The Road Not TakenPortia was unsettled She wandered down to the cellar to inspect the nectar collection. Maybe she should sell some of the older bottles and see how far that took her in her career. On the other hand, the longer she left them, the more valuable they'd become. In the end, she decided to wait.
Should she make some more? That last berry blend had been promising. If she tweaked it a bit, maybe added more grapes…? No, she wasn't really in the mood for squishing fruit this evening.
She ought to go to bed. Everyone else must have been asleep for ages. Maybe a snack would help settle her jitters. She headed upstairs to the kitchen.
"Hello, Nio. Still up?"
Stupid question. Of course he was still up.
"I tried going to bed but I couldn't sleep. Brain won't switch off."
"You too?"
"Portia, I was thinking about you. Us. We will stay friends, won't we? I'd really miss our chats about art… your company generally, in fact."
"Of course we'll stay friends. Why wouldn't we?"
"Well, if you're married to Romeo, it might get awkward."
Was she going to marry Romeo? She'd always known she'd have to marry someone. She was a dynasty heir, after all. And she supposed it would have to be soon. Soonish, anyway. She'd have to have a kid before she got too old. But with Romeo? He was young and handsome and romantic, of course, but… Yes, that was it. He was young. Hardly more than a kid himself. Was he ready to be a dad? On the other hand, maybe he did want a family. She realised she had no idea what he wanted from life. She hardly knew him at all, really.
It had been a long pause. What had Nio been saying? Oh yes, could they stay friends after her marriage?
"My mum and Alvis were best friends all his life."
"Yes but Alvis didn't… There wasn't…"
"Nio?"
"Portia, I love you. I always have – well, ever since you stopped being an annoying little brat who spoiled my favourite games."
She laughed. And then suddenly didn't feel like laughing at all. Nio was in love with her? Suddenly, it all clicked into place. She grabbed his hands.
"Who says I'm going to marry Romeo, anyway?"
"Portia… It's really late. Don't say anything you might regret later. It's bad enough that one of us already did. See you in the morning?"
"But… Oh, all right. See you tomorrow. No, later today. Goodnight, Nio."
She'd been expecting to lie awake for hours more but surprisingly fell asleep almost at once.
Despite their late night, both Portia and Nio were up before the sun.
"Portia, forget what I said last night. We'll always be friends. That's enough."
And he kissed her goodbye.
It was rather a nice kiss. Portia grabbed him and kissed him back.
"I'm not going to regret this later. I'm not marrying Romeo. He's sweet and romantic but you're the one I love. I just never realised before. Nio Lee, will you marry me?"
They married the following weekend, surrounded by friends and family. It was a formal party, of course: Portia wouldn't settle for anything less. She was going to do this properly.
She had felt more than a little awkward telling Romeo about the wedding but he didn't seem upset at all. In fact, he asked if he could invite a girl who'd been in his class at school. Romeo had a girlfriend? Why had he given
her flowers, then? Obviously not the faithful type. It looked as though she might have had a lucky escape there.
With the rings duly exchanged and the rice thrown, the guests started to wander off in search of food. The bride and groom stayed under the arch, kissing as though they'd just discovered the activity and intended to spend the rest of their married lives like that. Minnie cleared her throat loudly. No effect. Then she coughed. A cough that sounded a lot like 'cake'. That did the trick.
The hungry guests rushed over to applaud and grab slices.
And then there was an outbreak of waving and foot-stamping as the cake ran out and everyone fought to get to the rest of the food. Not such a formal party after all
.
At last, the guests left and the bride and groom were alone together.
Well. all of the guests but one. The customary crazy guy stood throwing rice long after everyone else had left.
In the early hours of the morning, he finally walked away, leaving a puddle of pee (which was quickly, and fortunately, soaked up by the desert sand). But, instead of going home, he went over to the tables and stood clapping the remains of the cake, as though it was still being cut. Was he some kind of time traveller, a few hours behind the rest of Lucky Palms?
Finally, just before 6am, he announced to the empty air that he'd have to go now. Well, at least he'd kept me entertained while the household was asleep.
Yes, I know everyone expected Portia to marry Romeo. So did I. But that was before I noticed that they barely counted as acquaintances, while she had a maxed-out relationship with Nio – and an 'attractive company' moodlet around him, even though they'd never had hearts floating around over their heads. The staying up late and chatting happened spontaneously in-game, even though she was tired and he was exhausted. It didn't take much of a nudge to change them over from friendly to romantic interactions, and they've been all over each other since. I think they'd still be standing under the wedding arch exchanging autonomous heat of the moment kisses if
I Minnie hadn't forcibly stopped them
.
