This Is Insane...
Thanks to a host of new clients, Victoria's schedule was full on most weekends. She'd coordinated Tyler and Juliet's wedding two weeks ago, and a luncheon for a children's charity last week. Now, it was Saturday night and she was beat. She'd just finished another big affair at the Masters' residence, coordinating an elegantly lavish meet and greet reception. The event served to usher in the debutante season for Atlanta's young society ladies-in-waiting.
When the cotillion chair had told Eva Masters they were looking for a venue to host the meet-and-greet, the socialite eagerly volunteered her home for the affair. After the fabulous job Victoria had done with Celeste's last-minute sweet sixteen birthday party, Eva naturally called on Divine Occasions to plan her daughter's debut into social entertaining.
Glad that the event was over, Victoria breathed a sigh of relief that her long day had come to an end. She walked upstairs, peeled off her clothes, and ran a hot bath. She slid down into the bubbles and thanked God for the person who'd invented the Jacuzzi tub. Her arms and legs relaxed as the powerful jets massaged her tired muscles.
After toweling off, she slipped into her silk nightgown and crawled under her crisp sateen sheets. A minute after her head hit the pillow, the doorbell rang. “Who could that be this time of night?” Victoria said aloud, looking at the clock on the side of her bed. It was eleven o'clock. She tied her robe tightly around her waist and headed downstairs.
When she looked through the peephole she had to blink twice. She stood back, closed her eyes tight, then peered through the peephole again. But the image didn't change, so she took a deep breath and opened the door. “What are you doing here?”
“Victoria, it's been almost four months. I want . . . I need to talk to you. Can I please come in?” Parker asked.
“No, I can't believe you just decided to pop up on my doorstep like this.”
“Please, if you let me in I'll explain.”
Victoria shivered from the cool air outside and the feeling that came over her when she realized what she was about to doâlet him in.
They stood in the middle of her living room. The air between them was heated. “Why are you here after I told you that I didn't want to ever see you again?”
“Baby . . . ”
“Don't call me that! You lost the right.”
Parker took a step forward. “Victoria, I still love you and I'm sick without you. There will never be enough apologies for what I did. I was so blind, I know that now.”
They looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Victoria's mind flashed with memories of their good times, their laughter, their arguments, their make-ups, and their love. She looked closely at his lips, his eyes, and his hair. His beautiful curly black hair was as she had remembered it the day he'd arrived back in the States from Kenya. But that was before he had betrayed her. “Save it,” she said, waving him away.
“Please, let me finish.” Parker took a deep breath. “I take full responsibility for our break-up. That's why it's my responsibility to get us back together.”
“You just don't get it, do you? It's not gonna happen. In case you didn't know, I'm with someone else now.”
“Baby, you're just with him on the rebound.”
“I said, don't call me that,” Victoria glared. “You know what, you're really starting to piss me off.”
“It's not too late for us, we can make it work,” Parker said, ignoring her comment, still pleading his case.
Victoria looked at him in amazement. “You need help, and I suggest you visit someone in the psych ward at the hospital as soon as you can.”
Parker shook his head. “You still love me. I know it.”
“This is insane,” Victoria said, throwing up her hands.
“Baby, don't deny it. You still love me.”
“You've got to go,” Victoria said in exasperation. Just as she turned to walk toward the door to show him out, Parker reached for her and pulled her into him. Her body trembled from his touch. “Parker, let go of me,” she said, but made no attempt to pull away.
“I know you still love me.” He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her more gently and with more love than she had ever remembered him doing. And slowly, she kissed him back, enjoying the familiar taste of his tongue and his body pressed against hers. They held each other tight as he whispered over and over how much he missed her. She'd missed him too, and her body was letting her know. She couldn't fight it any longer.
Before Victoria knew it, they were upstairs in her bed, removing each other's clothes. Parker hooked a finger on the side of her thong, sliding it down her legs. His fingers gently danced between her thighs, making her wet, preparing her for what he knew she liked.
