Chapter 1114:
Like all battle plans, you can either attack or prepare and wait to be attacked. I had no interest in waiting so I went on the offensive. If I pull it off it could be the stuff of legends, and if it blows up well then it wasn’t meant to be. Retelling this whole ordeal is going to take a little longer than normal and will definitely require me to jump back and forth a little in time. You can also rest assured I had help in this endeavor; a 19 year old ally who provided intelligence, misdirection and misinformation as everything was worked out and set in motion. My second ally was a certain forum member who confirmed that was not a stupid plan after I started having momentary second thoughts. I am not even sure where to begin.
Days in advance I convinced the lady to come with me to a meeting at the firm on Thursday morning, a meeting that could take hours and require follow up activities, so it was prudent for her to just take the day off. I made it clear that money was involved and I wanted to get my affairs in order, inviting her to be part of both. That motivated her in the exact manner I expected it to. I also convinced her that since this is also where I was employed, I wanted to be especially presentable. The lady always seems to dress up and present herself all shiny and bright, but the nicer I appear the more she ups her game. I used to think it was a competition, now I know it’s actually her ‘coordinating’ her look with mine. I also asked the girl to call the dental office last week to make sure no one interfered with her skipping work that day. The last thing I needed was some assistant accidently throwing a dental drill into my plans.
When she was fully adorned and ready to go I complimented her on how beautiful she looked and got one of her coy smiles and a thank you. I escorted her out to the Challenger and as we exited the parking ramp, turning a different way from where she expected to go, I said to her, “We’re not going to the lawyers, please just roll with it”. Of course she wanted to know where we were going, but I just gently hushed her and told her she would find out when we arrived. She told me “no one likes secrets” to which I replied “I am betting that you’ll like this one”. I could sense her becoming excitedly nervous while she continued to grill me for information. Information that was not forthcoming. I could also feel her trying to guess our destination from the path I traveled, so I made sure to not follow a normal route. Eventually it was too late; she figured it out several blocks before we pulled into the supper club parking lot. Yes, that supper club, our supper club, the one where we first met, had our first unofficial date as well as a few subsequent dates.
I parked the car, walked around to open her door, helped her out and escorted her to the front entrance. As we walked she said to me “You know they’re not open this time of day right?” something readily apparent by the lack of cars in the parking lot. I just responded “They are today, they are for us”. I opened the door and held it as she walked inside to find a smiley hostess at the counter and a trail of white and black rose petals leading to ‘our’ table. The hostess said “Thank you for joining us on this special occasion, table for two?” before directing us to walk along the flowers. The room was lit mostly by the sun coming in the windows, but also by two large candles flickering on the table, again one white and one black, surrounded by more rose petals. There was a place card at her seat with her first name written on it in calligraphy and a cloth placemat on her seat. Once we arrived at the table I could almost feel her shaking. I picked up the mat, invited her to take a seat and helped her down. I placed the mat on the floor and kneeled down on it with one knee as the hostess started playing the Elton John song I once sang to her on low volume. As she held back a flood of emotion, as I found myself being more overwhelmed than I expected to be, I presented a black and white diamond ring in a white gold setting. I said with only slight cracking in my voice “Somehow, against all odds, God let me live to see today. I can only think of one reason he would have done that, and that reason is you. Will you marry me?” I instantly understood how the few seconds between her confessing her love for me, and me responding in kind, felt like hours. Time stood still as I waited for a response. The lady was suddenly speechless, stunned by the moment, not because she didn’t know her answer but because she didn’t predict this event and the surprise caught her entirely off guard. She swallowed hard and forced herself to speak, “Of course… yes…” was all she was able to say. Before she fully recovered I asked “Will you marry me, today?” I didn’t think she could look even more surprised, but she did. Then that look turned to one of pure confused joy and submission. “What!? How!? Of course I will!!” I placed the large sparkly ring on her finger and she stared it as I stood up then helped her to her feet. After a long tight embrace and several fast kisses, we turned around as the young hostess handed her a black and white bouquet, said “congratulations!” and stepped out of the way.
This is where I take you back a few steps, actually about 3 maybe 4 weeks. The daughter and I were cooking dinner together and just chatting about this, that and the other thing when she let it slip that her mother had been talking to her about relationships. While the discussion was in the context of the girl and her first serious boyfriend, the lady let it slip that she had been thinking about getting married again ever since having lunch with her father. How it was possible that a bad husband and a bad marriage may not mean the entire institution of marriage should be condemned. She also commented that there was no real difference between a civil union and a marriage, as far as legalities are concerned. The lady also said that every time I asked her to marry me in jest that one weekend, she wanted to shout “YES!” and have it be real. Not all of this info just flowed out, but using my particular set of skills I was able to draw more information out of the girl than she intended to reveal. It seems another component of the conversation was how she would likely have to ask me and was worried that I would say no, as I was also reportedly averse to the very idea of marriage. She thought that perhaps a quiet solitary moment alone would be the right place and sometime around the upcoming holiday season would be the right time. As I had no plans on allowing the lady to take the lead on such a life changing question, I set a plan in motion, a plan that came to fruition at a supper club. A plan aided by the daughter and a well paid hostess who agreed to open the place and stage the event.
