Dolly (Part three-Max Mitchell series)

THIRTY

"Good morning, Sugar. I'm going to breakfast with the Ladies. Have fun today, ok?"
"Why are you going so early?" Tom said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"We've got a lot to do. The covered market opens early and we've got a lot of white peonies to get our hands on before anyone else does."
"Mmhmm, ok Dolly. Have fun. I'll see you at dinner then?"
"You will. Tell those boys to keep you out of trouble."
"I make no guarantees when it comes to Ben."

I floated through the halls of the Tree with my mother in tow, letting its familiar air calm me. The raw, hurt feeling I'd harbored before had gradually started to fade and each day that passed, made me feel better. Healed.

Knock knock knock

"Wake up, ladies! We've got things to do!" I said through the door, in the most singsong voice I could muster. A moment later, the sleepyheads were emerging from their grouping of hotel rooms, noticeably irritated by my enthusiasm.

"We're meeting Kerry for coffee at the market, would you all meet us there?"
"Max, it's so early." Tab whined at me, as she rubbed at her eyes.
"I'm ready to go right now." Stef said, as she came out from her room, looking well rested and quite put together for a six am wake up call. Touring all over the world helps her adjust well to time differences, I suppose. "Besides, I have a surprise for you."
"Ooooh, I love surprises. Tab, meet us at the market in one hour?"
She just drearily nodded and trudged back into her room.

Stef, my Mother and I took a car into town to find Kerry, waiting for us just outside of the famed covered market in the heart of Oxford. Just like every other place in town, it brought back scores of fond memories, and having Kerry there as well just made it even better.

She held her arms out and pulled me into a tight embrace.
"I'm so glad you listened when I told you not to stay away so long!"
"I know better than to not do what you tell me. Unless we're talking about shots of alcohol, then I won't be listening to you."
"Oh psh. It's too early for that anyhow. I've already gone to the florist and secured a huge lot of blooms for you, just to be safe. They said they'd put back what you didn't want."

I shrieked with happiness, as I'd been worried about getting my flowers of choice, peonies and dahlias.
"Bless your heart, Kez!"
"Oh, it's nothing. I got here a tad early, so I thought I'd make myself useful. Now, I can't keep pretending I don't know this lovely blonde lass that's next to you..."
"Oh! Right. Kez, this is my best friend Stef. You probably recognize her as someone else entirely."
"Um, yes...they call you the Mother Monster, don't they?"
"Charmed, I'm sure." Stef gave Kerry a little curtsey, and then hugged her as if they'd always been friends.
"And this is my mother Jane. My sister Tab, and my assistant Wendy will be here in just a bit."
"Max, we've got to make a stop at the cafe over here, I've got your surprise waiting." Stef said as she grabbed my elbow, dragging me away from the group.

I followed her lead to a quiet little coffee shop around the corner from the florist, and as soon as we entered the room my jaw dropped when I saw who was there waiting for us.
"Max, it's my pleasure to introduce you to your wedding photographer--"
"Ellen Von Unwerth? But...I...oh my god. This is incredible!"
"A pleasure, Max. I'm so happy to be here."
"I've met you once before, at one of Stef's shoots--"
"Yes. I remember. For "Out" magazine. I took a picture of the two of you."
"Yes you did." I beamed.
"She's got it hung up in her house."
"I'm a massive fan."
"Fantastic. Can I pull you aside for a moment, Max?"
"Of course." I practically squealed my response, and we sat down at the table she'd just been occupying.

"Max. You're about to be married. You are a beautiful woman, and your soon to be husband is quite the specimen himself. I'm going to find every single loving moment between the two of you and get it on film. Your passion, love, tenderness, hell even your lust...I'm going to capture it."
Her words were taking my breath away. All I could do was nod my head, mesmerized.
"All I want, is to be a shadow. I'll be staying in a room at the Tree as well. I'm going to follow you around for the next two days, and capture every single magical moment, in their pure, candid form."
"I'm...I have no words..." I swiped away an errant tear.
"Good. Shall we then?"

The rest of the afternoon was a blur. I'd spent the entire day at the market, and before I knew it, Wendy was herding me into a car. She insisted that if I "didn't get my ass moving, they'd go on with the groom's dinner, minus a bride". She'd prepared my dress for the evening, a navy blue chiffon dress with navy sequins on the bodice and a deep v in the front and back. I wore flat sandals and left my hair down and curled in soft waves.

A soft knocking pulled me away from the mirror, as I was finishing my makeup. I opened the door to find my soon to be husband, dressed in a pair of slim navy blue slacks, and a white dress shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows. Leave it to him to wear something so simple, yet look so dashing.
"Hi Sugar." I reached out for him, touching both hands to each side of his face.
"You look beautiful, love."
"You're not so bad yourself."

He glanced over my shoulder, noticing that Ellen was in my room with me, camera in tow.
"That's--"
"I know who she is." He said, with an amorous look in his eye.
"I have something for you." I winked and gave him a kiss, then produced a small box from the top of the dresser.

He opened it and found a pair of cuff links, each with a simple, singular aquamarine set in fourteen karat gold. He looked at them, and then to me, and I saw his eyes begin to well up.
"Aquamarine...it's--"
"Our Jelly Bean's birthstone." I said, as a tear fell onto my own cheek.
"I have something for you too." He handed me a flat box, and I could tell it was a piece of jewelry as well. What I hadn't expected though, was what kind of jewelry it was.

The necklace in the box was a single cushion cut aquamarine, set in rose gold, on a rose gold chain. I nearly fell to my knees, as the sentimentality of our exchange was so much more than just cuff links and a necklace. Somehow, in our own way, our little Jelly Bean would be with us when we would marry each other, just as we had planned in the beginning.

He pulled me to him, and we held eachother for what seemed like forever, yet still, not long enough.
"My god, Maxine. I love you so much."

***

Our groom's dinner was set up in the restaurant of the Tree. We'd been situated at one long banquet style table. Tom and I were in the center, and seated all around us were our closest family and friends. As we finished our meals, Ben stood up, and cleared his throat, and everyone hushed their conversation.

"A wise man once said 'honesty is a gift-to be honest about who you are and how you feel-because it encourages intimacy, and intimacy is really where it's at' These two are a match made in heaven, meant to be. Am I right?Let's raise a toast to the happy couple. "

Everyone applauded in agreement. I leaned to Tom and whispered, "Who said that?"
"I did."