He kissed me on the forehead. “I love you more.” He said. Then he leaned forward to kiss me on the lips again. “See? I told you, you didn’t have to tell your family that our engagement was just a sham. Because it was going to be real soon enough.”
“Except your family knows and our stories do not match now.”
“It’s only Paris, my parents, Janis and Jake.” He said. “They can easily go along with the old story in front of your family. They find our love story quite amusing.”
“I find it amazing.” I said. “After all that we’ve been through… I cannot believe we survived all that… and we’re here, happier than ever.”
Ryder stared at me. “It’s surreal.”
I stared back at him. “Surreal? Even for you?”
He smiled and said, “Especially for me.” And then he bent down to give me a thorough kiss on the lips. When he pulled back, he stared at me for a while, tears almost brimming his eyes. “Thank you for saying yes.”
I smiled back. “Thank you for asking.”
He gave me another kiss on the forehead and then he said, “So, now it’s time to celebrate… our real engagement.”
We ate the food that Ryder had prepared. Then we toured the house. It was screaming luxury and good taste. The floors were made of marble. The furniture was made of the highest quality materials. Everything was a perfect combination of beauty and class.
I was very happy. I loved the house. And I loved the fact that Ryder thought about buying this as soon as we officially got together a couple of months ago.
We stood in the balcony, staring at the view of Manhattan. I leaned my head on Ryder’s shoulder. I felt him wrap an arm around my waist to pull me closer to him.
“How did you know I was gonna pick up your note?” I asked him.
He chuckled. “I know you more than you give me credit for, love.” He said. “And I know you would rush here if you can’t contact me.”
“What would you have done if I didn’t come?” I asked.
“Then I would come and get you.” He laughed. “Honestly, did you really think I was gonna have a rendezvous with another woman?”
I felt ashamed of this. I really did. I know I should trust Ryder more. He’s not Bryan. Just like Ryder, Bryan is one of a kind too.
I sighed and tiptoed so I can give him a kiss on the lips. “I’m sorry.” I said. “But I did promise myself to listen to you first before… I make any judgment, you know.”
He gathered me to him again and gave me a hug. “I’m done breaking your heart, Ash.” He whispered. “I’ve done that plenty of times when I forgot about you. I promised I won’t do that again.”
I rested my head on his chest and breathed in the sweet masculine scent of him. “Can you stay like this forever?” I asked him.
He hugged me tighter. “You once told me that I have everything I want. I told you then that… I don’t have everything yet. But now, I do. Because I have you. You were the only thing missing. And I promise, love, I will do my best to stay like this forever. As long as you promise that you will always trust me, have faith in me.”
I nodded. “Always.”
Ryder smiled and then he leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the lips again. Then he bent and picked me up on my feet, carrying me towards the glass doors that led back inside the apartment.
“Now, how soon do you think you can plan that dream wedding of yours?”
I laughed. “So soon, Van Woodsen?”
“Yes. Your father is under the impression that he’ll be walking you down the aisle this year.” He replied.
“What was that all about anyway? What did you talk to my father about?” I asked, remembering the day we went to my parents’ party and Ryder seemed to have had a man-to-man conversation with my father behind my back.
He smiled mischievously, “He made me promise not to make you cry. And if possible, marry you this year. Well… my amnesia got in the way, but hey! I still have a couple of months to work on it, right?”
My eyes widened. “How could you promise my father that? We were not even together for real during that time?”
“I know.” He said. “But he didn’t know that. And I wanted it to happen so badly, I couldn’t say no. I was sort of wishing out loud when he spoke to me. I know that I would do everything in my power to make it happen… and the rest would be up to you.”
“And you want me to plan our wedding now?”
“Yes. I’m your first customer in New York. I want the best wedding for my bride. And I want it done as soon as possible. The sooner you become Astrid Van Woodsen, the better.”
I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming. I felt so blessed and so lucky. I’ve read plenty of fairy tale romances when I was a kid. But I never knew they would happen to me for real. That someday, my knight in shining armor would come and rescue me from the pains of my broken heart… change my stubborn beliefs about love, regain my faith in myself, and make me trust in love again.
And even though he came in a shiny package, it didn’t really matter. Because he made me believe that I… was absolutely worth it!
Chapter Thirty-Eight
THE VENUE:
The place where the whole wedding will take place. Considerations in choosing a venue could be because the place holds special memories for the couple or it could be sentimental to one of the couple’s parents or grandparents. But more than anything, the venue chosen must accommodate the theme of the wedding.