Back in the Challenger driving to the next place on the covert itinerary, the lady was smiling from ear to ear. I could tell a thousand thoughts and questions were running through her mind but none of them were coming out of her mouth. She had relegated herself to allowing the upcoming events to unfold naturally and without foreknowledge. She took hold of my right hand and squeezed it three times, as if she was saying “I love you”. I squeezed her hand three times back. Eventually we pulled up behind the daughter’s Audi and exited the car. After a long hug and a short cry, the three of us walked inside the government building and straight to the clerk’s office. There was very little talking as we waited in line for the 25+ minutes. Just before it was our turn at the window, holding hands, I said without looking at her “this is only the legal part, the wedding is next”. She squeezed my hand firmly as the girl suddenly left us. After producing the completed form I picked up a few days back, our identifications and the required fee, we self-solemnized and the clerk congratulated us as she handed us our copies of the legal documents. I folded the paperwork and placed it inside my suit coat as I walked with the lady back outside. I could tell she wanted to stop and hug & kiss me, but I did not stop long enough to allow it to happen. It wasn’t time yet.
We entered the courtyard to see the daughter standing with a small group of people off to the side, all of whom were unfamiliar to the lady sans her off spring. The weather was cool but the sun was shining and everything appeared colorful and bright. Once we arrived at the group the daughter presented a wedding veil attached to a tiara featuring white and black simulated jewels, placing it gently on her mother’s head. A young female employee of a flower shop walked around us tossing mixed black and white rose pedals from a decorative bucket on the ground encircling us, before affixing a matched boutonniere to my jacket. Two men, both with long hair and ample tattoos, produced guitars and waited as the daughter placed her mother to the right of her and me to her left, facing one another. With a veil on her head and a matching bouquet in her hands the lady started to shake again as her child stood at her side holding her own white rose with a black ribbon. A nondenominational pastor, who preached out of a strip mall church, wearing a black scarf adorned on each end with a white and silver cross, walked over to us and placed one hand on each of our shoulders while bowing his head and saying the following prayer:
“Father God, as we gather to celebrate the union of these two hearts, we invite Your presence among us. Bless this ceremony with joy, understanding, and love that reflects Your own. Guide the bride and groom into a future filled with happiness and grace.
May they minimize each other’s weaknesses and be swift to praise and magnify each other’s strengths so that they might view each other through a lover’s kind and patient eyes. Help them every day to be kind and gentle.
May they never take each other’s love for granted but always experience that breathless wonder that exclaims, "Out of all this world, you have chosen me." Then, when life is done and the sun is setting, may they be found then as now, still hand in hand, still very proud, still thanking You for each other.
May this day mark just the beginning of a journey filled with blessings and laughter. In Your holy name, we pray, Amen.”
The pastor then walked back to the group as we paused to remove tears from faces and gather ourselves. As the daughter returned us to our places the two guitarists began to play a harmonious acoustic rendition of The Glory of Love by Peter Cetera that they referred to as “fingerstyle”. While no one sang out loud, I know the lady sang every single word inside her head as the musical chords resonated with all of us. A few onlookers had joined us in the process and the crowd got a little bigger each step of the way.
When the song was complete I took both of the ladies hands and looked into her eyes as I began to offer my vows. “It seems like forever since I knelt down and proposed to you”, an opening line that resulted in a burst of laughter from the lady and her daughter while the rest of the crowd failed to comprehend the humor. “This is all I ask of you; give me your worst—give me your bad days, your long commutes, your spilled coffee, your dirty dishes, angry outbursts, lost keys, annoying employees, missing receipts, and disgusting tuna pasta pea salads. Give me every day of your life and I will give you all my love to make them bright.” I leaned down and kissed her left hand where her already adjoined wedding and engagement ring were prominently on display.
The daughter then handed her mother a small box to open, inside was a cheap gunmetal grey silicone wedding band. The lady took the ring out of the box, laughed and said under her breath “this is only going to be temporary” and took my left hand as the daughter picked up a small stack of 10x12 cue cards we had prepared earlier in the week and whispered instructions into her mom’s ear. The lady read them one at a time as the daughter dropped them on the ground.
