The Bridge To Success

Nice day for a date

It was a nice day for a date, but Eddy's boyfriend was nowhere near. He had to perform at a private concert.

Eddy stared at the small box on the table. He rested his head, on his arms, down on the table too.

'Open it when you are ready to marry me.'

Brett's words echoed in his mind.

"Am I ready?"

Eddy asked himself. Thinking out loud. Secretly thankful that he's alone on the house now too. For he had time to arrange his thoughts.

Is marriage like an earthquake that comes unexpectedly but you can expect that you should duck, cover and hold? No. It's not a natural disaster. It's a life event, a milestone even.

You can prepare, research about it, ask people about it. But when it's your turn, all that they've said to you can either be useful or not. You can safely say that it was a case to case basis.

"How can I tell?"

A follow up to the previous one. How can a person tell if he's ready to tie the knot? Are there any more requirements, pre-requisites or advance activities planned or done beforehand?

Was being in love with each other enough?

True, it was not. Let's face it.

They'll need to prepare for things as they will start their own family. Like a house or a steady income. The wedding itself, it needs to be grand, for the bragging rights, right? And their parents' approval.

About that, Eddy was not sure.

Again, let's face it. Brett and Eddy are both men. Both of their parents wanted grandchildren.

Strike 1

They'd want them a normal life. A normal marriage life. With a wife and a husband.

Strike 2

They won't accept--

He holds his head, an immediate headache came. Eddy doesn't want to think about the next.

That was Strike 3.

To prevent himself from being sad from overthinking, Eddy decided to-

No, abort that. Brett might be still busy. Eddy ran to his room, grabbed his violin and practiced.

---

After his performance, Brett rushed to the washroom. Splashed cold water to his face. He knew he had a bad expression showing on. He had to not let it stay there.

The couple he had performed for, he compared them to himself and Eddy. From how the guy asked the girl out to how they are happily married for 32 years now with their children and grandchildren around them.

'I want us to be like that too, to be more than that...'

Brett looked at himself in the mirror. He looked disheveled, unorganized, gloomy, sad. That doesn't look like him.

Was he rushing things because Eddy's sister told him so? Was he sure he prepared enough, worked hard enough, had arranged enough, was all he has ever done enough?

He sure worked hard for it, three years, since he said to his mom that he wants to be with Eddy. Since three years ago he had been convincing his mom and Eddy's family about them. And within those three years, he felt nothing changed with his mom from since then.

"Fuck." He cursed to himself, to what he has done, to what he was doing. Clearly, it was not enough.

There was a knock on the washroom. "You still there, mate?" Brett's fellow performer asked.

"Just a sec!" He answered back. Wiped his face with the paper towels and stormed off.