really serious. He was just examining the girls, as he always did.

And she really was a fine one. Knocked up? Peter couldn’t tell, and it certainly didn’t look it. Her ass and thighs were thick but not in a bad way, her chest was nice and perky, and her face was pretty. No wonder Arthur never showed him any pictures – he likely was worried she’d find a way to seduce Peter right away from Erin! Not that that could have happened.

Peter debated what to do, if he should strike up a conversation or if he should do nothing. He should have done nothing, but instead, he walked closer towards Chardonnay. She had stopped now, eyeing Arthur and everyone else at her table. And Peter reached out a hand when he was close enough and quickly touched her butt, but didn’t linger to let her think it had been him. He quickly shuffled away with a smirk on his face, still in her line of vision. He changed a glance towards her and, when he saw her face, sent her a wink.

–

Conversation with the group was on Erin now, and her plans for the future. Were she and Peter planning on kids? Erin shrugged at that; the two of them didn’t want kids right now, but maybe in the future they would. Erin would still own her bar of course, and Peter still worked that difficult, long construction job he’d always had. Arthur glanced at Erin, not opening his mouth but listening to discussion. That Peter. Arthur really wished Erin had found someone not shit to marry.

He glanced towards the bathrooms, and saw Chardonnay standing not too far away. She wasn’t looking at him though, and instead was looking at Peter, who turned and gave her a wink. Not liking that, Arthur stood up. His friends glanced at him. The vein in his temple was beginning to protrude. ”If he said something else to her I’m beating his ass, Erin,” Arthur informed his friend. He got up and began to approach Chardonnay.

Arthur knew something had to be wrong. He saw the way Peter glanced back at her and the way Chardonnay looked at him, but he was completely taken aback – and a little peeved – when Chardonnay raised her hand to stop him. He froze, to his credit, and watched as she approached Peter.

Because of his uncharacteristic stopping, Erin followed him, curious something was wrong. She put a hand on his shoulder. ”Arthur, are you okay?

Arthur glanced towards her. ”Your husband’s being a pain, again.”

”He’s – what?” Erin put her hands on her hips and frowned. ”He seriously is continuing to bother her?”

Arthur folded his arms across his chest now, observing the discussion going on between Chardonnay and Peter. His brow twitched slightly and he shifted between his feet, and Erin had to put a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from storming over. He wanted to hit this guy, especially when he saw the guy eyeing Chardonnay up. He wanted to punch his lights out. ”I told you that guy was bad news,” He grit his teeth, ”But you still wanted to marry him.”

–

Peter, satisfied with himself, was leaving Chardonnay and now intended to go and talk to someone else. However to his surprise – or not really, if he was being honest – Chardonnay didn’t let him ho. She stopped in front of him, blocking his way. Most people were paying them no mind as they mingled and danced, even if he was the groom. That was one perk: most people were interested in Erin’s dress, not him.

He glanced at her eyes, first, and then down at her chest that she puffed out towards him. Was she trying to oblige him now? Peter was highly amused and could feel eyes on him, knowing one pair had to belong to Arthur. The guy barely looked away from him, except to look at this woman in front of him.

”Erin? Oh, she’s beautiful.” Peter said, though he was clearly feigning ignorance to her comments. ”I don’t know why you’re coming up to me and insulting my wife, though.” He shrugged his shoulders and gave her an icy smile. ”I got married because I love her obviously; what else is there to really say?”

Peter rose his brows at Chardonnay’s boldness. She really was different than she’d been before; she was a match for the aggressive Arthur for sure. Every time he’d been around the guy he had sensed he was hated and that just made the urge to piss him off stronger. Turns out his girlfriend was just as quick to piss off as he was. He did find the doubt in his love slightly irksome – but he knew how his love worked. He didn’t feel an ounce of shame as he looked at Chardonnay.

”Then clearly you haven’t been watching me. But that would be odd, if you were watching me, as your boyfriend’s over there. Looking rather pissed you’re talking to me,” He said. His eyes moved to Erin beside Arthur, though, and she was giving him that look that let him know he’d taken things too far. He felt a twinge of nervous as he tugged on his collar now, wishing that the girl would just shoo away and go back to her boyfriend’s side. Instead, she brought up the ass grabbing. He was surprised – most people wouldn’t mention it and would just try to pretend it didn’t happen.

”Me? Grab your ass? No, maybe I brushed against it,” He said, shrugging his shoulders. ”I know better than to actually touch your ass. Besides, my wife’s is nicer anyway, not that it matters,” he turned around, clearly trying to get away from the confrontation. He wasn’t used to being confronted! ”Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the restroom.”

