Because I was the only person stuck in this ridiculous, confusing situation.
“Which you entered into of your own free will,” I continued to myself while I dusted the leaves of the monstera in the corner.“And now you’ll need to marry this man and not fall in love with him for real.What do we all think?Can it be done?”
My plants didn’t answer, but my body sure did.And the resounding answer wasno.
If I was being honest, I’d fallen for Nash the day I’d met him.
Spending all this time around him just reinforced what I’d known four years ago.We had blisteringly hot chemistry, and I’d never connected to anyone so quickly or so intensely ever in my life.
“Maybe you can just enjoy this for what it is,” I counseled myself as I pruned dead leaves.“Have good sex.Get married.Enjoy the spoils.And then nurse a broken heart for the rest of your life when it’s over.”
That somehow didn’t seem like the ideal path forward, but maybe I just needed to come around to the idea.While I made another round of iced coffee, I checked social media and was immediately served an ad for a wedding venue.
And my God, it was gorgeous.The type of luxury venue that I’d have only dreamt about before.But now, it could become a reality.Why not have the wedding of my dreams to the man of my dreams?Even if it ended in heartbreak.
I swiped the link and forward it to Nash with the messageJust thinking ahead.What do you think?
His response was almost immediate.
NASH: Funny you sent me that.Was doing some research of my own.Looks good, but it’s a little too pedestrian.
CLARA: Pedestrian?Maybe we should do it in Buckingham Palace then?
NASH: I’ll see if I can get an audience with the King to ask.
Then he sent a series of winking and laughing emojis.
NASH: Sorry I don’t have that much clout across the sea.What about St.Regis?The Plaza?
I knew of St.Regis and The Plaza as the most iconic, luxurious wedding venues in the city, places that I’d only ever read about or seen in the magazines.They were never actualoptionsfor me.
CLARA: I can’t even see myself in those places.They’re like top tier.
NASH: I can see you in them.
Warmth spread through my body like honey.God, it was easy to get used to this man.
I just wished I knew whether this was all one huge experiment in method acting or not.
CLARA: Maybe we can tour them or something.
NASH: I’ll set something up.We’ll find the perfect place.
NASH: How have you always envisioned your wedding?
The question stumped me.I had never been a girl to cling to the fairy-tale wedding.Sure, I always wanted to find a nice man and create a meaningful, intentional life.But I hadn’t clipped images of churches, bridesmaid gowns, or floral arrangements when I was growing up.
I’d just wanted to find that true, lasting love.
The kind that didn’t depend on ostentatious displays.So it was extra ironic that the man I wanted was also offering me every ostentatious display out there, short of Buckingham Palace.
CLARA: I really never had a vision of a dream wedding.Wasn’t that kind of girl, I guess.
NASH: Even better.So we can create something special just for us.
I threw my phone down, groaning loudly into my coffee.“He can’t possibly mean that.Can he?”My voice neared a screech as I struggled to both cherish his words and reject them.
But my mind wandered to my dream wedding anyway.What would I create now, with the man I loved, if money were no object and I had the love of my life at my side?
