FG 3 - The Wedding Blitz (6 page)

             
Once we finally reached the museum, Lizzie looked for a place to park the large tour bus giving me enough time to look around. I glanced up at the Space Needle, which loomed over top of the museum, and noticed a glass elevator making its way to the top. Lizzie circled around the block so many times I thought I was going to be sick again but she finally said f@#k it
and parked the tour bus in what looked like a no parking zone. Well at least we didn’t have to worry about it getting towed.  

I stepped off the bus in the short emerald dress looking like the old me. The old insecure me who thought she needed to look like a rock star’s girlfriend. The old me who had the time to care about something as silly as a makeover in comparison to now I thought as I absentmindedly laid a hand over my small bump. 

             
“You ready to finally be doing some sightseeing,” Riley rubbed his hands together excitedly bringing me out of my thoughts as we headed inside toward the admission line.

“Yeah,
finally
,” I smiled as we approached the counter to pay for our tickets.

“How can I help you today?” a brunette with a slicked back ponytail and bright red lips greeted us at the counter.

“We’d like to buy tickets for the museum,” Riley said as he reached for the wallet in his back pocket.

“Three adults for the
Chihuly
Museum,” she began to peck away on her computer’s keyboard.

“And the Space Needle too,” Riley added and for a second I thought I hallucinated.

“Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?” I balked in a half laugh. I couldn’t believe we were going to have
two
sightseeing adventures.

“I’m sorry but all of our reservations for the Space Needle are booked,” the brunette informed us.

“But I want to buy the premiere VIP package.” Riley presented her with another card from his wallet. I watched the woman glance over at Lizzie and me before quickly returning her attention back to the computer screen. “I saw on the internet that VIP guests get first priority,” Riley added.     

“Ah yes—well we do reserve a few tables for such occasions,” she continued to peck away. “Here are your tickets for both the
Chihuly
Museum and the Space Needle.”

“What did you show her, your
crew pass
?” I joked on our way into the museum.

“Why would I do that?” he asked and then pointed overhead, “Wow, look at that.” 

My eyes lifted up toward the clear glass ceiling that was filled on the opposite side with over a thousand pieces of differently shaped sizes and colors of blown stained glass. It didn’t take long for me to realize Dale
Chihuly
was a master at shaping glass into looking like living organisms of flowers, water lilies and gardens. It was as if the serene paintings by Claude Monet had married the boldly colored paintings by Van Gogh and gave birth to the three dimensional world around us. We literally gasped like kids in a candy store as we moved from room to room.

“Look at this,” Riley pointed to a row boat filled with large brightly colored balls of glass that overflowed into what appeared to be a lake but was really a flat black glistening glass floor.

“It’s beautiful,” Riley gushed as he took a picture of the scene on his smart phone.

“If you think that’s good, you should see this,” Lizzie, who was already ahead of us, continued into the next room. “It looks like an ice sculpture,” she added when we had finally caught up to her. 

Over a thousand clear pieces mixed with white and silver blown glass twisted and winded around each other to the top of the ceiling; giving off the effect of carved ice. It reminded me of an extravagant centerpiece I thought I might see at some super expensive hotel in New York or Paris.    

“It really does look like an ice sculpture,” Riley agreed as he reached for his phone again. “Joie go stand beside it.”

“Why me?”

“Just do it!” he ordered causing me to hunch over my shoulders like a scolded child as I approached the breathtaking masterpiece.

Riley took shot after shot with me by the ‘ice sculpture’ so many times that I soon thought that it was weird that he didn’t ask Lizzie to join me. I overheard him murmur under his breath that
this gives me so many ideas
before turning back around toward the row boat full of brightly colored glass balls with a renewed sense of purpose. By the end of the tour I caught him snapping shots of what looked like a stained grass version of a marsh with glass plants.

“Riley, The Space Needle,” Lizzie finally interrupted nodding in the direction of the tall tower with the saucer like domed top that was literally only a few yards away from the
Chihuly
Museum.  

“Sorry, didn’t realize the time,” he mumbled as he put his smart phone back in his jean pocket.

“Time for what?”
I asked.

“To get there before it closes,” Riley explained as we walked over to the entrance doors and entered the building. I glanced around the souvenir shop that was packed with merchandise like t-shirts, hoodies, posters, bags, and other novelty type gifts. Yet what I noticed most was how empty it seemed to be for a major tourist attraction especially one that was entirely booked. Riley squeezed my hand as he led the way over to a closed elevator shaft which was positioned in the center of the building with the store wrapped around it. When we came to a stop in front of the elevator doors, I realized that we had already lost Lizzie somehow, though the place looked completely deserted.

“I’m so happy to be here with you during this moment in your life,” Riley took a minute to personally address me. Though I had no idea what he was talking about until the elevator doors slowly retracted. Standing there leaning casually against the back banister as if it was the first night we met all over again, was Hawkins.  

“Going up?” He asked coyly looking more handsome than ever dressed in what looked like a pale gray Armani suit minus the tie. The gray suit complimented his blue smoldering eyes and his swept back dark hair. It made me instantly want to hug Riley for all the trouble he went through just to get me to look halfway decent for something I was beginning to sense I was going to remember for the rest of my life.

“Yeah, I am,” I confessed breathlessly as if I was finally sure we could do this or at least die trying and stepped into the elevator with him.

I turned to mouth thank you at Riley before the elevator doors closed again. Hawkins in all of his beautiful glory made the moment seem even more surreal when he turned to face me and grabbed both of my hands as the glass elevator shot up revealing the city around us.

