Emma barrels into the breakroom holding three small bouquets and a box of boutonnieres. I’m leaning against the refrigerator, watching as she rushes around the room, calling out orders, smoothing out ties, and tying a ribbon on Frankie’s collar.
“D-day, Divata day, I love it!” Kate bounces up and down in her black bridesmaid dress—her bouncy curls looking like they did when we were little, wild and free. She started sporting the natural look again a few months after the block party. It suits her.
“How are you feeling?” Malcolm meets me at the back of the room and begins pinning the small flower to the front of my suit jacket.
“Nervous.” My voice is shaky. “Excited. Ready to get started. All of it.” I start to ramble and Malcolm pats me on both shoulders once he’s done pinning.
“Just stay calm.” He smiles, a rare Malcolm sighting. “It’s going to be great.”
I give him a thankful nod and adjust my tie, it feels tight and constricting around my neck, as I watch Emma line everyone up in the break room.
“We’re starting in five minutes!” she announces to the room before walking up to me. “You good?” She eyes me suspiciously.
“Never better,” I answer, knowing full well she will run me over with my own truck if I try to leave this wedding—which I have no plans to do—but her crazy eyes are just extra incentive to watch my step.
“Good,” she says, shoving her pointer finger into my chest. “I love you, Ben, but I love her more. Do not ruin this.”
I grab her finger and shake it. “I won’t.”
She eyes my hand then back up to my face, her stern facial expression softening. Then she hugs me quickly, the physical contact calming my nerves for a brief moment, before rushing back to the opposite end of the room.
Bill, the Janitor, joins me at the end of our makeshift aisle. Office chairs lining each side, covered in white cloth and black bows. His rusty twinkle lights strung above us in all different directions and candles set up all along the back counter.
Emma hands Kate and Patsy a bouquet, white roses and small palm leaves. I see Patsy’s gaze linger on the bouquet, her eyes glistening as she brushes the leaves—a small nod to my parents and our Filipino culture.
Patsy ignores Emma’s instructions to“stay put”and rushes up to me and Bill at the back of the room, squeezing the bouquet tight to her chest.
“They would be so proud of you, Bayani.” The eyes I know of strong-willed Patsy were different today, a mixture of joy and sorrow I assume. “Iam so proud of you.” A tear escapes the corner of one eye, she grumbles as if it did it of its own volition. Wiping it quickly, she shakes her head. “Damn, these old eyes.”
A combination of shuddering breath and a a chuckle escapes me as I grab her hand. My sweet, strong Patsy. I bow at my waist, kissing the top of her hand and pressing it against my forehead firmly.Mano.
“Patsy, come on,” Kate whispers at us from the front of the room. Her face is tense as she looks at us and back at Emma who is running around like a maniac.
“Mahal kita,” I say as she backs away to join Kate.
I watch as the ladies adjust their dresses, Kate straightens Malcolm’s tie, and Steven wrangles the boys down the aisle. I let myself take in the scene, remember it. Everyone says you forget the small details and I don’t want to forget anything. My gaze lands on the small seat at the front of the aisle housing a photo of my parents, holding me as a chubby baby. The worst possible photo of me, but the most beautiful one of them. It was Ellie’s idea to have something dedicated to them, just one more thing that makes her the most incredibly thoughtful woman.
I loosen my tie another fraction, swallowing the lump that formed over their memory. Bill probably sees my emotion and pats my back as he prepares his notes for the ceremony. I had no idea Bill was an ordained minister until last month when we announced to the faculty that we were getting married—in thirty days. He jumped at the chance to do the wedding, telling me it would look good on his resume.
“Are you planning on leaving us?” Ellie asked him.
“Just always looking for side gigs.” He laughed a burly, wheezy laugh.
“Crazy how life is so different now, huh?” Bill asks, bringing me back to the present.
“So crazy.” I pull at my sleeves, lining them up with my wrists.
“Just a year ago I was dressed as a bunny and you were a ninja.” He laughs that same wheezy laugh.
“I wasn’t a ninja.” I roll my eyes and he laughs again, muttering, “Sure”under his breath.
Life for me wasn’t very different, besides the fact that I had the most perfect woman letting me love her and she was loving me right back. Outside of that, my role as vice principal remained the same, powering through the ebbs and flows of the school year. Ellie is embracing her guidance counselor role like a freaking pro, on top of accepting a remote professor job with Columbia.
There was tension in the beginning. It was hard to believe she was willing to leave New York and stay here with me, in Oklahoma no less. Her dream job was practically out the window, but when Columbia offered her a remote teaching position, with a stipend to visit campus once a quarter, she had another chance to pursue her dream while I maintained mine. Like somehow the individual desires of our hearts were being given to us.
Being with Ellie has been wonderful and more than I deserve, something I didn’t see coming twelve months ago. After the block party, we were all in. But actually asking her to be my fiancée didn’t happen as soon as I had hoped. I didn’t want her to feel pressured into something that brought her so much pain. I couldn’t do that, even if it was what I wanted more than anything.
I wanted to put her needs before my own, show her love and patience, build her trust. Show her that whatever she needed to feel safe and confident in our relationship, I would do—even if it felt like a century waiting for her to be ready. I was pretty confident I would marry her after her first day at Glendale, but I have spared her that little nugget of information.
