Suddenly

Suddenly Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Nine

Yellow and White

On the way home I had sent her mum and my parents a text that read, "She said YES".

Everyone at home ambushed our arrival with congratulations, hugs and kisses. There was an excitement in our homes that arose to the ceiling and could be heard and felt through our open windows.

My parents were happy that I was happy, they hadn't seen me glow before, they knew the many years that I had endured after BE and they were relieved that I had finally decided to get married and move on.

I wasn't going to let anything damper the mood especially not mess up Havana's dream wedding. Color co-ordinations, venues, dates food tasting, that was the order of the next few weeks and months. I was actually looking forward to the adventure that lay ahead.

Weddings weren't just a feminine sport, us guys wanted to get our two cents in as well. I had a flair for décor and color schemes too. I also had dreams of the perfect wedding and I was going to do everything to have my dreams wedding. Of course Havana and I would have to compromise on a few things but I was fine with that.

We had childishly spoken about being married in the past and we had snowballed a few ideas of how and who would be at the wedding. She had her selection of bridesmaids and I had an idea of the groomsmen I wanted standing by my side.

Havana and I were well equipped to handle the minor details of the wedding but for the bigger issues we had hired the assistance of a close friend who was a good wedding planner, she had arranged for the décor and the catering of the function. The venue was to be set up to our specification. Havana wanted a garden wedding near the lake. Yellow and white drapes, white chair backs, crystal center pieces on every round table, yellow petals to be showered all over on the neatly trimmed grass.

God had been so good to us, all our dreams and aspirations were materializing and everything fell into place without any serious effort. Our friends and family rallied together like puzzle pieces. We were a team working hand in hand to get everything done in record time. We had just a few months before the big day and time was going by faster than we had expected but we were on schedule with preparations. The level of excitement quantified with every passing minute however the anticipation was a good agony, it built up the pressure in a compelling modus operandi.

There was a month to go and still a handful of things to get done. Havana had her last fitting for her dress and I was getting my suit tailored. Aside from the cosmetics of the day we had everything under control so to speak. It was romantic yet so bothersome.

Both our homes became a highway filled with our friends and family, the closer the day got the more people stepped in to offer their advice, help and well wishes. Dad and mum were given the task of handing out the wedding invites. It was tradition for the parents to hand deliver wedding invites to all guests and as it is customary the guests who were family or friends would all offer dad and mum tea, biscuits and refreshments. Dad and mum had their fair share of assorted biscuits and all types of tea during their deliveries.

Dad always had a dramatized version of their experiences whilst on invite deliveries. He would exaggerate everything to a climactic level; he was like a war veteran telling campfire stories of his tours at war.

Like grenades going off dad and mum were dodging sprinklers left and right as they followed the paved walk ways to the door of their delivery destinations. Unwelcoming guard dogs grunting at them along with rainfall crashing on dads' bald head like icy atom bombs dropped from the sky; nevertheless they both completed their impossible missions of getting two hundred and fifty invites delivered on record time.

It was also a time where long lost relatives got to reconnect and take a walk down memory lane with dad and mum. As adults we sometimes drift apart from family and we get lost in our own worlds dealing with our day to day struggles and victories. It is good to rekindle relationships and share moments with cousins and aunts we've not seen for years. That's the beauty of weddings I suppose, they bring family together like nothing else does, and it's a happy momentous period.

Havana and her family were also experiencing everything we were. I got to meet some of her extended family as I bumped into them when dropping off flowers or lighting equipment or some other thing at her home. It was a busy time but I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.

As my world spun perfectly balanced an asteroid in the shape of Havana's ex boyfriend, Dean stepped into the atmosphere. I walked into her home one afternoon to find this guy seated on the couch that I usually sit on, his legs crossed and his lips kissing the edge of a cup of tea as the laughter rung in the room.

He was friendly and comfortable with Havana's mum and family, I had never seen anything like this before. I remained calm on the surface but I was crumbling on the inside. Was it jealousy or was it a sense of insecurity, whatever it was, I had never felt this way around Havana before and it was excruciatingly unsettling to say the least. I wanted him gone.

He wasn't going anywhere; in fact he was going to be staying at a local hotel with his mum. We shook hands as introductions were made; he was successful and good looking and a good dresser too. I had some serious competition here.

Havana was different around him; she laughed and was happy and free. I hadn't seen this side of her before. Needless to say, he was going to be at the wedding as one of Havana's guests. I didn't want to make a big deal about it so I tried to push thoughts of it aside and focus on getting things done for the wedding.

Just when I thought I was in the clear, Havana's mum suggested that Dean and I team up to get some of the things done for the wedding. We still had to get me a suit and get the music selection done.

I picked him up early the next morning so we could go suit shopping for myself and him. We went to the mall and shopped around at the popular men's boutique which had all the items of clothing we could possibly need. He was much more undecided, it sometimes felt like he was the groom and I was the unwanted guest. I knew what I wanted and I quickly made my choices, he however expired the best part of the morning and he was testing my shopping stamina. Finally after hours of clothing try outs and rejections from me we settled on a few outfits for him.

That's when it happened, a suddenly moment occurred, he answered his phone and he began to blush and say sweet nothings. He was chuffed and giggled like a twelve year old girl. I was intrigued by this and tried to eavesdrop on the conversation and that's when he said those four words, "I love you boo".

He was in a relationship as well, it couldn't have been his friend or a sibling or even his mum, nobody calls their mum boo I thought to myself. I had to get to the bottom of this, I had to probe him further to get the information I needed. If he was in a relationship that would mean he's off my back with Havana and he won't be the available bachelor that he seemingly was.

As we sat in the car and began to drive back home, I asked gingerly "so you seemed happy on the phone, insurance salesman perhaps?"

Doctor actually, cardiologist to be precise and he's operating on my heart as we speak. I was sipping on a soda and almost choked, "He?"

"Yes, he's a he! I'm gay, didn't Havana tell you"

"Ah....no she didn't", I said with a sigh of relief.