by Ford, Mia
“Well, my staff can guarantee the guest list and make sure that all of the food and beverages are done, the music taken care of, and the travel arrangements for all of our guests are ready to go. It’s a lot of work to coordinate. Plus, if they call from me and give them some extra cash, it will make all of this go much more smoothly.”
Cora rolled her eyes. “I don’t think money should be able to buy you anything you want.”
“It can’t”, I said. “But it can buy the wedding of your dreams.”
I smiled ear to ear and Cora laughed with me.
We sat there a while longer discussing the possible themes and making some plans about what we wanted to go over with the planner when we met with them in a few days.
I found my mind drifting off to the weekend before, when I’d gotten down on one knee to propose to my beloved. I’d taken her to La Playa, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Cincinnati. I wasn’t sure if it was too soon to propose, but I’d been thinking about it constantly since Cora and I had gotten back together. It just seemed like the next logical step. We both agreed that we loved each other and we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. Nothing was going to stop that. I knew that we worked in different places, but realistically I could work from just about anywhere and if I had to make some long drives, then I was willing to do that.
I waited until after we’d finished our meal and our dessert before I decided to officially pop the question. There had been a lot of hard thought on my part about the best way to do it. At first I thought about something wild and flashy, but then I decided that a more traditional approach might work better. But at the same time, I wanted it to be bold and romantic.
So, I eventually decided that I would propose in front of everyone at the restaurant. This had the potential to backfire and embarrass the hell out of Cora, but that would only make it all the sweeter, in my opinion. But then again, I’ve never been accused of being the most romantic guy around.
“Cora, I have a bit of a surprise for you,” I said.
Cora’s sweet face lit up. She leaned forward and looked into my eyes, her face brimming with curiosity.
“What might that be?” She purred.
“I’ve missed you so much since the day you left my life. I never thought I’d ever love someone the way I love you and once you were a part of my life, I knew without a doubt that you were the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. When we were torn apart, I hardly had the will to go on. I knew I would never allow love to enter my heart again.”
“Honey…” Cora said. I could see her chin quivering as she fought back tears. Did she know what was coming? Or were my words that touching? I was just speaking from the heart and I wanted her to know what she meant to me. I didn’t care about anything else in the world, but her. All the money and the status—they could take it all from me, but if I had her I would always consider myself the richest man on earth.
I got down on one knee and pulled the box out of my pocket. The look on Cora’s face was priceless. Her eyes were tearing up, her jaw had dropped wide open, and she was quivering all over with excitement.
“OH MY!” Cora gasped.
I opened the box and held the ring up to her. “Cora Blair, will you do me the privilege of being my wife?” I asked. I had gotten the words out of my mouth. That was the hardest part. I’d been questioning it a bit. I had never been so nervous, so excited, and felt so weak before in my life. I knew with one word Cora could shatter me into a million pieces. Would she?
“Yes! Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” Cora shouted rising to her feet.
She’d said it. She said yes… It was happening. I was going to marry Cora Blair. The thing I wanted most in my life was actually going to happen.
I wanted to stand up, but I was too weak in the legs. And then Cora held out her hand for me to put the ring on her finger. I remembered that I wasn’t quite done with this part. My mind was feeling a bit dispersed and disconnected at the moment.
I placed the ring on her finger and then stood up as Cora fell into my arms and smothered me with hard kisses. The other patrons in the restaurant began clapping and cheering.
It was like something out of a movie. I wasn’t sure how I was still standing. My body felt so weak. I just wanted to lay down with Cora and hold her. I wished right then that we were alone, the world could just fall away from us and we could shoot off to some far away land where we had no responsibilities, no one pulling at us for our time and attention, and definitely no one trying to tell us why we shouldn’t be together. It was a nice, warm little fantasy.
Afterwards we went home and we made sweet love all night long. And now we were moving forwards with the wedding plans. It was all happening so quickly, but not quickly enough in my opinion.
“So, do you really want to wait until June?” I asked.
“Well, this hotel is booked several months ahead. You won’t get in any sooner. It doesn’t matter who you are,” Cora teased.
“I don’t want to wait that long,” I said.
“You’ve waited four years; I think you can wait a few more months.”
“Or we could just elope,” I said.
The second the words were out of my mouth I wanted to take them back. Had I really just suggested that? I was prepared for Cora to tell me I was crazy and that she would never do that, but to my surprise she suddenly seemed interested.
“Are you serious?” Cora asked.
“Yeah, why not?” I replied. As I thought about it, the idea did not seem that crazy anymore.
“You would want that?”
“Well, I was thinking that we could get married that way, and then we could still have the actual wedding ceremony in June and do everything that we were planning. I think it’s a great plan.”
“It just might work,” Cora said. “And by the way, I’ve been giving it some thought. Don’t try to talk me out of it, but I’m quitting my job. I’m leaving Columbus.”
I didn’t know quite what to say. I let the information hit me for a moment and I waited to see if Cora had anything to follow up with. I didn’t want to interrupt her though, but I wanted her to know how concerned and interested I was.
