Chapter 20
Wedding Preparations
It was Sunday afternoon when we arrived at Jake’s parents’ house. We got a warm welcome home. Jake had me use his room while he took up residence in Nick’s room. I unpacked, started laundry, and gave Sandy and Bobby their gifts. My fiancé was fast asleep on Nick’s bed when I went to check up on him. Kissing his forehead and placing the blanket on him, I closed the door, wondering what I should do next.
Sleep did not seem to be a part of my plan tonight so I went downstairs to the kitchen and started making croissants for breakfast. Knowing that the dough needed to rise, I started early in order to have it ready for Jake when he left for his 6:00 a.m. surgery. After mixing the dough I let it sit as Sandy came over to the barstool and chatted with me about life in the Reid household during my five-month absence.
“Emily, Bobby, and I are both so relieved you and Jake are back together. I wish I could have videotaped Jake’s mood swings while you were gone. It felt like we were living with a depressed teenager.” She laughed as she went into specifics about Jake’s behavior.
Bobby came over and joined our conversation as Sandy started her lively stories. “Right after you left, Jake was so distraught we didn’t know what to do with him. Here was a grown adult suffering like a little child. He disappeared for about a week, and only through Laney did we find out that he was searching for you in Japan. When he returned unsuccessful, he barely spoke to us or anyone else for that matter.”
“I’m sorry you had to suffer along with us.” I gave them my most apologetic look.
“Well, it got better once he got your letter. He smiled and spoke again like a normal human being. Then came the angst-filled days of waiting for more letters that never came.”
“Yeah, it got ugly again when you didn’t write to him anymore.” Bobby laughed. “Poor Jane and Nick. Jake hounded them daily, asking them if they had received one of your letters. Jane would scan your letter and e-mail it to Jake even before she got a chance to read it.”
Sandy chuckled along with Bobby. “What about Nick? Jake forced him to drive your letter over whenever he got one. Oh, and then there was the birthday card and present you sent to our house.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Because he had been so full of melancholy, I threw him a birthday party on the day of his birthday to cheer him up. He protested but seemed to be having a decent time with all his friends and relatives. In the middle of the party, the mailman came with your card and gift. Jake was thrilled!” Sandy started the story, and Bobby chimed in to finish.
“We saw him open the card, but he instantly disappeared. Sandy and I went up to see what he was doing and we found him at his desk crying.” This revelation immediately brought tears to my eyes.
Sandy continued, “I hadn’t seen him cry since grade school. Jake explained to us about your birthdays, and how it grieved him to think about you being alone on your birthday. He deeply loves you, Emily. I’ve never seen him so affected by anyone as he has been with you.” Sandy had suffered seeing her son so badly hurt.
I hugged Sandy. “I love him with all my heart, too. I promise I’ll take good care him.”
“Anyhow, the party was pretty much over, and Jake was in a foul mood the rest of the time till he found you again.” Bobby finished the story. “Not till you left him, did I realize how much of a sulker my son could be.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen firsthand Jake’s childish tantrums when he doesn’t get his way. Although, to be honest with you, I find it adorable.” A grin marked my face.
“Only you find it cute. The rest of us find him to be a pain.” Sandy shook her head. “He was a mess. You need to take him off our hands. We cannot live with Jake, without you now.” The three of us shared a hearty laugh.
After our conversation, I went upstairs and checked my e-mail. There were eighty-seven e-mails waiting for my response. Half of them were junk, but the other half I needed to answer immediately. Many of my students from Japan e-mailed telling me how much they missed me, and asked when I would come back and teach them again. The feeling was mutual, but truth be told, I wouldn’t trade my life with Jake right now for anything or anybody. While online, Sarah and Max began chatting with me, and we set up a dinner date for tomorrow night.
Looking at the time, I rushed back downstairs and lightly floured the huge marble island. I shaped the dough into a rectangle and covered it with a plastic wrap and placed it back into the fridge. While waiting for the dough to rise again, I surveyed Jake’s room and cleaned up all the clutter lying around. I rearranged his closet, refolded his clothes in the dresser drawers, and ironed all the washed, but wrinkled scrubs. Jake had also thrown around his watches in the jewelry drawer so I rolled them back up and put them in their proper place. His cuff links got the same treatment. Color coordinated, the ties hung neatly, and the belts hung right next to them. The men’s department at Neiman’s didn’t look this good. The type A side of me shined tonight. After two hours, I was finally satisfied with the closet makeover.
The dough was probably ready to be laminated so I went back to the kitchen. Unwrapping the dough and placing it back on the floured surface, I rolled it out, folded and refolded with insane amounts of butter. I hoped Sandy wasn’t planning on using this butter anytime soon because it was all consumed. I cut the dough into triangles and made a third of them plain, a third had chopped Callebaut dark chocolate, and a third had almond paste and sliced almonds in them. They looked delicious sitting on the baking sheet while the oven warmed to 425 degrees.
Jake ran downstairs in his bathrobe looking a bit frazzled.
“What’s the matter?”
“I came looking for you in my bedroom, but you weren’t there so I got worried.”
“Did you think your bride got cold feet and ran away?” What a ridiculous thought.
Jake’s wrinkled face smoothed out as he came over and squeezed his arms around my body.
“Good morning, Beautiful.”
“Good morning. You fell asleep at four in the afternoon, yesterday. Are you well rested?”
“Yeah. I feel good. Did you sleep at all last night? I noticed that you ransacked my room, then put it back together in a scary way. Are you normally this neurotic?”
“No. I hope you don’t mind. I couldn’t sleep so I kept myself busy between your room and these croissants.” Though I hated to pull myself away from the love of my life, the croissants were ready to go into the oven. “You have a moment? I need to ask you something.”
“OK. Shoot.”
“My tenant e-mailed saying that her job will keep her in LA one more year. She wanted to know if she could lease my house during that time. What should we do?”
“If you don’t mind her staying another year, we could move into my house in the valley. We’ll kick everyone out and refurnish it.”
“Well, I was thinking of asking your parents if we could stay here for a year. You know I grew up lonely, and I like the thought of living with your parents. Would you mind?”
“I’m OK, but are you sure? Jane and Nick might move back in for a while too.”
“I’d love nothing more than a big family.”
Jake smiled and hugged me again, partly because he appreciated my love for his family, and partly because he felt sad when I talked about loneliness. I hugged him back.
“Go change. I’ll have breakfast ready for you.” I sent him back upstairs and began laying out my spread.
The Sub-Zero fridge had a variety of vegetables so breakfast included a veggie omelet in addition to the croissants. Jake came down in his scrubs, ready for work. He sat on the bar stool around the island and I handed him the veggie omelet, a variety of croissants, and French pressed coffee. Moving into Bobby and Sandy’s home was most definitely a good idea. We felt like a married couple already.
As Jake ate, we heard the door open, and Nick’s voice boomed across the large living room and into the dining room. “What is this delic
ious smell?”
“Nick,” I exclaimed, walking over to hug him.
“Hi, Sis. How was your trip? You’ve gotten prettier since I last saw you in New York!”
“You’re such a charmer. I guess when personality genes were handed out, they all went to you?”
“Not just personality, looks and brain as well. I don’t know what my siblings got. I obviously got all the best.” All three of us laughed at his humor.
“What are you doing here so early in the morning?” we both asked.
“I’m off on a camping trip, and I needed my hiking boots. I see I came at the right time. These croissants are delicious.” He took another mouth full.
“Emily baked these just now,” Jake proudly declared.
“No way, from scratch? How long did this take you?” Nick seemed pleased to have another cook in the house.
“I’ve been working on them since yesterday. Take some for your trip. I’ll pack them up for you. Do you want some coffee as well?”
“You’re the best, Sis. I think I’ll move back in the house if you’re cooking.”
Nick’s loud voice woke up Bobby and Sandy and they, too, raved about the croissants. Sandy and Bobby relived many more Jake, while Emily was in Japan stories, and we had a very early but entertaining breakfast. We, in this case, did not include Jake. He didn’t find any of these stories as comical as we did.
Sandy and Bobby were more than thrilled with the news of us living with them for a year, and Nick said he might move back into the house as well since school was done.
We walked hand in hand to Jake’s car and dark clouds grew bigger with each step. With a huge sigh, I stepped into his open arms and dreaded our separation. It reminded me of my empty days in Japan.
