by Tiana Laveen
Brooklyn stared at her phone for a long while. She’d never expected to play her voicemails back on her cell at the start of her lunchtime, and hear such a thing. She could barely breathe as she slammed her meal down on her desk, raced to call her mother back, while rushing to her car, panting and carrying on. She sat huddled close to the steering wheel, as if that would give her more privacy. It was clear. Her father’s attorney was confident that he wouldn’t have to serve much time, especially with a surprising turn of events. Her godsister, Constance, had come to her father’s defense! Apparently, although clueless about what transpired or who was directly involved, the family knew of their father’s money woes. Constance thus wanted to testify for the defense, which caused her to be an outcast in her own family and circle of friends. No one could understand why she did it; perhaps because of her bond with Brooklyn’s father.
“Daddy had gone astray. Mr. Henderson took care of us before, during and after,” she said with a face full of tears.
Regardless of that, guilt had pushed her father to make sure they were financially okay after Turner’s death, he did not shy away from that responsibility — and Constance seemed to be grateful for it. After all, he had also put her through medical school. The woman was now a plastic surgeon.
It seemed that things were favoring their side. Brooklyn sighed and gripped that steering wheel even tighter as tears of relief started to fall. Then, pulling herself together, she returned to the office, only to find Ace sitting in her seat, eating a pickle from her turkey pastrami sandwich. He was looking into her microscope, as if he really knew what the hell he was doing.
She put her hand on her hip. “How the hell did you get back here? You don’t have clearance!” She laughed, but honestly wanted an answer.
“Dennis let me in,” he said around a mouthful of food he seemed to relish with gusto, keeping his eye glued to the microscope. Dennis was the security guard in the back wing.
“So much for safekeeping…” she grunted with a smile as she approached him. “And what do you think you’re looking at?” She slung her purse over the chair he sat in, and dabbed at her eyes, trying to erase any smeared mascara.
“What is this nasty shit? I thought it was a rock, but something is moving on it!” He paused and looked at her, his mouth still full.
“Ace, get out of my chair!” She shouldered him, pushing with all of her might until the weasel removed himself, but not before he took another big bite of her sandwich.
“I was hungry…but just help yourself.” She took her seat and glared at him as he looked around the place, more than likely trying to find something else to busy himself with at her expense. “Guess what? My dad called my mom and told her that things are looking good. He won’t get much time, if any. My godfather’s daughter is testifying on his behalf. I can’t believe it.”
Ace swung around and looked at her, a big smile on her face.
“That is the best news I’ve heard in a long time.” He stared at her a bit closer, slowing down on the chewing. His eyes narrowed on her, all knowing, so she hung her head, trying to shield her face. But it was too late. In a flash, he was upon her. He hooked a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at him.
“You’ve been crying.” He grabbed a seat from a nearby table and brought it close. Like magic, his touch soothed her as he gently stroked her back.
“I was just happy. I needed to hear that. I’ve been feeling so guilty about everything. Everything has just been so crazy.”
“Tell me about it.” He swallowed and looked around. “Hey baby, you got something to drink?”
“Ace, you sure have a lot of nerve. Coming up here sitting in my seat, eating my lunch; next, you’ll be asleep in my office.”
“Sounds like Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears.”
She playfully shoved him and handed him her half full bottle of water. He took a big swig, gulped it down then leaned back in his seat.
“What are you doing here, honey? I thought you had that Jackson case to deal with.”
“I do, but this was more important.” He picked up her sandwich again and took another big bite.
“You ass!” She reached for it, trying to stop from laughing as her stomach growled. “That’s it, you owe me dinner tonight, Ace. I’m not cooking either, you are. I am going to be lying in the bed waiting for my dinner, and you better bring it in on a tray, with a flower in a vase and violin music playing…or Daft Punk, one of the two, but I want the whole nine!”
The man turned red he was laughing so hard. He squirmed in his chair.
