“We haven’t decided yet,” I said before he’d say something stupid. “Everything is happening too fast. We need to slow down a bit.”
“Do we?” he asked me.
“You’ve proposed less than a week ago.”
“Yeah, but how long do you think people should be engaged before they get married? Like with Jack, how long did it take?”
I took a deep breath, not sure what this conversation was all about or where it was taking us. “We were together four years before we got engaged. We got married five months after.”
“That long, huh? What about you, ladies?”
“Three months,” Rina said.
“My first husband, maybe a year. We got a divorce three years later. With my current husband, we got married four weeks after we met each other. We’ve been together five years now,” Nora said.
“Wow. Four weeks. No engagement. Got married right away. I like that.” He really needed to take his unfathomable excitement down one thousand notches.
“I don’t think there should be an acceptable duration before people get together. It doesn’t matter if you’ve known each other for four years or three months or four weeks or even eight days. These are feelings, not an equation. When you know, you know,” Rina added.
He gave me another piercing gaze that held me in place. “When you know, you know. Totally agree.”
“How did you two love birds meet?” Nora asked.
“It started with a thong,” he blurted out.
“All right! That’s it,” I interrupted. “You’re officially drunk and not allowed to speak anymore.”
“I’m just telling the truth, like you always want me to. And the truth is,” he brushed my cheek with the back of his hand, “I love you.”
My eyes twitched. Then my lips. Then my heart. Then—
Clink! Clink!
Noises faded out until there was nothing but the annoying clinking. I broke our gaze and looked in the direction of the sound. Fletcher was standing with a fork and a glass at his table, finding me with his eyes. When he did, he put the glass and fork down. “A toast to my beautiful friend who never ceases to surprise, who has found love and happiness again. May we all do.”
A round of applause and cheers erupted.
“You have no idea how much I’m happy for you, Gabi. I’ll always be here for you, every step of the way, celebrating with you your success and wonderful life events. Always,” Fletcher said, and it sounded more like a warning or a threat. “Mr. Zappa, would you please give a few words?”
I shook my head, asking Fabio not to play his game. He was in no shape to outwit Fletcher.
“Speech! Speech! Speech!”
Fabio shrugged at me, and then he planted his usual kiss on the back of my hand. “Don’t worry. I got this.”
“Shit,” I mumbled.
“My beautiful Gabriella, there’s nothing better to express how lucky I am to have found you but this poem. Translate for me, amore.
Ma il cuore non ascolti le ragioni
Questo nostro amore, vita mia
lo prospetti felice
destinato a durare per sempre.
Dei del cielo, fate voi che lei dica il vero,