“I’m sad to see you go,” I whimpered. “How am I going to go the whole day without you? When will you come home?”
“Probably not till late—maybe sometime after midnight. I’ll know better as the day progresses.”
“Midnight?” My whine became even more pronounced.
“The chief told me I’ve got a tough three weeks before the wedding. You’re OK taking care of this wedding without me?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll just miss you!”
“I know, Love. I’ll miss you too.” He kissed me a long good-bye and unwillingly we parted. I, too, had a long day of wedding preparations.
Bobby, Sandy, and I left the house early with the intent of getting everything started today. Our first stop was to the print shop to pick out wedding invitations. We thought these should go out immediately since many guests may go out of town on a holiday weekend. Sandy had already contacted all the family members to let them know of the impending wedding. I didn’t have much of an opinion on the invitation and Sandy had such impeccable taste, I let her make most of the decisions. I would only assert myself if I really didn’t like something she picked out. The designer would send a proof via -mail later today, and they promised to print all the invites as soon as we accepted the copy. Sandy and I, in turn, promised to send addresses so they could label and mail our invitations for us. Our first stop was successful.
From here, we went to the florist. This was really Sandy’s area of expertise. The florist had worked on the house before, so she already had a layout of what she wanted to do. We explained that we wanted to get married inside the house and then hold the reception in a tent out in the vast backyard. The floral designer named off all the flowers that she would use in different parts of the house, and Bobby and I just listened, as botany was never my strong suit. My job from here was to e-mail a picture of my wedding gown, as well as the bridesmaids’ dresses, and she would e-mail back sketches of bouquets. E-mail was a wonderful invention. It saved so much time for everyone.
Next we headed to the department store to pick out bridesmaids’ dresses. Both Sarah and Jane would stand as my maiden and maid of honor. I thought picking out a dress from a large department store would be easy for Jane since she could pop into the Manhattan one for a fitting. Sandy and I easily found a cute green summer dress, formal but not so formal where they couldn’t wear it again. I took a picture of the dress and sent it to Jane and Sarah. They both gave it a thumbs-up so we bought two dresses, one here and one in Manhattan.
Not having consumed anything since six in the morning, the three of us were ravenous. Lunch was next on the list before another fitting at the bridal shop.
Finally, Jake called.
“Hi, Honey!” My voice bubbled with enthusiasm.
“Hello, my love. What are you and my parents up to right now?”
Even with Sandy and Bobby by my side, I felt such a void without Jake.
“We are eating a grilled veggie salad, and after lunch, we’re going to the dress shop for another fitting. Your tuxedo is here and they want you to come in for another fitting as well.”
“I probably won’t get there till the week of the wedding.”
“OK, I’ll stop by the store and let them know.”
I proceeded to tell Jake all that had been accomplished today, and he told me about his day thus far. I excused myself from the table and went outside briefly to finish our conversation.
“Jake?” I bemoaned.
“Yes, Love. What’s the matter?” he asked in a comforting voice.
“I really miss you. Can’t you come home any earlier than midnight?”
I could almost hear his smile over the phone as he said, “I miss you too. I’ll be home as soon as I can, but don’t wait up for me. It will probably be very late.”
I told Jake how difficult it had been today without him by my side. He had spoiled me the last week with his constant attention. Who would have believed that I had spent five months apart from him by the sound of my wimpy confession? Of course, I heard the pager go off and we said good-bye. I went in to finish my lunch.
The fitting went well, and Sandy and Bobby both loved the wedding dress.
“Emily, you will be the most beautiful bride,” Bobby said.
“Thank you,” I answered, embarrassed by the compliment.
Our stop at the caterer took the longest of all of our stops. The caterer would not only take care of the food and beverages, but they would also provide all the rentals—tent, tables, chairs, linen, and of course the cake. We tried many flavors and since we were going to have a four-tiered cake, each one of us chose a flavor. I chose one for Jake in his absence. The caterer would send linens over to the house tomorrow morning so we could pick out color schemes.
The three of us had accomplished much today with the time allotted. Sandy and Bobby dropped me off at the restaurant just in time for my dinner with Sarah, Charlie, Peter, and Max.
“Thank you for all your help, Mom and Dad. I’m honored to be joining your family,” I said, giving each of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“We’re really happy to welcome you into our family as well,” Bobby and Sandy agreed with a hug and kiss in return.
We parted and I walked into the restaurant bearing gifts for my closest friends.
“Em, over here,” Max said, as I searched for them. They were hidden away in a corner table.
I ran over to them and gave them all a big hug.
“Let’s see the ring,” Sarah exclaimed. “OMG! Why is it so big?”
“I know, I said the same thing to Jake when he gave it to me. It’s almost embarrassing to wear this ring, especially with the band on the other hand. Jake says I have to wear both, and I told him I’m asking for a mugging.”
They all laughed.
“Hey, where’s Peter?” I asked surveying the dining hall.
“We have this tough doctor who’s been working all the students. Peter got called in right as we were headed out the door,” Max explained. “He should be at General Hospital by now.”
“That’s where Jake is today. Maybe they’ll run into each other.” Of course my face lit up talking about my fiancé. I didn’t want to appear too giddy, so I turned to all of my fr
iends and announced, “Presents!”
Sarah opened her gift and her face immediately turned red.
“You like?” I asked.
“I really like!” Charlie affirmed.
Charlie thought his architecture book paled in comparison to the lingerie gift that was more for him than for her.
“Max, this is for you,” I said handing him his gift.
He opened it and flipped through the book realizing that it was Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities from 1918. He read my inscription on the second page.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me four wonderful years of your life. You challenged me to grow as a person, and I hope I made you as happy as you made me. I will never forget your love. You will always hold a special place in my heart.
Love,
Em
Max turned and hugged me. I knew he understood how much he meant and still means to me.
During dinner, I told everyone about Paris and how Jake proposed. Max showed a sadness that made me conscious of my glow. Rather than continue with wedding talk, I turned the conversation on my dear friends and asked them about their lives. “What are you and Peter doing during your summer vacation?” I asked.
“What summer vacation? Only the teachers get time off. We are in the hospital working every day. In fact, I have to go in for a midnight to 6:00am shift.”
“What a bummer. I thought that everyone was off during the summertime.”
“No. I wish. I’ll probably see Jake if he’s at GH the whole time. I’m sure they’ll send me up to the OR at some point.”
Charlie talked about the newest house that he was designing. It was for a big movie star whose name he couldn’t reveal. We all begged for a hint. Even Sarah had no idea who he was working with.
Sarah’s advertising firm kept her busy all the time. I seemed to be the only one with not much to do on a daily basis.
“Oh, Sarah, I brought your dress.” I interrupted Charlie’s flow. “The hostess is holding it for me in the front so you need to take it with you, OK? Also, can you come by Jake’s parents’ house? I want to show you where the wedding will take place.”
“I can come by after work,” she answered.
As soon as dinner was done, my head started nodding and I kept apologizing to my friends for falling asleep on them. We decided to part and Max drove me home before his midnight shift.
“Thanks for the book, Em. I really love it.”
“You’re welcome. Jake actually wanted to buy the book for you, but I didn’t let him. I wanted it to be a gift from me.”
“Tell Jake I said thanks, as well.”
“You tell him if you see him tonight. Also, if you see him, tell him that I’m pining away for him at home.”
That probably wasn’t the most sensitive thing to ask my ex-boyfriend to tell my fiancé.
“Sorry. TMI, huh?”
“It’s OK,” he said with an attempt to laugh it off.
It saddened me to see Max so down. I knew Max was happy for me, but I sensed that he hadn’t gotten over me rejecting his proposal. I hoped our encounter in Arizona would become a distant memory and that he would find his happiness soon.
“I guess I’ll see you at your wedding.”
I hated it when his face turned somber, and he couldn’t look me in the eye. I smiled, hugging him, and answered, “We’ll definitely see each other before then. Bye.” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and walked toward the house.
It was near eleven o’clock when I got home and washed up for bed. Pulling an all-nighter last night made me extremely sleepy, but I tried my hardest to stay up and wait for Jake. My head bobbed up and down trying to watch whatever was on the television. Instinctually, I jerked awake at the sound of the garage door opening and closing. My legs took me as fast as they could downstairs in my pajamas, excited to see Jake. As he opened the door, I surprised him and jumped into his arms, almost knocking us both down.
