Forgive Me, Katherine

Chapter 4: Bachelor Party

Planning the wedding may have been a breeze after everything Katherine dreamt of having was scrapbooked into one binder, but it didn't prepare me for the things I would have to be doing as the groom in the match. I found myself taste testing miniature cakes, different brands and flavorings of champagnes and wines, foods I had eaten a million times before being cooked in more ways than I could count, smelling different varieties of flowers, and overlooking oversized buildings. Things I didn't care for as a man, but things that meant the world to Katherine. She wanted everything to be perfect, because of this I wanted everything to be perfect for her. I wanted this to be the best day of her life, one she wouldn't forget. I wanted for her to have everything she wanted and more.

Being this way led me to the situation I was in; standing on a post with threading needles near stabbing into my skin, and a strange woman looking me over from top to bottom. It was almost too uncomfortable for me to stomach. Chad sat in the corner of the room snickering uncontrollably, "This is some sight, the one and only Stefan Monroe getting fitted for something other than a suit he's intended to wear only for work."

"I'll have you know," I said as the seamstress ordered me with her hands to turn around for the millionth time, "That each of my suits and ties come fitted when they're purchased, Katherine wants me to look my best. She made the appointment for this place, not I, but it's alright your turn is up next."

He held both of his hands up in retreat, "You're right, you're right. No need to rub it in. You really lucked up when you decided to take Katherine off of the market for good, I was wondering if the day would ever come. The two of you being together for as long as you have, I thought you'd never pop the question and would be one step closer to being Seattle's most eligible bachelors."

"That spot was saved especially for you my friend," I gawked at him as it came time for me to step down from the post.

Chad Duncan; while he was a huge asset to my father's law firm, he was one of the most raging hound dogs in all of Seattle. He had seen more women in his adult years than anyone I had ever known. He started out young, having lost his virginity during his freshman year in College, he's been out of control ever since he got his first whiff. He had zero intentions of settling down despite meeting some decent women along the way, Chad's goal was to be a bachelor for his entire life. He didn't want kids, he didn't want a family. The only person he wanted to focus on was Chad.

Chad stepped foot onto the post as if he was a professional, "Let's talk about your bachelor party tomorrow night, the last night you can consider yourself a free man."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him confusingly, "I'm still going to be a free man, I'll just be a free man with a wife. Katherine is a very laid back woman, you know this just as well as anyone. I'll still go out and have a few drinks with the guys after long nights at the office, and you know we're going to get together for our poker nights."

"You say that now," he looked himself over in the mirror as the seamstress went to town with her needles, "Trust me, you're going to get sucked into the married life. You'll get comfortable and you'll forget about all of the things you used to do when you weren't married or engaged for that matter, all of the things you used to do before you started living with Katherine. Have the two of you decided whether or not you'll be moving into her place, or your place?"

He was always one to meddle into someone else's business, but he was the one person I always found myself confiding into. The conversation had, in fact, come up during one of the nights Katherine and I had spent planning the wedding. She and I had both agreed that I lived in an abnormally large place, a place that was far too big even though I was a wealthy bachelor. Katherine lived in a tight knit community, one that was similar to her parents' house, in a single family home. To me, despite being in a lower class lifestyle than what I was already accustomed to, it was an ideal living situation for the both of us.