A Wedding Affair (The Wedding Affair) (72 page)

“
Yes I’m sure of it I remember it because this was a special ordered from our flagship store in Manhattan he picked it up last week, what’s going on, how did you get it?” I can’t get into this with Mark he is a great guy but I will fall to pieces right here in front of him.

“I gotta go
, thanks Mark” I take the ring back and put it in my purse I turn towards the door to leave.

“Aria wait! Does Tristan know you are getting married tomorrow?”
he is speaking loudly to get my attention.

“Yes he
damn well knows and bought this ring anyway!” he smiles at me, and the one thing about Mark he is a hopeless romantic, he use to run the gambit with Tristan back when they were chasing the ladies and hitting the nudie bars and now that Mark has found love with Reese he is a changed man.

“Aria he is playing for keeps you gotta know that”
he sounds so desperate and knowing I don’t need to hear this, not today.

“Well I don’t want to play anymore
, this should have never happened” my words make him shake his head.

“I agree with you totally this should have never happened” as he points to the ring
on my finger

that Ian gave me,
oh God not him too with the marriage advice.

“Mark don’t”

“Stubborn, you both are the same, even after all this time, what else does Tristan have to do, to prove to you he wants you?” he shakes his head with a leery smile

“Mark please don’t
, I thought Tristan was marrying someone else, and now to find out he bought this outrageous ring for me is too much to process”

“Ar
ia he loves you, you love him, it’s done, process of elimination you marry him!”

“Mark you know I love you and not because yo
u handle my Tiffany fix”

“Looks like Tristan is
handling it from now on sweetheart wake up smell the diamonds, this is not a crackerjack ring, he is fucking playing for real”

“Mark you’re a doll, you know I love you but this is…”

“Aria I have not seen the man in two years and he makes you a priority in his life, face the facts sweetheart, don’t make a mistake you will regret”

“There is no arguing with a diamond man
, Mark you always dazzle me” we are good friends he comes from behind the counter and hugs me he is six feet tall blond and blue eyed and he knows his diamonds.

“Biggest sale I ever got Aria
, that ring was a miracle we even got it, that diamonds is not even kept in stock, it was crazy that they even had it, to set it. Read the inscription”

“I gotta go
, the rehearsal dinner is tonight will I see you and Reese?”

“Yes of course” we look at one another
, we both look hurt.

I
put my Chanel bag over my shoulder as I cross my arms and walk out the door down the corridor pass the Louie Vuitton store, The Chanel store, passed Lord and Taylor towards the fountain where we had the fashion show, normally it is set up like a street scene in Paris all little tables around the huge water fountain.

At the top of the steps is
a man playing the piano I get in line and order my hazelnut coffee with a double shot of espresso, the familiar melody in the distance haunts me as the hair on the back of my neck stands at attention. I recognize it, The Rachmaninoff piano concerto no 2, I ask myself with an aching heart can this day get any worse?

I am stopped in my tracks,
the goose bumps that are invading me in the middle of summer are cold and unwelcoming, as a shutter comes over me. I take a seat at one of the bistro tables and try to collect myself.  I sip my coffee, as the music lingers in the background. Well at least Tristan is not marrying the slut-bag-ugly-whore, no the self-centered egotistical bastard that I loved so much went and bought me the damn ring that I wanted, two fucking years ago.

Who ever said dreams don’t come true has never lived in Cleveland
, Ohio.

I
pull the ring out from my purse and open the Tiffany box again and just look at her brilliance, it is beautiful, I pull it out and place it on my left hand next to the ring Ian gave me, Rubies and Sapphires, the two rings fight for my attention, they are both brilliant, beautiful and choosing one over the others hurts like hell.

Alone they are both a perfect fit in more ways
than one. Together they are a disaster waiting to happen as they represent two totally different futures. I smile at the notion that Tristan’s ring comes with all that I want and all that I have dreamed of and I am in shock
How could he have done this
? Why did he do this?
Why didn’t he show up before Ian?
Why didn’t he tell me that he wanted
me
?

All this time I never knew that I was the one for him. The ring just dances, it is a perfect diamond
, just flawless in color, the clarity is magnificent and cut of the stone is a princess cut because because he always called me one, the two sapphires on the side of the diamond are his birthstone, they must be half a carat or more they are triangle in shape, the platinum setting is just beautiful, it is heavy in weight, strikingly brilliant, sheer perfection and it is exactly what I have always wanted from him.

Tristan
was my dream and this was my wish, but all of that is in the past, it doesn’t change the plans I have made, the events that are to take place in my life, this beautiful ring is just a reminder of what will never be. I know what Tristan meant to me, I finally faced the truth as painful as it is, I have admitted it to myself I love him, so what, his actions will not make me hurt Ian, I sigh and collect myself and come to the conclusion it’s too late for us.

Hello there Miss Macy wow that sure is a pretty ring, somebody must love you a whole lot to buy you that”

“Hello Sampson don’t you think it’s too much?”

“I never heard a woman say her diamond was too big to wear it” I laugh at his comment

“I best be going it’s getting late”

“Take care Sampson” even our top security man here at Tower Centre knows a good ring when he
sees it.

