"Hi," a woman suddenly peeked in through the door as Arianne pulled some more tissue paper out to stop her self-applied make-up to get ruined. It was Ira's wedding after all. What if she wasn't the bride? At least, she'd be able to see the man she loved smile and kiss his bride and look happy and contented. Like she always wanted to see him. What if it's not her but some other girl who's the reason behind that smile and contentment?
"Yes," she used the tissue paper to rub her nose and looked up at the anxious face, "come in, please."
"Thank you," the older woman humbly half-opened the door and came in. "I'm supposed to be dressing your hair and you up. Arianne, right? I'm Anita. Hello."
"Oh hey Anita," Arianne produced her hand, "thanks for coming to help me. I think I could do this myself. I think you need to go check on Savannah, the bride." "I think there's someone assigned for her," the hairdresser said, taking things out of her bag, "don't worry. Let me do my thing girl." Anita swirled her chair to make her look into the mirror. "Close your eyes now," she asked, stepping in between her and the mirror with a compact box in her hand.
Arianne compromised and Anita beautifully applied the make up on her face. She was beautiful, the latter noticed. Ira was right, she remembered what he had told her before sending her into the dressing room behind the church. "She's very beautiful," he had said, blushing, "don't hide her natural beauty under make-up. You'll see. You'll think a hundred times before brushing her face with too much of the things that you use."
It was true. Anita found it hard to be satisfied with the makeup she was applying. "Just relax, okay?" she kept saying this to Arin. Every time her face or shoulders tensed, she repeated her advice and stood back to peruse her work. Doing her eyes was the best thing.
An art lover loves a beautiful painting. A reader loves gorgeous poetry. And, Anita loved Arin's face. Dressing her up for the wedding seemed to be very satisfactory for her.
"Are you sure this one is the dress for me?" Arianne asked as a guy in typical bartender clothes, pushed a cart into the room. "Yes," Anita said, mentally praising herself for making Arin look more beautiful than she already was, "your father and Ira sent it. They were very particular that you wear this gown. Why? Don't you like it? I heard you picked it up yourself."
Ira sent it?
"This is the bridal gown," she said, still trying to resist, unable to comprehend what was happening. She touched the dress hanging from the topmost bar of the cart, feeling the texture of the cloth. She said again, "this is the one I picked for Savannah." "Let me help you with it," Anita pulled the dress out.
"Hello," Kendrick soon peeped in, just as Arin was done wearing the dress, "may I...oh my God! Anne, you look beautiful. Just like a father would want his daughter to look like on this particular day." He murmured away the last few words.
"Dad," Arin looked up as he came in, as Anita continued working with the back, "why did you send this dress for me? Savannah was supposed to wear this." "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ken shifted the course of the conversation.
It was indeed a beautiful gown. It ran from her shoulders, along her length and ended on the ground. A full white gown it was, with a little showy part at her belly that covered just with a net. And, as soon as she stood in front of the mirror, she knw why she had chosen it for the bride. Yes, the bride. Then, why was she wearing it? It wasn't her wedding.
"Sit," her father pulled a chair in front of hers and asked her. "I need to do the hair," Anita said, "you mind if I stay?" "No it's fine," he said as he watched his daughter occupy the seat.
As Anita worked with her recently trimmed hair, she looked up at her father with inquisitive eyes. Ken kept smiling at her and though she thought it was just an imagination, she couldn't ignore the water pool on his lower eyelid.
"Daddy," she urged again, "what's wrong? Are you crying?"
"Crying? No, your Daddy doesn't cry."
"Don't lie to me. I can see you're crying."
He laughed out and, as his smile became visible, so did his tears. Tears. Those were tears of joy. "Let me tell you a story," he said, rubbing off the tears off, "of a man who was terribly in love with a woman but wad afraid to show her his love."
"What story, Dad?"
"Listen to me, Anne. It's a beautiful story. You'll almost think it's real. You ready?"
"Yes," Arin rolled her eyes.
