An Unwelcome Proposal Part I

It couldn't have happened to a nicer pair of persons. Rona and John's wedding was the epitome of "Happily ever after". The guests cheerfully applauded the new Mr. and Mrs. John Reese Hayden and all sipped fine champagne while the newlyweds took to the floor for their first dance as husband and wife. If doves could fly out of their arses when the trumpets sounded, they would have.
Jane sat quietly nibbling strawberries served with her cocktail and observed the preposterous glow of love emitting from the dancing duo. It was sickening. She felt nauseous. She might very well vomit her discomfort at any moment. She sighed.
"Please excuse me" she said to her aunt Elizabeth. "I need to find the ladies room". Jane stood, lifting the hem of her mint crepe gown before stepping clear of the table.
"Oh certainly dear" Aunt Elizabeth looked at her with sudden concern. "Are you unwell Jane? You look positively peaked!"
Jane sidestepped her Aunt's hand and eluded her grasp. She was still angry with her for dragging her along to her cousin's wedding. Really, it was just a transparent excuse to pair her off with Judge Avery's son, Harold. Her family had been trying to push Harold onto her since she hit puberty. It was not to be tolerated since Jane could not abide the weak, wishy-washy, pimply faced idiot.
"I'm fine, Aunt. I'll be right back" and with that, Jane turned and marched determinedly in the general direction of where she was sure the lavatories would be.
Her ire rose with each step as thought upon thought dog piled in the muddle of her mind. She would not be forced to accommodate the attentions of any man, let alone a complete moron such as Harold. She didn't care that their families were close and had settled on the idea of the two them married up right and tight and wrapped in a little pink bow just to make them all happy. As long as she could remember, they had been thrown together. At first, Harold didn't like the idea either, but then he was only seven at the time and thought all girls were icky. By the time he had reached fifteen, he began to follow Jane around like a puppy. Damn puberty! It was only because she had begun to develop breasts and was nearly the only girl of his age in the county. He didn't know any better, but she did!
She had vowed at sixteen, never, never, ever to marry Harold! With that solemn promise made to herself, she had volunteered, nay begged, to go live with her Aunt Elizabeth in the spring of her seventeenth year. Aunt Elizabeth was her mother's only sister and had lost her husband the year before to fever. She was all alone now and it was decided that she needed company. Jane had readily offered herself as companion before her sisters could utter boo. With no real reason to say no, her mother had relented and Jane had packed her trunks and traveled three counties away to live with her aunt.
She had spent a whole, contented year there before she realized that her mother and her aunt had been conspiring behind her back via correspondence. That was when she knew the invitation to Rona's wedding was not just polite manners from a second cousin she hardly knew. It was a set up. Harold would be there!
And he was. One year older, but not a lick wiser, Harold had practically pounced on her the moment they had set foot outside the carriage in front of the church!
"Jane!" he pulled her hand, dragging her close, too close to his person, and bowed over her hand, bumping his fool head into her own in the process. It was painful. It was awdward, and it was unwanted.
Snatching her hand back and placing it on her throbbing forehead, Jane had bitten off her reply. "Mr. Avery, that is really not appropriate".
"I'm so sorry Jane. Please forgive me. It's just that it's been so long since I've seen you". He stammered and sweated and sprouted more spots on his face with every word.
Trying not to look disgusted, Jane made a hasty exit and ran up the steps into the church. Harold stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking both confused and forlorn.
Inside, her aunt had reprimanded her on her bad manners.
"Really Jane, you could try to make yourself a little more amendable. Harold is practically family!"
"He's not my family, Aunt Elizabeth. I apologize for my behavior, but I will not tolerate him touching me".
With that comment, Jane had folded her hands primly her lap and had kept her face forward and her countenance rigid during the entire ceremony. It was going to be a long, and insufferable afternoon.
Jane ran head first into a wall! Coming out of her deep reverie, she started to fall backwards when the wall reached out and steadied her. That can't be right! Walls didn't have arms! Jane looked up, and up more before her eyes encountered the most sensuous pair of lips turned up into a slightly bemused smile.
"My apologies! Are you alright miss?" Hazel eyes with absurdly long black lashes looked down into her own brown ones.
"Yes, I mean, well..yes, I'm fine. Thank you" Heated embarrassment crept into her voice as she realized she didn't know what to say or exactly what had just happened.
"Well" he said "it appears I managed to be in your path. I thought you were going to mow me down". His amusement at her confusion was annoying.
Taking in his impressive height, his black, curling hair, and strong jaw, Jane found her tongue had deserted her.
Mumbling "sorry" and "Wasn't paying attention", she quickly stepped around him and continued her path to the ladies. Finally, she could step inside and have a quiet moment to get herself together!
It was barely halfway through the festivities and she would need some reserves to marshal her through the rest of this night. Honestly, she just didn't understand why her family kept trying to foist someone so unwelcome onto her. It was frustrating and tiring and it really made her angry with them when she didn't want to be.
And then a wall had risen up in front of her.....or rather, it was his chest. It was a broad, strong, and well dressed chest at that, topped by a very handsome face. Why couldn't her family foist HIM upon her? At least then, she would not object.
Minutes ticked by. Jane knew she couldn't spend the rest of the evening in the lavatory. Her aunt would send out a search party for her soon. Taking a deep breath, she screwed up her courage and turned towards the door. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Perhaps Harold had finally gotten the message with her less than stellar manners earlier. Maybe,,,,,