“It really isn’t that funny…” She pretended to be angry as hell as she riffled through a top drawer, looking for her glasses.
“Mmmm…” He was trying to goad her, but she ignored him. He wiped his hands together, beating off the crumbs. “Now.” He worked his tongue in the side of his mouth, more than likely removing a speck of stolen food. “In all seriousness,” he leaned forward and clasped his hands together as she slid her glasses on and opened up a blue folder beside her, “I came here to tell you… Wait…look at me.” He gently turned her his way, and leaned in close. She looked into his eyes, getting high off his all-too-familiar scent as he pulled at her chin, forcing her mouth to open. Before she knew it, his tongue was inside of her mouth, and he was laying sweet kisses on her that tasted of a deli fantasy, making her snicker within, and weak at the knees. “Now.”
He clapped his hands together as if preparing for a presentation. “I want you to know how much I love you, how much you mean to me.”
“I know that, honey. You tell me every morning that you love me, and every night, I tell you, too.” She pinched his cheek. But, he wasn’t smiling. It was as if someone had come in and sucked all the fun out of the room. They’d left this serious man behind, a guy who held her hand and kissed it as he looked deeply into her eyes.
“No, baby, I mean, I really love you and…wait, let me back up. This isn’t going right.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t play games with my life.”
“I know…”
“I don’t play to lose.”
“I know that too, hence the childish game tally you keep on the refrigerator of all of my losses.” She tried to strike a light of humor, but he didn’t take the bait. He rolled right over what she’d said as if his mouth were a tractor trailer and her declarations a dirt covered road.
“You moved into my house to feel more at ease. I knew you were afraid, so I did what any man would do in my position — I offered you safety. This whole damn time, I was serious about you, but it looked like I was playing with you, running a game on you, messing with your life, your time. I wasn’t, but that’s what it looked like.”
“Ace, there’s no need to bring this up. We—”
“No.” He put his hand up. “Let me finish, please.”
She sank in her seat and paid attention, not daring to interrupt again.
“It seems everyone out here,” he pointed around the room, “is playing games. It seems everyone in the world thinks life is a big joke, that it is all funny, haha, but it’s not!” His brows dipped. “If I had to do it all over again, I would have told you right after our first date, let you get to know me a bit first then let you know what was going on. But I didn’t, because I was afraid to lose you, to not have the chance to get to know you better, to convince you that even though your father sent me, my heart was leading the way. Something inside of me knew that you were the woman for me. I can’t even describe it, Brooklyn. The minute your father walked in my office and showed me your picture, you seemed familiar to me, though I knew I’d never really laid eyes on you in my entire life. When I saw you at your awards ceremony, a little voice in the back of my head said, ‘That’s the woman you’re going to be with for the rest of your life.’ I’d never heard that voice before, and I’m crazy as fuck. I talk to my goddamn self, out loud, all the time…”
Brooklyn covered her face with her hands and burst out laughing. She couldn’
t help herself. Ace was all sorts of crazy, but she loved him so.
“I hear all sorts of voices.” He grinned. “Voices telling me to sky dive, crazy shit like that. And,” he shrugged, “I go and do the shit, no big deal. I’ve never been scared of anything, nothing, but I was scared of what would happen if I fell in love with you. But…not knowing, not even seeing if we could get to that point seemed even scarier. You think I found you? No, I didn’t, Brooklyn. You found me.”
He reached into his pocket and removed a black box. At that moment, her heart about exploded out of her chest. Her laughter ended like someone had turned off an internal faucet, and she simply gasped.
“Games. Playing. Running. Being afraid. We’re done with that…I’m done with that. When I’m serious about something, I solve it. It has a beginning and an end. I never want us to end.” He pointed to her. “You are not a game to me, and I’m done playing house with you. I want you to have my last name, to be my wife, Brooklyn.”
He opened the box, exposing a large, oval shaped diamond ring in a sterling setting.
“Oh my God…Oh…my…God!”
