This is a story about a long time friendship that turns in to a true love story. Follow this journey of almost 30 years and the nearly 30 years it took to get to be a Slow Love. Journalist Karen G Neil, (GiGi to her friends) has a long past with Pr...
His plans are to be married in the smaller performance space and have the reception in the larger space.Of course, everything is in purple or lavender which is fine by me. I have always loved that color even when I was a little girl. I had too many lavender/purple dressed my mother refused to buy me anymore. We went over the guest list which is mostly his as I only have Bonnie and Steve and a few business associates like Jon Bream. We picked out together the wedding invitations and had them printed and they will be mailed while we are on tour. He has all the hotels blocked that will be needed for guests and the caterer has the menu to prepare. It will be whatever fish is in season with nice accompaniment of vegetables and potatoes, and a salad. Our dinner will be my favorite,Lobster. He shows me the flowers selection, lavender roses of course.He has this down to the nano degree. There is nothing I could add or change. I am happy with it. I have Cathy working on my dress and it should be underway by the time we return. I picked a dress that is of antique design. Cathy will copy and modify it for today's use. I may have to have a 2nd dress for the reception if she can't figure out how to deal with the hoops in the skirt. I will not be able to sit well or party afterwards if I have hoops in the skirt to deal with. She will coordinate his suit to match. I am excited to have my fairy-tale dress and it is so fitting for this fairy-tale romance. Cathy has a job here. I am so happy she is such a fantastic designer and she'll pull it off perfectly I am sure.
Turks & Caicos Home
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The next two weeks we relax, work on the book, laugh, talk and love deeply. I was feeling much better and decided to try to play tennis. We have a court, so we may as well use it. I have been exercising as directed by the Dr. and he saw me the end of the month. So I was officially release from surgery with only going back for saline injections in the implant. I feel I have my strength back so I suggested we play a set of tennis. I know he's good at it but he has no idea how good I am. So it should be interesting to see if I can beat him. He usually wins at all the other games, but this is my game too. I came close to beating him in a table tennis match but I was not feeling well so I let him win just to end it. I get all ready to go play a round of tennis and have on my shorts and tank top, and I'm ready. He shows up in his shoes that light up in the wedges and I'm thinking, OH! Game On. I let him win the first set of the match as I wanted to make sure I could do this without injuring myself. I nailed the next two and won! He was not happy but he did relent that I was the best one he'd played and that impressed him. I will say he is quick and not like the tennis club set I usually play back in Cincinnati so I had to really get my game on. I was exhausted but it felt really good. All he could talk about was how he wanted a rematch. I needed a couple days to recoup. We did play some more and he mostly won. He finally changed shoes and that made the difference. I guess he really put more game into knowing I was a serious competitor. We get ready to head back north. It is now April, so the weather should be better. I really hate snow and cold, so this should be better. I know that is sometimes snows in April, but I'm hoping not. I know he's going to drive that band like a herd of cattle when we get back. I suspect he will rehearse them non stop for just over a week and I'll have plenty of time to get my dress fitted and almost ready for the wedding. She will have it complete when I return and may have to make minor adjustments but there will be no worries there. I have some time to tie up loose ends and do that while he is rehearsing. I have everything caught up and packed my bags. He is doing the same and they are having a "dress rehearsal" tonite and then tomorrow we head out to British Columbia for the first stop. The set and everything is will be loaded and we will have a couple free days before the show. This is exciting to see it all come together. He is a little concerned about ticket sales, but he knows the US/California leg is already sold out. All is well. My first tour and I hope it goes by quickly and we have a good time. We did a little sightseeing in Vancouver. Saw some lovely gardens and historic homes. It was nice to relax before the shows. I know it is going to kick into another gear afterwards. We go from Vancouver to Seattle, to Portland to San Francisco. We had some interesting visitors to the Bay area concerts, including Sheila E as well a sCarlos Santana among others. I about died tho when Carlos grabbed me in front of him backstage and planted a big kiss on me. All was good. He did what he said he would. Sheila came to our room and we talked and caught up all nite long. She was really happy for us and said to P when she left. "I don't know what you ever did to deserve GiGi, but I'm glad you did. Gigi, you did my best interview back when I was starting out. I know it helped make me successful. Somehow, I knew then you two were perfect for each other and it has taken this long for you both to realize it. I guess we all were too young back then to notice. Instead we were all sowing our wild oats on fame and fortune. I hope I can make it to the wedding. If not, I wish you two my best for a long life in this last chapter. Then she said, "Prince, whatever you do, do not mess this one up. I like the new you I am seeing. I don't think you will."
We bid farewell and proceeded to head to Las Vegas and to Tempe, AZ. He was scheduled to have Larry Graham as a guest so we are going to see if he shows up. I'm sitting on my sofa spot and all of a sudden, Larry is next to me. I look over to him and welcome him. He hugs me and says, "Gigi, I know you are perfect for him. I have decided I cannot let my religious beliefs come in between the greater good. He is the happiest I have ever seen him and I know it is because of you. You have an affect on people that even I feel. I wish you and my Baby Brother the best." So all is well there. He explained he could not attend the wedding as he already had a scheduled conflict. But all this is good. I know P will be disappointed but happy that this fence is mended. They perform and when Larry leaves he hugs me and says, "I look forward to seeing you again. Next time you will be husband and wife." I thanked him and that just suddenly hit me with a wave of emotion. The set was over and I hurry to the dressing room to regain my composure. He came flying in almost behind me wanting to know what Larry said that upset me. I said, "Sweetheart, nothing. It was nothing. I just was happy you two were good." He knew something was still not right but did not press it. I said, "Tears of joy not sadness." So he was good. The next night they performed again and Larry was the gentleman I knew him to be. I could not have wanted a better outcome. We headed to San Diego, Anaheim where a few friends stopped by including Wendy and Lisa. We had a good time with them and they were happy for us. Then on to Denver and HOME on May 13!
Billboard Music Awards-ICON AWARD
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On May 19th we had the Billboard awards and Prince was awarded the Icon award. We just flew in a couple days early to pick up a dress for me and he had his wardrobe already. We go to the dress shoppe to pick up my dress and it fits perfectly. I get to wear the amethyst and diamond set he got for me in the shop at Turks & Caicos. We are checking out and the lady looks at me and says, "On his account or yours." Yep, he did it again, awestruck. You know the look. He snapped out of it quickly and said his account. I really love this dress. It is kind of funny, I'm dressed in haute couture and he has been wearing his rock-star shabby chic. Oh well, we do match color wise but that's about it. He says to me, "Baby, you are full of surprises. I love showing you off." I'm thinking, well this is one way to do that. I know he's going to ask me sooner or later about my accounts at some of these Rodeo Drive shops. I was backstage when he performed and saw a bunch of people I knew. He was beyond C-O-O-L. I knew I could do it. The show went off without a hitch. On May 25th we had a local show in Maplewood, MN. I got to see Bobby Z and it was great to see him. He told me too, he always knew even back then I was perfect for him. He is recovered from a near fatal heart attack and he got to sit in on drums. He said "I would not miss the wedding for the world. How many times do you get to see a match made in heaven." I told him, yes it was. In less than 2 weeks, we will be married. I told Bobby, not only that but I am marrying my best friend. Then it hit again. Bobby said, "Don't cry Gigi, this is a happy time." I said, "It has just been so emotional journey. I guess I it just overwhelms me sometimes."
A/N Please vote. Leave Comments and tell me how you like this story's progression. I'd love to hear from you. I will be ending this book and starting Slow Love 2 soon. Thanks for reading.
