by Sheryl
“Well of course. Our friends, colleagues, relatives, your friends...” Vivek’s mother listed.
“I mean I just wanted a small wedding with close family and friends,” I said softly.
“Beta, it doesn’t look good. There are certain rules we have to follow,” my mother tried to explain.
I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. This was my wedding, my special day. After all these years of being with Vivek, I had so many dreams and wishes of my own. Did none of that matter?
“Ok. Excuse me, I need to use the restroom,” I stood up from the table and went to the powder room.
I locked the door and gripped the sides of the sink. I could feel the tears trickling down my cheeks. I felt so frustrated. This was supposedly the biggest day of my life and I had no say in it. There was nothing I could do.
After a few minutes I heard a knock on the door.
“Jaan, you ok?” It was Vivek.
I wiped away the tears. “I’m fine. Just give me a minute.” I splashed some cold water on my face and quickly dried it.
“Hey,” I said as I opened the door.
“You sure you ok?” Vivek looked at me closely.
“Fine. Just had something in my eye,” I lied.
Vivek wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled his face into my hair. “So now you’re going to start lying to me? We’re not even married yet.”
I hugged him back.
“I know you’re upset. And I’m sorry I can’t do anything about it.”
“It’s not your fault,” I sniffed.
He stroked my hair. His arms felt so different from Chris’s; they were thinner and not as strong. Didn’t feel as supportive.
“Big or small, the important thing is that we’re getting married right?” He looked into my eyes.
Yeah… I guess.
“Come on, you’re better than this. This is just the beginning. You can’t get upset every time we sit and discuss the wedding.”
Or you could take my side?
“I know, I know,” I apologised. Vivek didn’t smell like Chris either. Chris smelt spicy. Risky. Vivek smelt like pot pourri; reminded me of home.
“You have to try to get a grip and learn to control your emotions. Come on, let’s go back.” He kissed the top of my head and led me back to the dining room.
Everyone was still chattering away.
“Hey, your phone’s been going beserk,” Tanu handed it to me.
Weird. Who could be trying to reach me at this time? I had put my phone on silent so it must have been flashing for a while for Tanisha to have noticed it.
Seven missed calls, one voicemail and two text messages.
From: Aimee L.
Time: 4:25 P.M.
Hey! Pick up. Need to talk to you. ASAP.
My phone had been on silent all day because I’d been helping Mom prepare dinner. What could be so urgent? Oh no, I hope everything was ok.
From: Aimee L.
Time: 8:25 P.M.
CANT REACH U! CALL ME!
Crap. I checked the voicemail. It was from Aimee
“Hey Tish it’s me. No idea where you are. So wanted to tell you over the phone but gave up. I’M ENGAGED!!! Ezra proposed to me at lunch today! Call me when you get this!”
Oh. My. God!
34 – ANYA
I was so excited to see Aimee; I couldn’t believe she was engaged! I mean her and Ezra had only been dating for a short while. I guess it had been an exciting Thanksgiving for everyone!
I had flown home for the holiday. Home to Alabama. It was always weird going back – such a stark contrast from the city life I now lived. My parents owned a dairy farm in a small town and I had spent my first twenty-two years there. The schools and college I had gone to were still the same and so were the restaurants, cafes, shops and bars. However now every time I went back I felt like a complete stranger.
The friends I had grown up with still lived there and our lives couldn’t be any more different. It wasn’t that I thought they didn’t lead good lives, in fact, sometimes I wished I had what they did and wondered what would have happened to me had I not left home. All of them were married and most of them had kids. They spent their days taking care of the children and the house and had probably never given thought to a serious career. But they obviously had judgments to pass on those that did.
Every time I went home, I always made sure to take the simple, small town version of myself with me. I only packed woollen sweaters, hoodies, basic jeans and t-shirts or button downs. I refrained from taking my fancy dresses and only took a couple of simple ones. The worst part was leaving behind my pretty shoes and bags and replacing them with plain boots and pumps instead. Although I had nothing to be ashamed of, I didn’t want to turn up looking like a city brat. It was hard enough for my family to accept that I lived so far away and they were constantly worried that I would change drastically.
