Promise Me Forever

Chapter Eleven

My book agent stopped by to have a meeting with me now that it has been a few weeks since the book release events finished. (Nicole): “How have you been since we wrapped things up? I know you tend to throw yourself into work in times of crisis” (Michelle): “I could have been better if things had been more positive, but nothing has changed since the last time we spoke” (Nicole): “Nick’s still in the hospital?” (Michelle): “He has been for months now” (Nicole): “I am so sorry” I offer her some coffee, and we head to the kitchen. My book agent, Nicole White, is a forty-year-old woman with hazel eyes and red hair. She has been working with me for a decade now. We have become friends especially after working together for so long. (Nicole): “Wow. I love your coffee machine” (Michelle): “Thanks. Nick got it for me as a birthday present. We both really love coffee” (Nicole): “I’m really sorry that you have been going through this, Michelle. If you need anything, just let me know” (Michelle): “Thank you” I take out the different coffee pods we have to show her what options we have, and she chooses an Americano. I have a Cappuccino, of course. Then she asks me why I seem a bit happier today, if something perhaps happened to lift my spirits. (Michelle): “Nothing happened. It’s just that tonight I am going to read the wedding chapter of my book to Nick at the hospital” (Nicole): “Aw! You love that chapter! Although I could argue that you love every chapter of your book because you could never pick a favourite” That is the truth right there. We always got asked at Q&A’s which chapter was my favourite to write but I could never make a decision on which one. Our entire love story was perfect to put on paper but now things have just been stuck. Eventually we finish our meeting and Nicole leaves. She was asking me what next book I was going to start writing. It just doesn’t feel like the right time for me to start writing anything. My life has been too hurtful to be inspired into writing a new book from scratch. When a person starts a new book, there is a lot of planning that goes into it way before the writing even starts. You need to find inspiration for a plot, then go into the decision of which genre you are going to write about. You have to break down the characters that you are going to include, what their names will be or any other details as well, such as where they are from, who is related, etc. Then you would have to get into the mindset of each character so you can make your writing feel authentic. Then you have to choose whether you are going to frame the story chronologically or not, in first-person or not, what the cover of the book might look like, how the chapters will be structured, what font to use, and so much more. I don’t have time to focus on all of that because my girls need me. At least until my husband finally wakes up from his coma so we can be together again. So we can be a family again. I’m at the hospital now and I can’t help but smile. He might not be awake but at least he is alive. He could have been dead in that plane crash or died during surgery, but he survived. He might be in a coma, but he is still breathing and alive. Knowing that his injuries have healed is music to my ears. The last thing I would ever want is for him to still be in pain when he wakes up. I make sure that his pillows are more comfortable, and that his blankets are neatly covering him. I caress his cheek and can’t help but look at him. He is so handsome. I am just waiting for the day he comes back, not only so I can kiss him but so I can feel him kiss me back.

We got married when I was twenty-eight years old, and Nick was thirty-years old. We were going to do something special for his birthday to celebrate it since it was a milestone, but we decided that we were going to celebrate it during our honeymoon. The reason being that we had planned to travel like we always wanted to since we first met. We were so lucky that my parents paid for the entire wedding. That was their gift to us, and it helped us budget better for the honeymoon. We had an afternoon wedding at a huge winery with such spectacular green fields, beautiful views of the mountain, and clear blue skies. We had about one hundred and twenty guests, including all of our family and friends. The colours of the wedding were white and gold. We did a few things that would not be considered to be traditional. I wore a beautiful floor length, mermaid style, golden dress. Nick wore a white suit with a rose in his blazer pocket that we had spray painted gold. We did that not only so it would match his tie but that it would match my dress too. We had a four-tiered chocolate ganache wedding cake with gold-coloured buttercream frosting. There was a mini orchestra that played music throughout the day. As I was walking down the aisle, they were playing the classical version of ‘Give me everything’ by Ne-Yo. What can I say? We are die-hard Bridgerton fans, and we were excited to have all of our music be the classical soundtrack from the series. The guests looked so fantastic. The wedding party wore white and gold, but the guests got to wear black and green. There were flowers everywhere and I loved the white roses. We had golden candles lit in memory of Nick’s parents, to celebrate that they were undoubtedly there with us as the wedding. During our wedding reception, Nick and I were sitting at our private table reserved for the bride and groom. We were eating dinner and talking about how perfect everything went at the ceremony. (Nick): “We are going to have so many gifts to unwrap when we get home” (Michelle): “One hundred and twenty guests means as many gifts as possible. Baby, how long is that going to take us?” (Nick): “As long as I get to unwrap you first, we can take as long as we want” (Michelle): “Be careful, Mr Johnson. We don’t want to have kids before we leave for our honeymoon soon” (Nick): “Well, Mrs Johnson, we would have to be extra careful then” We could not keep our hands off of each other during the entire wedding day. At least our family and friends didn’t mind all the public displays of affection. We were, however, really excited to travel for the honeymoon because we have always wanted that for us. I couldn’t believe that I had a wedding ring, and that Nick had a wedding ring too. Now we were Mr and Mrs Johnson. We were finally bonded in holy matrimony as one. For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for better for worse, until death parts us. Except we had our own saying that we held onto. (Michelle): “As long as my heart beats, I’m yours” (Nick): “In this life and the next” (Michelle): “I love you, Nick Johnson” (Nick): “I love you too, Michelle Johnson. My jaw-droppingly beautiful wife”

My best decision that I ever made in my life was accepting this amazing man as my husband. I would not trade it for anything in the world.