All of Me

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am for the mix up, Mr. Walter. If you and your fiancée do decide to marry here, we will give you a discounted rate. If not, I would like to offer you a free week here with your fiancée as an apology,” Ms. Green offered.

Marty raised his eyebrows at her, smirking. “Wow, that’s a big offer. I’m not going to speak to your manager, Ms. Green. I remember the woman before you. Unpleasant to say the least.”

Ms. Green chuckled. “Cleaning up her mess has been stressful. I explained to my boss that some form of compensation had to be offered. He agreed.”

  “Smart man,” Marty mused as he rose from his chair. “I’ll be in touch. I’m almost positive my fiancée will refuse to change the date. The free week, though, she would love.”

Ms. Green smiled with relief, almost sagging with it. “I would be sure your stay is beyond expectation.” She rose as well as held out her hand to shake his. “Thank you for understanding.”

He shook her hand and left her office. What the hell am I going to tell Diana? he thought as he marched through the lobby. With a grimace, he decided a trip to the liquor store and the flower shop was in order.

*****

Once home, Marty started on his famous homemade lasagna, had a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge because, no matter the kind, Diana preferred her wine cold, and a bouquet of her favorite flowers in a vase. He had looked up a handful of venues he thought might suffice, but in his heart he didn’t like any of them. He’d had a special connection to The Liberty and wanted to talk to Diana about changing the date. He was ninety percent sure the answer would be no, which is why he continued to search for something he could get on board with.

He had received a text from Diana, who was in a huff because she had been to three boutiques and had found nothing suitable for her wedding gown, right after he got home, he texted Rena for some help.

MARTY: Please take Diana for a couple of drinks before you bring her home. I have bad news for her.

            RENA: Really bad news? Because she’s already irritable.

            MARTY: The venue was double booked, and we lost. Don’t say anything.

            RENA: Oh sh*t. I’m not dropping that bombshell.

Marty chuckled at her dramatics, but that’s exactly what it would be like. She was going to be so upset. She might even cry after the day she’d had shopping. He moved to the baking pan and began layering the lasagna with the large noodles, homemade meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. The cheese began to melt immediately as he layered it, and the scents of Italy enacted his stomach rumbles.

RENA: She’s jerking her clothes on, bi*ching. She said hell no to the drink because she ‘just wants to go home and forget about stupid fu*king dresses’

MARTY: Well damn. Tonight’s gonna be fun.

RENA: Good luck, friend. Hide her phone so she has time to calm down before she calls me.

            MARTY: Well, that’s not fair.

            RENA: You’re marrying her, not me.

Rena included a winky face emoji, and Marty rolled his eyes. He knew though, that Rena would do her best to improve Diana’s mood as they drove home. She made hilarious observations and could have the room rolling with laughter.

MARTY: I’m making her favorite dinner, so hopefully that will help. Just keep her laughing ‘til you get here.

            RENA: The shop owner gave me plenty to work with.

Again Marty laughed. Listening to Diana tell him about the woman would fill some time before he had to explain about the venue. He wiped his hands on a towel slung over his shoulder and lifted the heavy dish to place it in the oven. He set a timer and glanced at the clock. If they were leaving the shop now, Diana would be home in twenty minutes. Dinner would be an additional twenty, so he considered running a bubble bath for her with candles and wine. No, no, he thought, too much.

“She’ll think I’m cheating on her,” he chortled as he checked the wine to make sure it was thoroughly chilled. Musing, he whispered, “Tell her over dinner? Or after she’s satisfied?”

Shaking his head at himself for talking out loud like a lunatic, he pulled the fixings for a salad out of the fridge. After pouring himself a glass of wine, he sliced and diced for the next ten minutes until the salad was ready to be tossed with the vinaigrette dressing from her favorite restaurant. As he sipped the wine and inhaled the wonderful scents around him, his nerves burned. He thanked whatever god was listening that he often made dinner like this for no reason.

Fifteen minutes later she walked in with a coke-flavored slurpee attached to her lips. “Babe?” she called from the front hallway.

Marty sauntered into the hallway and smiled at her. “A slurpee? Really bad day, huh?” he asked as he pulled her in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he jerked when the cold cup touched his bare skin. “Damn!”

She giggled as she stepped back and sucked down more of the sugary sweet drink. “Oops.”

“Oops?” he asked with a lifted eyebrow.

She giggled again and sniffed the air, lowering her slurpee, a suspicious expression crossing her lovely face. “What is that smell?”

“Lasagna,” he drawled slowly. “Ready in a few. I’ve got salad and wine. I hope you’re hungry after that super-sized slurpee.”

“It was a medium, thank you very much, and I’m always hungry for your lasagna,” Diana insisted. She followed him to the kitchen, where the smell intensified, and tossed the rest of her indulgence in the trash. “I’m salivating, Marty. It smells scrumptious.”

“Thank you, babe. Now, can I have an actual kiss before we sit down to our dinner?” he asked as he poured her a glass of wine.

“Of course. Want me to cleanse the coke taste?”

“Babe, I would kiss you if you ate a bulb of garlic,” he promised.

With her eyes on his a*s, she watched as he bent to retrieve the gooey, cheesy deliciousness that was his lasagna. A sigh escaped her mouth as she pushed away from the counter and walked to the fridge to retrieve the salad as well as the wine bottle. As much as he was trying to hide it, she had seen the nerves behind those sexy eyes. Whatever he was planning to tell her was not going to be fun, but she was enjoying the build up to it, even if she wouldn’t like it.