He dropped whatever was in his hands, picked me up, and started embracing me. I didn’t think twice about the fact that he was carrying me, kissing me, and walking up a flight of stairs. What was the worst that could happen? We would fall and break his surgeon hands? We got to his bedroom and lay on our bed. We made out like two hormonal teenagers. For the first time, I didn’t stop him or push him away. I responded to his every move. I let him explore with his hands, his mouth, his tongue and soon my pajama top came undone. As my body continued to reciprocate, Jake paused and stared at me.
“Aren’t you going to stop me?” he questioned. “This is unusual that you haven’t said no yet.”
“Um, I wasn’t ready to stop, but I guess we should, huh? Sorry I got carried away.” I giggled.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I stopped us?” He had this incredulous look on his handsome face. “I can’t win.”
“Yup, I guess I have you trained better than I thought.” I giggled even harder.
Jake groaned and walked in to take a shower.
I must have fallen asleep while Jake showered because when my eyes opened, I was alone nicely tucked away in his bed. It was 4:00 a.m. and sleep was done for the night. I was tempted to crawl into bed with Jake in Nick’s room, but I thought I should be good. There were only a few more weeks left for us to be apart. Instead, I drove downtown to the fish market and bought a variety of fish to make sushi today.
The fish market was bustling with vendors and chefs. It was tiny compared to the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, but the fish and seafood smelled fresh and delicious memories of Japan paraded through my morning. Mr. Yamaguchi’s suggestions for the day were tuna, salmon, yellowtail, halibut, sweet shrimp, and uni. This would absolutely make a nice lunch for the whole family. Maybe I would surprise Jake and bring him lunch at the hospital.
Once home, I put all the fish away and started making a batter for crepes. All the necessary ingredients for my own version of the Ritz Hotel crepes were found in the pantry. I chopped up bananas, strawberries, and peanuts and whipped up some heavy cream with vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Sandy and Bobby cheerfully walked from their room, ready to be my chauffeur and wedding planner again. Though today, we needed to stay home and work with all the vendors who wanted to come see the layout of the house. Samples of linen would be sent to the house by 8:00 a.m., and Aunt Barbara, the chief’s wife, offered to be our interior and exterior designer for the wedding. Since I didn’t have much of an eye for design, I was glad she volunteered to help.
Good morning. I have strawberries and whipped cream crepes or Nutella, peanuts, and banana crepes. What can I get you?” I offered.
“Good morning, Emily. I’ll take one of each,” Bobby said. “I really enjoy your breakfast in the mornings. I feel like I’m at a bed and breakfast.”
“Emily, dear, you know that you don’t have to make us breakfast every morning, right?” Sandy looked worried.
“Oh, I know. It’s not a have to, it’s a want to. Cooking is something I love to do. Plus, I can’t sleep beyond 4:00 a.m., so I might as well be useful. Don’t get too used to it, though. Jake will tell you I’m not much of a morning person. Breakfast may soon be a thing of the past so enjoy it while it lasts.”
I went to work on my new electric crepe maker that I picked up yesterday while registering for my wedding gifts. The first few crepes turned out too thick so I threw them out, but after that, I got the hang of using the wooden rabot and perfected the spreading technique. Each crepe after the first few came out perfectly. Aunt Barbara and the chief came over and I made them each a couple of crepes. The kitchen island simulated a diner and I felt like a short order cook. It was fun.
“How do you take your coffee?” I asked both of them.
“Emily,” Aunt Barbara said, “I’ll get our coffee. Why don’t you sit down and eat with us?”
“I’ll wait till Jake comes down. Oh…speaking of, there he is.” My mouth grinned from ear to ear.
I heard Barbara turn to Sandy and whisper, “
Look at how her face lights up at the sight of him.”
Sandy in turn said, “You think that’s bad; my son’s a hundred times worse!”
Jake ambled into the kitchen and our eyes locked immediately. With his back to the family, he grabbed me and devoured my lips. A bit friskier than I would’ve liked with an audience, I turned crimson, but didn’t pull away. I was learning to cherish every touch without being so self-conscious about what others might think. Brazen? Bold? Audacious? Whatever it was, I was enjoying it too much to stop.
“Hi, Beautiful. Did you sleep well?” Jake asked with an adoring look.
“I slept very well, all four hours of it.”
“You got up at four this morning?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t go back to sleep.”
“You could’ve come into bed with me.” He looked vexed I didn’t.
“The thought did cross my mind,” I mused.
As we tried to continue our conversation, Aunt Barbara and the chief began clearing their throats.
“Ahem! Hello, nephew. Don’t I get a good morning kiss?” the chief asked facetiously.
Startled, Jake turned his body around. “What are you doing here, Chief? Hi, Aunt Babs. Good to see you.” He tried to hold me with both arms while leaning over the island to give his aunt a kiss on the cheek.
“I need a ride to the hospital with you this morning. Your aunt and I have a dinner to attend, and she’s going to come pick me up later,” the chief explained.
I told Jake that Aunt Barbara was here to help us with wedding decorations. Whether or not he was interested, we three gave him a rundown of all the vendors coming to the house and what would be accomplished today. While I gave more wedding details, Jake jerked his head up and startled me.
“Emi!”
I jumped and answered, “Yes?”
“I forgot to tell you, you need to stop by the bank today. The manager is expecting you.”
“Why?”
“I sent in the paperwork yesterday to add your name to all my accounts. I was supposed to tell you to stop by the bank yesterday, but I forgot.”
“OK,” I answered.
He reached in his pocket and took out a card for me. “Here’s your ATM card. You need to activate it.”
I sheepishly smiled reading the ATM card. Below the sixteen-digit punched card, I saw in bold print, EMILY REID. I whispered the name aloud. It sounded even better than I imagined. I saw Jake grinning from the corner of my eyes.
“Also can you deposit my paychecks into our checking account while you’re at the bank?”
The words our account sounded so wonderful they gave me goose bumps. I knew it was silly to be so animated over the obvious joining of names and official documents, but those chosen words made everything sound so much more real.
Without thinking, I opened up Jake’s paychecks, shocked to find how many digits were in the dollar box. I turned to Jake with eyes wide open and said a little too loudly, “Do you really get paid this much? Is this a monthly or every other monthly paycheck?”
I could hear all the chuckles coming from the left side of the island.
“Emi, this is a two-week paycheck,” Jake answered back in a somewhat offensive tone. “You do know that I save lives by operating on hearts, daily. Sometimes it’s multiple hearts.”
“Well, you do know that I save lives by teaching children their fundamentals before they can get to their higher medical learning, but my paycheck looks nothing like yours. I probably need six paychecks to equal one of yours,” I responded back.
He chuckled and added, “We need my paychecks if we’re going to enjoy trips like Paris. We probably spent at least one paycheck in Paris.”
“Are you kidding me? We spent that much money there? We cannot vacation like that anymore. What a ludicrous amount of money we spent.”
“Well, it shouldn’t be as bad next time since we won’t have to get two rooms,” he answered, reaching over to kiss me again.
The words two rooms seem to be of interest to everyone else at the island. Aunt Barbara was the first to ask, “Why did you have two rooms at the Ritz?”
Jake rolled his eyes and answered, “Don’t ask. I got into big trouble for telling Gram that Emily’s a virgin.”
My head automatically dropped into my hands and Jake realized his big mistake, again. My cheeks turned bright red and once again, I was hoping to be swallowed up by the floor. My lips were shut tight, my eyes squinted and my head came up just long enough to give Jake a you are in big trouble look.
The conversation that ensued troubled me even more than the topic of my virginity.
“You mean you’re not pregnant? That’s not why we’re having this shotgun wedding?” the chief bellowed.
My head jerked up at the word pregnant. I stared and processed in my head what he just said, and what the rest of the family members might have thought about us. It never occurred to me everyone would think that we were rushing into marriage because I might be pregnant.
Mortified. Horrified. Aghast.
I felt all of the above.
Jake almost fell off his barstool howling in laughter. The rest of the family looked at me apologetically for jumping to this conclusion, and embarrassed for putting me in such an awkward situation.
