Indelible Love - Emily's Story (45 page)

“I thought we’d take Sarah, Charlie,
Peter and Max.”

I gave Jake an appreciative look and
called Sarah immediately. We had plans to spend Saturday together,
so she was more than happy when I told her about Urasawa. I then
called Max’s apartment and Peter picked up the line.

“Hi, Peter. Are you still sleeping?”
He sounded very groggy.

“Yeah. We got in a couple of hours
ago.”

“Are you on the same schedule as Jake?
He too got in this morning.”

“We may be on the same schedule but
definitely not on the same pay scale. What’s up? You need to talk
to Max?”

“No, I called to see if you and Max
wanted to have dinner with us tonight. We have reservations at
Urasawa at six.”

Peter salivated at the thought of
eating at such a luxurious restaurant, but was unsure that they
could get the night off. Listening to our conversation, Jake got on
the line.

“Peter, I’ll talk to Carter and make
sure that you and Max get a free night. I know he’s been working
you. There’s a chance that he may want you to come in this morning
instead so be ready.”

Jake got off the phone and jumped off
his seat when he realized that he was going to be late. I walked
out with him to say good-bye rather than grossing out Jane and
Nick.

“I’ll see you tonight at six,” Jake
said between kisses.

“You can’t join us any earlier?” I
frowned at another day without Jake. “Are you always going to be
this busy? I might go get a night job too if you’re going to come
home in the wee hours of the morning all the time. It’s lonely
without you.”

“I’m sorry, Emi. It should get better
when the chief hires a new surgeon. Just think, in a couple of
weeks, we’ll be off on our honeymoon and we’ll be together
twenty-four hours a day for fourteen days. And finally, I won’t get
kicked out of my own bed.”

We said another round of good-byes,
and Jake left.

I finished getting ready and Nick,
Jane, and I met Sarah at the department store for a final dress
fitting for the ladies. We then walked a few blocks over and fit
Nick in his groomsman’s tuxedo. When Nick walked out of the
dressing room, all three of us ahh’ed.

“Nick, you look almost as handsome as
your brother,” I gushed.

“Only in your eyes, Sis. I’m
definitely the handsome one in the family,” Nick joked.

After Nick’s fitting, I finished
registering for our wedding gifts. We made a pit stop at the dress
shop so I could show Sarah and Jane the wedding dress. I felt like
a princess again when they opened the curtain to show the
bride.

“Oh, Emily. You look gorgeous! Has
Jake seen you yet?” Jane asked in awe.

“No, he hasn’t. He won’t see me till
the wedding day.”

“He’s going to go berserk when he sees
you in this gown. As it is, he can’t keep his hands and lips off of
you. Yuck! I shudder at the thought.” Jane literally shuddered at
the thought. It was funny.

We had some time to kill so we walked
into random shops and looked around. Without my knowledge, Jane and
Nick had purchased a whole luggage set for us as a wedding gift.
Since Nick was unemployed, Jane most likely paid for most of it. I
was grateful for their generosity and love.

“Thank you both,” I said from the
bottom of my heart. “I couldn’t ask for a better brother and
sister.”

“We love you too, Emily. I’m glad that
my brother found such a cool wife. You’re a great addition to our
family,” Nick uttered while giving me a hug.

Going from an adult orphan to a big
happy family, my less than stellar luck with family finally
reversed itself.

With six o’clock fast approaching, we
put half the suitcases in Jane’s car and the other half in Sarah’s
car. They barely fit, but we got them all stored away before we
walked to dinner.

We walked through the sliding wooden
door into Urasawa and found Jake waiting for us at the sushi bar.
There were only ten seats at the sushi bar and one table of four at
this restaurant. The chef and owner would serve anywhere from
twenty-five to forty courses during this one seating.

My walk hastened to a sprint toward
Jake in this tiny restaurant. We embraced and I sat right next to
him, holding his hand.