My one and only older brother John had picked me up from the airport and driven me home. Seeing my parents had been great – it always was. They’re the sweetest couple I know with the most perfect relationship. The kind where my father still brings my mother flowers and she bakes him his favourite pies in return. We spent the whole holiday eating, watching football, catching up and attending the local Thanksgiving market on Saturday. The best part of that weekend had been when John and his wife announced that she was pregnant.
Maria had grown up in the same town as us. John and her had been high school sweethearts and they had gotten married in college. John now worked with Dad while Maria taught at our elementary school. Seeing my parents and my brother so happily married always reinforced my belief in love and encouraged me to keep looking for my true soul mate. But I wasn’t ready to tell them about Andrew yet – Dad and John were both very protective.
Andrew had spent the holiday with his parents. I had missed him a lot but we’d constantly exchanged texts and kept each other updated. He’d even called me once and it felt good that he had bothered keeping in touch. We were going out this week. I couldn’t wait to see him again.
“Hellllo! I’m home!” Eva bustled in through the door.
“Hi! How was your weekend?” I gave her a hug and helped her with her bag. She always seemed to come back with more luggage than she left with.
“Great! Where’s Aimee?” she demanded.
“Not back yet. Can you believe they’re engaged?” I squealed.
“Nuts dude. They’ve barely been together for six months,” she shook her head.
“I guess when you know you know,” I went to the fridge to get a drink.
“Still... Engaged!” Eva shook her head in disbelief.
I found a champagne bottle from Latisha’s birthday. “Hey, I have a brilliant idea – why not open this up when she gets in?” I held up the bottle.
“Yeah sure why not?”
“I think I have some balloons and streamers somewhere from work. We could decorate and surprise her!” I clapped my hands gleefully.
Eva raised an eyebrow, “Seriously?”
“Why not? Come on, it’ll be fun!” I plead.
“Fineee,” she started blowing up the balloons I handed her. We exchanged stories as we worked.
By the time we were done, our living room looked like a haphazard children’s birthday party. I’d really gone through all my art supplies that I kept for work to use during art therapy with the children. Streamers everywhere, balloons on the floor and a large banner made of A4 sheets saying ‘Congratulations’. Even Eva had gotten carried away in the moment and run downstairs to get a last minute ice cream cake from the supermarket.
As a key turned in the lock, Eva and I got ready to jump out.
“Aimeee…you home?” came Latisha’s voice. Damn.
“Hey Tish, its just us,” Eva called out. Latisha and Vivek walked in.
“Hi guys! How was the weekend? Where’s Aimee?” Latisha started excitedly.
“She’s not back yet,” I gave her a hug. “I gue
ss she’s really going to make us pine.”
“See? I told you!” Vivek chided. “Latisha was hopping up and down all weekend. She wanted to come back to see Aimee. I kept telling her that it wouldn’t make a difference because she probably wasn’t home.”
Latisha pulled a face at Vivek. “I’m just so excited for her!”
“What’s all this?” Vivek noticed the décor for the first time.
“A last minute fiesta!” I explained. “Thought we’d surprise her.”
“How cute!” Latisha smiled. “Anything I can do to help?”
I shook my head. “I think we’re done. Just waiting for the bride-to-be now!”
“Well why don’t I heat some of this food up for dinner?” Vivek offered.
“Good idea. Here I’ll help,” Latisha said. They walked towards the kitchen. Eva and I pulled out some plates as we talked and caught up. We summarised our weekends at home and listened as Latisha filled us in on the wedding plans. As I listened to Latisha I couldn’t help but notice that the excitement from her voice was missing. She sounded defeated and matter-of-fact and more than once her and Vivek exchanged tense looks. I guess the planning hadn’t been smooth sailing. I made a mental note to talk to Tish about it in private later.
