Love & Secrets (Hartbig)

Ch. 13 Saturday, October 15th

It's nine months later Saturday, October 15th the afternoon of the event Hannah wasn't 100% thrilled about. She parked her car in the banquet hall parking lot. Wearing black dress pants, a black collared shirt, gold tie, and grey vest. She made her way to the building as she thought back to the events of the last year and where she was now. So much has happened and she didn't expect things to end up like this. As she approached the door there was a tap on her shoulder. Hannah turned around and noticed Mamrie standing behind her, hand in hand with Zack. They started dating  right after the ending of Camp Takota 2 and they have been doing well. 

 "How are you doing?" Mamrie asked her. 

"I am doing okay, I have been better, I could have lived without this afternoon but it's the right thing to do, to come."

"Exactly, be the bigger person. So where's?"

"Already here I think, we decided that we were going to meet here."

"Why?" Mamrie asked wondering how Hannah was doing.

"It just worked out better." 

"Cool, so how are you feeling about today?" Mamrie asked her. 

"Fine, I am going to be fine, just because this is someone I used to love's most important day of their life I am going to be okay. I don't know why she invited me but here we are. If I didn't come that would make things worse. Besides were friends now and tonight I am going to be fine."

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything because I got your back."

"I know your always there for me. Let's do this." Mamrie grabbed Hannah's arm and they walked into the building.  Hannah stopped walking when she saw her. There she was standing in the middle of the room looking stunning. Hannah's heart skipped a beat. As she took a deep breath she took a step forward to walk to the women she loved.  She was wearing a balck and gold dress, with gold jewlery, and balck highheels."Hey gorgeous, you look amazing. " Hannah leaned in and gave Grace a kiss.

"You're just saying that because you have to." Grace replied.

"I am saying that because it's true. You just happen to be my  girlfriend that's just a bonus." Hannah grabbed Graces hand to pull her closer.

"Sure." Grace said half laughing as she kissed Hannah on the head. 

"Hey." Hannah said as she turned to Grace. Hannah pretended that it bugged her. 

"Okay you two let's find our seats it looks like things about to get started. " Mamrie lead them to their table, Zack was already there with a drink in his had for Mamrie, a gin martini. "Oh you do love me." Mamrie said with a smile as she gave him a kiss. He helped her in her chair while Hannah did the same thing for Grace. 

"I am going to get us some drinks, what do you want?" Hannah asked.

"Surprise me." Grace replied

"Okay, I will be back soon." Hannah gave Grace a quick kissed and started walking towards the mini bar. 

"Wait I will join you I forgot to get a drink for myself." Zack turned and walked with Hannah to get himself a drink.

"So, that looks like it's going well," Grace mentioned.

"It is going good, I never thought I would find someone that would understand me the way he does. It's been almost nine months and I don't think I am going to find anyone better." Mamrie smiled as she talked about him. "Okay, enough about me how's your lady friend."

"You can stop calling her that, she's your friend too. Besides Hannah's great I just regret not being with her sooner. I promise we will get drinks sometimes and we can talk more. For now, let's just get through this evening."

"How are you doing with being here, at Ingrid's engagement party?" 

"What I do best, I am repressing this," Grace smirked as Hannah and Zack sat down at the table. Hannah handed Grace a gin and tonic. As Grace sipped her drink and Hannah took a drink of her whiskey the afternoon events started to unfold. 

Hannah and Grace kept their cool through out the entire day, it was difficult for both of them to see Ingrid and her fiance Sarah standing up there with smiles on their faces. Hannah did love Ingrid at one point but it wasn't even close to how she felt about Grace and it was evident that Ingrid was extremely happy with Sarah. 

Mamrie and Zack had already left twenty minutes ago, apparently Zack had a family event to go to, so Hannah and Grace grabbed their things to leave. They decided they should say good buy to the lucky couple before they split. 

"Hey you two." Hannah said to get their attention. They both turned around. 

"Hi, thank you both for coming." Ingrid said as she hugged Hannah and Grace.

"This was some engagement party you two put on." Grace said as she took a step closer to Hannah. 

"Well we were thinking about going small but we decided we would have a bigger engagement party so the wedding could be smaller." Ingrid said as she turned towards Sarah. They could all feel the tension in the room.

"We know were moving a little fast but when you know it's right it's right. Why keep on waiting, time isn't gong to change how you feel about someone. I believe it just creates more tension. Speaking of tension I might not be your biggest fan Hannah but I do want to thank you." Sarah said as she extended her hand. 

"Thank me, why?" Hannah asked with confusion.

"Well if it wasn't for you I don't think Ingrid would have the confidence to come out and finally be willing to date me. You helped give her the confidence to go after the person she loves. It's why we invited the two of you to thank you for helping make this happen." Sarah smiled as Hannah took her hand to shake it. 

"Glad we could help." Hannah said. Grace thanked them for the invitation and wished them the best of luck. Then grabbed Hannah's hand and walked out of the building. 

"I will meet you back at your house." Hannah said with a dazed look on her face. She got into her car with Grace leading the way. She was lost in thought from the moment she stepped into the car. She didn't know how to interpret the conversation they just had with them. It sounded like Sarah was trying to tell her that she should propose to Grace. Of course she loved her and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with her but they just started dating nine months ago. Besides she just got out of an engagement earlier this year. The entire drive to Grace's house was consumed by these thoughts. Hannah knew Grace hated marriage and she didn't want to bring something up that could cause Grace to freak out and leave. Hannah still woke up everyday hoping that her dating Grace wasn't a dream because that's what it felt like. It felt like a dream because for so long being with Grace was a dream. Hannah pulled into Grace's driving grabbed her bag and made her way into the house to another fine that another one of her dreams was about to come true.