If I wanted the ground to swallow me up earlier, now I wanted to stay there till after the wedding. How would I face every guest who would be thinking what my immediate family members thought?
Jake finally calmed down enough to pull me to his lap and comfort me. He knew the scenario I had conjured up in my head.
“Don’t worry. When everyone sees us at Christmas minus a big belly, they will realize that you and I did not have a shotgun wedding. That is…unless you want to be pregnant right away. Then we can start trying even today.” Jake somehow turned this situation even worse.
I turned to Bobby and Sandy, hoping someone would be on my side. “Mom, Dad, did you also think I was pregnant?”
“Sweetheart, we’re sorry! We did think it was odd you and Jake wanted to get married so quickly. Most couples don’t have three-week engagements. The thought did cross our minds.” They looked as mortified as I felt.
“Let’s go up to our room,” Jake said trying to break my flabbergasted glower. “Let me give you all the bank account numbers,” he added, pulling me off the stool, and pulling my hand toward his room.
We got away from the family and Jake stopped and looked concerned.
“You OK?”
After thinking about it, I let it go. I had overreacted. It would only be natural for people to assume we wanted to get married right away before my stomach popped.
“I’m fine.” I looked into his sparkling blue eyes and felt protected. Once again, I couldn’t imagine being in a better place with a better man.
“I’m guessing you won’t let me finish where we left off last night?” he suggested, pushing me against the wall, mouth nibbling on my ear.
“You’re guessing correctly!” I said, attempting to pull away. “Jake?”
“Hmm?” His lips traveled to the neck while the hands rummaged under my shirt.
“Can I come visit you at the hospital and have lunch with you today?”
Delighted, Jake’s head popped up.
“I’d love that, Emi. My colleagues keep asking when you’re going to stop by. When do you want to come?”
“Maybe around 1:00 p.m.? Will you be done with your morning surgery? I’ll make you something yummy for lunch.”
“I should be. If I’m not done, wait for me in my office and I’ll meet you there.”
Uncle Henry’s loud voice bellowed up the stairs. “Dr. Reid, we’ve got a patient in OR waiting for us. You can work on that baby later.”
We both shook our heads and laughed.
“See you later. I’m excited you’re coming by. I love you.”
“I love you too,” were my last words, as I let Jake go save more lives.
Once Jake left, it was back to weddin
g preparations. Sandy and Barbara simultaneously agreed on linen colors as well the China pattern for the tables. They leaned toward a classic look for the wedding and I agreed with their every suggestion. The only area of interest for me was the dinner menu. I would voice my opinion when the caterer stopped by with her suggestions for the meal.
Midmorning, I made the sushi rice, filleted the fish, and cut them up into sushi and sashimi slices. I also put the rest of the frozen croissants in the oven for the nurses at the hospital. Aunt Barbara, Sandy, and Bobby sat down to lunch while I began working on a bento box for Jake, the chief, and myself.
While in Japan, I found these beautiful round bento boxes during my visit to Kappabashi, the restaurant supply district. I placed a large green leaf in each of the five boxes and began assembling the sushi pieces. The bottom layer contained sliced-up pineapples, strawberries, blueberries, and oranges with whipped cream in a separated container. A nigiri sushi sat on the second tier. There was toro, hamachi, kinmedai, hirame, sake, uni, and amaebi. In the third box, I arranged sashimi pieces on top of shredded daikon radishes, just like they did at sushi bars. In the fourth, partitioned box, I placed a salad and little pickled side dishes I purchased at the fish market. The top box had all the shrimp and veggie tempura. I wrapped the bento box in a large silk scarf, put the miso soup with amaebi heads in a thermos, and the necessary utensils in another carrying case, and I left for the hospital.
Walking into the hospital, I looked no different than a pizza delivery boy. Bearing an armful of food, I asked the receptionist for directions to Dr. Jake Reid’s office. Her answer made me laugh.
“You take the elevator up to the third floor, turn left, and follow the yellow line into the Reid Wing. His office will be a few doors down on the right.”
Of course, his office was located in the Reid Wing. Jake’s late grandfather spent his money generously. If I were ever to get ill, I would be well taken care of at this hospital. Jake’s office resembled an office cubicle. It was also as messy as the closet in his bedroom. This room needed my housekeeping services right away. Bookmarkers were placed in opened books and stacked on his desk and neat piles of patient files were made from the folders strewn about the desk and sofa. I made a mental note to myself to bring some flowers to brighten up his dreary office next time.
Once I finished straightening up, the couch looked inviting as sleep overpowered me. I curled up on the sofa and dozed off, only happy to find Jake’s soft lips awaken me. He was kneeling on the ground, staring at my sleeping face. I grabbed his face and pulled it harder on my lips, not wanting to stop the embrace. Jake responded as he usually does with more passion than I was ready for. I pulled away and sat up.
“I hate it when you pull away,” he complained.
“Believe it or not, I hate it even more,” I confessed. “Can you call Uncle Henry? I have lunch for all of us.”
Jake introduced me to his nursing staff at the front station, and many welcomed me, while a few evil eyes didn’t. I dropped off a box of croissants for the staff, which seemed to win over the opposition.
Many of Jake’s colleagues also stopped and congratulated us on our way to the Reid cafeteria. Most of the doctors I met in this department were men, but there were a few women, who also weren’t pleased to meet me. We walked into the cafeteria and sat with the chief.
I looked at both men and commented a bit sarcastically, “Don’t you find it weird to work in the Reid Wing and have lunch in the Reid Cafeteria?”
“No,” they both answered matter-of-factly.
What could I say to that? I opened the bento boxes, passed out plates, utensils, and soups. Then we started eating.
The chief looked impressed.
“Emily, did you make all this?” he asked. “If your meals look like this, I’m coming over every day for a meal.” He sounded completely serious.
“No you’re not,” Jake retorted. “My bride is not your personal chef. I don’t want her working any harder than she wants to. Although, I must say, you outdid yourself with this meal. Thank you, Sweetheart.”
Jake smacked his lips on mine, and suddenly his blue eyes sparkled even brighter.
“Emi, have you thought of what you want to do after the wedding?”
“What do you mean? I’ll enjoy married life till school begins, mid-August.”
“Would you consider quitting work and going to culinary school? We have a top-notch culinary academy five minutes from our home. Why don’t you enroll there in the fall?”
That idea made me pause for a moment. Would I want to stop teaching and go to culinary school? This wouldn’t be any ordinary school with books I’d memorize just for exams and forget the next day. This would be all hands-on training. A dream I thought I would live later in life presented itself today as a reality.
“I don’t know if I’m cut out for the Culinary Institute. I’m not that good and it’s expensive. Plus, I don’t want to work in a restaurant, and I don’t want to become a professional chef. I just want to be a home chef.”
“Love, first of all, you said yourself you’ve always wanted to go to cooking school. Here’s your chance before we have kids. As for expenses, did you not take a good look at my paycheck? I can afford to send you to cooking school. In fact, we will have a plethora of extra money living at my parents’ home. Both our mortgages are covered by rent, and we can mooch off my parents as long as we like. Lastly, you don’t have to become a professional chef. Just go to school for the fun of it. Our livelihood won’t depend on your success at school. You have some time so think about it. I’d love to do this for you.”
We all continued to eat as I thought about how much fun it would be to go and learn to cook. This was definitely a viable and exciting option. The two doctors began talking about their afternoon rounds and I looked at Uncle Henry, hoping this lunch put me in his good graces and could get some time off for my fiancé.
“Uncle Henry,” I asked in the most polite voice.
“Yes, soon-to-be niece?”
“Any chance Jake could get off at a decent hour so we can spend some time together tonight? As you know, we don’t spend any time together deep into the night so our evenings are cut real short if he comes home at midnight.”
The chief snickered at Jake, Jake grinned at me, and I stared hopefully at the chief.
“Sorry, Emily. He’s been on vacation for a week and he’ll be off for two more soon. The other doctors will accuse me of nepotism if I don’t work your fiancé. I promise you, though, I’ll lighten his schedule after you get married. We’re in the process of hiring another surgeon.”
I sighed, “Ok,” for the first half of his explanation, but mouthed a “thank you,” with a sigh of relief, for the latter part of his explanation. Chief Reid hugged and kissed me as he left to go back to his office.