"Okay," Kendrick started, "so, in the beginning, it's simple. Man meets girl at a party, immediately falls for the beauty on her surface and decides to take a step into the friendship. So, they become friends and, eventually, in the process of knowing each other, they discovered themselves. The man finds the woman in her and, soon, they get lost in love. They fall in love with each other.
"But, they get separated. By a distance of miles and a time difference of three hours.  And, soon, dark days arrive. The man meets another woman and gets allured into thinking his love for the previous woman was nothing at all in comparison to how he felt for the new lady. But, that was wrong. Even when he was with her, he constantly kept thinking about the past. His beautiful past with the beautiful girl he met at a party.
"However, after a lot of hardships and acceptances and sadnesses, the two...the initial two unite again, leaving behind the memories of the new lady. But, right when she thought everything was alright, he suddenly, for no apparent reason let go of her, telling her he wanted to marry the other one."
"Give them names," Arianne told her father, suddenly relating to the story.
"Names? Okay," he pretended to think as he saw Anita push the last pin into Arin's hair, "how about Ira, Arianne and Savannah?"
"Dad?"
"Shush! Listen to me. The story isn't over yet. Arianne now left Ira and decided to never talk to him again and forget what they had. What Arianne didn't know is that Ira loved her anyway. He had let go of her only because of her own benefits. But, she couldn't see it then. Maybe, she'll never see it and will always complain about it.
"And, Ira wants to deal with her complaints. He wants the woman in her, the girl, the child, the lover, the caring mother in her for his entire life. He wants to be with her. He wants to kiss her in front of everyone and declare himself hers and her to be his. The only way that is possible is by marrying her. So, he underwent a few..."
"Dad," Arianne broke out into a mess, "you know nothing. I've...I've no idea what you're talking about. It's a lie. It's a lie. I don't understand."
"He loves you. There's nothing else to understand," Kendrick put a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "he came down from Seattle to Miami to talk to us about himself and you. He told your Mamma and me everything we needed to know. And, he seeked permission to marry you. Anne, today it's your wedding. Not just Ira's. And, not Savannah's at all."
"Oh really?" Arin used more tissue paper to soak her tears without smudging the makeup, "asking you is enough? Is that what he thinks? I don't have a say in my wedding? Is that so?" She was over-excited. She could feel the adrenaline rush in her blood, her blood pressure ascending as her voice raised with every word she said. Neither could she believe what was happening around her, nor what she was saying, nor what her father was trying to tell her.
"Calm down, dear," Ken put both his hands on her shoulders, "I know you're sad. But, believe me, I've seen Ira up closely. He's sad too. As heartbroken as you are." He waited for a while for her to calm down and said again, "I'll go. Wait outside. I'll send Ira in. Listen to him darling. Please."
"Why are you taking his side?"
"Because he loves you. And, he can keep you happy. He deserves you. Just talk to him. Listen to what he has to say. You decide after that. It's not that you've to marry him only because we think he's the one for you, or just because we've all this arranged and all guests coming in to see you two unite, but only because he loves you and you love him too." He sighed as she looked away, "I'll send him in."
Arianne watched him go. Everything around her was a total mess. She barely understood what was going on and what had been going on for the past few weeks.
Her wedding? With Ira?
She couldn't deny she loved the idea. That was all she had been wanting ever since she fell in love with him last summer. But, this way? Why was it happening this way?
Her head ached with questions whizzing to and fro her forebrain.
Ira! Ira was the only one who had all her answers. Ira was her only answer.
She looked up as the door opened and closed again. Ira stood there, in his wedding tuxedo, black with a white shirt, and a pink rose broach at the chest pocket. He was looking exactly like the prince she had dreamt of. He was the prince she had dreamt of.
"Wow," he stood gapmouthed by the door as his eyes fell on his bride. His heart ached as he saw what he had been missing for so many days. His fingers ached to touch her, to undo her hair and run through her ebony locks. He desperately wanted to kiss her and show her his love. But, there was a lot of work left to do before he could do that. Before she would allow him to do that.
"What is all this?" Arianne asked, her voice breaking.