As soon as we finished laying out the food on the table, Aimee walked in.
35 – AIMEE
“SURPRISEEE!” screamed the girls as we entered the loft. I was taken aback. The entire loft was covered in coloured ribbons and balloons.
“Congratulations!” squealed Anya as they crowded around me and hugged me tight. Ezra smiled and stepped back to give us some space. After thoroughly crushing the air out of me, Anya gave Ezra a big squeeze too. For someone so small she sure was strong!
“Thanks guys,” I said as I caught my breath. Vivek and Ezra exchanged a handshake and a man-hug. “Welcome to the club,” Vivek winked.
“Come, dinner’s ready. Let’s eat and you guys can give us a second by second run through. Phone details definitely do not suffice,” Latisha walked towards the table.
“Wait wait wait! Before that we need to pop this bottle,” Anya retrieved the bottle from the fridge.
I held it out towards Ezra. He smiled and we opened it together. Everyone cheered and clapped. Ezra poured out six glasses.
“To Aimee and Ezra – a beautiful couple beginning a beautiful journey,” Vivek raised his glass. I guess he was making an exception to his no drinking rule.
“Aimee and Ezra!” the rest repeated. I gave Ezra a smile as I took a sip. He winked back. We took our glasses and shifted to the dining table.
The food smelled delicious. I guess Latisha had brought enough leftovers from home. We dug in.
“So start from the beginning and don’t leave anything out,” Anya demanded.
“Well, Friday night after dinner Ezra told me that he was taking me to brunch the next morning. After a tour of the town, he took me to a small French café near his house. We had a French brunch and then for dessert there was a tower of macaroons with a ring box. And he proposed,” I retold.
“Well you told us that…but how did he do it? What did he say?” Anya asked.
I blushed. “He was sweet. I was totally surprised. But I’m not saying anything more!”
Eva let out a whistle. “Even I’m impressed. Good job Ezra!”
Vivek hit him playfully, “way to make me look bad man!”
Ezra laughed. “I was really nervous. I had been planning this for a couple of weeks. Luckily I knew Madame Rogers, the café owner, and she had been really helpful.”
“Oh my God, let me see the rock! I totally forgot about it!” Anya exclaimed.
I held out my left hand. On my ring finger was a beautiful large emerald surrounded by a ring of tiny diamonds.
“It’s stunning,” Latisha praised.
“The emerald matches Aimee’s gorgeous eyes – the ones that caught my attention the first time I saw her,” Ezra explained. Latisha nudged me slightly. I blushed.
“So when are we celebrating?” Eva asked between spoonfuls of rice.
“Well we’re thinking of doing something the weekend just before Christmas. So we have a few weeks to prepare. Then everyone will be gone for the holidays and after that it will have been too long,” Ezra laid out.
“That’s really soon! So much to do and such little time!” Anya squealed.
Tish laughed. “I think you’ve officially taken over Aimee’s role.”
“Where are you thinking of doing this?” Vivek asked.
“My parents insist on hosting the party at the club. It’s a great location plus it’ll be easy for them to organise.” He reasoned.
Strange. I was in such a blissful mood that neither the mention of the club nor Ezra’s parents dampened my spirits.
“How exciting,” Latisha commented.
“Yeah, we’re planning on spending Christmas here with Aim’s mom and then we’ll fly back with her for New Year’s in Paris,” Ezra continued. I grinned. The idea of spending New Years in Paris with both my Maman and Ezra sounded simply parfait.
“She’s coming here?” Eva asked.
“Yeah she’ll be here a week before the engagement party,” I answered. “Ezra’s spoken to her already.”
Ezra laughed. “I think that was the most nerve-wrecking part of the whole proposal. I asked Aimee’s mother for permission to marry her before actually proposing.”
“Wow man, you’ve got guts,” Eva commended.