Ace smirked, but kept right on, driving her crazy. “Nobody is in here but us. Not because they are taking a long ass lunch break,” he cackled, “but because Dennis made sure I had the room to myself after I explained my plans to him last week. Everyone knows what’s going on in here right now, baby. Everybody is right outside that door.”
He pointed to the closed door. “Now, don’t make a fool of me, please…I do a good enough job of that on my own.” They both laughed lightly. “I never thought I’d be asking anyone to marry me. At least no time soon… Yet, here I am, wanting it more than my next breath of air. So, what do you say?”
He cocked his head to the side and grinned at her, reaching for her hand. “Can you handle being my better half, until death do us part? I want that, I need that. Baby, you found me…thank you.”
“Yes, Ace…yes, I’ll marry you!” her voice creaked. He slid the ring on her shaking finger.
“Alright!” he called out. “She said ‘Yes!’”
~***~
Suddenly the double white doors swung open. Ivy was first in line, yelling and laughing so loud in front of the crowd. Ace rolled back, giving them room as they surrounded her, looking at the ring and congratulating her. He just wanted to watch, to get a moment to himself, and be thankful. He received about twenty seconds, and then, the crowd descended upon him, too.
He was caught up in boisterous laughter and jokes, and the heavy-chested Ivy pressed herself tight into him, promising to hurt him something awful if he hurt her girl. He promised not to, gave her a kiss on the cheek before she sauntered back off to admire Brooklyn’s engagement ring a bit more.
Yeah, today had a beginning, a middle and an end. To me, that’s perfection. Thank you, baby…thank you for being my happy ending…
~***~
Six months later…
“Oh yes, please keep the champagne pouring!” Ivy boomed as she gripped her boyfriend’s neck, completely inebriated, and waved her hand around the room, being the life of the party that she was. Brooklyn couldn’t help but smile at her assistant as the woman reeled back in her chair, cracking jokes and keeping everyone entertained during the wedding rehearsal dinner. She and Ace sat shoulder to shoulder, on the floor of the Katsu Japanese restaurant on Peterson Avenue while their loved ones gathered around them, in similar fashion.
After awhile, Reid stood, holding his small cup of Sake in the air. Everyone grew quiet when Ace’s mother ‘shushed’ the crowd.
He rubbed the side of his neck, a crooked grin on his handsome face. Though he and Ace were not blood related, they were definitely brothers. Their movements were similar, and that smile on the man’s face glowed warm as he waited for everyone to settle down before he spoke.
“I’m not a long-winded sorta guy, so I’m going to keep this short ’nd sweet. Tomorrow is a really big day. My little brother, Ace Blackstone, is getting married. None of us,” he waved his arm around, “honestly thought Ace would ever settle down. Not because he wasn’t a committed sort of guy, but because it seemed he never slowed down enough to really see who was around him.”
Ace lowered his head. Brooklyn had no idea what was going on in his mind, but she wrapped her arm around his, comforting him all the same.
“He was so busy investigating what was going on in other people’s worlds, that I think he somewhat neglected his own. So…when he told us that he’d proposed to Brooklyn,” he shot her a friendly glance, “we were all elated. We’ve gotten to know her over these past few months, and she is a wonderful woman. I wish…I wish you the very best, little brother.” He raised his Sake cup higher. “Now, you can slow down and smell the flowers. Cheers!” Everyone clapped and shouted, ‘Cheers!’ as Reid sat back down.
Brooklyn swallowed, watching her father stand next. Her mother grinned and winked at her, as if she were in on some secret. Her stomach flipped a bit with trepidation. He could say all sorts of things; she had no idea what to expect. The man cleared his throat, causing the soft chatter to simmer low and cease. He raised his glass of wine in the air.
“Tomorrow, my daughter is getting married.” He smiled a sad smile, his eyes glossed over. “She is no longer a little girl, but an adult. She is a woman, who has met a man whom she has given her heart to. In some ways, I believe I should be thanked for this match-making event.”
