The Upward Ripple

It was a little after seven in the evening when Cynthia walked into the living room. She had spent the better part of the afternoon preparing for that evening and this was the first time she was getting a glimpse of her future as Nate Duncan’s wife. She may not have had to host all their society events in their new home, but this was as close as it got. Lola had insisted staying the night and helping but Cynthia wouldn’t have it.

“My grandmother and I used to prepare food for the church potluck all the time,” Cynthia had told Lola. “Cooking for four people is no big deal. Trust me.”

After cooking, Cynthia went to her room and took a quick shower and straightened her hair before she slipped into a white sleeveless pencil dress and strapped heels. It was a simple outfit; her body did all the work of making it look good. She was feeling particularly confident when she walked to the kitchen. Everything was perfect. Her chicken curry was still in the oven and her sides were all set up. She was especially proud of the chicken curry. It was her grandmother’s recipe and as usual it was perfect. She could not wait for the evening to get started.

                                                            *****

Nate straightened his jacket as he rode in the elevator. His life had moved at an insane rate for the last few weeks. It was a relief to look forward to something as simple as an engagement dinner. But at the back of his mind, the events of the last few weeks were still fresh. He would replay them every chance he got. Any time he was alone. Any time a room got silent. It was understandable. After all, it had not been a very easy roll and not just for a couple of months but for the better part of the year too. It took a lot of negotiating and a lot of closed-door deals but eventually, The Outlaws were gone, and Nate was once again a free man. Living his life as a ‘free man’ all the while looking over his shoulder was hard enough but when he added the axe that AK and his boys held over his head, it was a little too much to handle even for a man like Nate Duncan who considered himself hardened by life’s misfortunes.

He did not know if it was everything that had gone on in the past few days or just pure nerves, but he was all but shaking. There was a part of him that felt that his new life was still not complete. He had made amends with his past, but he still had to make amends for Cynthia’s past. Alistair Vale was at the top of his list, but The Outlaws had taken a lot of his time. There was so much to be done and he had to do it. He had asked his assistant to set up a meeting with Alistair Vale on Friday morning and of course, Alistair had been a little too eager to accept the invite. For him, it meant more money. But what he did not know was that he was actually about to lose a lot of money and maybe even more if Alistair proved to be more stubborn than he thought.

“Nervous?” Levi Cohen, his bodyguard asked snapping Nate out of his thoughts and back to reality.

“Yes. I am about to tell my best friend that I am engaged to be married.”

Levi forced a laugh.

“This is nothing. Wait until you have to watch her walking down the aisle to you.”

Nate smiled.

“I know. I have been engaged for almost two months but tonight feels different.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how but it does.”

“Mr. Duncan, you got yourself a great woman. And as a man who has been married twice to the same woman, I can tell you that the feeling you have is how you know you are making the right choice. The only time you should be worried is the day that feeling disappears,” Levi said just as the elevator doors opened into his penthouse. He looked at Nate who had an eyebrow raised over the other.

“Twice to the same woman?” he asked, and Levi nodded. “What happened the first time?”

“We were both in active duty. It was hard on both of us and when we found our way back to each other, we decided to give it another chance. Best choice I ever made,” Levi said proudly.

Nate smiled and walked out of the elevator and into the penthouse. The property always seemed to take his breath away even after staying there for so long. By the time he tasked Cynthia with getting him a place, he had made demands that any other realtor would have termed as impossible. The Big Apple was not exactly full of designer penthouses. The idea was to keep her busy enough in New York as he continued making his moves on her. He was surprised when she told him that she had already got a place after only a few weeks into the job. Cynthia was a force to be reckoned with, that much he knew but bearing his soul to her, telling her everything about himself and her doing the same… he had never had that with any woman. Ever. Perhaps that was the quality that made him feel that there couldn’t be any woman better for him than Cynthia Washington.

                                                            *****

Deloris raised a glass of champagne and smiled at Cynthia.

“To my new friend and her wonderful fiancé,” she started. “May this new journey bring you more joy and fulfilment than you can handle.”

“Here, here,” Leon said, smiling.

The four toasted to their new life before Deloris sat back down.

“I still don’t believe that you kept this secret for two months!” Leon pointed out a she took a sip of his champagne.

“To be honest, it is not like we had much of a choice,” Cynthia said.

“Yeah, I still had to work with the feds on bringing down The Outlaws and still get the business going,” Nate pointed out. “And Cynthia was still getting settled into the New York real estate market which is not as easy as the Colorado market.”