it's just our t h i n g``MONIQUE

[jeremy roger hills]

outfit

Jeremy turned off his engine and got out of his car. He was about to hurry and race around the vehicle to open Monique's door, but he figured she would probably open the door on him or get out before he could even reach the passenger side. Sighing, he waited for her on the curb then began walking as she did. He figured she had an attitude but then again she always did. At least, with him, she did. Jeremy was in a whatever kind of mood today, though, so if she tried throwing anything in his direction, verbally or physically, he would just ignore her.

Refusing to talk, even if she tried, Jeremy wished he could have a good time as he did this. If she hadn't made it so hard on him, he knew he would have. After all, weren't weddings supposed to be filled with happy feelings, not resentment? He sighed harshly as they began approching the stores that lined the side of the street. Now, where would they find a good wedding store? Jeremy hated to admit it, but he would have to orally ask Monique the difference between the stores and which ones would be fitting. He slowly came to a stop and lifted his hand forward, directing her.

"Lead the way."

[monique bailey quentin]

outfit

The whole car ride to Lights Street, Monique stayed quiet, with her arms folded over her chest and staring out the car door window. She wasn't liking this one bit and a part of her felt the urge to just walk away from him once the car was stopped and parked. But, she knew if she did, her parents would just escort them the next time to make sure she did go through with this. Something she didn't want to happen at all.

Once the car was stopped, she got out and started walking down along the sidewalk behind him. When he stopped and sort of directed her to lead the way, Mona just continued walking past him without a word or without even glance to him. She wasn't in the mood for any of this and she just wanted to be back in her own home or even at the cafe, in hopes of seeing Ryan there. She did her best to hide the smile that was threatening to come to her lips at the thought of him; if only she had the nerve to ask him out.

Her mood went sour, as she stopped in front of a store and turned to look into the window. Monique kept her face blank as she stared at the different wedding cakes in the window. She felt the urge to just cry, but pushed it back as she blinked a few times and pulled the door open and stepped inside and glanced around, throwing a smile to her face as a man approached them "I--We need to order a cake for ou--our wedding." god..this was going to be harder than she thought and more miserable.

[jeremy roger hills]

Jeremy watched as Monique passed by him without so much as a fleeting glance in his direction. His hand dropped as he rolled his eyes and continued walking, following his fiance. After walking a while, his mind on other things to distract him of his current situation, Jeremy screeched to a stop, realizing he might have run of Mona because of her sudden stop. Or maybe it was his lack of awareness. Regardless, she glanced in the window of the shop as Jeremy did before hurrying in after her. The cake. He sighed.

A man approached them. He looked like a typical baker with a white chef's attire and apron; he even looked Italian. Jeremy knew Monique would know just what to get for them, though he did have a few ideas in mind, and he didn't dare open his mouth first. She stumbled over her words as she threw a smile on her face. Jeremy could tell out of the corner of his eye that it was fake, of course, but as long as she was polite to the man. The baker nodded and directed them to the back, saying they would discuss it with him at a small table. Smirking, Jeremy tried lightening up the mood, though he knew it would probably annoy Monique more. He let his shoulder bump hers forward as he began following the man before her.

"Lighten up," he muttered lowly as he brushed past her, smiling.

[monique bailey quentin]

Monique was getting ready to step forward when she felt a bump into her shoulder and words coming from the one person she rather see being run over by a steam roller. A low growl came to her throat, as she glared at the back of his head and followed along after them. She reached the back of the shop and glanced around for a moment before sitting down in a chair across from the baker. Mona put the fake smile to her lips again as she looked over at the baker.

Mona looked down at the book that he opened before them, as the baker flipped through the pages, showing them different styles and sizes of the cakes. She felt her stomach churned and she was thankful that she didn't eat anything before they came here or else she would probably be excusing herself to go to the bathroom to throw up. Mentally sighing, she looked away from the book and up at the baker "We'd like just something simple, really." she told him, keeping her voice calm and steady "A four tier cake would most likely do." whether Jeremy had anything to add to this, Mona really didn't care.

When the wedding day came, it wasn't as if Mona would actually get as far as the reception, let alone walking down the aisle. She was going to make sure of that.

[jeremy roger hills]

Jeremy heard the obvious growl that erupted from Monique's throat, but it was still low that the baker wouldn't hear. He chuckled a the same volume level, making sure she heard it. Sitting down, Monique was forced to sit next to him since the baker's side allowed only room for one. Smirking to himself, Jeremy reminded himself that this would have to be a serious day and no one for horse play, no matter how much it would joy him to annoy Mona. Clearing his throat, he tried keeping up as the baker described their choices.