“Geez!” Jane and Nick commented on our
affectionate hug. I could feel their eyes rolling without actually
seeing them. Within minutes, Charlie walked in and he and Sarah had
a similar exchange. Peter and Max were the last to walk in. We all
sat, Charlie, Jake, myself, Sarah, Jane, Max, Peter, and Nick. Hiro
started with the appetizer courses, and we all broke into our own
conversations.

Charlie spoke about his movie star
architectural project, but still wouldn’t give us a name. Jake,
being an architecture buff, enjoyed listening to Charlie. Though
the two of us didn’t talk much tonight, any time we weren’t eating,
Jake held my hand or caressed my back to acknowledge my presence.
Sarah and I discussed wedding details. Peter and Nick mainly talked
about med school and college life. Those two were in the same
fraternity so they had lots of mutual friends. Surprisingly, Jane
and Max appeared quite engrossed in whatever conversation they were
having. They didn’t look away from each other unless one of us
spoke to them. Sarah and I looked at each other with raised
eyebrows.

“What’s going on over there?” Sarah
whispered.

“I don’t know.” I had to admit I was
slightly perturbed at his attentiveness toward Jane. Obviously, he
wasn’t that afflicted that I was getting married. What happened to
his love for me—the one who got away?

“They look like they are smitten with
one another, don’t they?” Sarah continued to stare at
them.

“I guess,” I answered
curtly.

Sarah looked at my face and laughed.
She read my annoyance immediately.

“Be nice. You did turn him down and
accept another man’s proposal. Let him move on.”

“I never said he couldn’t move on,” I
answered most defensively. I couldn’t look Sarah in the eye. It was
a strange feeling, Max showing interest in another woman. I knew I
was being childish and unfair since it couldn’t be easy for him to
watch Jake doting on me. All the same, I wasn’t used to him giving
another girl so much attention. My feelings were
unjustified.

Dinner lasted four hours.
After seven
kaiseki
courses and twenty-five sushi courses, our chef graciously
bowed and inquired about my favorite dish of the evening. Among the
thirty-two courses I could pick out my favorite
instantly.

“From the
kaiseki
menu, I loved
the shabu shabu trio of scallop, goose foie gras, and Wagyu beef.
And from the nigiri menu, it’s a tie between the Otoro and seared
Kama toro. I love the way Otoro melted in my mouth, and the meaty,
creamy charredness of the Kama toro stayed on my taste buds for a
long while. I can still taste it.” Even after thirty-two courses my
mouth watered just thinking about our meal. I added one more
comment. “I think I could eat the tamago as a dessert rather than a
nigiri. I’d love to learn how to make this savory sweet sponge
cake.”

Both chuckled at my dinner
nostalgia.

“Dr. Reid, you’re going to have to
perform many surgeries to keep up with your future wife’s palate,”
the chef teased.

“That’s why I work such long hours,”
Jake poked fun at me as well. I pretended to put on a sour
face.

After dessert and tea, Nick and Peter
got up to leave for a frat party.

“Aren’t you a bit old for this,
Peter?” I asked.

“No way. This is how I keep myself
young.”

We waved good-bye and the rest of us
finished dessert. Jake took care of the bill and we confirmed our
wedding menu with the chef as the others went to the garage to
retrieve all of our cars. Charlie hitched a ride with Peter and
Max, so he got into Sarah’s car. The valet brought up Jake’s car
and to only my surprise, he’d brought his two-seater.

“Jake, how am I supposed to go home
with you if you bring a two-seater?” Jane let out a weak complaint.
We all caught a glimpse of their—Max and Jane’s—giddy mugs.
Annoyance clouded my perfect evening.

Our car scenario played out like a bad
TV movie. Jake and I were paired, Charlie and Sarah were together,
and guess who had to ride home with each other? Max and Jane. Sarah
got into her car quickly before busting up with laughter. I gave
Sarah a cross look. Jake quickly got me into his car, and we left
as well. Once we were out of the garage, Jake, too, started
laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” I asked,
irked.