“Ok,” I said. “I thought you loved your job? You are really building a strong career there. I’m pretty flexible. I can go wherever. We can buy something in Columbus. I’m not that picky.”
“No,” Cora said. “I don’t want you to change a bunch of stuff for me. This is what I want to do; I want to work with you.”
I was amazed, and so happy to hear what Cora was saying.
“Really? You don’t think that will be weird? I’ve heard that couples who are together all the time can start to annoy each other a bit.”
“Well, I will have my own office,” Cora said. “And my own team. If you think it is in the budget.”
“Oh, it’s in the budget. We have plenty of room for expansion and this definitely qualifies. So we are good.”
“Great,” Cora said. “I would have had to slave away for a few years at least to hope to have anything of the sort with my current job.”
“If it makes you happy,” I said. “Then it is going to make me happy.”
Cora kissed me softly on the lips.
“So, when are we eloping?” Cora asked.
I kissed her again and then smiled sweetly at her. It was all so perfect. Finally.
We were packed and ready to go on the jet four hours later. Vegas, here we come.
Chapter 27
Cora
I walked into the offices of Salenge feeling a bit out of place. I’d taken a long weekend and told everyone I was sick, even though I was actually in Portsmouth enjoying my time with Landon. We’d decided to elope. We were really going to do it. I couldn’t have been more ecstatic.
I was going to be Cora Glatt now. I was going to officially change my name to the man that I loved, that I was spending my life with, whose children I was going to have—and I was about to embark on a be
autiful transition to an amazing new career as well. My life finally felt like it was on track.
And it was so strange that I’d thought I was where I wanted to be before. Just a few short weeks prior, I was working hard at a company I loved, had a boyfriend who was great to me, and I had a wonderful relationship with my parents. But somewhere inside, I felt totally empty. There was something missing and I hadn’t let myself realize exactly what it was. But it was the same thing that had been missing the past four years.
How did I allow myself to forget? It was astounding how much control we had over our own mind and how we could actually push things away from our conscious thoughts, and bury them below. I was looking forward to a new horizon. I was finally getting the life that I wanted, the life I deserved.
I entered the building and walked to the elevator, barely saying hello to the front desk receptionist. I’d never cared for her and her sour puss attitude anyway and now I was not going to have to deal with it any longer.
I rode the elevator to the eighth floor and began the long trek down the hallway towards Daniel’s office. This was not going to be an easy conversation and it wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but I felt like I was almost getting good at the tough talks.
But still, as I walked down that long hallway with a friendly smile on my face and nodding to everyone that I passed, I kept hoping that I didn’t run into Pete. He had not taken the breakup well, and knowing him and the kind of ego he had, it wouldn’t have surprised me in the least if he had taken the liberty to tell everyone some tall story about our breakup so that he looked good and I looked like the princess of evil.
Seriously, what had I ever seen in him? I’d known and avoided his type all my life, yet at some point I guess I just felt that we deserved each other. I was playing a part, a part that I didn’t really want. And now that role was over.
I knocked on Daniel’s door and when he answered I entered his large office and closed the door behind me.
“Cora, it’s lovely to see you this morning,” Daniel said. “I was just about to congratulate you on a job well done. That project in Portsmouth is moving along perfectly. I was actually about to call you in later today to discuss adding you to oversee the entirety of the future constructions.”
“Wow, that means a lot to me, Daniel,” I said. “I appreciate the faith and everything that you’ve done for me.”
“No problem at all. You’ve earned it.”
“That makes what I’m about to say that much harder,” I said.
Daniel looked confused. “I don’t understand.”
“I am turning in my resignation,” I said.
Daniel’s face practically hit the floor. “What are you talking about?”
“I have to resign,” I said. “Something else has come along and I can’t say no to it.”
Daniel sat back in his chair, his eyes scanning my face trying to figure me out. He crossed his arms and then folded them the other way. I had genuinely boggled his mind with this news. I hated to toot my own horn, but I knew that Daniel would be very sorry to see me go. It was going to be tough to find another employee who could do things the way I did, and that he could get with a new associates salary.
“Wow, I don’t understand,” he said. “Is it the money? Oh, we can talk money.”
“It’s not the money,” I said. “And trust me-- you couldn’t come close to the money I’ll be making. It’s about what is best for me and my future. I have to do this. I want to do this. In fact, I can’t wait to get up and going with it.”
Daniel threw his hands up and let out a sigh. Then he placed his hands behind his head. “Wow, I wish I could change your mind. I got to say, this has really come out of the blue here.”
“I know it has,” I said. “And I’m sorry.”
“Ok, well I appreciate your honesty. We will start looking for your replacement, but replacing you is going to be very difficult.”
“Thank you for all of the opportunities,” I said.
I left his office feeling great about myself. I felt a bit bad that I wasn’t giving him a two-week notice. If I was going to anywhere else, I probably would have because it always looked better, but I was too excited to start my new life.