Ira said nothing. Just walked to her and sat on his knees in front of her. "I wish I was blind," he started saying, making her look into his eyes in search of what she wanted to see, "so that you could see everything that I wanted to. So that you could see what I see in you. I wish I was deaf so that you could hear everything that I wanted to. So that you could know why even your softest goodbye deafened me. I wish I couldn't speak so that I could have everything that I wanted to say to you be said by yourself. It would have been so easy then to tell you that I..."
"Stop!" she screamed at him, taking her hands away from his hold, "you don't mean a word you say. You just don't. Why can't you say the truth? Why do you have to sugarcoat everything? You know what, Ira? I'm tired of all this. I'm tired of your confusions. Of your swinging emotions. I just...just can't do it anymore."
"Just listen to me. Please." Ira begged.
"No. I don't want no lies anymore. I don't want to get charmed by your words anymore. I'm trying to be strong, Ira. Why are you making me weak again?" Her tears fell again.
Ira stared at her for a while. She was much more heartbroken than he thought she was. Much more than he was. "We can be strong together," he tried again, his own eyes filling with water.
"Together? Do you even know what that means?" her breath choked with every word, "do you have any regard for that? If you did, you would have never allowed Savannah in our home. It was so easy for you to leave me. To let me go.You should go to her. It's her you should marry."
"Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done."
"Why are you doing this to me, whatever you're doing?"
"Because I love you," he finally confessed. Burying his face in her lap, he kept whispering the three words, the words of love, crying out all his entombed misery.
"I had been so dead," he raised his head, his vision watery yet clear enough to see her cry as well, "I had been so dead right when you left home. So dead. It was just...my body that was alive. But, my soul had been long gone, right when you walked out. I can't...I can't live like that. Not knowing where you are, not knowing how you are, not being able to look after you. I can't."
Arianne touched his face and rubbed his tears off with her fingertips. She shook her head, asking him to not cry anymore. "Then, you don't either," his fingers went to rub hers off too but her small hands were quick to grasp his from doing so. She brought his huge palm to her lips and softly kissed the fingertips.
He overturned the positions of their palms and took her hands into his. He took both of them to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I can't," she said, making him look up to meet his eyes, "I can't think of a life without you, Ira. You've no idea how I've been the last month."
"I have," he shushed her, "I have. We've been at the same position, going through the same situations. You think I've been happy just because I showed you I was. But, I wasn't. I couldn't be. I can never be."
"Then, why did you tell me you were going to marry Savannah?"
Ira sighed and looked away. "Tell me, Ira," she urged again, in a way like she was enquiring a child. "I wanted your good," he said, sniffing, "I just wanted your good. And,..."
"And, you thought without you, I'd be good?"
"You were. You topped, Anne. You topped all your subjects."
"You think if I would have been with you, this wouldn't have happened?"
"Yes, I guess I do...or, at least, did."
"You're an idiot," her voice raised again, "a big idiot. I've never heard someone say something like that. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Trust me."
He smiled at how she was making fun of him. He could feel all the tension between them subside. All at once. "Why are you smiling?" she asked, caressing his sideburns. "I had another purpose," he said, shifting on his knees.
"What?" she asked, blushing as he took her hands close up to his lips again and kissed her fingers. "I wanted to do this," he said, withdrawing his hands.
Moving back an inch, he put his right hand in his pocket. She licked her lipstick as she felt her heart skip a few beats each second. She knew what was coming. She knew what he'd show, what he'd ask. Also, what she'd answer.
As expected, he took out a red box - the same he showed to her parents, Father Lewis, his parents, Christian and Anastasia Grey, their friends - and opened it in front of her. She bit her lip as he slowly took the beautiful ring out and held it in front of her. Holding her one hand with his, he presented the ring and his proposal to her.
