Love Is The Message

L-O-V-E is the Message

"Once again, thank you for agreeing to come with me to this wedding as my plus one. I know it’s not your usual first date.”

“Shhhh, the bride’s about to walk down the aisle.”

Blake nodded his head & leaned back. Cecily turned & gave him a coy smile before returning her attention to await the bride's grand entrance.

They were here, because in a moment of loneliness, he’d decided to download a dating app but it had been his good luck that his 1st match was with Cecily. It had been his bad luck that while they were getting to know one another, the job he’d forgotten about applying for had come through, relocating him to the West Coast. Even though he’d moved nearly five months prior, they’d kept in touch & he’d asked her to accompany him to Stephen’s wedding.

Very subtly, Cecily reached over to hold Blake’s hand. Fortunate is how she felt to finally meet Mr. Tall, Dark & Handsome, having had to move from Ponca, Nebraska to do so, only to find out that he was moving to Los Angeles in order to head the journalism department at UCLA. She’d always figured that by now she’d be married, living in the suburbs in a two-story house with a white picket fence, 2.7 kids & a dog, you know, the average American dream. What’s that saying, the way to make God laugh is to make a plan? Maybe, just maybe, he was planning to sprinkle her with sunshine & was going to use Blake to do so. Turning slightly, she gave him another coy smile.

As the bishop was speaking on how he’d known the couple since childhood & just before Dominique & Stephen began to recite their wedding vows, both Cecily & Blake took a moment to look around the church so as not to be caught staring at the other. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, with its cornerstone being laid in 1858 & opening its front doors in 1879, was, in a word, and so much more than, beautiful. From its 21 altars, 19 bells & more than 2,800 stained glass panels, the edifice commanded reverence, admiration, awe, respect & more, often inspiring visitors to envision their own nuptials being held there.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Almost as if on cue, a beam of sunshine burst through the clouds & hit the stain-glassed panels directly behind the altar, illuminating those standing there.

“Family, friends, honored guests, please help me to introduce & celebrate for the first time, Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Wallingford.”

Soft applause sounded in the sanctuary as the wedding party began to take their cue from the photographer & arrange themselves around the bride & groom to begin taking official wedding pictures.

“So, what do we do now?”

“We can continue watching the wedding party taking pictures or we can make our way to the Russian Tea Room for the reception.”

“Please, lead the way.”

“Do you want to call another Uber?”

“It’s such a beautiful fall afternoon & it is such a short distance, let’s walk. That'll allow us to have a little more time to talk, to continue getting to know each other.”

“Okay, what would you like to talk about?”

“I’m curious, & if I’m being nosy, excuse me & I apologize. How do you know the groom?”

“Stephen & I have been best friends since 3rd grade, ever since I took the heat for him putting a frog in Olivia Hardy’s dress. She turned to smack him, I pushed him behind me & took the blow.”

Laughing hysterically, Cecily took her hand & placed it on Blake’s jaw.

“Awww, why would you do that?”

“She may have been new to the school, but she & I were neighbors and had played together before; I knew that she could pack a wallop, so, I stepped in to help him out.”

“If you two are best friends, why weren’t you his best man, or at least in the wedding party?

“Stephen was his brother’s best man when he got married, & Silas campaigned hard for Stephen to return the favor when he got engaged. I didn’t want to be the reason for a riff between the brothers, so I graciously declined when I was asked. Plus, it would have been rude to ask you here as my date & pull best man duties also.”

Okay, a man thinking of the two of you of as a couple when making future plans was always a good sign as per all the magazines she’d read, but before she could start quietly humming the wedding march & begin to mentally plan their standing in front of the altar, Blake asked her a question.

“You’ve finished your first complete season here. How’d you enjoy the summer?”

“It’s a different kind of heat here. In Ponca, the wide open spaces allows the heat to blow over you extremely quickly. Here, the heat bounces off the buildings as you walk by & clings to you for the rest of the day. That’s quite an adjustment to have to make.”

“Now I’m going to forever envision yellow balls, looking like enlarged grains of pollen, clinging to everyone as they walk down & around. Quite a way with words you have.”

“That is quite the compliment from someone who makes their living with words. Thank you.”

This time it was Blake who took Cecily’s hand as they continued their stroll.

“I don’t mean to come across as chauvinistic, and I apologize if I do, but how did you ever become interested in designing cars? That seems so fascinating.”

“Apology accepted. Actually, the seed was planted by my Mother. My father died before my 1st birthday so Mom became a single parent to my three sisters & myself. She has always taken pride in the fact that she raised us to explore our different interests, not viewing them nor teaching us to view them as being either feminine or masculine. That interest helped me to secure a part-time job as a mechanic at our local car dealership while still in high school & I was able to parlay that into a college scholarship to attend the University of Nebraska, earning a degree in industrial design. I did an internship which led to getting my foot in the door at General Motors & I’ve been with the company ever since. Now I owe you an apology; sometimes I get so enamored talking about work that I dominate the conversation.”

“Apology not needed. Your explanation shows your passion & love for what you do. Each of us should be lucky enough to have such.”

“I never looked at it like that; thank you once again.”

As they continued to make their way to the Russian Tea Room, genuinely enjoying the fall weather & each other’s company, the opening strains of ‘Arthur’s Theme’ was heard softly drifting from a nearby piano. Holding Cecily’s hand a little tighter, he pulled her in close so they could dance along to the tune.

Being so enraptured with the moment, Blake & Cecily closed their eyes as they continued to sway in time to the music. Once the song ended, the sound of applause caused them to open their eyes, noticing that passerbys had stopped to watch their impromptu dance. Taking a moment to be surprised, they bowed to the crowd & continued on their way to the reception.

Far too quickly, they reached their destination.

“Good evening & welcome to the Russian Tea Room. I am Yuri, the head maître d’. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes. 7PM, party of 2, Ms. Cecily Edgarton & Mr. Blake Garrett.”

“Yes Sir, I see this was confirmed online, thank you. Please, follow me to your table.”

Yuri indicated for the couple to follow him & Cecily began to ask Blake about the reservation.

“I’ll explain once we sit.”

Cecily nodded her head & continued to follow along.

As the couple looked around, it seemed as if they were being led to a corner booth with bouquets of peonies as placeholders, lit tealight candles & two Waterford crystal wine glasses, turned down but awaiting the bottle of Le Dome Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, 2009 placed between them.

“Is this to your liking, Mr. Garrett?”

“Yes, thank you, Yuri.”

Ever the gentleman, Blake allowed Cecily to sit before sitting himself.

“Here are your menus. Would you like me to open your bottle of wine for you?”

“If you would, thank you.”

Blake & Cecily continued to look around the restaurant & the other patrons while Yuri opened the wine & poured them each a glass.

“I’ll allow you to look over the menu for a few moments.”

Both Blake & Cecily said “thank you” as Yuri gave a small bow and turned to leave the table.

“Blake?” Cecily quietly asked.

As he handed Cecily her glass, he responded.

“I made a private reservation for us because I wanted to be able to enjoy our date without everyone asking where have I been, why I wasn’t in the wedding party, etc… & bombarding you with questions. I asked you your favorite type of wine so that I could order it for our date & was told by a close friend that this was an outstanding merlot. I hope that we’re each able to say that once we’ve tasted it & that you'll think I’ve made a great first impression.”

Cecily looked into the beautiful brown eyes of the man sitting next to her & then to the restaurant & table, thinking of all the effort that he’d gone through, solely for her benefit & enjoyment.

Clinking glasses & just before she tasted the wine, she flashed a megawatt smile & said to Blake “It’s going to be really hard to top all of this for our 2nd date, but I'm definitely game.”