It Seems So Soon

I spent my morning at work thinking excitedly about getting married this fall, then reminding myself that we didn't know for sure yet.  I used my breaks between clients to call some of the places on my list.  I left the place I really liked until last, planning to call on my lunch break.  I crossed all the others off one by one as they told me they were booked solid for October, and had been for months.

I was nervous by the time lunch rolled around, which seemed kind of ridiculous.  I decided to take my lunch out to my car to make the call, because I didn't want anyone to overhear me.  I fidgeted anxiously as they transferred me to the event coordinator.  I felt like I waited on hold forever, but it was only about 90 seconds.  Finally, a cheerful woman answered, "Hi, this is Leigh.  You have some questions about our banquet space?"

"Hi, Leigh," I responded.  "I do.  My boyfr--um, I mean, my fiancé and I are interested in potentially having our wedding and reception there.  I was wondering if we could check some dates?"

"Our banquet room has a 74 person capacity," she said.  "Is that going to be enough space?"

"We did an initial guest list and we have 52 people, 54 including us, I guess," I informed her.  "We don't want anything big."

"Okay, we can definitely handle around 50 people," she replied confidently.  "Let's talk dates then, what were you thinking?"

"That's where it gets tricky," I said nervously.  "We were hoping to do it this fall.  Maybe mid- to late-October?  If you had the 17th or 24th available, that would be perfect.  I know it's really soon, but we figured we could at least call and find out, you know?"  I stopped abruptly before I got too far into my ramblings.

"Hmmmm," she said, and I could hear her clicking away on a computer keyboard.  "That's a popular time here, and it's only a few months away, but let me see what we have."  A few more clicks, then her voice, sounding apologetic.  "I'm sorry, ma'am.  The 10th, 17th, and 24th are all booked.  We have the 3rd and the 31st open.  We have the 16th open, if you were interested in a Friday at all.  Otherwise we've done some brunch receptions on Sundays too, and those can be fun.  What do you think?"

I frowned.  "That sucks," I said.  "Everyone lives at least 2 hours away, so we'd rather not do a Friday or Sunday.  I don't want the 31st...the 3rd seems so soon, though."

"You know," she replied, "That is soon--just a little more than 3 months.  But that first week in October is usually our peak leaf color week.  It would be lovely.  I'm actually surprised we're not already booked that weekend.  And in the long run, when you're planning a wedding this close, I don't think 2 weeks will make that much difference.  Generally people are really busy right at the beginning of the engagement, getting all the vendors lined up, and then a few months before the wedding date, getting all the final details worked out.  I think it's doable--you just wouldn't have the break in between like couples with a longer engagement would.  It might be harder to find a photographer and a DJ, but it wouldn't be any easier with an extra 2 or 3 weeks.  We have vendor lists you can use to help guide your search, as well."

"That makes sense," I said slowly, rolling this around in my head.  "Well, can we make an appointment to come this Saturday or Sunday to see it in person and get more information?  I'll need to talk to my fiancé about the date, of course, but I think we'd like to at least come look."

"Absolutely!" she responded.  "Let's do this.  I'm going to put a temporary hold on that date.  Normally we require a deposit to hold the date, but I'll flag it so that if anyone calls wanting to book that date this week before you can get here, we'll call you and offer you the chance to put a deposit down first.  We won't hold it without a deposit, but if you're willing to put it down over the phone before you come, you'll have the first shot at it.  I'll get all the information together and we can sit down and meet.  If you'd like to do a tasting while you're here as well, given the timeframe, let me know and I can have that prepared for you.  I'll email you our catering menu so you can take a look in the meantime, sound good?"

"That sounds perfect," I agreed.  In the short time we'd talked over the phone, I really liked Leigh and imagined she'd be wonderful to work with.  We set up a time to meet for Sunday afternoon, as they had a wedding this Saturday, and I gave her my contact information, including my email for the catering menu.

After we hung up, I called Brody.  He didn't answer, so I ate my lunch, hoping he'd call me back while I was still on my break.  He didn't, and I soon had to go back inside to get ready for my next client.  Of course, after I finished with my next client and checked my phone, I saw that he had called back while my client was here.  I quickly dialed his number, hoping to catch him in the couple minutes I had between clients.  He didn't answer, and he called back right as I was getting ready to go get my next client from our lobby.  "Hey," I said in a rush, answering my phone.  "I can't talk, but can I call you after this client?  Probably about 2:50ish?"  He confirmed that would work and he'd keep an eye on his phone, and we hung up.

When I had sent my next client on her way, I hurried back to my office and called Brody again.  He answered this time, and I swung my office door shut to discourage eavesdropping.  "I assume you at least talked to someone, somewhere?" Brody asked.  "You're awfully eager to talk to me!"

I laughed.  "I did, and I am."  I filled him in on the unsuccessful candidates, then on what Leigh had told me.

"October 3rd, huh?" he repeated when I was finished.  "I think we can do that, don't you?  It's only a couple weeks sooner."

"It seems so soon," I replied.  "I don't know."

"But you want to, or you wouldn't have made the appointment to go there," he pointed out.  I agreed.  "Their planner seems to think we can do it."

I snorted.  "Their planner, nice as she is, is also trying to make money."

"Well, that's true," he agreed.  "But we can at least go there and meet with them and see how that goes."

