Sold #3 - A Haunting Hope

Chapter 3

Michael had to admit that he was intrigued by the gift that Darcy had claimed to have brought with her to their wedding, without him even knowing, as the second part of his birthday present. He could remember her mentioning something about a second gift that he had to wait until they got back to the hotel for him to get, suggesting it wasn't suitable for his friends to see. And he could only imagine loving it if it turned out to be a similar gift as to what Mika had tried to give him, after all what was a better birthday present than his wife? Just bringing the thought to mind though, triggered the immediate notion that he had to thank his father, not to vocally thank him for bringing her into his life but in a roundabout way letting him know that he wouldn't have been able to find her without his help. When it came down to it though, he didn't care how he had her, all that mattered now was that they were married and she was his. And he was glad to see the happiness in her eyes as he led her back to the car and opened the trunk, to show her his surprise, a picnic basket, fully prepared by the hotel, for the romantic picnic he had promised her they would have. It only took them a few minutes to decide which of the two locations he offered her, in which they would find the seclusion they wanted, Darcy preferred and although neither really felt comfortable walking through the streets to their chosen park in their wedding outfits, feeling that they were being stared at, once they reached the small park five minutes later, it didn't matter anymore. It had been too short a journey for them to bother taking the car they had hired, but at the same time Michael liked the thought that by doing so, he was innocently letting everyone they passed know that Darcy was his wife and at the same time he got to enjoy seeing her in her wedding dress just that much longer than he would if she had insisted on getting changed again by going back to the hotel first. This way, he got to enjoy two new delights that he had never experienced before, flaunting his new wife to the world in what seemed nothing more than a casual walk through the streets and enjoying the sight of her in her wedding dress, savouring the sight before she took it away from him and he never saw her wear it again. It was almost too good to be true.

"Are you alright darling, you're so quiet?" Michael asked softly as they reached a quiet spot inside the near-empty park underneath a tall sycamore tree. She didn't answer him as he set the picnic basket down and crouched down beside it, she just showed him that beautiful smile he loved and shrugged as she took a lingering look at their surroundings, and yet, however confused he was by it he knew that he had all day to probe into the deep dark recesses of her mind and find out what was secretly lurking there. She looked happy enough and the smile she showed him as he laid out the blanket the concierge had included in their picnic basket, only to sit down and hold his hand out to her, was worth more than gold.

"You know what's so great?" Darcy couldn't help but let out a deep sigh that showed just how much the thought meant to her, a wistful and happy warmth emanating from her as she sank down onto the blanket slowly, sitting on her knees before him only to slip to the side and further into his arms when she realised she wasn't close enough to him. "It's our wedding day and we wanted to get married alone, just the two of us and we got it. We didn't want anyone interfering and they didn't, then we decided to have our photo's taken the way we wanted them, and we got it." She admitted everything with such a distant look in her eyes, sitting between his bended knees, that he found it hard to keep his eyes off her as he watched her adoringly, well aware that she neither seemed to notice or care about the hectic world just a two minute walk away from them as it passed them by. She was happy just to sit there with him, moments after their wedding, and spend some real quality time with him away from the rat race. "We chose to come here and have a picnic together, on our wedding day of all days, just because it was what we wanted...instead of going straight to some reception party with all our friends and family taking away from what's real. And because it's what we want, we're going to meet your friends tonight, at a club we wanted to go to, and however ridiculous it is, not one person outside those involved with the wedding actually knows we're married." Darcy couldn't keep back the giggle of amusement and combined excitement that came with knowing that not one thing had gone wrong, not one person had interfered with their wedding and that if they had thought to wait for a real wedding, back home with Michael's family, then it would never have been that way.