Where You Are

Las Vegas

Jesse

This was almost too much. Almost. It didn't feel real. Especially with Elvis here. It felt like I was having another fever and the mad dreams that came with it.

I'd only seen Birgitta in a dress on one other occasion and it could scarcely remember it now. She was always beautiful, but I knew she'd put in extra effort today with what limited resources she had. Blimey, did that make me a bad boyfriend, for springing something massive like this in her with no warning? Didn't most women spend their entire lives imagining and planning their future weddings?

No, I reminded myself. I'd given her the choice and she'd made it. I'd given her several other chances to change her mind and she still hadn't. Maybe that was the part that made this all feel surreal, that she was going along with my mad plan like it was genius. I honestly wasn't sure if it was genius or not. I was just through with the distance between us and this was how we were going to get rid of it.

I was ready. I was more than ready. And the fact that she hadn't hesitated for a second all day just made me all the more certain that we were doing the right thing.

Elvis, dressed in his signature red and white jumpsuit with the flared pant legs, sunglasses and black, slicked-back hair, walked Birgitta down the little aisle of the chapel. He'd offered earlier and it had warmed my heart a little to see her smile at the stranger and nod eagerly. After all, how many people could say they'd been walked down the aisle by Elvis?

Crikey, she was breath-taking. She didn't usually dress up like this, so I was going to drink in every moment of it while I could. From her long, dark, wavy hair hanging down her back and over her shoulders, the dark red lipstick that was set off perfectly by her pale skin, the beautiful black tattoos all up and down her exposed arms, the deep V of cleavage with the necklace I'd given her on her throat... damn it. Come on, Elvis. Let's get this show on the road.

We'd opted for the shortest ceremony the chapel offered. We'd agreed there was no need for fanfare, we didn't need Elvis to sing any songs and had no one we wanted to livestream to. We just wanted vows, rings and then to sign on the dotted line.

Elvis had presented Birgitta was a small bouquet of roses to carry. She placed it on an empty chair when she arrived at the altar and gripped both of my hands tightly. She was grinning widely and her eyes were sparkling. I squeezed her hands back and couldn't help my own silly grin. I could still hardly believe it was even happening. This entire thing was mad, but nothing had ever felt more right in my entire life.

'This is your hunka, hunka burnin' love, pretty darlin'?' Elvis asked Birgitta. I could have hit him, I was the only one allowed to call her darling.

'Yes, of course it is,' she giggled, not looking away from me at all, which made me feel infinitely better. She was the one who'd wanted Elvis, not me. He was just playing the part, and he was damn good at it, too.

'You're sure now?' He asked.

'Definitely,' she grinned and squeezed my hands. 'This is my Jesse.'

My Jesse.

Damn it, my nose started to burn. I was going to lose it. I was happier now more than ever that none of my family or friends were here to witness this.

'We'd better get this show on the road then, uh huh!'

Bloody hell.

Fortunately, the rest of the ceremony wasn't as animated. It was straight to the point.

'We'll start with the groom,' Elvis turned to me. This definitely felt surreal, possibly because I couldn't even see his eyes behind his massive sunglasses. 'Repeat after me: I, Jesse, take you, Bridget, to be my wife.'