He really did. Ezra had amazed me with the whole proposal. When I spoke to my Maman she told me that Ezra had called her a few weeks ago and formally asked for permission to propose to me. He told her that ideally he would have spoken to my Dad but since he wasn’t in the picture he was asking her. That’s when he had filled her in on the whole plan and she had decided she would come for the engagement rather than Thanksgiving.
But deep down I knew that hadn’t been the toughest conversation he had regarding our engagement. The hardest part had been convincing his parents. Being the perfect gentleman and loyal son that he was, he hadn’t even told me. I’d badgered him until he had reluctantly admitted to the exchange. That’s what they had been arguing about at dinner Friday night. They had been worried that Ezra had rushed into proposing to me and that I might end up hurting him.
So maybe we had moved a little to fast. We had only started dating this past Spring. I didn’t think or feel about Ezra the way I had felt with Jed – that craziness and intensity was missing. Ezra wasn’t my soul mate and didn’t understand me inside out, upside down. We only saw each other a few times a week and we hadn’t even talked about the future or marriage or kids. I mean at least not seriously – maybe in passing a couple of times.
But I gazed at the man sitting next to me. He loved me. More than anyone ever had or probably could. He wanted to make me his and had faith that the other things would fall into place. Isn’t that what marriage was about? Wasn’t it about having a strong, secure foundation and then building your dream home on it, figuratively and literally?
I had been in what I considered ‘love’ and I knew what happened when that sort of love fizzled out. Maybe it was time to try something different.
36 – EVA
I paced nervously across the living room and readjusted my shirt for the millionth time. Was I really going through with this? Was I really going out on a date with Daniel Hartman?
Daniel had texted me on Tuesday asking me when I was going to ‘make good’ on our bargain. I had told him that I had never agreed to anything and I didn’t owe him anything. He claimed that his ‘tripping’ and my not speaking up had sealed the deal. Damn him for being a lawyer too. I had unwillingly agreed, especially because I still felt bad about the incident at Latisha’s party and he had been so nice about it. It had nothing to do with the way he looked while playing basketball or how his arms had felt around me during our argument at the party.
Or at least that’s what I told myself.
> We had agreed to drinks on a Thursday night, namely because I wanted an excuse to cut the evening short. I had decided I was going to go for drinks and then I would fake yawn and say I had an early day tomorrow. I had even managed to convince him to come meet me at the bar around the corner, so that I could walk to and back.
My phone buzzed. It was him.
From: Daniel Hartman
Time: 10:01 P.M.
Hey… Will be there in 10ish. See you soon ;)
Oh well. Here goes. I took in a deep breath and checked my outfit again. I was wearing a pair of grey leggings, oversized white button down shirt and dark brown UGG boots. Casual and comfortable – how I liked it especially after being in stuffy suits all day long. And I didn’t want him to get the impression that I was dressing up for him.
I saw him as soon as I walked in. How could I miss him? He sat at the bar wearing blue jeans and a red Abercrombie sweatshirt that was unzipped to reveal a white t-shirt. His emerald green eyes behind his glasses were focused on a T.V. screen above the bar. I could easily slip out and he probably wouldn’t notice. I sighed. Should probably just get this over and done with. Besides, I had this sudden urge to touch the sweatshirt; it looked so soft.
I walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around.
“Hi! How was your day?” He gave me a quick side hug and lopsided grin. He smelled of Axe and aftershave.
“Good. How are you doing?” I replied. I was right; the sweater was really soft.
“Great. Just watching the last few minutes of the Lakers game; do you mind? I mean it’s ok if you’re not interested” he quickly added, obviously dying to return his attention to the T.V.
“I don’t mind…I love basketball,” I smiled. I sat down on a stool beside him and took of my jacket. The bartender came to take my order.
“I’ll have a Corona please,” I requested.
Daniel looked at me surprised, “I didn’t peg you for a beer girl.”
“Always quick to judge aren’t you?” I teased.
“Touche.” He smiled. “Basketball, beer…next you’re going to say that you’re into action movies too.”