So, I grabbed a few boxes from an empty store room, and went to my office to begin packing up all of my stuff. When I was almost done a knock came at my door.
“Come in,” I said.
The door opened and Pete stood there. He entered my office and closed the door quietly behind him. At first, I thought he might apologize for the childish way he was handling things, but he made it very clear by his body language that he was there to get something off his chest and probably make matters worse.
“So, that’s all she wrote, huh?” Pete asked in his cocky way.
“What do you want Pete? I’m busy.”
“Oh, I know that. You got to start being Mrs. Rich Girl. Living it up. I hear that.”
“This side of you is not attractive,” I said.
“Well, no sides of me were attractive enough to keep you interested, apparently,” Pete said. “Or was it because my wallet isn’t big enough?”
“Get out of my office,” I said. “I’m done with you.”
“Oh, it’s not your office anymore, is it?” Pete asked. “Didn’t you just officially quit? Boy, I bet you blew Daniel’s mind. In the time you worked here, did you blow anything else of Daniel’s, by any chance?”
Pete giggled.
“You’re a pig. How the hell did I not see it sooner?”
“Oh, I’m the pig? But you are the one who is using your money maker to climb the corporate ladder. Guess you finally found someone at the top and you can just bypass it all now. Is that the deal?”
“What is your problem? You can’t handle that it didn’t work out with us? I’m sorry if I hurt your little feelings, but you are just going to have to tough it out.”
“Oh, that’s nice and cold,” Pete said. “Yeah, that’s hysterical. You think you are so much better than me—than all of us—well, you’re wrong. And soon this rich guy will get tired of you and you will come crawling back to our world, but I think you’ll be unpleasantly surprised to see how many doors come slamming shut in your face.”
I laughed. “Wow, you are really sad. I didn’t know you had this much vengeance in your spirit.”
I ignored Pete and continued packing up my belongings. I was just finishing up cleaning out my bottom drawer when I realized that Pete was now standing very close to me.
“I really cared about you,” Pete said. “And we could have had a nice life together. Instead, you go and throw it all away like this? On what? Some fancy, rich guy and his empty promises?”
“You don’t know the first thing about him, and you don’t know the first thing about me,” I said. “That’s why this is over.”
I grabbed the box and left the office, leaving Pete there to stew about things. Wow, I’d never met such an arrogant jerk in all my life. I shuddered to think what could have happened if I’d actually married him. He was acting like a child.
As I left the office and got into my car, I saw several people giving me strange looks. I wanted to yell at them and ask them what they were thinking, but I knew what they were thinking. Pete had just spelled it out. Yeah, they all knew why I was leaving, even though I hadn’t told anyone but Pete. He’d gotten out there and told everyone to save his own ego, just as I’d suspected. It was laughable to me now. I was happy. I was moving on to a happier place and everyone else was really jealous, and petty.
I was not a gold digger. I was not marrying Landon for his money. I’d never needed a man to take care of me financially. I was ambitious, driven, and I had a lot to offer the world. I was marrying the man I loved, period. Everyone else could just think whatever they wanted to about it. That was their problem and I wasn’t going to let it bother me.
But as I drove along, some of their words did hit home. I knew how things looked to everybody, and I was
going to use some of Landon’s wealth and connections to further my own career, but that was not my motivation for marrying him. I would have married him if he made minimum wage. I didn’t care about his job.
At least that’s what I tried to tell myself. But by the time I got back to my house I was not so sure. Dammit. I was letting people make me second guess myself. I needed some advice.
“I’m sorry I never told you that Landon came to visit,” Miley said. I called her the moment I got home. I’d decided to call her since I hadn’t talked to my best friend all week and I really needed to hear a friendly voice right now.
“I know you were just doing what I asked,” I said. When I’d decided to cut Landon out of my life completely, I made all of my friends promise not to tell me if he tried to speak to them, and to not talk to him at all. They were to shut him out the same way I did. Looking back, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d been a bit immature about the whole thing. I should have taken some time and then just handled things in person as they came up. Instead I let my parents manipulate me into something stupid. I was so mad at myself, but I was mostly angry at them. They’d be so lucky if I ever spoke to them again. Maybe one day I’d surprise them by showing up on their doorstep with their first grandchild. Then they’d have no choice but to accept Landon and I being together.
“So, tell me again about this jerk at your office,” Miley said. She sounded busy.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” I asked.
“No, I’m just cooking myself some dinner.”
“You are actually cooking? Or are you popping something frozen into the oven?”
Miley laughed. “Very funny. Well, I’m cooking some pasta.”
“Ah, that counts I guess. Anytime you have to boil water, I consider it cooking.”
“Yes, I’ve become a budding chef since you last saw me,” Miley said.
“Great, you can come down here and cook for me. It’s been too long since I’ve seen you,” I said.
“Yes, but the veterinarian gig does not rest. Pets keep getting sick. It’s bad for them, but good for business.”