She began to moan when she felt his rock hard erection gently rubbing against her swollen clit. “Baby, I love you,” Parker told her, looking deep into her eyes. Slowly, he eased deep inside her as she arched into his thrust. She wrapped her legs around his back and moved to his pounding rhythm.
“I'm never letting you go,” he told her in between deep kisses.
She held on to him, grinding her pelvis into his, letting him fill her with his heat. He took his time, reacquainting himself with the bend of her back and the curve of her hips. They moved slow and easy, their bodies slick and electrified. Finally, they both came.
Victoria gasped, trying hard to catch her breath as she quickly sat up in bed. Sweat poured off her body like she'd just run through a rain storm. She looked around the empty room, at the vacant space beside her, and at the damp and slightly tussled sheet wrapped tightly around her knuckles. She realized that none of it had been real. She'd made love to Parker, but only in her dreams. She was terrified and confused about what it meant.
With baby steps, she got up, went to the bathroom, and ran a cold cloth across her face. She returned to the troubling comfort of her bed, trying to convince herself that crazy dreams were normal, that people had nightmares from time to time. But she knew this wasn't a nightmare, it was a fantasy. As she lay there, still and bewildered, she searched her heart and wondered if this was the other shoe that had finally dropped.
Mr. and Mrs. . . .
The wedding directress gave Victoria the cue. “All right
Miss
soon-to-be
Mrs
., it's showtime,” she called out, getting everyone into place. The wedding directress had done such a marvelous job three months ago with Tyler and Juliet's wedding that Victoria decided to hire the woman for her own nuptials. Even though she only had a short time to plan, everything had come together nicely.
As the doors to the sanctuary opened, the sight made Victoria's heart jump. Assembled in the large church were 400 of her and her groom's closest family and friends. The candle in each window provided a light air to the cold December afternoon. Everyone oohed and ahed as John escorted Victoria down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon in D. She was radiant in her satin Vera Wang gown. She wore her hair in a soft upsweep, and accentuated her bridal ensemble with a simple pearl earring-and-necklace set.
Victoria looked out over the audience on her side of the church and saw familiar faces she'd grown up with and many she'd developed friendships with in recent years. She looked to her groom's side and saw a few familiar, but mostly new faces that she was sure she would get to know in the years to come. Her heart swelled as they approached the altar. Denise, Debbie, Juliet, Gigi and her cousin Patsy were beautifully dressed in their chic lavender gowns.
John gave Victoria's hand to her groom, kissed her cheek, then took his seat next to a smiling and teary-eyed Elizabeth.
Tyler and Victoria had argued. “Why can't you be my Man of Honor? I was your Best Person,” she'd told him.
“That kinda thing puts a brothah's manhood on the line,” he'd told her. So they agreed upon a more suitable role for the man who would always be her “main man.” Tyler read a beautiful poem, then took his seat in the reserved pew behind John and Elizabeth.
Victoria and her groom faced each other to say their vows and exchange rings. Looking into his eyes, she saw and felt all the love, all the happiness, and all the joy a woman could ever hope for in a man. She'd prayed for answers and without trying to work it out herself, she sat still and the answers came. No matter how much she fought the feelings of doubt, fear, and uncertainty about their future, she knew that she loved him. She'd loved him from the very beginning. Even through her most recent confusion and misgivings, she loved him, and she had no doubt that he loved her too. He slipped the shiny platinum band onto her finger to accompany the flawless diamond engagement ring he'd given her.
“I do,” she said.
“I do,” he said.
The minister pronounced them husband and wife. The groom drew Victoria into his embrace, and they kissed as if for the first time. They turned to the congregation of cheering family and friends and beamed their love out to them. Victoria took her bouquet from Debbie as she and her new husband prepared themselves to walk back up the aisle, hand in hand as the minister announced, “It is my honor to present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Alexander Thornton.”
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The End