But Jeremy couldn't speak cake, and so he just decided to sit back and let Monique worry about it. And after a little while, she did have something to say regarding their cake. She said something he didn't understand so he knew she knew what she was talking about. The baker nodded and pulled out a clipboard that held a sheet looking similar to that of an application for a job or a doctor-patient information sheet. Jeremy's eyebrows rose at all the details involved in making a cake. Sighing, he stretched his arms and put his hands behind his head as he pretened to rest on them and spoke.

"Well, wake me when we're done."

[monique bailey quentin]

Mona glanced over at Jeremy and kept the fake smile plastered to her lips as she looked back to the baker and started to go through with the simple things of the cake. White cake, with white icing. She thought about a few other simple things that could go on it and told the baker that maybe simple little red flowers could go around the tiers of the cakes. When asked if anything else, she told him no and that it would be it.

Of course, when the question of the day of the wedding, she actually didn't know that answer. Mentally groaning, she looked over at Jeremy, keeping the smile to her lips "When did we set the date?" she asked him, in a fake adoring voice, even though she was sure her eyes showed that she rather be elsewhere and that she definitely didn't adore him at all.

[jeremy roger hills]

Jeremy shut his eyes and rested back, wishing they didn't have to do this. He'd rather just have the wedding and get the whole thing over with so he could just have Monique as his wife. This all really was unnecessary to him. He imagined Mona being nice to him, for once, like she used to be. But he immediately pushed away the thought when he remembered the last time that subject came up for them. Apparently, Monique had liked him once, but that was directly after he had reached the age in which his predatoral instincts took over and he hardly paid attention to anyone unworthy. Unfortunately, Mona was one of them in his opinion.

Hearing her voice ask a question then, he immediately opened his eyes and sat up. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it immediately. How could he forget the date? Clearing his throat to give him a second's worth time, he spoke as if answering for a question when the time was almost up. "Twenty-sixth. The twenty-sixth of January." Mentally clearing of his forehead, he steered his eyes away from Monique. She was probably just rolling hers anyways, and he ran a hand through his hair.

[monique bailey quentin]

Monique turned back to face the baker, giving a smile to him, as he nodded towards Jeremy's answer. After going over a few little details, Mona shook hands with the baker, mentally cringing at his congrats to the two of them, but keeping the smile to her lips. Of course, it wasn't until they were walking out of the cake shop, did it dawn on her how close it was for them to be getting married. Mona had to bite down on her bottom lip to keep herself from screaming aloud.

Instead, she just let out a soft sigh as she wrapped her arms around herself and made her way down along the sidewalk, not really caring whether Jeremy was following her or not. Mona just wanted to go home and lock herself in her bedroom and just curl up there. But, she knew she couldn't do that. Her blue eyes looked along the stores that lined the sidewalk, she stopped again in front of another store window, one that held wedding dresses in it. Monique felt her eyes burn as she felt the urge to just cry, not because of joy, because of how much pain she was going through. Why did he have to do this to her? Why couldn't he just let it be and let her go about her ways and just be happy?

Shaking her head, Mona clenched her eyes shut, willing the tears to not spill over as she wrapped her arms more around herself. She knew she couldn't go in there and do the dresses yet, she would have to endure that with her mother and soon-to-be mother-in-law.

[jeremy roger hills]

Jeremy smiled and nodded at the congratulatory complements he gave the two as they began to leave. He stood and started following Monique out the door when he saw some advertisements propped on the glass displays. He stopped. The picture caught his eye and he walked towards it, picking it up and flipping through the small brochure. The picture that caught his eye had been a huge diamond propped on a gold band. It was a brochure for engagement and wedding rings. They hadn't even thought of rings yet. Jeremy remembered that their parents' suggestions, or rather demands, for the two to marry came up quickly and he had had no time to buy an engagement ring. But then, he remembered why: he bet anything she wouldn't accept it.

"Mr. Hills?" Jeremy looked up at the baker who spoke his name. He must have only known because Monique wrote their names on the application sheet. "You better go catch your fiance," he said, chuckling a bit. Looking outside, Jeremy saw, even through the windows that stretched out quite widely, Monique wasn't in sight. Dropping the brochure, he hurried to the door and looked both ways, just in case she decided to cut the day short and walk back to the car. Fortunately, he saw walking in the direction where most of the other stores were and he jogged down after her. He thought he saw her shaking her head, but ignored it and came up alongside her. Jeremy did a double-take at her before realizing she looked like she was about to cry. "Hey," he said, lightly grabbing her arm to face him and stopping. He quickly removed it before she could swat it away and his eyebrows furrowed.