“I tried,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
“I know. I’ll try to leave the hospital as early as possible,” Jake promised. “You want to come back at dinnertime?” Jake was the hopeful one this time.
“No. The ladies here aren’t too friendly. I don’t think they want to see me and my massive engagement ring twice in one day. You have quite a fan club here,” I said bitingly.
“You can be so silly at times,” he answered with a guffaw. “See you at home.”
I packed up all my belongings and left the hospital.
When I got back home, nothing had changed. It was if the two ladies hadn’t moved all afternoon. They were sitting in the same position from hours ago. They sat on the couch deciding which floral arrangement would look best on the table with the linen they chose earlier. They looked to me to be the tie breaker and realized that my only desire was to say, “I do,” and be Mrs. Jake Reid. Fortunately, they were more than happy to fill in for my mental absence and continued on without me.
I walked into my / Jake’s room and called my soon-to-be-sister.
“Hello, Sis. What are you up to right now?”
“Emily.
Hi. How are you? I’m swamped with work. All the senior partners are dumping their busy work on me. I get in by six in the morning and don’t leave till close to midnight. I eat all three meals at the firm.”
She sounded terribly unhappy.
“Your work schedule sounds like your brother’s. I can’t see him unless I go to the hospital.”
I, too, wasn’t happy with his schedule.
“How are the wedding preparations going? What’s been done?”
“Honestly, I’m not quite sure. Mom and Aunt Barbara are downstairs making all the decisions. I’m happy to just show up on the day of and say, ‘I do.’”
“I talked to Mom briefly today, and she and Aunt Babs were really happy being your wedding planners. They’re living their vicarious wedding dreams through you. Are you OK with all of their decisions?”
“Yeah, they both have exquisite taste. I do hold veto power so if something isn’t to my liking, I’ll let them know. Anyhow, when can you come home? I miss you.”
“I know, I miss you and the whole family. I hear you’ve been quite the Martha Stewart every morning.”
“My eyes open at 4:00 a.m., and I have nothing else to do but cook. So, can you make it home this weekend?”
“I begged my boss so we’ll see. I won’t know till the last minute. I’ll call as soon as I know. Emily, my boss is calling. I have to go. Bye.”
“Bye, take care.”
I missed Jane and was hoping to catch up with her, but her new job kept her extremely busy. I milled around the room contemplating a nap when Sandy called me down.
“Emily, Sarah’s here.”
Excellent. It would give us a chance to catch up.
I gave Sarah a tour of the house and showed her where the wedding and reception would take place. Sandy and Barbara were more than happy to show her all that they accomplished today, and Sarah in turn was more than happy to give opinions of what she liked and didn’t like about their choices. I took Sarah up to my room when the two ladies were done with her.
“This room is almost as big as your engagement ring,” she commented.
After appraising the room, she added, “I think this room is actually bigger than the apartment Charlie and I are living in right now.”
“I know. All the rooms are big in this house. I guess it’s only fitting since the house is so big. So, tell me what’s been going on. We haven’t talked in months.”
“Well, Charlie and I are now transferring next spring so I’ll be around a bit longer.”
“Yay! You have to give me pointers on married life.”
“Are you excited that you’ll finally have sex? Or, maybe I should ask, are you scared?”
“Sarah!”
“Well, it’s a reasonable question.”
I was quite scared about my wedding night, but I tried not to think about it. It’s not like I didn’t know about the birds and the bees. I knew what would happen, but that didn’t discount the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach every time I thought about the topic.
Sarah continued her inquisition.
“Are you prepared?”
“What do you mean prepared?” I asked.
“Do you have lingerie?”
“Yeah, Gram bought me many in London.” I felt my cheeks flush as I thought of all the lingerie that sat in Jake’s closet right now.
“What about birth control?”
“Huh? I haven’t really thought about that,” I confessed.
“Are you planning on having kids right away?”
“No.” We hadn’t discussed this, but Jake probably didn’t want kids right away either.
“Then you better decide what you want to do about birth control. Go see your doctor immediately and get on something.”
“OK,” I answered. “I guess I should’ve thought of this earlier, but I kept pushing it off. I’ll talk to Jake when he gets home. How are you and Charlie doing?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“It’s been heavenly. Married life is definitely better than dating life. There’s more work and compromise, but the love and commitment we feel toward one another is absolutely at its highest level.”
This was wonderful to hear that married life would be an even greater extension of what Jake and I had right now. I didn’t know how I could possibly love him more, but I looked forward to finding out.
Sarah also carefully brought up the subject of Max during her stay. I knew that this was inevitable, as he did not seem happy when I saw him at dinner.
“Emily, did Max say anything to you when he drove you home?”
“No, but he didn’t seem happy. What’s going on with him?”
“He’s happy for you, but not happy for himself, is the best explanation I can think of. He thinks of you as the one who got away. He still believes that if he proposed on graduation night, you’d be his bride and not Jake’s.”
My heart broke for Max. What he was thinking could have been true, but it wasn’t, and there was no point in beating himself over what could’ve been.
“Did you try to knock some sense into him?” My voice turned irritated. “What’s the point in thinking about what could’ve been?”
“I know…Charlie and I have had many conversations with him but he can’t shake off what’s in his heart.”
“Wait, wasn’t he the one who led Jake back into my life? Jake told me that Max encouraged him to pursue me again. Why did he do that if he felt this way?”
Absolutely, I was forever grateful that Max helped me find Jake again.
“Emily, don’t you see? Max loves you. He always has. He loves you enough to let you go to the man you love. That’s what bothers him more than anything—the fact that you love Jake and not him. Know that he’s happy that you’re happy—that you’ve found your true love. He just wishes it were him.”
I exhaled an uncomfortable breath. I thought Max was in a good place and now I felt this burden to make sure he would be OK.
“Let me think about this, Sarah. I don’t know what I should do.”
“There’s not much for you to do. He’ll get over it.”
Sarah looked at her watch and it was already 8:00 p.m.
“I gotta go. Charlie’s waiting for me at home.”
“Thanks for coming by.” We walked toward the front door together. “I’ll come by and visit you at work again so we can have lunch.”
I opened the front door to let Sarah out and simultaneously, Jake walked in and surprised us.
“Jake, you’re home early!” My heart and face beamed.
“Hi, Jake,” Sarah said. “Look at your fiancée’s ridiculous grin.” Sarah giggled and rolled her eyes.
“Hey, Sarah,” Jake said, giving her a hug and a peck on the cheek. “You’re leaving already? Stick around.”
“Look at Emily. Does she look like she wants me to stick around? I have to go. My hubby is waiting for me.” Her face glowed talking about Charlie, but it couldn’t rival my delight. “See you soon.”
“Bye,” we both said.
We entered the house and Jake picked me up again and repeated last night’s steps. We kissed all the way up in one piece, but did not make it to the bed as I wriggled down and pulled Jake to the couch. I had much to discuss with him.
“How’d you get home so early?”
“Your lunch must have put the chief in a good mood. As he was leaving, he told me that I could leave if there wasn’t much going on. So, after checking on all the patients, I bolted.”
“I’m glad you’re home early,” I uttered, making another mental note to be even nicer to the chief.
“Me too,” he said between kisses.
I pushed Jake away so that we could talk over more wedding details, as well as a few other matters that he may not care to talk about. He sat on one end of the couch and I moved to the other end, with my legs stretched out and my feet on his thigh. He started massaging my feet.
“We need to talk wedding.”
“OK. I thought I def
erred all decisions to you.” I could tell he too just wanted to say “I do,” without any of this fuss.
“You did, and I gave your mom our proxy, but there are a few matters I’d like for us to decide. First, where are we going for our honeymoon?”
Jake’s face pondered that question for a long time. Neither of us had a preference as long as we were together.
“Do you want to go more toward an island honeymoon or a city honeymoon?” I added to help in the decision-making process.
“I don’t care. What do you prefer?”
“I don’t really care either, but I don’t want to spend the entire time at a beach, plus we were in Hawaii not too long ago. I think it might be boring. I don’t know if I want to go back to Europe since we were just there as well. Honestly, we could just stay home all day for two weeks, and I’d be OK with that.” Anywhere with Jake sounded heavenly.