"I wish I was blind so that you could see everything that I wanted to. So that you could see what I see in you. I wish I was deaf so that you could hear everything that I wanted to. So that you could know why even your softest goodbye deafened me. I wish I couldn't speak so that I could have everything that I wanted to say to you be said by yourself. It would have been so easy then to tell you that I love you. It would have been easier then to ask you this simple question. Which I'm so scared to ask now. Because...I know you've lot of reasons to deny me, to not want to be with me. And, against all of them, I've just one reason to convince you. Marry me, Arianne Keira Daveson, because I love you. Because, you love me. Because without each other, none of us will ever be complete. Marry me, Anne. Marry me please. Give this mortal a taste of your heaven, a reason to live and he can promise you to savor that...savor you for the rest of his life. I promise to never fail you one more time in my life. Never to fail us. Marry me. Please. Say yes. To being mine. Forever."
"Yes," she whispered, dropping from the chair to the ground, kneeling in front of him like he was in front of her, "yes, yes, yes. Yes, Ira, I'll marry you. And...be yours. Forever."
He immediately grasped her face in between his palms, and balancing the ring in between two of his fingers, he pressed his lips onto hers. "Oh, Ira," she whispered in between two heavenly collisions and returned him his kiss, her fingers playing with his hair, exactly how she used to. Exactly how he wanted.
Love stayed, even after separations, ignorance, heartbreaks, lost faith, broken trust. And, Love won. Over all of them.
He stole back as their lips separated and took her hand in his again. And, with utmost care and generosity and love, he slid the ring in her finger. "I love you," he kept whispering to her, "I love you. I love you."
"Is my makeup all smudged?" Arianne asked as he helped her get on her feet again. "No," he giggled, "Anita used movie makeup."
"What's that?"
"You know, actresses cry and the heroes kiss them. But, their lipstick and eye makeup still stay perfect. You know, that kind of smudgeproof, waterproof...kissproof makeup."
She giggled, her smile showing off her happiness. "I think you need to go out," she said, touching his arm, "and, tell everyone the wedding is still on." He nodded, smiling. "I love you," he kissed her forehead before leaving.
The parents and the best friends were standing right outside the dressing room, Vanessa almost putting her ear on the door. "What happened?" Ana asked as he pretended to be sad. He dropped his face low as if in utter sadness and sighed, shutting the door behind him. "Have you forgotten that you can talk?" she urged again, shaking his arm. He looked up at her, and just as she was expecting him to say something, he held the vacant ring box in front of her.
Arianne inside heard the cheer of the crowd just outside the room. It was so satisfying to see her best friends rushing into the room, her mother following behind in slow motion with tears in her eyes. Tears of joy.
"Oh my gosh," Vanessa, in her bridesmaid's dress, ran to her as she stood with her back against the dressing table, "you're the new Cinderella! You look so beautiful." The bride looked away and smiled as David took her side. "Hey," he put his arm around her. "You look beautiful," he said, as she buried her head on his shoulder. "I'm getting married," she looked up at him and then at Vanessa. "Of course you are," Vanessa said and they laughed out together.
"You knew?" Arin asked Katelyn as they sat together for a while, alone, secluded from the rest, with only Anita in the room, redoing her hair. Kate nodded, holding her daughter's hand firmly, like that was the last time she was holding her hand.
"Arin, baby," the mother caressed the bride's cheek, "we...I mean, your father and I have raised you up, been with you till this day to be so grateful to God. To hand you over to a worthy man and be blissful about it. We could just stand there, or sit at the benches and hear you two repeat the vows after Father Lewis and then, cry when he kisses you. Then, watch you from a distance as you two live on. And, then, a few years later, become a Granny. What else could be more perfect?" "Mom, c'mon!" Arin blushed, trying not to move as Anita did her hair.
"They say the first year is the hardest," her mother continued, "I think the whole life is hard. You know right? You've seen the outer world already. You know how hard it is to make and sustain life. But, just a person can change it. Just a person. Ira is that person for you. He'll make everything seem easy and perfect. I'm so sure he will. I'm so sure..." and she broke down crying again.
"You ready?" Kendrick opened the door and peeped into the room. Kate was still crying and telling her how much she'd miss her and how much she appreciated the decision she took by accepting Ira.
"I think it's time to go," she was the first one to let her daughter go, "Ken, just see she walks fine. It's a slippery aisle. And, she's in heels." "Kate," he made her turn towards the church, "just go. I know how to do this."