"What'd I do now?"

[monique bailey quentin]

She opened her eyes as soon as she felt the hand on her arm and was ready to jerk her arm free, but watched as he removed his hand from her arm. She hoped her eyes were betraying her of how close she had been to almost crying as the sheer horror of all of this was starting to come crashing down upon her. Mona glared up towards him, as she let her arms dropped down to her side "I could care less what you do, Jeremy. The one thing I want you to do, you won't do." she told him with a bit of venom to her words.

Monique turned away from him and started walking back down along the sidewalk again, keeping her gaze away from the wedding dress shop and keeping her eyes forward. She couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms back around herself again, as she felt the urge to just turn around and attack the man. But she couldn't do that, not right now. In the view of many eyes. Instead, she just chewed on her bottom lip and kept walking. Not caring if she was by-passing any of the stores she ought to be heading into. She just wanted to get away.

[jeremy roger hills]

Jeremy looked down at Monique, a bit of concern furrowing his eyebrows. No matter how much she ever hated him, Jeremy knew he would always care for her. It was times like these that it really proved to mean something. But when Mona turned to face the man she despised, and their eyes met, Jeremy could tell that whatever he had just noticed on her face was now gone, covered up. She spoke with venom stinging him with her words. He sighed, remembering she would never open up to him that easily. Swallowing a bit nervously, Jeremy just stood on the sidewalk while he thought and Monique left without him. Again.

What was he doing wrong? Wasn't there any way he could ever at least make her smile by his own doing? His brow furrowed more and more with each pressing thought and he finally realized she had continued down the street by herself. Jogging to catch up with her again, Jeremy didn't speak this time, but just walked alongside her quietly for a minute or two, no longer keeping his eye out for the stores. "I'm sorry," he finally murmured. "If that even means anything to you." Jeremy was so confused. He thought he loved Monique, and very badly wanted to marry her, but was it worth her miserable state for the rest of her life. Jeremy sighed and looked away, slowing to a stop so they could turn around.

"Whatever, let's just go."

[monique bailey quentin]

Monique stopped in her tracks when Jeremy did and she didn't even look at him. Hearing that sorry and the way the words sounded some-how made her feel something deep inside of her. She pushed the thought and feeling away, staying standing where she is at. She looked up for a moment to see that he was turning away and spoke about them just leaving. As much as she knew her parents were going to make her come back out here to finish all of this, she really just wanted to go home. But, she didn't really want to ride back with him.

Mona turned around to face him "You can go on home. I--I'll just walk home. It isn't far from here." she told him, keeping her voice calm as she let her arms drop to her side, trying not to look vulnerable or anything.

[jeremy roger hills]

Jeremy just waited patiently for Monique to decide. Of course, he figured she'd want to go home immediately, but he still waited. There was always just a thread of hope that she might actually do something unexpected for once, but he knew the day would never come. She spoke that she would just walk home but Jeremy knew that wouldn't happen. He, firstly, would not let her just roam the streets, however dangerous she really was. He was too obssessive over how protective he was of his property, and he automatically considered Monique exactly that, though he didn't think of it in any condescending way.

Placing his hand softly on her shoulder, and not removing it immediately, Jeremy leaned down slightly to her level. "C'mon. You and I both know I'm not going to let that happen. And neither will our parents." Removing his hand then, he stood straight up and turned to the side to walk in the opposite direction. "Could you please just let me drive you home? It's the least I can do."

[monique bailey quentin]

Monique did her best not to flinch away from his touch or to pull away. She hated that he got down to her level, it wasn't as if she was some little kid; she could well enough handle herself against anyone. A glare came to her face as he spoke to her and Mona backed away from him a bit when he pulled his hand away from her. She knew neither of their parents would be very happy with the idea of him letting her walk home. By herself. Sighing and only giving in because she just can't stand to hear her parents, especially her mother complain and yell at her, she follows behind Jeremy to the car "Just so you know, I'm not doing this for you." she told him, as she opened the passenger door and got in.

[jeremy roger hills]

Jeremy sighed as he saw all the usual reactions from her, except for the fact that she managed to not push away his hand. Content, he walked in front of her towards his car. The walk didn't have time to be silent or awkward because it was a surprisingly short distance to his car that sat parallel-parked against the curb. As he rounded to go to his side, he heard Monique say that she wasn't doing it for him. After she got in and closed the door, Jeremy waited a second before opening his door, sadly dropping his head and murmuring with a but of hurt...

"I know."