Finally, he could be free. Peter continued to try to leave, hoping Chardonnay would huff and puff and get lost. He blamed Arthur for inviting a hot girl to the wedding; who in the fuck would have every thought Arthur could score a babe so hot? He was a fucking asshole, not to mention some weeb loser. It was only OK for Erin to be a weeb because she was cute – it was just weird when Arthur did it. And he had the nerve to bring this model looking woman to the wedding. Yeah, right.

Peter was almost free but she whirled around and got a hit on him. Peter stumbled backwards at the impact, not having expected it. He felt his jaw. The impact wasn’t the worst he’d ever felt but it was completely unexpected. He clutched his hand to his jaw and now everyone was staring, shocked, and Peter felt embarrassment creep onto his face. He fixated a hate-filled look on Chardonnay. Had she not left, maybe he would have retaliated. In that moment that was what he wanted to do – but after she was done talking she turned around and left.

Of course, Peter wasn’t going to get any peace, and in two seconds his collar was being gripped by Arthur. He found himself slammed against the wall, his neck choked. He could hardly breathe.

”What the fuck did you do to her?! What did you say to her?!” Erin trotted over in her dress, running as best she could, swearing up a storm as she reached Arthur’s side.

”Arthur! Let go! Let go! He can’t breathe!” She was the one who wrenched Peter’s neck free and by then his forever joking personality was back. He grinned even though his jaw and neck were throbbing. Jesus. These two needed some anger management classes! He adjusted himself.

”Nothing, really. She just punched me. You should really control your woman.” Peter shrugged. Arthur looked even angrier at that comment and if Erin didn’t wedge herself between them he would have strangled him again.

”Arthur, go find your girlfriend. I’ll deal with Peter.” Erin looked at Arthur, and he was about to retaliate when he saw the tears in her eyes. This was supposed to be her day and this had happened. He closed his mouth. It was all Peter’s fucking fault. Had she married someone better, someone who was faithful, this wouldn’t have happened. Erin hastily wiped the tears away from her face. ”Go. Now.”

Arthur gave Peter one last glare, before he turned around and left. He followed through the doors where Chardonnay had gone. He glanced for her, finally spotting her a few feet away. ”Chardonnay.” He said, talking a few steps towards her, ”What did he do this time?”

Arthur looked at her, hunched over on the bench. He frowned, and slowly sat down beside her. It was calmer out here, music wasn’t playing. He hated that Peter had to exist. If Erin had married anyone other than him, today could have gone so differently. Erin wouldn’t be devastated at what happened, and Chardonnay could have gotten along with his friends. Instead they were out here, Peter’s lecherousness had been exposed, and Chardonnay looked... so lost.

”Whether or not you handled it, I’m still worried.” Arthur said. He knew she could handle herself, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to do it alone. He sighed when she suggested she should go. ”I’d rather be with you,” he said, quietly. He stared down at the grass. He missed that conversation they’d had, where they were slowly getting to know about one another and their businesses. ”Peter’s a jerk. Everyone knows it, he’s not used to girls standing up to him like that. No one’s used to seeing it; he deserved it.” he said.

He glanced at Chardonnay again. ”But I prefer being out here. Peter’s not here, no one else is here. It’s not as much of a pain. I don’t like being surrounded by people. It pisses me off.”

Arthur shrugged. He didn’t know what she didn’t understand, but from the pinkness on her cheeks, he assumed it might have been his desire to stay. He decided not to question it or try to emphasize it and instead just didn’t leave. The cool fall wind blew through his hair, the sun hidden behind clouds and making it chillier. He saw Chardonnay shiver slightly and wished he’d brought his jacket. But, it was still wrapped around the back of his chair. So he slowly slid one of his arms to rest across the back of the bench, and pull her a little closer. ”It’s kind of chilly,” he explained, clearing his throat slightly in embarrassment.

Her mentioning Erin made him look straight ahead, watching a leaf fall down. ”Well, mostly for Erin. She was dreaming about her wedding day since... well, for as long as I remember.” She hadn’t brought it up when they went on their first dates, but when they became friends she showed him her Pinterests and collections of things for her dream wedding. ”Unfortunately she’s never had good taste in picking the groom.”

Arthur glanced over at Chardonnay, the door not too far away opening. Outside walked Kyle and Darren. ”Are you okay?” Darren asked, directing his question towards Chardonnay. Kyle made eye contact with a confused Arthur, and Kyle shrugged. ”We were kinda worried, so we wanted to check on you. Didn’t mean to bother you.”