It was a long way from the dressing rooms behind the church to where the wedding was taking place. When she came earlier in the morning, the entrance of the church was already adorned in white, with white curtains and magnificent white and light pink sakura everywhere. "You like the decorations?" Ken asked as he held her hand firmly, lest she may fall. She nodded, looking around as they arrived at the church door. "Ira handled it all himself," he informed.
Savannah, Vanessa and Phoebe stood in a height-order queue in front of Arianne and Kendrick. "What's Phoebe doing?" she asked Savannah who was the last one. "We're the bridesmaids," she declared.
The queue was soon gone. A bouquet of flowers got handed to her and she took it, without even seeing who handed it to her. "Dad," she whispered, "is it okay to be nervous?" "You should ask someone who married recently," he said, "come on now. Don't be scared. Your father's here."
The walk down the aisle was the most beautiful thing about the wedding, Arin could never deny. With all the faces she knew standing up to welcome her into her new life on the two sides of the road. The bridesmaids and the best men stood at both the sides of Father Lewis. Vanessa, Savannah and little Phoebe on one side, and Dawson, David and Christian Grey on the other. And, her destiny right ahead her. Ira.
He waited eagerly as Kendrick escorted his daughter to him. "Here," he turned away quickly to hide his tears as he handed her to Ira. When he turned again, he said, "take care of her. I'll be watching."
Father Lewis was in his Wedding Minister attire, with his Bible in his hand. As the two turned to him, he smiled at Arin and smiled again at Ira. He was too happy to cry. Finally, the bad time was over. And, Love had conquered the dark days. Nothing else could ever make him so happy to know that it was Arianne's love that had won.
"We all have gathered here," he declared, it was well set in his memory, "to celebrate the power of love. Over none other thing stronger. We have gathered here to celebrate the love of young Arianne and Ira. Repeat after me, Ira."
"I, Ira Armstrong," he repeated, turning and looking into the eyes of the woman he loved, "take you, Arianne Daveson, to have and to hold for the better or for the worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live. And, I vow to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness and have the patience that love demands. To speak when words are needed and to share the silence when they are not. To value the importance of you in my life, and of the one we bring to this world. And, to live within the warmth of your love and heart and to always call it home."
"Arianne, repeat after me darling," Father Lewis asked her too.
"I, Arianne Daveson, take you, Ira Armstrong to have and to hold..."
Her tears fell as she repeated the vows. She knew the importance of them and she knew the importance of Ira in her life. Hers was a kind of happiness she had no explanations for.
"Do you, Arianne, accept to have Ira Armstrong as your...?" Father after Ira had said, "I do," to a similar question.
"I do," she said, even before he could finish the question and buried her face in Ira's chest and continued crying.
A few feet away, her mother cried into Kendrick's arm. She finally knew her daughter had chosen the perfect person.
"You may kiss the bride," Father asked Ira as he made Arin stop crying. He nodded and looked down at her, into her eyes. She held her breath as she saw the same kind of love and want radiating from Ira's eyes as she felt inside her. Maybe that is homeostasis!
"Look at that," he whispered to her as they separated, the applause still not falling. "What?" she turned to where he was pointing. "Oh my gosh," there was nothing else she could say as she watched her parents kiss, probably the first time in her life. She turned to him and as she heard the cheers subsiding, she said, "how do you do this? How do you make everything better and perfect just by existing?" And, as the bride kissed the groom this time, the claps got louder.
Everyone had come. Everyone who had been on their journey of love. The parents and the best friends of course, Father Lewis of course,Theresa, most of the people from the party where they met, Leona, Mrs. Rodriguez, Mr. Happiness, Savannah, Melissa, Jeremy, Arira in her basket, the whole Grey family, Dr. Flynn. Also other members of both of the family.
The toast raising was after the lunch at the backyard of the church. It was a huge area the church had occupied after all! As any other wedding, the toast raisings were heart touching. Some also turned out to be hilarious.