They said:
“I love you with my whole heart…
with a passion that can't be expressed in words…
only in kisses, glances, and future years by your side.”
“I promise to be your honest, faithful, and…
loving wife for the rest of my days.”
<PUT THE RING ON HIS FINGER>
On cue, laughing and crying at the same time, the lady slid the silicon band onto my ring finger as the guitarists began to play another acoustic cover, this time John Legend’s All of Me. I have to interject here that for two guys I found online a few weeks ago, who were willing to learn, show up and play a few songs for what I paid them, they were incredible. Their renditions of the requested songs were spot on and I don’t recall hearing a single mistake. Plus every time they played, it seemed like a few more people walked over to see what was going on.
At the signal of our 19 year old wedding coordinator / maid of honor, the pastor walked back up between us and loudly proclaimed “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” followed by “Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr. and Mrs. [names]. You may now kiss the bride.” And of course I did, deeply and passionately, as the now crowd of maybe 15-20 people applauded and whistled.
Next up was the cupcake woman, a small time caterer who I also found online. In exchange for the promise of a fair digital review, payment in full and a bonus she did not request but happily received, she appeared with a pull-cart featuring her colorful business logo and contact information, along with a sign that said “Congratulations to the Mr & Mrs”. Inside the wagon were cardboard boxes full of cupcakes decorated in white and black frosting. I ordered 10 dozen cupcakes and instructed her to hand them out to anyone and everyone in the area. The same thing I had the flower girl do with the remaining white roses.
The guitarists, who also put out a sign at this point with the name of their band and contact info, began playing a variety of familiar love songs. There was of course some hugging, kisses, handshakes, congratulations, chomping on little cakes and onlookers just arriving who had no idea what just took place but saw cupcakes being handed out and music being played. I thanked everyone for coming, the daughter for her help, and praised those who assisted us, paid or otherwise. Then I announced that we had to go, but to feel free and continue the celebration.
I took the lady by her hand and walked her and her daughter to our vehicles as the crowd again offered a round of applause. I opened the trunk to reveal a pre-packed overnight bag for myself and for the lady, and then pulled out a box wrapped in silver paper with a white bow and handed it to the girl. I hugged her and thanked her again for all her help; in return she kissed me and said “I set the bar pretty high” for her future husband. What she would find later, when she opened the box, was a white and greenish-blue diamond bracelet, pendant and earrings from the same collection as her mother’s ring, the colored diamonds being a close approximation to the color of her eyes and her mother’s eyes for that matter. The ladies hugged one another and shared a moment before the daughter got into her car and I opened the door for the lady to get into ours. Yeah, I just typed “ours” but we all know Charlene and I have something special that transcends mere ownership.
The first words out of the lady’s mouth were “Well that was a hell of a morning.” Then she interrogated me all about the event and the planning that lead up to it. That was followed by a laundry list of things she has to accomplish in the very near future. Things like name changes, wills, insurances, finances, and more etceteras than I want to be involved in. She seemed about as excited for all that fun as she did about our nuptials. As we drove down the road she asked if we were going heading to the airport and jetting off somewhere. I told her “No, we’re heading out to lunch, and then we are checking into a hotel. The airplane will have to come later.”
The restaurant we went to featured an open air heated dining area on the roof of a tall building and promised romance and “cozy vibes”. Of course reservations were made, specific on-theme table decorations provided, and the staff promised a healthy tip to make sure everything went well. When we walked up to the host he immediate said, per the script, “Ah yes, Mr. & Mrs. Marsh, thank you for joining us today”. She instantly squeezed my arm firmly while letting out a near giggle at hearing the words. We were not in a hurry and our dining experience was not rushed. We did not eat a lot, ordering a few share plates and drinking a sparkling wine that cost more than the two guitarists did, but we enjoyed every moment of this time together. And eventually the time arrived for ‘check in’ at our next stop.
While I considered that low-cost budget hotel we first experienced repetitive intimacy in, for this special occasion I decided our first night as husband and wife required something special, perhaps even opulent. The kind that comes from a 100+ year old palace that has housed many presidents, heads of states, and celebrities of all kind. A hotel is that is arguably the nicest in the entire state. Our incredible multi-room retro suite was once occupied by the Beatles and featured a vintage jukebox full of their hit songs and some deeper tracks. The perfect choice for a lady who loves classic pop and rock music from the 1960’s through the 1980’s. More importantly this was a hotel with exceptional service and could provide absolutely everything we needed from afternoon tea, live jazz music, fine dining, spa treatments, room service and more. While it was only a couple nights, it was incredibly special, intimate and will linger in our memories for a very long time. And that’s all I’m going to offer up about that.
So yeah, we’re married. It was very small, it was very public, it was very fast and as far as we’re concerned; it was legendary.
