Resist Me Not

53

I stood there, shocked. It didn't help that we had drawn a slight crowd from the passerby's wanting to see how the proposal would end.

"Ryan. I want to say yes, but is that even really an option? What about the marriage license I already have with Eric? And what would happen to my parents if I don't go through with marrying him?" I asked with tears of confusion welling up.

He stood back up, still holding the ring in his grasp. "Like I said, I spoke to the lady inside the Clerk of Court. She said that she can override your current marriage license and replace it with ours. Then we can get married instead and live happily ever after."

I wiped my tears and huffed at his corny comment. I studied his eyes, trying to see into his soul. We'd been through so much in such a short time. I could only imagine how crazy married life would be with him. But seeing him, I knew that my life would be so much better than anything I could ever have with Eric or anyone else. While everything was a whirlwind around us, when it was just us, the world stood still. It felt natural being with him.

Purposefully, I removed my current engagement ring and placed it inside my purse. Keeping my gaze locked with his, I extended my now bare hand to him and smiled. "This may be the craziest thing ever! But, yes, I will marry you, Ryan Patrick Herman."

He beamed like he just won the lottery as he placed his ring on my finger, then scooped me up in his arms and kissed me. Then he led the way into the Clerk of Court's office. We took a seat on the bench along the wall as I filled out the second column on the Certificate of Marriage form. At first, my hand was shaking with a mixture of excitement and disbelief, making it hard for me to keep the pen steady on the page. But when Ryan noticed me struggling, he rested his hand on mine and gave it a light squeeze.

Glancing over at him, meeting his calm and supportive gaze made me smile. We both took a deep inhale together and slowly exhaled. Being in that moment with him, and connecting on a deeper level simply through our breathing, helped me regain power and control in my hand, and I completed the form without a second thought.

Ryan and I went to the clerk he had previously spoken to about my situation. She smiled a professional, yet friendly smile and took the form. Peering down at the form and back at her computer screen, she clacked away on her very loud keyboard. Though the sound was actually satisfying with the rhythm and speed of her typing.

Then she stopped suddenly and glanced up at me from her screen. "I'm sorry, I can't actually approve this."

My heart stopped.

"What do you mean?" Ryan demanded. "You just told me not even thirty minutes ago that this could be done."

She stared at him with not even the slightest bit of emotion showing. "Sir, you failed to mention who was on the previous marriage license. My hands are tied and it won't allow me to proceed, even if I wanted to. You'll have to get this new license approved by a judge to override the old one."

I knew this was too good to be true.

Ryan pounded his fist on the counter. "Then get me a fucking judge!"

The police officer that stood by the entrance approached us cautiously with his hand resting by his metal baton on his belt. "Is everything okay here?"

"I'm sorry, sir," I pleaded. "He didn't mean to cause any concern." I turned back to Ryan and placed my hand on his arm. "Ryan, let's go. We'll figure something out."

The clerk handed us back the form, and we headed back outside. I couldn't help but apologize again to the officer as we passed.

Once outside, Ryan started pacing around the sidewalk, thinking of a solution, and still very angry. While I was furious about the situation too, I almost found it comical that this was the story of my life lately. I found it so funny that I actually started laughing.