“You sound a bit agitated,” he
answered and started to howl.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, I don’t think that you have to
worry about Max. He obviously isn’t as devastated as you think he
is about losing you. But, I worry about you, as your ego appears
quite deflated.” Jake’s smug face continued to snigger.

I stayed silent the rest of the ride
home.

When we got home, I furtively surveyed
the house for Jane. Jake carried me upstairs and whispered in my
ears, “She’s not home yet. We don’t do bed checks in this
house.”

Perturbed, I got down and walked into
my room with Jake in tow. We got ready for bed and he jumped into
my bed before I got there, but I was too disturbed to be torn about
whether or not to hop into bed with him. I grabbed my pillow and
opted for the guest room.

“Emi!” Jake protested. “Don’t be mad.
I thought this whole night with Max and Jane was comical—weird, but
comical. I don’t know why you are so upset by this situation. Are
you jealous?” Jake’s mocking voice disturbed me even more. “You’re
making me jealous and insecure now.” His roar continued.

I left my, his, our bedroom and walked
up another flight of stairs to the guest bedroom. Right now, I was
more agitated with myself than with the situation. Why was I acting
so foolishly about Max and Jane? It wasn’t as though they were
getting married tomorrow. They hadn’t even started dating. Plus, it
was none of my business that my ex-boyfriend might like my future
sister-in-law. Ugh. I was still annoyed.

Jake’s run up the stairs forced me to
close my eyes and pretend to sleep. The fact that I pulled the
comforter over my head didn’t stop him from picking me up off the
bed, flinging me over his shoulder, and flopping me onto our bed.
He didn’t mock, he didn’t laugh. He did what he does best. His
mouth pounced on mine and rummaged all he wanted. His lips, his
tongue, ran over my body as if it were a map he needed to read. I
shivered in delight, but shuddered at the thought of reigning in my
self-control to stop him. Self-control waned as the wedding date
got closer.

“Jake?” My voice was weak.

“Hmm?” His voice,
suggestive.

“If you are planning on sleeping here
tonight with me, you need to behave,” I spoke,
unconvincingly.

“Can I sleep here?” His face lit
up.

“You can if you promise to
behave. My wall of defense is crumbling by the day.
You
need to help
me
at this point.
OK?”

“OK,” he said casually, knowing that
he had the upper hand now. He stopped his adventure quest on my
body, content just to hold me close. I fell asleep in his arms, but
woke up to find Jake’s lips and hands grazing liberally. I softly
moaned and went back to sleep.

Sunday was glorious for many reasons.
Finally, I had slept soundly with Jake lying right next to me for
the first time since we got back home. My eyes didn’t automatically
open at 4:00 a.m., and I wasn’t cold at any point in the night.
Also, Jake had the entire day off. We didn’t get out of bed till it
was almost lunchtime. We had both slept the morning away. When we
finally awoke, Jake went downstairs to fix us something to eat and
brought it up to our room. We ate, watched TV, checked e-mail and
happily spent a lazy morning in our room.

The front doorbell finally coerced me
out of the bedroom. Sarah and Charlie came by to drop off the
suitcases that were left in her car last night. I invited them
upstairs and we hung out for a while.

“Wow, this house is huge,” was
Charlie’s first comment upon entering.

“Wait till you see Emily and Jake’s
bedroom,” Sarah commented.

We walked into our room and
immediately Charlie and Jake started playing video games on the
giant TV. Sarah and I sat next to the boys.

“Hey, where’s Jane?” I asked.
“Shouldn’t we take her to the airport?

“Jane left already,” Jake answered
with his eyes glued to the game. “Mom said her boss called last
night and wanted her to come in to work today. She left this
morning.”

“How’d she get to the airport? I feel
bad. I would’ve taken her.”

Jake cautiously answered, “Um…maybe
she had a car service pick her up.”

“And maybe they have a driver named
Max,” Charlie added, and all three busted up laughing.