Adam went up first, "My son has always been useless. Except for his academics though. I mean, who marries at thirty? Arin darling, you shouldn't have dated such an old guy. But, anyway! At least, because of him, we got to meet. This is the one case, out of a few more, for which I must appreciate my son. He definitely has chosen the right girl for him. Even I could marry her and she'd still be the right girl for me. Just joking, Jess! Anyway! My son isn't really an asshole, you know right? He loves you way too much. Promise me, darling, that if I raise this toast to you, you'd love him as much as he doesn't love himself. Promise? Promise? Good girl! People, I raise this toast to my beloved, my beautiful new daughter. Welcome to the family."
Father Lewis raised a very touching toast, "I met Arianne when she was a little girl. Singing a hymn, crying, complaining to the Almighty. I was amazed when I talked to her for the first time. I can't tell you why. You've to know her to appreciate her. Seeing her grow into an amazing woman was the cherry on top of the cake, I should tell you. Teaching her to sing, having her assist me at the library, and at certain ceremonies, I saw her almost all the time. And, then, suddenly she was gone one day. To Seattle to pursue her dream college. Back then, I didn't want her to go. But, now I thank the Lord for having her gone there. I saw her once a year, whenever she came for the summer with David. The first year she asked me why her classmates couldn't accomodate with her. Or, if it was she who couldn't. Next year, she told me about the new friends she had made and how much she wished she could come back to Miami. The third year she told me she was fine, and that to achieve something, you may need to lose a bit of your peace of mind. The last summer, she came and told me she had fallen in love and that she thought that that guy loved her too. I asked her who it  was and she told me about Ira, like he draws rainbows on the sky. Like he created the whole universe and that's why everything had become so perfect. Like it was only he who could write poetry or paint. Like...it was only him who was awaiting her heart. I know there are many. But, Ira, she has awaited only yours. All her life, she had waited for you. Even when Vanessa or her other friends had boyfriends, she didn't. She always wanted to love just one person in her life. You're lucky enough to have her, dear son. I raise the toast to you and the beautiful girl who owns your heart."
David went up last. Seeing him stand up, Ira took Arianne's hand in his and kissed her knuckles. As she looked up at him, smiling, David started his speech. "Hello. Well, if I may start with 'I'm not gonna bore you much' or 'I'm just here for a second or two', I may not be true enough. Cause, if I go on enough, it may take long."
"Will you start?" someone called out from another table.
"Yes. Well...to introduce myself, I'm David, one of the best men. And, Arin's best friend. Arianne Daveson is a girl who's worth falling in love with. She's beautiful, talented, with a sharp brain. But, what's the most beautiful thing about her is her heart. Her innocence. Her habit of rotating the pen a million times in between her fingers before putting it on the paper. Her habit of stretching her chewing gum out of her mouth. Thankfully, it isn't there anymore. And, there's this habit of her of believing in you. More than your own self. Trying to build up your faith, your self-confidence. And, on one such day, when she was busy building a broken me up again, I fell in love with her." Ira squeezed Arianne's hand as she listened patiently.
"Yes, I did," David continued, "without expectations though. I was happy the way it was. I liked, sorry, loved how close we were. How she felt easy to tell me all her secrets. I knew her period dates, I counted with her the number of days she was running late. I knew the boys she had a crush on in school. And, it pleased me to know that she didn't want to get serious with any of them. I thought I had a chance. I planned on confessing after college. But,...you see, I couldn't.
"She found Ira. The right man for her. Initially, I had been the most pissed off person on the planet about him. I was scared that I stood no way anymore. I even tried convincing her into thinking that he's not the right person. But, along the way, I found that he is. Or at least, she's happy with him. Until, she confessed to me one day about how miserable he made her feel. If she hadn't made me promise that I wouldn't hurt him someway, today's wedding wouldn't have happened.
"And, then, one fine day, Ira comes up to me, orders a drink and tells me he loves her. Right when I was to wonder if that was true enough, he pulled out a red box from his pocket and showed me a beautiful ring, saying he wanted to marry my best friend. I asked him how'd I know she'd be happy, cause all I've heard was that he'd made her feel miserable. And, he told me a story. Their story. And, I think, Arin, you should pen it down. People would love it, as much as I loved it. As much as I love you.
