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They were the best bunch of guys, and granted, some lived in halfway houses, but I admired them for their tenacity. They certainly had more than I’d had for a long time.
Flynn’s office staff RSVP’d, and before we knew it, we had over two hundred people coming to an impromptu wedding. The Safadis were thrilled, or so Flynn said, and were going to contribute to the meal by having a local Middle Eastern restaurant cater. The restaurant would be happy to serve my family’s traditional dishes. It would be a real ethnic spread.
By Thursday, I was feeling anxious about leaving Flynn in five days. I talked to my roomies, and they said it was a natural reaction to leaving loved ones. Brian said he’d felt the same way when he left Utah for good.
I said nothing to Flynn, worried he’d take it as a sign that I shouldn’t leave and then try to talk me out of it. It was better for me to focus on our wedding. Finding something to wear was the worst problem. I hated shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. Then I remembered my friend at the underwear outlet on eBay and quickly emailed her for suggestions.
You won’t believe this,she wrote back.My sister-in-law has a bridal shop online. She’s located across the river from Detroit. Pick out a few things. We’ll ship them to you overnight and you can send back what you don’t wear. You’ve been such a wonderful customer; I’ll do whatever I can to help you find just the right dress!
Dale and I combed through the pages of the store, and I found more than a few things that might work. I liked the simple ones and ended up choosing suits. Flynn had never seen me in a skirt! I had to pick shoes, another thing I disliked shopping for.
“Why couldn’t I have been addicted to buying shoes?” I cried.
Then, Dale gasped. “Oh my God, Bellabug. Look at this.”
She swiveled her computer toward me. I still can’t believe it. It was a long dress with a full skirt, of a multicolored fabric but mostly yellow, covered with metallic gold squares, circles, and other geometric shapes.
“It’s Gustav Klimt!” I cried.
“It’s definitely inspired. We need to call these people and see if they can ship overnight. Either that or you have to postpone your wedding.”
Before I knew it, Saturday had arrived. We were getting married in Flynn’s rambling house. There was standing room only, with a narrow path from the front door to the stone fireplace at the back of the house. My father and I drove together. I can’t describe this moment, but it had a tinge of the night of the accident, of my father running after me. Only we were seated side by side in the car, and he wept the entire ride.
“Pop, let me drive,” I begged. “We’re going to get killed.”
“I’ll pull it together,” he promised, wiping his face.
It was the first time my family had seen Flynn’s house, and there were plenty ofoohsandaahs. It was that kind of place.
But when Flynn saw me walk through the front vestibule on my father’s arm, and saw the dress, he knew right away what it represented, and then he lost it, too. So now I had my father and my fiancé crying.
“The dress,” Flynn said when I got to the hearth. “Unbelievable.”
I winked at Dale, who was my attendant. “Brian had to drive to Windsor to get it,” she said, making everyone laugh.
“Well, it was worth it,” Flynn said. “It’s from my favorite piece of art.”
“Look. Gold shoes,” I said, pulling the skirt up so he could see.
The night flew by in a fog. The reception was a blast. Ramsen had arranged for the music for dabkeh, the traditional Arab dance, and to my shock, Flynn joined in. There was so much joy, with clapping hands and laughter.
The faux gold jewelry I wore was weighing down my earlobes by the time we were ready to call it a night.
Flynn had arranged for a limousine for the trip back to his house. There wasn’t enough time to pack for a weekend trip after all, and I didn’t care. I just wanted to be alone with him.
We collapsed into the back of the car. “You look so wonderful,” he said for the hundredth time. “That dress, it’s perfect, Bella. Like a painting walking down the aisle. It was a dream come true. How corny is that for a guy to say?”
“I knew you’d see right away what it was. I’m so happy you like it.”
“I can’t believe we pulled that off in less than a week.”
“Our folks helped, though. Our mothers working together like that was so nice. That cake!”
“I had leftovers stashed in the trunk,” Flynn said, snickering. “We’ll eat tonight.” He wrapped his arm around me and snuggled up.
“Husband.”
“I’m your husband, for sure. And you’re my beautiful wife.”
