Chapter 31

RICK

“Rick!”

I look up and see Lara. I have met her briefly before but she makes enough of an impression that I
couldn’t forget her. She’s like a breath of fresh air.

“Lara,” I say. I get up and she shows me into her office.

“Congratulations!” she says. “At last someone managed to nail down Christine. It’s about time she
settled down.”

“You would know better than me on that score. You’ve known her a lot longer than me,” I reply as I sit
down.

“I guess. I’m just so happy for both of you,” Lara says.

“Thank you,” I say.

Lara leans forward in her chair and pushes stray strands of hair behind her ear. “So do you have
anything in mind for a location?”

“It has to be romantic. The place itself. I proposed at the the Inn of the Seventh Ray so I guess I have
to top that.”

“Well, that must have been romantic. Great choice,” Lara smiles. “But yes, I agree you’ve set the bar
high for yourself. I could suggest our elopement service,” Lara says.

“Elopement service?” I ask surprised.



“Well, we offer a service for coups that just want to get away fand get married without the fuss of
arranging a big wedding. The service opens up a whole lot more options. It doesn’t have to be just the
two of you either. You could invite the guests to the wedding wherever you decide to hold it. It probably
means you’ll have less guests but it is an option. We’ve just started the service recently and it’s a real
hit in so many ways. Demand is through the roof. It’s like the market’s just been waiting for it. And V,
my partner. She’s great. So professional.”

I hesitate a moment. I’m sure I’ve heard the name ‘V’ somewhere before. I know it’s short for a longer
name but I can’t remember where I heard it. Besides there are many names that begin with ‘V’. It could
be anyone. It doesn’t mean there’s a connection.

I shake my head. “Maybe not but thanks for the suggestion. It’s probably best to have it locally. I think
Christine would love to have as many of her friends as possible share the day with her.

We spend an hour going through options. Lara is most helpful and I leave her office feeling that she is
truly professional. She’s been more than a help to me. She’s known Christine a long time and she
knows most of Christine’s friends. She says she’ll get a list of friends over to me for Christine’s
approval. If there’s anyone Christine wants who isn’t on the list she can add them.

I add my own friends. There are quite a few but nowhere near as many as Christine has. It’s okay. It’s
not a competition. I think nof adding Viola to the list but then decide against it. What’s the point I ask
myself? We don’t really know each other that well and besides, I’ve upset her twice. An invitation will
probably just be like driving a dagger into whatever it was we had, more like whatever it was that we
never started, if we could ever have called it anything.

I find it easier to push away the thoughts of Viola now that I’ve made a decision and asked Christine to
marry me. I focus on my work, the wedding and Christine. It’s enough to keep my mind off Viola and
soon I forget about her the way I did when she cut off communication with me the first time.



But sometimes, as much as we try to take control of our lives, it seems there’s something bigger at
play. Something we’ll never understand. Something that makes plans for us and when it’s made up its
mind about what it is that’s good for us, there’s no shaking it. Whatever it is, it’s bigger than us. And so,
try as we might, to put someone or something behind us, if the universe, at least that’s what I call it,
decides we’re not done yet, then we simply aren’t done…


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