Wedding Plans

"We can't get married on the same day as Mindy Cooper and that old guy she's marrying. It would be too weird." Tiffany shook her blonde head defiantly. "Besides, I'm sure Mindy's already booked the best room at the Schuyler Square Country Club. I'm not going to have our wedding in some crummy little corner that people usually use for reunions!"

"Whatever you want," Rex told Tiffany. "This is going to be  your big day so you should have exactly the kind of wedding that you've always dreamed about." Rex felt like a rat. A huge rat who was about to not only eat all the cheese but also was about to abandon his teenage fiancee for a mere ten thousand dollars.

"Oh, Rexie, you are the best," Tiffany said, giving him a hug. "I don't know how I would have gotten through everything without you. You don't even care that I'm not skinny anymore."

"That kind of thing doesn't matter to me. Besides, you look great with a little meat on your bones."

"I've gained twenty pounds since I stopped using Fat Off. I'm never going to fit into the wedding dress I bought."

"That Fat Off stuff was dangerous. All that matters is that you're healthy."

Tiffany hugged him again. "You're the only person in the world who has ever really and truly cared about me."

The rat-like feeling increased to the point where even Rex could no longer stand himself. Maybe he shouldn't go through with the plan Mavis had proposed. Mavis he should tell Tiffany's snobby aunt to keep the ten grand to herself. He was fond of Tiffany and marrying her might not be the cash cow that he'd envisioned but it sure would beat working at the car wash. Besides, it would destroy Tiffany if he dumped her. He really was the best thing that had ever happened to her. "You know what might be good," he said slowly as he tried to figure out a few of the details of the plan that had just popped into his head.

"What?"

"If you and I eloped and kept it a secret for awhile."

Pulling back, Tiffany stared at him. "Why would we have to keep it a secret? If I'm going to be your wife, I want the whole world to know about it."

"Well, your aunt and your trust fund," Rex explained. "She told me that she has the power of how much money you get until you're thirty."

"So what?"

"If you marry me, she  might not give you any money."

"Did Aunt Mavis tell you that?"

Rex nodded.

"I can't stand that woman! It's not true, Rexie. She has some power but I'm still going to get plenty when I turn eighteen on Friday. Enough so that neither of us will ever have to go to work or college or do anything that we don't want to do."

"Really? So why did your aunt tell me all that crap?"

Tiffany snuggled back into Rex's arms. "Who knows? Did she want something from you?"

"Yeah. She wants me to break up your cousin and that dorky girlfriend."

"Brad and Claudine! How are you supposed to do that? Claudine has her claws so deep into Brad that he'll never be able to get away."

"I guess she thinks I can seduce Claudine."

"And what did she promise you in exchange for that?"

"Ten thousand dollars."

"That's chump change, Rex." Tiffany shook her head. "Boy, Aunt Mavis is something else. She's always trying to control everyone's life. She doesn't want us to be together. She doesn't want Brad and Claudine to be together--I know! Let's get Brad and Claudine to come with us when we elope! It can be a double wedding!"

"I thought you didn't want to share the spotlight."

"Not with Mindy Cooper and Bernard Morton. I don't mind sharing it a little with Claudine. What do you say, Rex? Let's elope next Friday, on my birthday! Won't Aunt Mavis freak out?"

"What about the money she said she'd give to me?"

"Play along with her, flirt with Claudine, get the cash and we'll blow it on our honeymoon."

No doubt about it, Tiffany really was his kind of woman.