Speaking of
late I gotta get back to the store, I have appointments and things more pressing than this Tiffany ring. I mean what was the fool thinking buying me an engagement ring that cost more than my house mind you, and will sit in a box for all of eternity. I try to tarnish it and regard it as nothing, degrade it as just something silly and foolish but it’s not working because I really feel touched and completely overcome by his grand gesture. Tristan put his love into a tangible daunting display for the whole world to see and he did this because he doesn’t want me to every doubt that he loves me. If I ever doubted he loved me I’d only be fooling myself. Tristan’s thoughtfulness and his attention to everything that I have ever said to him is right here in front me, he paid attention to my thoughts to my words, and he paid in excess for this grand gesture, as it clearly was no drop in the bucket. Damn him for being my sun in the morning and my moon at night.

I take a deep cleansing
breath; I finish my coffee and remove the ring from my finger I look at the inscription on the back of the wedding band:

6- 30-12

Tristan & Aria

My eyes begin to tear as I see our names intertwined and the date, which happens to be my wedding date to Ian. He is not playing fair, he is pulling at my heart strings and he is not even here,
and if he were I would throw this ring at that foolish, hasty irrational head of his.

I
put the ring back in the box and put it in my purse, and to sum up the events of recent, let’s see a man I have not seen in over two years comes back into my life with all our dreams a reality, an impossible task, but he did it nonetheless, the self-righteous son a bitch that he is, not only offers his love to me on a silver platter, the sanctimonious impious scoundrel also burdens Cheswick with his nonsense, but wait the icing on the cake is the smug, pompous ass buys me the engagement ring of my dreams knowing damn well
I am already engaged!
If I were any more infuriated I would spit nails. I’m all for bring back public crucifixions, to sum it up in a nutshell
ain’t love grand?
Can this day get anymore crazy I ask myself?

Chapter 38

Let There Be Peace On Earth

It’s after six I have to get dressed and get out of here I shower and change, I grab my Chanel suit it is pale periwinkle silk shantung, the skirt is a bit short but it matched the tie I made for Ian. I have the cutest silver sling backs that match the three buttons on the suit jacket.
I’m in the bathroom of my office, doing my make-up when Oliver comes in “Aria Ya decent?”
“It’s a matter of opinion these days” when I am mad I am sarcastic.
“Aria what’s up with the British invasion?”
“That was Tristan’s butler”
“So what was he doing here?”
“He came to put doubt in my mind!”
“Oh like it hasn’t been there already?” I look at him as I bend over and brush my hair vigorously as if I am trying to not hear him, I flip my head back and shape my chestnut haze into some semblance of order for church. I coax it down so it hangs over my shoulders and down my back.
“Oliver he is an old man who wants to see Tristan happy.” I am now spraying hairspray to choke myself from the fumes.
“Aria two questions than I will leave you to your ozone killing display ”
I look at him as our eyes meet in the mirror, I stop playing with my hair and smile at him.
“Aria do you love Ian? Don’t answer me! And secondly are you in love with Tristan? I don’t need the answers you do my dear, See you at the rehearsal dinner tonight”
I turn around as he looks at me and he walks out of my office. I gotta get going I can’t do this, why is all of this happening?
God please I beg of you please help me through this.
I made my decision, I am standing by it. My parents words now haunt me
‘life is about choices and living with the consequences’

I finish getting dressed and I’m
out the door dressed and ready to practice being married…jeez I need all the practice I can get.

-------<>-------
 

I pull up to the church and Ian is out front with Christopher and Erika they see me and I have to say there is a look on their face of relief, quite evident, Ian looks handsome as ever, in his dark suit his eyes are so bright and happy, he makes me happy and lightens my mood immediately.

“There she is my beautiful blushing bride” Ian walks up to me and k
isses me soundly, gosh I needed that today, a few more and I will be out of my funk I think.

“You look as handsome as ever” as I touch his pale periwinkle tie that matches my Chanel suit

“Hello sweetheart I have missed you” his line is what I needed to hear today.

“Not as much as I have missed you Ian
” I kiss the hell out of this man and we are interrupted by Ian’s niece Mariah who is about seven I think.

“Uncle Ian
Father Bogart is ready to start” we pull apart.

“Are you ready?”
Ian says has he takes my hand.

“As I’ll ever be”
he kisses my hand and we walk up the grand stone stairs to St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church.

-------<>-------

The
rehearsal went quite well, the girls and I walked down the aisle, Ian and I said our vows to one another for the first time and I think even Father Bogart heard a bit of apprehension in my voice as I uttered those words aloud.

I feel somewhat
sad and maybe even melancholy or is this just nervous knot? Wedding jitters? Or is all of this just in my head?

No
t that I ever gave it much thought about loving someone and being
in
love until Tristan slapped me hard in the face with those words that night in my store, and how ironic that Oliver, dear sweet petulant Oliver is dangling them before me as well, maybe I need to address them as I really have not.

Oliver’s ques
tions make me think that maybe I have left a few cards on the table that I have not yet played, but nonetheless he has left me with dread and apprehension. Way to go Oliver I will get you for this leaving an already fragile bride with more to contemplate.

Whoa hold it right there! As I clear the fog
that clutters my thinking, and I gaze at the candles in the church, as the lingering organ music finally dissipates, my mind begins to clear, let’s not forget the visit from
the Butler this afternoon
, his words spoke volumes, left me with doubt, distressing anxiety, pondering thoughts and nagging questions and mostly he left me feeling quite disturbed and filled with angst. Yes I would definitely without a doubt have to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt
the butler
did it!
Damn English, always doing everything by the book.