“I may not have a ring to present to you yet but I don’t hold much faith in materialistic objects and I know you don’t either. What I do have is faith in is us.” He then got down on one knee. “Josephine Hall you’re the only one I prefer and will always prefer
,
would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

My eyes suddenly welled up, too overcome with emotion when I finally found the word, he was waiting to hear. “Yes.”

When he stood back up again, I rushed into his outstretched arms.

“I love you, Joie,” he murmured into my hair before the elevator doors suddenly flung open and I realized we weren’t alone any longer. A group of our closest friends and family turned to look at us with anticipation. 

“She said yes!” Hawkins announced to the room that instantly broke out into cheering applause, and a few cat calling whistles when he leaned in to lock lips with mine for a kiss.

“
Whoo
hoo
!” someone shouted and I felt my cheeks slightly flush when we finally pulled away again. Hawkins then proudly took my hand in his and led me off of the elevator.

I was pleasantly surprised to see my mom standing there among the crowd even if she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. I knew she probably thought I was too young to get married. She at least tried to sound hopeful when Hawkins led me straight over to her.

“I didn’t know that you were in town,” I gushed as we leant in for a hug.

“J.T. had me flown in for the occasion the other night,” she gave him a genuine smile. “We had a lot to talk about on the plane ride over.”

“So that’s where you were,” I realized; trying to hide the surprised tone in my voice because honestly I was touched by the gesture.

“I wanted her blessing,” he explained.

“And…?” I wanted to ask,
how did that go
?

“I gave it to him, of course,” my mom quickly replied clearly not wanting to offend my future husband who I knew she thought very highly of especially when she was under the false assumption that he paid off the mortgage on her house.

“Thank you mom, that means a lot to me,” I felt myself get emotional all over again.

“I just want you to be happy, Josephine,” my mom confessed in a moment of honesty.

“I am happy, mom.”

“I know you are,” her eyes twinkled. “Well I don’t want to steal you away from your other guests. Go mingle and have fun,” she waved us off but not before I leant in for one more hug.

“Your blessing means everything to me,” I murmured into her chestnut colored hair and she squeezed me tighter in response.

“Now go, enjoy your night,” she went to wipe away a fresh set of tears and Hawkins saved her from any more embarrassment by taking my hand to lead me away to our other guests.

“Having my mom here means the world to me,” I whispered to him. “Thank you.”  

“You don’t have to thank me. I wanted her blessing, Joie,” he confessed earnestly, making the gesture feel even more meaningful to me.

When I realized that he was leading me over to his parents next, who were seated on the opposite side, I felt the smile on my face suddenly fade. Hawkins’ mom sure didn’t look like a terror from across the room, more like a southern belle. I could even make out the dimples in her cheeks whenever she smiled widely up at another guest she must have known but when she noticed us coming her way I caught her muttering something under her breath to her husband, Jack.

“Be nice,” Hawkins’ dad mouthed before we finally approached them.

“Joshua, it’s so nice for you to finally greet us,” she said sweetly but I don’t think either one of us missed the dig at my mom being introduced to us as a couple first.

“I think what she means to say, is congratulations,” Hawkins’ dad smiled warmly up at the two of us. 

“Oh stop,” she playfully slapped him in the gut. “I mean precisely what I say. I haven’t lost my mind yet. My patience maybe,’ she sighed, ‘But not my mind.”

“It’s good to see you too, mom,” Hawkins cracked a smile since he must be used to her antics by now.

“Oh it’s good to see you too,” her cold front melted for a second as she got up to give him a hug and murmured, “I hate it when we fight.”

“Well you know that’s entirely up to you,” I overheard him whisper to her in their embrace.

“And Joie, it’s so nice to see you again,” she pulled away from Hawkins a bit abruptly to squeeze my hand though I couldn’t help but notice her frown when she glanced down at my bare ring finger.    

“So explain this to me, Joie,” she sighed as she sat back down. “I’m fascinated to hear why the two of you have a thing for elevators?”

“Umm…well?” I smacked my dry lips because I never thought I’d have to explain this one to Hawkins’ mom. Maybe it was because she didn’t think I was good enough for her son but for whatever reason it seemed the more time I spent around Hawkins’ mom the more nervous and tongue tied I became. “We had this big misunderstanding on one of them once…a fight actually,” I blurted out like an idiot. “But then we realized neither one of us was who we made the other person out to be.” 

“Well isn’t that…
sweet
,” she finally said when I couldn’t find the rest of the words to explain.

“It’s how we first met, mom. In an elevator,” Hawkins clarified and for a second I was embarrassed that I hadn’t thought to say it like that.

“Well I for one purpose a toast,” Warren roared loudly causing Hawkins’ mom to cringe as he joined us around the table. I noticed that he was holding
two
glasses of Champaign in his hands. “To my best friend, I love you man,” Warren said a tad bit more emotional than his normal self. “And to his lovely bride to be,” he closed his mouth to burp.
“To Joie and Hawkins!”

Everyone around the room raised their glass of Champaign and cheered in unison, “To Joie and Hawkins!”

“I know you wanted me to quote a Dave Matthews Band song in the toast.” Warren set down both of his drinks so he could pat down his pockets. “Where did I put it?”

At the mention of this, I beamed up at Hawkins that he had thought to include DMB in our toasts.

“Ah—here it is,” Warren pulled out a small crumpled piece of paper and announced,

“Enjoy it while you can bro because life is short but sweet for certain,” he darkly quoted the band.
“To Joie and Hawkins!”