It was the most hectic following months of my life. I was setting up Ever After Manhattan, meeting up with potential suppliers, and hiring and training people. On top of all that, I was planning my own wedding. I had to actually get Nicole to stay in New York once in a while to help me. Leilani, my assistant in Malibu, was left in charge of the branch and Nicole and I just fly in if there are important matters that needed our attention.
The first major problem that I had was the location of my wedding. I could easily have that in a hotel, but it wasn’t good enough for Ryder. He wants my best idea, my top dream wedding on the table. He wasn’t settling for anything less.
“Really? Apart from the wedding you planned for Bryan, there could have been something else that you wanted… something you only thought was possible in dreams.” Ryder said to me one night when I was showing him my notes.
I sighed. There was one dream when I was younger. The first wedding idea that sparked my passion for wedding planning.
“Tell me.” Ryder said.
I shook my head. It was such a long time ago. I was barely a teenager then. I was just a kid who hasn’t even graduated from reading fairy tales.
Ryder pushed me back to bed and started tickling me. I laughed.
“Ryder, stop!”
“Come on! I can do this all night!” He laughed and then he relentlessly tickled me in spots he knew I was most sensitive.
I wriggled away from him but he refused to let me go.
“Okay! Okay!”
He stopped and collapsed on the bed beside me. He gathered me in his arms and let me rest my head on his chest.
I took a deep breath and then I closed my eyes, picturing what I thought was the dream of dreams weddings.
“When I was younger, I used to picture out a wedding in a huge estate… with a huge garden. Flowers all around. The ceremony would be in the middle of an orchard, surrounded by trees. Flowers would be in full bloom… like… you’re in a fairyland. When the bride walks down the aisle, there would be a rain of flower petals. Then at night, all the trees would be illuminated by lights like they’ve been infested by fireflies, and then there would be a fireworks display.”
“Fairyland wedding.” He said. “Suitable to seal the deal on your ‘ever after’.”
I giggled. “Yes.”
He tilted my chin up so I could look at him.
“Now, I like that idea!”
My eyes widened. “But Ryder… that will be very expensive!”
He raised a brow. “So? I int
end to marry only once, love. Why not go all the way? If you had to plan the wedding of your wildest dreams, with unlimited budget, what would you do?”
“But Ryder… we don’t even have a location for that. Where could we find a large estate that has a forest or a garden that’s huge enough to pass up as a fairyland?”
He smiled and pulled me to him. “I think I know exactly the place, love.”
The next day, Ryder took me for a ride.
“Where are we going?”
“My grandmother’s house.” He replied.
“Your grandmother’s? You… you never mentioned her before.”
“Well, she’s in heaven now, love.” He said. “But she left my mother her estate. Just check it out.”
It was a little more than an hour drive. Then he stopped in front of a steel-gated estate. He blew the horn and waved at the CCTV camera. Immediately, the gate opened. We were entering a huge property. My jaw dropped. It was not just a mansion. It was almost like… a freaking castle!
“Your mother owns this?”
Ryder nodded. “Soon we will own it too, along with Paris.”
I stared at him, unable to believe what he’s saying. “Who lives here?”
“Butlers… maids.” He replied. “We come here for short breaks at least twice a year.”
He parked in front of the mansion… castle… estate… whatever you call it. A man dressed in a suit greeted us.
“Mr. Ryder, good day.” He greeted. Then he looked at me and smiled. “Madam Astrid. It is nice to finally meet you.”
“Good day Ben.” Ryder greeted him. “Sweetheart, this is Ben. He takes care of the whole estate.”
I smiled at Ben and extended my hand to him. He shook it. I was actually surprised that he knew who I was.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“Astrid wants to see the whole place. If she likes it, we’re going to hold our wedding here in a couple of months.”
Ben smiled. “Then I shall take you on a tour. A wedding has not been held here since Mr. Ryder’s grandparents got married. It would be our utmost pleasure to host yours.”
The whole estate was massive and completely impressive. The front of the house has a vast garden filled with flowers of different kinds and colors. There are two lavish fountains standing side by side each other and sculptures of angels and cupids adorn every corner.
There are two other gardens at the back of the house. One is a labyrinth. I couldn’t resist going inside it. There are benches inside the pathways, as well as lamps and posts to make it suitable for walking at night. The whole structure is only about two feet taller than Ryder.
The center of the labyrinth is an even more picturesque garden with beautifully landscaped plants, cut knee high, and form patterns of circles and hearts.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I can barely believe I was still in New York. God, I cannot even believe I was still in the human world!
