Memories II

|29| • Do You ... ? •

The drive to the registry office took long, but Bohemian Rhapsody helped with that, and just as the song finished, the driver parked the car and turned around. "We're here, Miss Callahan, I will be waiting for you and your husband."

My husband, oh dear. I couldn't help but smile at our driver. "That sounds great, thank you."

Before I could say anything Annie had already opened the door and was now held it open for me. I got out and waited for Annie to close the door. She said something quietly to the driver before she closed the door and focussed her attention on me again. "Let's go, let's go, the ceremony starts in five minutes, and don't you have to sign something?"

"No, I don't, not until after the ceremony at least, we did part of it yesterday already before you picked me up. Relax, okay? Everything is going according to plan." She was more nervous than me, it was adorable. "You go ahead and make sure they're ready?"

"Yes, I'll do that. I'll tell your dad to come out and meet you here, so don't go anywhere." She pointed her finger at me with a stern expression on her face, but when I nodded she, Ruth and my mother disappeared into the registry office, leaving me standing there on my own. I didn't think that was exactly according to the plan but I didn't want to say anything and freak Annie out. Anything could probably set her off right now.

Taking a deep breath, I looked around. It was just off one of the bigger roads of Guildford in a cul-de-sac road, very narrow and everything around was very green. It was definitely private, and it had almost something of a fairytale-inspired location. I was happy with the choice of our wedding locations, both the registry office and the barn we had rented were much more beautiful than I had ever thought my wedding could be.

Those few moments of contemplation were brought to an end by my father appearing in the front door of the registry office, a smile on his face. I knew he was actually genuinely happy for me, not like my mother who was only - well, mostly - happy about the amount of money my future husband had. "My little girl, you look gorgeous. I can't believe you're already getting married.."

"Dad, I'm 28, 'already' is maybe not all that appropriate. In one of Jane Austen's book I'd be an unmarriable spinster by now," I told him with a smile.

"But you're not, and I'm proud of you. You found yourself a great guy to marry. I know I wasn't too fond of him before but I've come to see that he's actually not all that bad. And he really cares about you, it's easy to tell. You should see how nervous he is."

I could picture that so well, Brian waiting for me, pacing the room nervously and checking his watch every other second, and I felt bad for him. He'd probably already endured enough today, so I looked at my father. "We shouldn't keep him waiting longer then, can we go in? It is half past two now.."

"Yes, yes, we can go in. Ready to get married?" He asked, holding his arm out for me.

I took a deep breath and linked my arm with his. "Yes.."

With our arms linked we walked up the few steps and my father held the from door open for me. I went inside, unable to keep a growing smile off my face. I was going to get married and I couldn't hide my own excitement any longer. I didn't want to hide it because I was very excited to get married to Brian. The inside of the building was just as beautiful as the outside, I couldn't get enough of that. We didn't have to walk far, it was the first door to the left, at the end of the hallway. My heels clacking on the timber tiling were the most distinguishable sounds in the almost silent environment, probably announcing to everyone inside the room that we were arriving.

My dad opened the door and I stepped inside, followed immediately by my father who returned to his place by my side. But honestly, I couldn't have cared less about that. Immediately after my eyes had swept over the chairs on either side of the aisle, filled with both Brian's and my relatives and friends, my attention was on only one thing in the room. Brian. He was standing in front of the .. desk - you couldn't call it altar but it was a beautiful, old and very ornate desk - and his eyes were on me. Only on me. I knew that because my eyes were only on him.