"Right, that's what I thought.  It's just kind of scary to think that we'd only have a little over 3 months."

"We'd only have just under 4 months if we'd gotten one of the weekends we wanted," Brody reminded me.  "Look, you get the final say on if we do it, because you'll be the one doing more of the planning, but if you want to get married in the fall, we'll make it happen."

"Okay," I said, soothed by his confidence, even though I had a feeling he didn't know the first thing about planning a wedding.  Let's be real, neither do I.  "I have to get back to work, but we can maybe talk more tonight."  We said goodbye and I finished my day off with two more clients, a little bit of paperwork, and a stop at the gym before I headed home.

When I got home I took a quick shower and then went downstairs to make some dinner.  Brody came home while I was throwing together a quick pasta dish.   "You smell good," he said by way of greeting, wrapping his arms around me from behind and dropping his chin down to my shoulder.

"I smell much better than I did 20 minutes ago," I agreed with a laugh.  I turned and leaned back against the counter so I could look up at him.  I smiled, and he kissed me.  I kissed him back as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling my hips against his.  "Mmmm," I said, pulling away just a little.  "Food."  I cocked my head at the stove.

"I know," he replied, dropping his head to kiss my neck.  His lips lingered there for several seconds before he moved away, letting me tend to the food on the stove.  He leaned against the counter, watching me.  "Do you want help?"

"No, almost done," I said.  "How was your day?"  We talked about our days while I finished up dinner.  Brody grabbed plates and silverware and we were soon continuing our conversation at the table.

"Any more thoughts about October third?" Brody asked, when we were finishing up our meal.

I set down my fork and nodded.  "Actually, yes.  I want to see the place, of course, and talk through timelines and what we need and want to do before then.  But I also need to make sure that Lynn's going to be able to make it.  She had mentioned that she was trying to talk her doctor into clearing her to come visit this fall, and I need her to be here.  I can't imagine getting married without her here."

"That makes sense," Brody replied.  "Actually, we should probably check the date with our immediate family members too, don't you think?  It's soon enough that it's possible that people might have plans already."

"You're right," I agreed.  "I didn't even think of that."  I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly overwhelmed.

Brody stood and grabbed both of our plates and took them to the sink, then returned to the table, standing behind me.  He squeezed my shoulders lightly, massaging gently, and said, "Liv, if you don't want to do this fall, we don't have to.  I don't want this to be nothing but a source of stress for you."

"But I do want to," I insisted stubbornly.  "I'm just a little overwhelmed. It was a long day."  I leaned my head back until it touched his body so I could look up at him.

He bent and kissed my forehead, then said, "We have this whole week to make a few phone calls and get organized before we make any decisions.  Let's not worry about it any more tonight."

"Sounds good to me," I agreed.

"Are you going to need some help relaxing?" he asked with a smirk.

"Hmm," I mused, pretending to not know exactly what he meant.  "Maybe, do you have something in mind?"

"I do," he replied, pulling my chair back from the table.  I stood and kissed him, and we stood next to the table for several minutes, kissing and starting to tug at each other's clothes.  When his hands traveled up my shirt and brushed across my bra-less breasts, I pulled away breathlessly and walked towards the stairs, tugging him along behind me.

Once we got into our room (and I truly considered it our room now, much to my surprise), Brody didn't waste any time pulling off his already loosened tie and unbuttoning his shirt.  I pushed it off his shoulders and ran my fingers along the skin above the waistband of his pants.  He groaned and wrapped one arm around me, pulling me close to him and kissing me hard, while he used his other hand to unbuckle his belt and get his pants off.  Once his pants were gone, that hand slipped down the front of my shorts, stroking me gently until I had to sit down heavily on the bed because my legs didn't want to cooperate anymore.  I quickly wiggled out of my shorts and yanked off my tank top.

Brody pulled my hips to the edge of the bed where he was standing and slowly pushed into me.  He held onto my hips with one hand and the other found its way between my legs, stroking me as he thrust into me.  He continued until I came, gasping and locking my legs around him, holding his hips tightly against my body.

Once my legs relaxed and I caught my breath a little, Brody motioned for me to move up fully onto the bed.  I did, and he moved back between my legs and thrust back into me.  He lowered his lips to mine and we kissed as he moved slowly on top of me.  I could tell he was close, and I bit gently on his lower lip and pulled his hips hard into mine.  He groaned and shuddered, tensing briefly before relaxing against me.  His lips moved from mine to kiss down my neck and across my shoulder.  "I love you, Liv," he said softly, before he rolled off of me.  He pulled me over to him and I settled against his side with my head on his chest and my arm wrapped tightly across his waist.

"I love you too," I mumbled, already drifting into a post-sex sleepy daze.  Brody ran his fingertips lightly over the sensitive skin on the side of my neck, then down over my shoulder.  I sighed happily and relaxed against him even more as his fingers continued back over my shoulder and up my neck.

Even though it was only about 8:30, we decided that getting out of bed was far too much work at this point.  We laid there, cuddled together, talking idly for almost an hour until we were both close to sleep.  Then we took turns getting up to brush our teeth and get ready for bed before settling back under the blankets together.  I was far more relaxed after turning my brain off from wedding stuff for a little while, and I fell asleep easily.