“How about we go to an island in Southeast Asia for about five days and stay in one of those huts you mentioned on your list? I have to keep pecking away at your list. Then, let’s go to Japan for the rest of the honeymoon. You can eat a formal kaiseki meal this time without any tears, and even take some cooking classes. I’d love to get a better sense of where you lived. There are many hot springs we can visit and we can also stay in Tokyo and enjoy the city life.”
“That’s a fantastic idea! My students would love to meet you. I’ll call the travel agent and make all the necessary arrangements.”
“OK, what’s next?” he asked, trying to get up from his corner to come toward my corner. I stopped him and told him we needed to finish our discussion first.
“Dinner menu. What do you want to eat? I’m not crazy about the usual steak and potato meal, but I also don’t want to have all fish just in case our guests may not like fish.”
Jake had no problem coming up with an answer for this quandary.
“Emily, that one is easy. Let’s not do a sit-down dinner. Let’s have different food stations and hire local restaurant chefs. For example, we can call your dream sushi chef—you know the one who studied under Masa—and have his crew come and do a sushi and sashimi station. We can also have a pizza station, and a tapas station. I’ll have Dad call his connections, and there will be a nice steak and veggie station. Oh, we should also call Gram’s favorite Italian restaurant and have the chef come over and do a pasta station.”
Jake’s idea sounded divine. I could only think of two problems. First, could the chefs commit at the last hour and second, the cost. We were looking to have at least five of LA’s best chefs come and cater our wedding. As much as I liked the idea, I didn’t think it was realistic.
Jake saw the doubtful look on my face.
“What’s the matter now?” The foot massage stopped.
“Do you think we can get all these chefs to cater our wedding on such short notice?”
“Fourth of July is on a Sunday, and most of these chefs don’t work on Sundays. I’ll have my dad, the chief, and Gram call all of them. They won’t be able to refuse. If they themselves can’t come, they can always send sous chefs.” He seemed quite sure of himself, so I decided to trust him on this one. “What else?”
This last point I didn’t know if I should bring up. I knew that Jake didn’t like me talking about money.
“Well…what about the cost? The chefs and sous chefs alone will be a fortune, plus you’re talking sushi and Wagyu beef.”
“Emily, you really worry too much about how much things cost. We’re only having seventy-five guests. Let’s splurge on the food. I thought you’d be ecstatic with this idea. You’re the foodie.”
“I am excited! This is probably the best idea I’ve heard all week but…”
“No, buts. It’s decided. Are we done?” He came toward me with a naughty grin.
“No.” I pushed him back to his original corner. “Just a little more and we’ll be done.
Jake obediently sat back in his seat, waiting for me to continue so he can go on with his agenda for the evening.
“What shall we do about…?” I couldn’t bring up this topic. It was so embarrassing. Maybe I would just talk to Mom and not include Jake. But, then again, he was the other half of a baby so it would be wise to include him in this discussion.
“About what?”
“Never mind.” I changed my mind. I couldn’t do it. “I’ll talk to Mom tomorrow about it.”
“Emily. Speak now or we’re done talking for the night. I didn’t come home early just to talk. We, no I, have more urgent needs.”
“OK. What do we do about birth control? Do you want to have a baby right away?”
“Are we actually talking sex?” Indubitably, his face lit up.
“Yes, we’re talking about sex. What do you want to do?”
“That’s up to you. What do you want to do? I’m OK with trying to make a baby tonight if you agree to it,” he shined a devious grin, “or we can wait till whenever you are ready. Do you want to come see Carole at the hospital? She’s an OB/GYN.”
“You’re OK with whatever I decide? Maybe I’ll go on the pill. I don’t know. Can you make an appointment for me so I can go in and see the doctor?”
“Sure. Are we finally done?” Jake was agitated now.
“Just one more topic. I need to talk to you about Max.”
Jake looked perplexed and tentative when he heard Max’s name. We still couldn’t seem to talk about my ex without any tension.
“What about him? I actually saw Max and Peter at the hospital today.”
“Oh?”
“They were on their rounds with Dr. Carter, and we said hello but not much else.” Jake began to chuckle, “Carter runs a tight ship with these students, and he wouldn’t let either of them stop to talk to me.”
I sighed deeply before continuing my story.
Jake’s chuckle turned into a frown as soon as he heard my sigh. He nudged my feet down and pulled my body over to him. We sat next to one another, my head on his chest, both his arms wrapped tightly around me.
“OK. Shoot.”
“Sarah told me today that Max is unhappy.”
Jake dropped his arms and pushed himself back to look at me.
“Why?”
“How can I explain this? He’s happy to see me happy with the man that I love…”
“But unhappy that he is not the man that you love?” Jake finished my sentence.
“Yeah, I guess you can put it that way. Sarah says that he feels that I’m the one who got away. He regrets not having proposed on graduation night.”
“I don’t! Emily, Max will be fine. He will eventually find another woman and forget you ever existed.” Jake grinned and searched for an annoyed look I refused to show.
“He can’t ever forget me!” I retorted, but regretted saying as soon as the words left my mouth.
“Does that mean you can’t ever forget him as well?” Jake’s voice accused with a mock-menacing arching eyebrow.
“No,” I stammered. “It just means that…well, you should know…it’s not easy to forget me.” I laughed.
Jake suddenly forced his body onto mine. Conversation was done for the night.
The rest of the week went no differently than the first few days. I saw Jake first thing in the morning before he left for the hospital. I fixed us breakfast, and he didn’t come back home till I was asleep. I spent my waking hours registering for gifts, picking the dinner menu, and giving my seal of approval on all of Sandy’s picks. Aunt Barbara spent most of her waking hours at our home as well. She figured since the chief was working all the time, she would stay busy with us.
Friday night, I tried my hardest to stay up and see Jake. I was annoyed that we saw each other no more than thirty minutes a day. I texted, I called. Rarely did I get more than a minute conversation before he got paged to another patient. Once again, my eyes failed me, and I couldn’t stay up any longer. I sent one last text.
I cannot believe I have seen you no more than an hour in the last three da
ys. It is one thirty a.m. My eyes are closing. Wake me when you get home. Good night.
Was this how it was going to be the rest of our married life? Ugh, I hoped not.
I was startled awake with a heavy arm on my body. Jake was fast asleep in our bed. I slowly got up to shower, but woke Jake up in the process.
“Don’t go,” he whispered.
I listened and stayed in bed with him a bit longer.
“What time did you get home?”
“About an hour ago.” His voice sounded like he was in a sleep coma.
“You mean you worked twenty-four hours yesterday? What happened?”
“Lots of emergencies. I am so tired!”
“I’ll let you sleep. We’ll talk later.” I kissed his forehead and left the room. Exhausted, he didn’t put up a fight. His arm thumped on the bed as I dropped it from my body. Once downstairs, I turned on both ovens and put in the croissant bread pudding and brown sugar-glazed apple wood smoked bacon. Water for the french press began boiling as Sandy and Bobby trickled downstairs.
To my surprise, Nick came into the kitchen with Jane.
“Jane!” I ran to give her a welcoming hug. “What are you doing here?”
“What about me, Sis?” Nick opened his arms. We shared a three-way hug.
“My boss decided late yesterday to give me this weekend off so I flew in this morning. I thought I’d come and help you with wedding prep.”
“Mom’s done just about everything so there’s not much to do, but I’m super happy you’re here.”
“Where’s Jake?” Jane wondered.
“He ambled into my room about an hour ago and I haven’t seen him since,” Nick answered.
“Oh, he’s sleeping in his bed right now,” I said.
“I’m up,” was all I heard as I walked into the breakfast room with all the food.
I was surprised to see Jake up and dressed already.
“Why are you up? You should sleep some more.”
Jake came over and kissed me passionately in front of his whole family. Jane and Nick started gagging and Bobby and Sandy laughed.
“Are they like this all the time, Mom?” Nick questioned.
“All. The. Time!” Sandy answered.
“Sorry,” was all I could say in between the onslaught of kisses.
We all sat down for breakfast and Jane and Nick both had great news.
“Mom, would it be OK if I moved back in for a year?” she asked. “My firm wants me to work in the LA office starting this fall. It would be too much of a hassle to find an apartment, so I thought I’d move back home.”
“You too?” Nick said. “I need to move back in for a year as well. I’m going to defer med school and go do some research at the VA, over by enemy territory.” This of course was his affectionate term for my alma mater.
