Once More with Feeling Read Online Free PDF Page A

between the layers of the cake, the color of the sugar roses on top of the cake ... it was all meant to be a distraction. A distraction from a truth so monumental, so terrifying, so incredibly overwhelming, that to confront it head-on would have been devastating.
    That truth was that she and Roger, this man who suddenly seemed like a total stranger, were about to intertwine their lives forever.
    When she’d sat down to write her own wedding ceremony, Laura had made a point of omitting the clichés. All that business about sickness and health, better or worse, richer or poorer. Especially the part about death. Yet standing in front of the judge, listening to him stumble over words that had sounded so beautiful and so sincere in her own head, she understood that whether those words were spoken as part of the ceremony or not, they still spelled out what she was in for.
    What am I doing? The thought was accompanied by a wave of panic so great that for a fraction of a second she was tempted to flee. But it was too late. Struggling to focus on what the judge was saying in a voice as lyrical as that of a newscaster reciting the Dow Jones report, she realized he was almost at the end.
    They were getting to the “I do” part. This was her last chance to change her mind. To back out. Yet through the fog that had enveloped her, she heard herself say the words. “I do.”
    There were more of the judge’s mumblings, and then Roger echoed those same words. “I do.”
    And she heard, “I now pronounce you man and wife.”
    Snapping out of her reverie, Laura opened her mouth to protest. Wait a minute! she wanted to cry. I wrote that husband and wife! We’re both changing our status here, not just me!
    She didn’t have a chance to voice her protest. Roger was kissing her. A crowd was surrounding them, cooing like a flock of pigeons. Dirk had launched into a spirited version of You Are the Sunshine of My Life.
    It was over. She was married. This man who was kissing her was her partner for life.
    Laura Briggs was no longer simply Laura Briggs. She was a wife.
    * * * *
    As she heard Roger fit his key into the backdoor lock, the pounding of her heart increased alarmingly. She stashed the wedding album back on the shelf.
    “I figured you’d wait up,” Roger said.
    Laura just nodded. She couldn’t help noticing he was even better looking than he’d been on TV. It wasn’t only his tall, dark, and handsome look; it was also the way he carried himself, with a confidence that bordered on arrogance.
    “You saw the show?”
    “Yes.”
    “You’re mad, right?” Both his tone and his posture was defiant. Laura was struck by the fact that he was actually daring her to react.
    “I’m too tired to be mad.” She sat down on the arm of the couch, her eyes downcast. “To tell you the truth, I’ve already spent too much emotional energy being angry at you, Roger.” She took a deep breath. “I think I’ve had enough.”
    He didn’t seem to have heard her. He sank into a chair, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
    “I just know being on that show is going to turn out to be a good thing. It’s a great way of breaking in.”
    “Breaking in?”
    ‘Television. The way I figure it, a few million people saw me on TV today. All I need is for one of them to have been the right person. A producer, or maybe an advertising executive—”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “TV commercials.” He looked at her as if she were the one not making sense. “That’s what I’ve decided to do. I’ve always been interested in acting. Hell, I was in half a dozen plays when I was in college. Then there was that summer I spent at the Downington Theater Festival when I was sixteen. Anyway, there’s a lot of money to be made doing commercials. I just need my first big break—”
    “You didn’t hear what I said.”
    Roger looked puzzled. “You said you weren’t mad.”
    “No. I said mad wasn’t the right word. I said what I am is tired.”
    “Well,