"Melissa, I don't want you to take this else way. You're a boon in my life. One of the greatest things that happened to me so far in my life. I love you, of course. And, I'll always love you. And, similarly...I'll love Arin always too. She's my best friend. I can't stop loving her. She's the best best friend in the world. And, I...I raise my toast to her and her new life."
"You made him say all this, didn't you?" Arianne asked Ira as they had a dance in the evening. He smiled, "he deserved to let out, Anne." She looked away, at a distance where Jess danced with Kendrick.
"I'm glad your hair grew up so well," he complimented, to divert the conversation as they swayed together. "Me too," she giggled.
"We leave tomorrow morning," he again changed conversation.
"Tomorrow? For where?"
"First home and, then..." he winked at her, "though, I don't think we need to go anywhere. Wherever we are, we can make it feel like honeymoon. Can't we?"
"Hey," their conversation stopped as David tapped his best friend's shoulder, making her turn back in surprise. "Oh, hey," her hands dropped from Ira's shoulders as she turned. "Did you save one dance for me?" he asked, looking from her to Ira and back at her.
"I'll see if Kate's free," Ira let her go.
"Thank you, Dav," she said as he took her hand in his and swayed her with the song. "For what?" he asked. "For everything," she said, smiling. "I was just wondering if you..." he stammered, "I mean...did you mind that I said all that?"
"No," she said, looking adoringly at him, "why would I? I'm so glad that you did. And, I'm so sorry I never...I don't...I don't know what to say."
"Don't be sorry. I found Melissa."
Arin smiled and hit his forehead with hers. "I'm as tall as you."
"Yeah right! With heels!"
"C'mon!"
"Did you think of the story?" Ana appeared suddenly, putting a hault to their dancing.
"What story?" David asked.
"You talked about it right? The Ira-Arianne love story? So, Arin, would you write it?"
"That one? Yeah, I was thinking about it."
"What did you think? What's the name?"
"Umm...maybe, The Third Person."
"It'd be about Savannah? You'd write a story about Savannah?" David looked at her, surprised.
"No," Arianne said, giggling, "of course not. She's not a third person."
"Then?"
"She's the reason we came to be so well. David, a relationship starts with two people and ends with two. Not three, neither more. There are two persons only, not a third person. And, that's what I want to say in the story."
The newly wed couple were back to Seattle the next afternoon by Christian's private jet, Charlie Tango. As Ira drove his new Audi through the city, along with his wife beside her and his parents and in-laws on the backseat, Arin told him about the story. The Greys followed them behind."I'm gladsome the story has a happy ending," he said, petting Arira's head who was sweetly asleep in her basket on Arin's lap.
"Hey," Jess suddenly screamed out and looked outside, "the apartment's gone, Ira." Ira didn't reply, just smiled. Arianne looked out to confirm and turned towards him in surprise.
"Where are we going?" she asked. "Home," he said simply and smiled at the road ahead.
Within fifteen more minutes, they were on the road towards the bungalow where the 'Coping Together' party had taken place. "Ira?" Arianne asked him again, "where are we going?"
He stopped the car in front of one of the bungalows. As he helped her step out of the car, the night of the party came like a flash of thunder.
'They walked by some houses, made and probably even moduled, set for sale. Huge houses, similar to the ranch house, maybe just a floor less. Gorgeous from outside. "Look at that house," Arin pointed at one as they neared it, "beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes. Is it like the ones you dream of having a family in?"
"I think so. But, look at it. It must be so out of my budget. I'll find some other house, that, you know, may fit my budget." He smiled at her and then looked back at the house.'
"Home," he said, putting his arm around her and bringing her close to him as their parents and the Greys stepped out too.
The house was as massive from the inside as it looked from the outside, everyone noticed as the housekeeper welcomed them in. It was an all-white, with a glorious chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On the walls there were paintings of several kind. Fauvism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionsism, Bauhaus and so many more simple sceneries and potraits. Upstairs was a complete set of palatial rooms opening up.