“Jane. Nick. That’s fantastic news. Do you know that your brother and I are going to live here for a year as well?” I shared our great news. Nick of course knew we were living here, but Jane didn’t take it as happily as I thought she would.
“Why?” she asked. “I don’t know if I want to be living under the same roof as you two lovebirds. You’ll probably be worse than you are now. Eew!” To show her disgust, Jane stuck her index finger in her mouth and pretended to gag again.
Sandy turned to Bobby, who was taking a bite of his bacon, and exclaimed, “Bobby, let’s charge rent. We can make a fortune off of these three. Finally. No more freeloading.”
“Mom!” Jane and Nick complained loudly enough that Sandy backed down from her landlord-tenant idea.
I smiled, watching my new family talk, argue, and love each other. From the corner of my eyes I saw Jake watching me revel in his family’s banter. He reached over and squeezed my hand.
“Emily, what’s on the agenda for today? I am here to help with whatever you need.” Jane looked eager to start her day with me.
“I’ll help too,” Nick added.
I turned to Jake to see what his schedule would be like, hoping the four of us could hang out today. Jake read my mind before I spoke. “I have to go back in this morning but I should be done sometime in the afternoon. I’ll call and see where you three will be and join you.”
He then turned to me and continued our discussion about cooking school. “Have you thought some more about enrolling in the CIA this fall?”
Nick loved this idea.
“I think I’m going to continue teaching this year. I don’t want to go to school anymore. Even though it’s cooking school, I don’t want the pressure, and I’m sure the instructor and students won’t like it if I’m there just for the fun of it.”
Jake tried to convince me otherwise until I told him about my alternate plan.
“But, I think I’ll continue taking informal cooking classes. It’s more casual and I can pick and choose what I want to learn. Depending upon your schedule,” I said to Jake, “I’ll go and take evening courses. I will drive you and myself crazy if I’m home every night with nothing to do, but wait for you.”
All of a sudden, I had a fantastic idea.
“Nick, you want to take these classes with me? I’ll find classes over by the VA and you can join me after work. We can go eat at new restaurants before or after class.”
Nick loved this idea even more. “Cool! Will Jake be paying for all my classes?” He sniggered over to Jake.
“I will treat you, but I expect payback when you become a doctor, OK?” Nick heartily agreed to this deal and we finished our breakfast.
Jake got up to clear our dishes when Nick stopped him with a request.
“Hey, Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you ever going to make up for that botched Masa meal?”
“What do you mean, ‘botched Masa meal’? What happened?”
“After you left Jake standing on a street corner in New York,” Nick started laughing at his brother, “he was in such a foul mood he canceled our dinner. He actually paid the entire cancellation fee instead of allowing us to go and have our meal.” Nick rolled his eyes at his brother and waited for an answer.
“I’ll call that Urasawa and see if they can seat us tonight. I doubt that he will have four seats at the bar on such short notice.” Jake walked into the next room to make his call.
Urasawa was one of LA’s premier Japanese restaurants. It had earned two Michelin stars, and was the closest thing to a Japanese kaiseki meal in America. Hiro trained under Masa and bought the restaurant from him years ago.
“Nick, you’re in luck. An entire group of eight canceled just now. I reserved all eight seats for us at 6:00 p.m. Don’t eat lunch today.” Nick’s face lit up. My face lit up. We gave each other a high-five. We were each other’s biggest food allies.
“Emi, have you been to Urasawa before?” Jake turned to ask me.
“No. We can’t afford meals like that on a teacher’s salary.” I joked. “Why did you reserve all eight seats? Mom and Dad are going to a dinner function tonight with Uncle Henry and Aunt Barbara.”
“I thought we’d take Sarah, Charlie, Peter and Max.”
I gave Jake an appreciative look and called Sarah immediately. We had plans to spend Saturday together, so she was more than happy when I told her about Urasawa. I then called Max’s apartment and Peter picked up the line.
“Hi, Peter. Are you still sleeping?” He sounded very groggy.
“Yeah. We got in a couple of hours ago.”
“Are you on the same schedule as Jake? He too got in this morning.”
“We may be on the same schedule but definitely not on the same pay scale. What’s up? You need to talk to Max?”
“No, I called to see if you and Max wanted to have dinner with us tonight. We have reservations at Urasawa at six.”
Peter salivated at the thought of eating at such a luxurious restaurant, but was unsure that they could get the night off. Listening to our conversation, Jake got on the line.
“Peter, I’ll talk to Carter and make sure th
at you and Max get a free night. I know he’s been working you. There’s a chance that he may want you to come in this morning instead so be ready.”
Jake got off the phone and jumped off his seat when he realized that he was going to be late. I walked out with him to say good-bye rather than grossing out Jane and Nick.
“I’ll see you tonight at six,” Jake said between kisses.
“You can’t join us any earlier?” I frowned at another day without Jake. “Are you always going to be this busy? I might go get a night job too if you’re going to come home in the wee hours of the morning all the time. It’s lonely without you.”
“I’m sorry, Emi. It should get better when the chief hires a new surgeon. Just think, in a couple of weeks, we’ll be off on our honeymoon and we’ll be together twenty-four hours a day for fourteen days. And finally, I won’t get kicked out of my own bed.”
We said another round of good-byes, and Jake left.
I finished getting ready and Nick, Jane, and I met Sarah at the department store for a final dress fitting for the ladies. We then walked a few blocks over and fit Nick in his groomsman’s tuxedo. When Nick walked out of the dressing room, all three of us ahh’ed.
“Nick, you look almost as handsome as your brother,” I gushed.
“Only in your eyes, Sis. I’m definitely the handsome one in the family,” Nick joked.
After Nick’s fitting, I finished registering for our wedding gifts. We made a pit stop at the dress shop so I could show Sarah and Jane the wedding dress. I felt like a princess again when they opened the curtain to show the bride.
“Oh, Emily. You look gorgeous! Has Jake seen you yet?” Jane asked in awe.
“No, he hasn’t. He won’t see me till the wedding day.”
“He’s going to go berserk when he sees you in this gown. As it is, he can’t keep his hands and lips off of you. Yuck! I shudder at the thought.” Jane literally shuddered at the thought. It was funny.
We had some time to kill so we walked into random shops and looked around. Without my knowledge, Jane and Nick had purchased a whole luggage set for us as a wedding gift. Since Nick was unemployed, Jane most likely paid for most of it. I was grateful for their generosity and love.
“Thank you both,” I said from the bottom of my heart. “I couldn’t ask for a better brother and sister.”
“We love you too, Emily. I’m glad that my brother found such a cool wife. You’re a great addition to our family,” Nick uttered while giving me a hug.
Going from an adult orphan to a big happy family, my less than stellar luck with family finally reversed itself.
With six o’clock fast approaching, we put half the suitcases in Jane’s car and the other half in Sarah’s car. They barely fit, but we got them all stored away before we walked to dinner.
We walked through the sliding wooden door into Urasawa and found Jake waiting for us at the sushi bar. There were only ten seats at the sushi bar and one table of four at this restaurant. The chef and owner would serve anywhere from twenty-five to forty courses during this one seating.
My walk hastened to a sprint toward Jake in this tiny restaurant. We embraced and I sat right next to him, holding his hand.
“Geez!” Jane and Nick commented on our affectionate hug. I could feel their eyes rolling without actually seeing them. Within minutes, Charlie walked in and he and Sarah had a similar exchange. Peter and Max were the last to walk in. We all sat, Charlie, Jake, myself, Sarah, Jane, Max, Peter, and Nick. Hiro started with the appetizer courses, and we all broke into our own conversations.
Charlie spoke about his movie star architectural project, but still wouldn’t give us a name. Jake, being an architecture buff, enjoyed listening to Charlie. Though the two of us didn’t talk much tonight, any time we weren’t eating, Jake held my hand or caressed my back to acknowledge my presence. Sarah and I discussed wedding details. Peter and Nick mainly talked about med school and college life. Those two were in the same fraternity so they had lots of mutual friends. Surprisingly, Jane and Max appeared quite engrossed in whatever conversation they were having. They didn’t look away from each other unless one of us spoke to them. Sarah and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“What’s going on over there?” Sarah whispered.
“I don’t know.” I had to admit I was slightly perturbed at his attentiveness toward Jane. Obviously, he wasn’t that afflicted that I was getting married. What happened to his love for me—the one who got away?