Ryder and Ben led me out of the labyrinth and we proceeded further into the estate. They led me to a line of oak trees. Some branches are intertwined together to form an arc over the pathway. The end of the arc leads to what looks like an orchard, surrounded by very tall trees that shade the whole area, allowing only a little of the rays of the sunlight, even at noontime.
We walked further. The end of the entire estate is a lake.
“We can get swans to swim here on the day of the wedding.” Ryder whispered.
I stared at Ryder. Tears were brimming in my eyes. “Seriously?” I asked him.
He nodded. “It gets better.” He said.
“There’s more?”
Ryder smiled. “Guess what comes out here at night.”
I smiled, looking at the beautiful line of flowers and shrubs that border the entire estate, separating it from the lake.
“I don’t know what else could top these. Unless you have fireflies here at night too.”
Ryder didn’t answer. Ben smiled. I stared at both of them.
“Oh my God!” I breathed. “Seriously? Fireflies?”
Ryder’s eyes twinkled. “So, has the future Mrs. Ryder Van Woodsen found her fairyland yet?”
I nodded. I lunged forward and hugged him. “It’s perfect.” I said. “Just like you… it’s absolutely perfect.”
***
The following months zoomed by so fast. Maybe that was because I was too busy. I kept Nicole on her toes as well. Janis and Paris would come to help once in a while.
Ryder has made Nicole in-charged of the wedding budget. I strongly argued but I didn’t win, two against one.
“If you handle the budget, it will alter your creativity.” Nicole said to me. “You stop your wonderful ideas once you tally the bottom figure!”
Ryder agreed with her. “I already told you. Wedding of your wildest dreams, love. Nothing less.” He looked at Nicole. “Don’t even give her the subtotals. Send all the bills to me.”
Nicole smiled radiantly and gave me a triumphant look. She has a couple of out-of-this-world ideas that she wanted to try, and she’s using my wedding as a guinea pig.
A month and a half before the date, a very elegant, Swarovski-adorned, white and gold scrolls encased in a crystal glass went out to the guests, inviting them to our big day.
A few days before the wedding, the girls planned for my bachelorette’s party, which was held in Ryder’s grandmother’s vast estate.
On the same day, Ryder was going to have his bachelor’s party. At first, I was nervous about what they are going to do. I know Bryan was planning to do his on a strip bar. I knew it was tradition to go to those places on bachelors’ parties, but I somehow couldn’t help being worried about the fact that Ryder might be with another woman. And I hated that thought… tradition or no tradition.
But in the morning, I saw Ryder dressed in his hiking boots and preparing some camping stuff.
“Where are you going?”
“Bachelor’s thing.” He replied.
“In hiking boots?”
He laughed. “What did you think, love? Strippers and one night stands?” I glared at him. He laughed again. “I promise. No monkey business.” He said. “Jake, Adam, Derek, John and I are going camping in the woods close to my grandmother’s estate. We’ll trek, we’ll fish, we’ll enjoy the fireflies and we’ll get drunk. Then we’ll head back in the morning.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because that’s what I wanted to do before I get married.” He said. “Something that I only used to do when I was a boy with no responsibility in life.”
I smiled at him and gave him a hug, quite relieved that I didn’t have to worry about him being with somebody else.
But it seems that my girls have planned the complete opposite for me. They wanted me to have the whole bachelorette experience. From liquor, to kinky-looking cakes to blindfolds and really slinky, revealing lingerie presents.
After they revealed their presents that seem to lack in material and leave almost nothing to imagination, they blindfolded me and told me to sit in the chair and just enjoy the ride.
“Strippers!” They screamed and the music blasted from the stereos.
“Guys! Please! Ryder’s grandmother might still be here watching us!” I pleaded.
I don’t like this at all. I have never been with anyone but Ryder, so I won’t really be missing out on anything when we get married.
There were cheering all around. The girls were going wild. Suddenly, I felt hot breath on my neck. I almost screamed. Masculine hands touched my nape and I felt a soft kiss on my right shoulder.
Now, I really screamed.
“Stop! Please stop!” I pleaded to the guy. I will not allow this! I raised my knees up my chair and wrapped my arms around my legs. I was almost in the brink of crying.
“Come on, sweetheart!” Janis said. “This guy is expensive! Make it worth our money!”
“I’ll pay you back!” I shouted. “Just please make him leave!”
/> They laughed again. They kept encouraging the guy to touch me. “Come on! Her fiancé won’t find out! Touch her!”
I felt hands on my waist, then on my thighs, forcing me to sit properly. I felt cold hands on mine and they were pulled behind me.
“Sorry, sweetheart.” Dannie said. “We can’t have you resisting the ride of your life!”
“Ryder!” I whispered. “Where are you when I needed you the most?”