The room erupted in laughter.
“Now sure, I had to pay for it, a premium price I might add.”
More laughter came.
“But…they are together nevertheless. Ace, please always love and protect my daughter. I have a feeling that my worries will never be real. I know in my heart, you will do just that…because you’ve already done it a time or two before…”
Ace nodded when the two exchanged knowing looks.
“I used to keep her safe and now, it’s your turn.” Her father gulped as he briefly looked down at the ground. “I’ve…missed some time in your life, but the next chapter of your life I will not. May it be beautiful, blessed and bountiful! Cheers!”
“Cheers!” Everyone shouted, Claudia being the loudest while her father re-took his seat. Brooklyn stared at him a long while, and then, he winked at her, causing her to grin proud and wide.
More and more people stood to speak, telling funny stories and jokes about the couple. The night wore on. Finally, it was Mrs. Blackstone’s turn. Ace’s father helped his mother to her feet. She stood so elegant with her hair wrapped high, a chic black pant suit, and her black, satin slipper covered feet, a gold anklet with a pearl pendant glimmering on her skin. She cradled her empty glass with both hands. The woman scanned the group, a delicate smile on her face.
“I wish to thank all of you for coming out tonight, to have a pre-celebration of the events to follow tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow before noon, son! I want you there at ten sharp! Not a second later, Pierce!”
Everyone burst out laughing when she glared at Pierce, who was notorious for being late to everything.
“What?! I’ll be there on time, Ma!” the man protested.
This only caused more laughter. The woman gave a dramatic grimace, rolled her eyes, then returned to her previously peaceful disposition.
“Seriously though… Ace.” She paused and quickly wiped her eye. “There are no words I could say that would properly describe how elated I am that you’ve found love.”
Ace gripped Brooklyn’s hand a bit tighter as he stared up at his mother.
“When you brought your lovely fiancé to the house on Christmas evening, I could see, without a shadow of a doubt, how much you two loved one another. Everyone could see it. Anyone who knows me is aware I’m protective of my boys, but all of them have grown to be men that I’m proud of. No one is perfect, but there is someone perfect for all of us in this big, wide world. Son, I think you may have believed that I wanted you to be married because, well, that’s what expected and it’s
traditional. Yes, that was part of it, but I know all of my children well, I believe. I knew, Ace, that you needed love in your life. Not just from me, your father, your friends, your brothers and extended family that are all gathered here tonight, but from someone you could share your life with. Out of all of my children, you were the angry one.”
Ace dropped his head.
“And…I loved you for it, because it reminded me of myself.”
He looked back up at her.
“You were angry with a purpose, though some couldn’t see it. You discovered early on that anger got you results. Then, you used that energy, poured it into something positive, and made peoples’ lives better. You’ve brought together long lost lovers, you’ve brought the truth to people, so that they could move on with their lives and heal. Now, you’ve finally done the same for yourself. At one point, well honestly, for the longest, I didn’t think that your profession was good for you. In the last year or so, I realized I was quite wrong. Not only did it bring you your wife,” —she smiled brightly at Brooklyn — “but it brought you to a better understanding of yourself. I am so proud of you, Ace.”
Brooklyn looked at the man she loved; her heart warmed at the sight of his growing smile.
“I look forward to getting to know my daughter-in-law better. Brooklyn, it’s been a delight spending time with you, helping you and your mother plan this wedding these past few months.”
“For me, too…”
The woman gave her an earnest look. “My daughter-in-laws are notjust my daughter-in-laws. They are my daughters… Welcome to the family, Brooklyn. May you and Ace have a wonderful life together. May you grow and all your dreams come true; and most importantly, may you give me more grandchildren as soon as possible, please...”
She took her seat as if her last sentence was nothing more than a mere afterthought, causing everyone to roar with laughter. As people began to speak again, Ace leaned in close and whispered in Brooklyn’s ear, “Tomorrow is too far away…”