As she looked down from the upper floor, Arianne realized the foyer was magnificently huge. Huge was too small a word for it, she concluded.
To the right was a set of massive sofas and couches that could sit fifteen adults comfortably. It faced a beautiful fireplace. Over the mantle was the Fauvism artwork she had bought at the party. A little to the left of the couches was a beautiful brown grand piano.
On the left was the kitchen area. All white with glittery black worktops and a large breakfast bar which seated at least five. Near the kitchen area, was a long 'The Last Supper' kind of a dining table surrounded by ten chairs.
"Hi," Ira looked into the attached washroom in their bedroom that night, "what's taking you so...? Wait...no, don't tell me," he said, laughing out.
"Yeah, go on," she said, feeling awkward in her new lingerie.
"Lingerie? Who's idea was that?"
"Savannah's!"
"Since when did you two become besties?"
"Yesterday. Am I really looking that ugly?"
He smiled shyingly and kneeled in front of her, just like he had when he had proposed the marriage. "You look incredible," he said, "I want to see you in this for longer but, I also want to undress you right now. Promise me you'll wear this again when the folks aren't around."
"I've many more. Savannah gifted me a dozen designer lingeries."
"She did a good job," he said and immediately took her up into his arms. She giggled, kicking her legs in the air as he carried her into the room and sweetly placed her on the kingly bed. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, as he hovered over her.
"You're all mine," she said, slowly pulling his boxers off him. "All yours," he kissed her neck as her hands went to his pelvis and clenched around his hardness. She helped him get her lingerie out of her, revealing herself to him. There was no shame anymore, no holding back. Only taking, only giving, only sacrificing.
His hands toured over her body as she simply lay there, letting him do what he aimed at. He was a master of romance, a Greek God of Seduction. He could make her moan in pleasure and groan in pain all at the same time. He knew the ratio of the two too well.
His lips met hers as her legs writhed with a constant sensation of pleasure as the feels traveled from where he kissed her in between her legs till her toes. Her parted mouth gasped out words and sounds of satisfaction and her body easily fell into coordination with his and complied to him as he demanded her to.
"I love you," he spoke into her ear as he pushed himself inside her. "Ira," she gasped his name out, holding him close to her body as he susurrated appreciation to her. "You can take it," he said, "Anne, I know you can. Just a little more. Please. For me."
They lay after their bodies' denial to keep going on for more, Ira over her, his weight pressing her down to the bed. She loved what had just happened. And, she wanted to go again. More and more. Again and again. She wished her body would never give up,  she'd never get tired of lovemaking with her husband. He had so much to give to her.
"Thank you," she said, making him shift to the bed beside her.
"For the sex?" he winked.
"No..." she rolled her eyes, "I mean, not just that. You know..."
"What?"
"The wedding, the house, Mamma and Dad, David, the love, yourself...for everything."
"First of all, I did it all for myself. Because I couldn't go a single day without you. And...Katelyn and Kendrick? They love each other. I didn't do anything. David? He's the best friend you'll ever get."
"Whatever! You know what you did right?"
He looked at her with questioning eyes.
"You made me happy," she said, and leaned in to kiss his sculpted lips. "It means too much to me to see you happy," he said, fondling her breast as he talked, "more than you can think."
"You didn't tell me where you'll take me for honeymoon?" Anne asked as he kissed and spread a bit of his saliva on her nipple to use it to elongate it in between his fingers. It was very carnally pleasurable to let him do it and watch him concentrate both on talking and his activity.
"It's basically a wedding gift from Mr. Grey and Ana," he informed,  "our flight's tomorrow in the afternoon. They're sending us to England."
"Ana! This girl!"
They lay together in peace, caressing each other, dreaming of the future, never going back to the past.
"Now, Mrs. Armstrong, do we have a 'hypothetically perfect love story'?" he asked, strongly and possessively holding his beloved wife to himself.
"We always did, baby."
No matter what a huge distance the horizon created, the sky and the Earth met anyway.
And, they lived happily ever after.

****HAPPY BEGINNINGS****