An Unexpected Romance

Ch. 1 & 2

Chapter 1

Eyes on the words in front of her, Gema Dodge's mind failed to commit the words to memory. Her mind was everywhere but on the many different combinations of cakes and frostings that lined the pages of the pamphlet. How was she supposed to pick out the flavors for a wedding cake she didn't even want? For a wedding she didn't even want? Gema sighed and pushed her Ray Bans back on her head, pushing her chocolate brown hair out of her face and rubbing her eyes. This is just ridiculous, Gema, call off the wedding. Just do it. She urged herself as she continued walking towards her apartment on the busy Manhattan street. But she couldn't, couldn't possibly break off the wedding to Doug without losing him. Yes, he wasn't the most passionate, or the most attentive, but he had taken care of her when her parents died, first as their lawyer, and later as a man. He had handled all of the arrangements, saw to it that the will was carried out to the tee, and had gently asked if she hadn't needed a friend. Gema had in fact, needed a friend, having just moved to Manhattan from Australia to be by her parents, and to have them suddenly ripped out of her life had been crushing.

Pushing back the familiar wave of loneliness and regret, Gema unlocked her apartment door and began the daunting task of opening it. A quick twist to the left, then the right, followed by two swift bumps of the door by one voluptuous hip, and one last twist to the left, freed the creaking old door from it's hold and Gema sunk into the apartment thankfully. What you need, she mused as she discarded her Ray bans and unbuttoned her cardigan, is a nice hot bath.

Eyes closed, body floating weightlessly in the cucumber and green tea scented water, for the first time in the four months that she had been engaged to Doug, she felt half way relaxed. With a last sigh, Gema prepared to let herself fall over the edge into blissful ignorance, when the shrill sound of her doorbell buzzing caused her to jump up and hit her shin on the water faucet. Gasping from the pain, Gema half dragged herself out of the water, cringing as she set her body upright and grabbed a towel, limping to the speaker. She panted as she pressed the buzzer.

"yes, hello?"

"Gema, it's Doug, are you almost ready?"

"ready?"

Oh crap, she had totally forgotten that tonight was their engagement party. Shit! "um, be right out!"

"Well buzz me up, you know I hate loitering in this neighborhood" he responded, his voice clipped. Gema buzzed him in and then ran to her closet. She groaned when she realized the run in with the faucet had caused her shin to bleed profusely, and she hopped back to the bathroom to clean up. She heard Doug's familiar quick steps on the floor and then heard his voice from behind as she dabbed at the scrape carefully. “What in blazes are you doing in a towel? We have to leave in precisely four minutes, Gema”

“I know, I know, I just” Gema trailed off, biting her lip as she finished dabbing the cut with painful antiseptic before bandaging it. She hurried past Doug to her closet, avoiding his disapproving glance as she did. 

“It’s in very poor taste to arrive late to your own engagement party, Gema, especially after having rescheduled it twice prior” Doug chastised, glancing at his watch impatiently. Gema suppressed a sigh as she grabbed the first dress she saw, stealing a glance at Doug as she crossed to her dresser. All six feet of him stood stick straight in the middle of her living room, hands on his hips impatiently, his light, nearly blonde-brown hair cropped close to his head. His clear, glass blue eyes took her in, sweeping her head to toe. “You can’t be thinking of wearing a dress when you have that gruesome bandage on your leg!” He insisted, frowning.

“I don’t have any presentable pants, Doug, you said so last time I wore pants somewhere” she muttered, stepping out of his view to drop her towel and haul her dress over her head.