Chapter 7: An Anthurium Wedding
After a half an hour, they were still five minutes away from Nicolette's home. A phone rang and it was Vance's. The caller's ID was visible.
"Clara is calling. Pull over and answer."
Vance gave no response at all. Nicolette took his phone but he quickly grabbed it back and cut the call, then threw it onto the backseat.
"I don't like it when people, who I look down on, look down on me."
Nicolette did not want to laugh but she could not control and soft muffles came out. "I'm sorry," she said immediately.
"But Vance, did you never hear something that goes, 'Give and take respect'? Why would you look down on your girlfriend? By the way, she is a real beauty. I thought her eyes were just blue, but they were half blue and half green. Just where did you find her?"
"I'll throw you out if you don't shut up," he told her in a low voice with much seriousness. She shrugged sand said no more.
Soon they were at her home. After she stepped out of his car she said, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
As he rolled up the window, Nicolette's voice stopped him, "Check on her."
He closed the window without saying anything and left. Vance thought about what had just happened as he drove towards his place. To be truthful, Vance really did not think that things would go this way. When he had called Nicolette to invite her, he did know that the girl would just come over. She was an understanding person and that was the first reason why he thought he could just get married to her. Then both would choose their own lives. After a while, he concluded, getting married to Nicolette would indeed be the best choice. He knew he could count on her as a good friend.
After he reached home, and went to his room, he picked up his phone. There were at least ten messages from Clara. 'Babe, please,' the last one read. He had told her not to call him anything other than his name, Vance. He opened all the messages and everything only said how sorry she was and how she thought they were just having fun and so spoke to him like that.
'It's okay. Sleep well.' Vance texted her back. As he was about to put the phone aside, another message came in. Seeing that it was from Clara, he decided not to open it.
Another few days went by. On the morning exactly ten days after their engagement, Vance's father asked him to bring Nicolette home to decide the theme of the wedding and other arrangements.
During the whole discussion it was mostly Nicolette's choices. After having lunch with Vance's family, she stayed for a little longer.
Nicolette was barely tired but she said she wanted to go home on that very pretext. While in the car, none of them spoke much. However, surely, it was not the feeling of dread towards their upcoming wedding that lead to their silence.
Once at her home, the two got down despite Nicolette's insistence that he need not walk to the door. On the way, during those few steps he asked her, "Anthuriums, huh?" Previously when she was asked what flowers she would like, she said anthuriums for both the theme as well as the bride's bouquet. "Why not? Or do you prefer if I chose roses?" She chuckled lightly.
"Why are you so talkative all of a sudden?" One could say he just did not want to leave her be sometimes. Nicole only shrugged.
Ah she does not want to speak again, he thought. "I might have preferred red roses," he said without much care. But the fact that she chose anthuriums made him happy too. He did not know much symbolism. Ladies would know these usually but the catalogue from the wedding planning had meanings written beside the flowers. He could have taken a look if he wanted to, but he was too shy to ask the book from Nicolette. When he searched on the internet, he found out that the flower meant hospitality, adaptation, happiness and beauty. Wasn't that an exact description of themselves? At least, hospitality and adaptation? Somehow it felt much more meaningful than the red roses of love. He hoped to hear what her thoughts were as she chose them, but he wasn't so lucky and the conversation steered away.
"Save it for your future. Then you select her ring, you select the flowers too, you select her gown, you decide the venue. Oh Yeah you should also decide her parents' outfits. Heh." She said with a slightly contemptuous look.
"You don't seem like it but you are really petty sometimes, aren't you? Will you keep mentioning the ring for the rest of your life?"
Nicolette made a hmph sound and said, "Go now. See you!"
"Bye," he said before she shut the door.
Time seemed tight to the rest of the two families. Nicolette and Vance did not feel the same. It seemed as if they were waiting yet, they were not. Time seemed to lag, but at the same time things seemed to be getting done fast. Finally, when all things were arranged and everything was ready, the winter had gone by and it was early spring. All of them relaxed for the last remaining week before the wedding.
On the wedding day, everything went in the blink of an eye to the central couple. That day, since early morning she was busy with the getting ready with the dress and the makeup. Her makeup was not at all heavy. It was more subtle than what she had for her engagement. Her lips were decorated in a pale pink colour. In the white wedding gown she gave off a serene modesty. When she walked down the aisle to Vance, she felt whimsical.
When her hand was put in Vance's, he smiled delicately at her and then told her that she looked beautiful. That was a first, she had noted.
She whispered a thanks and the wedding proceeded. When it was time for the kiss, Vance kissed her cheek softly and she felt her stomach lighten, it was a feeling she could not find the exact words in the languages she knew to put in.
It was only after the kiss and the loud applause that followed that the hazy air around her head lifted. It was then that she noticed the man standing beside her her. He was handsome and charming. She remembered his compliment and thought it would be good to tell him too. So, despite having the thought of never calling him handsome again after the first day of their meeting, she had still compliment him many times. Nicolette said, "You look nice."
Vance slowly turned his head to her with a deadpan face, "You didn't realize that throughout the wedding? Such a pity, Nicolette."
"I didn't ...It was sudden," she said and then proceeded to the toss. Perhaps she wasn't completely clear headed yet. She looked so cute with her confused face that Vance did not want to say anything else.
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