“They look like they are smitten with one another, don’t they?” Sarah continued to stare at them.
“I guess,” I answered curtly.
Sarah looked at my face and laughed. She read my annoyance immediately.
“Be nice. You did turn him down and accept another man’s proposal. Let him move on.”
“I never said he couldn’t move on,” I answered most defensively. I couldn’t look Sarah in the eye. It was a strange feeling, Max showing interest in another woman. I knew I was being childish and unfair since it couldn’t be easy for him to watch Jake doting on me. All the same, I wasn’t used to him giving another girl so much attention. My feelings were unjustified.
Dinner lasted four hours. After seven kaiseki courses and twenty-five sushi courses, our chef graciously bowed and inquired about my favorite dish of the evening. Among the thirty-two courses I could pick out my favorite instantly.
“From the kaiseki menu, I loved the shabu shabu trio of scallop, goose foie gras, and Wagyu beef. And from the nigiri menu, it’s a tie between the Otoro and seared Kama toro. I love the way Otoro melted in my mouth, and the meaty, creamy charredness of the Kama toro stayed on my taste buds for a long while. I can still taste it.” Even after thirty-two courses my mouth watered just thinking about our meal. I added one more comment. “I think I could eat the tamago as a dessert rather than a nigiri. I’d love to learn how to make this savory sweet sponge cake.”
Both chuckled at my dinner nostalgia.
“Dr. Reid, you’re going to have to perform many surgeries to keep up with your future wife’s palate,” the chef teased.
“That’s why I work such long hours,” Jake poked fun at me as well. I pretended to put on a sour face.
After dessert and tea, Nick and Peter got up to leave for a frat party.
“Aren’t you a bit old for this, Peter?” I asked.
“No way. This is how I keep myself young.”
We waved good-bye and the rest of us finished dessert. Jake took care of the bill and we confirmed our wedding menu with the chef as the others went to the garage to retrieve all of our cars. Charlie hitched a ride with Peter and Max, so he got into Sarah’s car. The valet brought up Jake’s car and to only my surprise, he’d brought his two-seater.
“Jake, how am I supposed to go home with you if you bring a two-seater?” Jane let out a weak complaint. We all caught a glimpse of their—Max and Jane’s—giddy mugs. Annoyance clouded my perfect evening.
Our car scenario played out like a bad TV movie. Jake and I were paired, Charlie and Sarah were together, and guess who had to ride home with each other? Max and Jane. Sarah got into her car quickly before busting up with laughter. I gave Sarah a cross look. Jake quickly got me into his car, and we left as well. Once we were out of the garage, Jake, too, started laughing.
“What are you laughing at?” I asked, irked.
“You sound a bit agitated,” he answered and started to howl.
“What?” I asked.
“Well, I don’t think that you have to worry about Max. He obviously isn’t as devastated as you think he is about losing you. But, I worry about you, as your ego appears quite deflated.” Jake’s smug face continued to snigger.
I stayed silent the rest of the ride home.
When we got home, I furtively surveyed the house for Jane. Jake carried me upstairs and whispered in my ears, “She’s not home yet. We don’t do bed checks in this house.”
Perturbed, I got down and walked into my room
with Jake in tow. We got ready for bed and he jumped into my bed before I got there, but I was too disturbed to be torn about whether or not to hop into bed with him. I grabbed my pillow and opted for the guest room.
“Emi!” Jake protested. “Don’t be mad. I thought this whole night with Max and Jane was comical—weird, but comical. I don’t know why you are so upset by this situation. Are you jealous?” Jake’s mocking voice disturbed me even more. “You’re making me jealous and insecure now.” His roar continued.
I left my, his, our bedroom and walked up another flight of stairs to the guest bedroom. Right now, I was more agitated with myself than with the situation. Why was I acting so foolishly about Max and Jane? It wasn’t as though they were getting married tomorrow. They hadn’t even started dating. Plus, it was none of my business that my ex-boyfriend might like my future sister-in-law. Ugh. I was still annoyed.
Jake’s run up the stairs forced me to close my eyes and pretend to sleep. The fact that I pulled the comforter over my head didn’t stop him from picking me up off the bed, flinging me over his shoulder, and flopping me onto our bed. He didn’t mock, he didn’t laugh. He did what he does best. His mouth pounced on mine and rummaged all he wanted. His lips, his tongue, ran over my body as if it were a map he needed to read. I shivered in delight, but shuddered at the thought of reigning in my self-control to stop him. Self-control waned as the wedding date got closer.
“Jake?” My voice was weak.
“Hmm?” His voice, suggestive.
“If you are planning on sleeping here tonight with me, you need to behave,” I spoke, unconvincingly.
“Can I sleep here?” His face lit up.
“You can if you promise to behave. My wall of defense is crumbling by the day. You need to help me at this point. OK?”
“OK,” he said casually, knowing that he had the upper hand now. He stopped his adventure quest on my body, content just to hold me close. I fell asleep in his arms, but woke up to find Jake’s lips and hands grazing liberally. I softly moaned and went back to sleep.
Sunday was glorious for many reasons. Finally, I had slept soundly with Jake lying right next to me for the first time since we got back home. My eyes didn’t automatically open at 4:00 a.m., and I wasn’t cold at any point in the night. Also, Jake had the entire day off. We didn’t get out of bed till it was almost lunchtime. We had both slept the morning away. When we finally awoke, Jake went downstairs to fix us something to eat and brought it up to our room. We ate, watched TV, checked e-mail and happily spent a lazy morning in our room.
The front doorbell finally coerced me out of the bedroom. Sarah and Charlie came by to drop off the suitcases that were left in her car last night. I invited them upstairs and we hung out for a while.
“Wow, this house is huge,” was Charlie’s first comment upon entering.
“Wait till you see Emily and Jake’s bedroom,” Sarah commented.
We walked into our room and immediately Charlie and Jake started playing video games on the giant TV. Sarah and I sat next to the boys.
“Hey, where’s Jane?” I asked. “Shouldn’t we take her to the airport?
“Jane left already,” Jake answered with his eyes glued to the game. “Mom said her boss called last night and wanted her to come in to work today. She left this morning.”
“How’d she get to the airport? I feel bad. I would’ve taken her.”
Jake cautiously answered, “Um…maybe she had a car service pick her up.”
“And maybe they have a driver named Max,” Charlie added, and all three busted up laughing.
They immediately stopped laughing once they saw that I found no humor in his comment.
“Lighten up, Emily,” Charlie quipped. “You broke the guy’s heart. Let him mend it with someone else. Who better than your future sister-in-law? Maybe you two will finally end up as family, though I’m sure this is not the way you or Max envisioned it to be.”
Jake only exacerbated the situation by adding, “Emi, will you be upset if you see Max and Jane coming down to breakfast together once she moves back home?”
“Ugh!” I stared at Jake dumbfounded. “Are you kidding me?” was all I could ask as they broke into a guffaw at my expense again. Annoyed, I walked out of the room to grab some drinks. When I got back, Charlie and Jake were having another disturbing conversation.
“So, Jake, have you and Emily started living together?”
“Seriously? Have Sarah and Max never told you about my fiancée?”
“I know the deal, but I thought maybe since you’re almost married, and since she’s living in your house, she might…”
“Charlie. Let’s not go there,” I warned.
Jake complained to both my friends. “I sleep in Nick’s room while she stays here. I’m counting down the days till I don’t get kicked out of my own bed.”
This conversation made me uncomfortable so I looked over to Sarah for a little help. She jumped in and asked if we wanted to join them for a movie and dinner.
I answered, “We would love to,” and kicked them out of the house.
After they left, I turned to Jake and said, “I can’t believe you and Charlie today.”
“He asked,” Jake said defensively. “Are you mad? I didn’t tell him about last night.” His face was too smug. I had created a monster.
“Well since Nick is back at his apartment, you can go back to his room till we get married.”
“Aw come on, Emily. Last night was fantastic, wasn’t it? Didn’t I behave?” Jake’s face was pleading for another hall pass for tonight.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice your hands and lips all over me in the middle of the night.”
Jake shot back at me. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you enjoying my hands and lips all over you in the middle of the night.”
I ran up the stairs trying to hold my lips together from breaking into a smile.