“Wow, huge crowd,” she shouts. “Nice work. I bet that promotion is yours if you want it.”
I smile at her and look over her shoulder for Noah, but I don’t see him. “When did you get here?” I ask.
“Not too long ago,” she smiles, looking as if she’s hiding something. “I passed Troy on the way outside to cool the jets on some of those frat boys trying to break through security. Good thing he has experience with that sort of crap, huh?”
I smile at her and suddenly feel dizzy. I hold on to the table beside us to steady myself.
“Are you ok?” Eva asks worriedly. “You need to take care of yourself. I know this is a big night, but you have bigger things to worry about now, Gwen. Even if it is the size of a peanut at the moment.”
I take a water glass from a waiter passing by and gulp down a big sip. Lowering the glass, I smile at her like a brat and say, “Better?”
She laughs, “Well, it’s a start.”
She slings her arm through mine as we make our way towards the stage set up for the now no-show opening act. It’s another headache I absolutely did not need on an already whorish night from hell.
“Weren’t you supposed to have some sort of live band or something?” she asks. It’s a question that is probably on everyone else’s mind in this room.
“Yeah, but like everything else in my life, that fell apart at the last minute,” I tell her. We stop at one of the tables closest to the center of the room, right in front of the stage. “I just hope whoever Aaliyah grabbed last minute gets here fast before everyone gets restless. I still have an hour before the DJ starts, and I don’t know if we can hold them off that long with just the music overhead.”
I take another sip of water and set the glass down on the table in front of me. Looking back up, I notice Noah making his way through the crowd. Eva turns just as he nods at me and then winks at her. Coming up behind her, he wraps her in his arms and kisses her on her neck. As much as the gesture is sweet, it entirely reminds me of someone else I really don’t have the time to be thinking about right now, and so I go to take my leave.
“Well, you two have a fun night. Don’t get too crazy, ok? I will look for you later, but right now, I have to go see about this opening act.”
I turn to leave as Eva shouts out my name.
“Gwen, wait.” I turn and can tell she’s stalling as she picks up the glass in the center of the table. My water cup from a few moments earlier. “You need to finish this, or at least take it with you. I don’t want that niece or nephew of mine not to be taken care of.”
I roll my eyes at her and take the glass. Taking another big swig, I swallow the rest of the water and set it back on the table. “Good enough?” I tease.
Turning to leave, I stop as all the lights in the building go out, and the room fills with blackness. What the hell? Everyone stops what they are doing, and the room grows eerily still, quiet, as we all wait to see what’s going on. I try to get ahold of Aliyah through my earpiece, but it’s no use. The power has been cut, and God only knows when it will come on again.
Great, just one more thing I don’t need.
Suddenly, a blinding light shines in the middle of the stage. Turning toward it, I’m stunned, speechless, breathless as I take in the person who walks into the spotlight. Clearing his throat, Rex raises a mic to his lips. He finds my eyes as shyness fills his handsome face. A hesitance consumes him. He stares at me a beat longer before I hear music. And then, he does something I never expected. Bucket list item number thirty-nine. He starts to sing.
With wide eyes, I watch him. His voice is shaking and off-key, as he sings the opening lines to “Perfect” by Ed Sherran. Tears fill my eyes and stream down my face. The whole crowd turns and looks at where he’s staring. At me.
When Rex sings about finding a girl he never knew was waiting for him, a spotlight beams down on me, and I laugh at the irony. The crowd sighs, adoring the heartfelt display. My heart bursts, and Rex continues to steal my breath away with every off-key word he sings.
Slowly, he starts making his way toward the left stage. My eyes follow him as he takes each step toward me. The crowd watches as Rex loudly professes everything I needed to hear him say. Everything I needed to know. He’s finally taking a stand. He comes within reach, sings about dancing in the dark, and takes me in his arms.
He sways me around the floor, and the crowd clears for us. I smile up at him as tears fall down my face. A longing to have this moment go slower builds inside me. I want this moment to last forever as he sings about me being stronger than anyone and us sharing dreams together. Building dreams together.
He stills when he talks about secrets and backs away, then glances down at my swollen stomach when the word children leaves his lips. Pulling me close, he kisses the top of my nose before swinging me out the way he did in the dance studio, making me almost lose balance before twirling me back towards him in a hurry.
Grabbing me close, he winks down at me. His voice cracks as he jokingly sings the rest of the song. Swaying me back and forth like a child just learning to dance, I laugh as the hoots and hollers from the crowd grow the closer he reaches the end of his serenade.
He stops us when he sings about the future and holds my stare. My breathing quickens. I need to know what he’s thinking, because I’m on cloud nine right now, and this all feels like a dream. Dropping to one knee, the music fades into the background before he reaches the end of the song.
“Gwendolyn Coppola, I have five words to say to you,” he professes loud and clear into the microphone for all to hear. “And I won’t take no for an answer.” I giggle at his stubborn ass. “I love you,” he counts off on three fingers Then raises two more. “Marry me.”
It’s not a question but a statement.
I know it’s not perfect, but it is our perfect.
I don’t need a long ass confession. I just need him, taking a stand, finally telling me how he feels, and telling the world that he also thinks we’re perfect.
All I can manage is a nod as words elude me. “What was that?” he teases into the microphone. I glare at him and smile. “A little louder, sweetheart, I can’t hear you.”
