The Stipulation (Volume Six)

by M. L. Young

  “This is amazing,” I said as I clutched his arm tighter.

  “It is, isn’t it?” he replied.

  I walked over to the edge, gripping his arm as if I were afraid the breeze would blow me away, before looking over the Tower, a metal screen of sorts blocking me from falling off the edge.

  Everything seemed so calm and serene up here, as if we were in a different city than busy and hustling Paris. I could see everything happening down below, but it almost didn’t seem real, as if we were watching a screen. I slowly let go of Roman’s arm as I got more comfortable, and turned around to look at the observation deck itself. It was rather expansive, and you could get a 360-degree view of the city.

  “You know, I heard from a friend that you could see our hotel from here if you walk over there and look for it. It has a golden roof that twinkles at night,” Roman said as he pointed over in the other direction.

  I, out of all curiosity, walked over to the side and looked vigilantly for the golden roof, only to not see anything at all. Maybe I just wasn’t that attentive and detail oriented, but I couldn’t see a golden roof anywhere. They were all white or black, and a gold roof would certainly stick out in this sea of monotony.

  “I don’t see it,” I said as I continued to look.

  Roman didn’t reply, and I looked to my sides to see that he wasn’t even next to me like I had thought.

  “Roman, I don—” I said as I turned around to see him.

  He was looking up at me, down on one knee, as he held open a red box with a twinkling and shining diamond ring inside. It was huge, and it was beautiful. I couldn’t get another word in as tears began to form in my eyes. Was this really happening? Was Roman actually proposing to me?

  “Natalie, I’ve known since the first day that we met that we would be together forever. Things haven’t always worked out, and I even had cold feet at one time, but I love you with all of my heart and soul. We’ve been together for a while now, and I know that I want to marry you. I don’t want to be with anybody else, and all I need is you. What I’m trying to say is, Natalie…will you marry me?” Roman asked as his hands shook.

  I stared at him kneeling there, his breath heavy and sweat forming on his brow, before I could finally utter my answer and get any sound to come out of my throat.

  “Yes.”

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  Volume Seven, the final volume, out now! Excerpt Below!

  The Stipulation Volume Seven – The Final Volume

  Chapter One

  Getting married is often an exciting yet stressful moment, with the brunt of what you felt only describable to the people who have gone through it. Being engaged to Roman was incredibly exciting and exhilarating, but the thought of having this wedding…the wedding we had been planning for so long…scared the living daylights out of me.

  It had been months since Roman proposed that memorable night in Paris, and when the excitement and thrill wore off, we realized that we had a mountain of a task to pull off in the form of throwing a wedding. It was now December, and the wedding was set to happen in two days. We originally wanted a spring wedding, but my parents had such a crazy schedule with their missions trips that this was the only time we could get them here, and having them here was more than important to me. I’d rather have the wedding a little earlier than planned than to have it during the scorching summer.

  Roman’s money and prestige allowed things to happen much quicker than they usually would, and he had hired two wedding planners, Tyrone and Rachel, who were coordinating everything, leaving us to only make the final decisions. They knew what we liked and disliked, and they were a godsend, considering I was still in school. I was finishing off school instead of dropping out, which I could do, because I wanted it for myself. Roman told me he’d support me either way, and after a long period of thought and soul searching, I decided that finishing my degree, even though I’d likely never use it, was best for me.

  “Your parents are being dropped off at the hotel in an hour. I arranged for a car for them, and their room, which I have checked on, is ready. When do you want to leave?” Roman asked.

  Roman and I decided to keep our wedding in the Chicago area, where we met, because of the sentimental value and meaning it had to us. We could’ve gone to some private island somewhere in the Caribbean, but something about our normal town spoke to us in a way that these other places couldn’t.

  “We’ll leave soon. Are our rooms ready, too, or are we staying here?” I asked.

  “Our rooms are, although tonight and tomorrow we aren’t staying together. I booked us separate rooms, and you’re staying in a suite with your friends,” Roman said.

  “Why aren’t we staying together?” I asked in confusion.

  “You know that the bride and groom can’t have contact right before the wedding. We need to be separated so that our wedding night is that much more special. Besides, I don’t even want to see you in your wedding dress before the moment when you’re walking down that aisle,” Roman said with a smile as he came up and wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “I know, I know. I guess I’ll just miss you is all. We spend so much time together, especially with the wedding coming up, that I’ve just gotten used to being around you,” I replied as I wrapped my arms behind his neck.

  “Pretty soon you’ll be moving in with me and we will be together all of the time, even if you get sick of me,” he replied with a smile.

  “I don’t think I ever have or ever will get sick of that face,” I said as I pushed his cheeks together and kissed his big red lips.

  ***

  Roman and I, with our bags in tow, got to the hotel, which wasn’t really in our town but on the outskirts of the next one, a ritzier town, and checked in. The hotel was very opulent, and was the one that some big golf tournament goes to every year. It’s one of those big televised events, but I don’t know the name of it. They also held some huge professional poker tournament, so you could say that this hotel does have some nice clientele and finishes.

  Roman checked us in as I stood there and looked around at all of the gold trim and frescos on the wall. I felt as if I was standing in an old Italian museum, and that if I touched anything it would mean potentially breaking some priceless piece of pre-Renaissance art that is worth millions.

  After about ten minutes, Roman came over with the key cards, which were gold with white lettering,

  “You’re in room 1472, and I’m in room 1401,” he said as he gave me a copy of the receipt, as if I even needed it.

  “We’re that far away from each other? Are you sure you don’t want to sneak down to my room some night?” I asked as I slowly ran my fingers up his shirt.

  “Be good. Your parents could be right around the corner you know,” he said as he pushed my hand away and tried to act innocent.

  We picked up our bags and walked to the elevators, which could’ve fit fifteen people easily, and went up to my room instead of his. Roman had spared no expense on this suite, and I knew it would easily fit a few friends and me very comfortably. Jillian was my maid of honor, and both she and Tara were going to be staying in my room with me for the two nights before the actual ceremony. Roman and I had the honeymoon suite booked for our wedding night, and after that, he was taking me to some exotic location in which he wouldn’t actually tell me about. He said it was a surprise, but to pack for sand and surf, meaning we were going somewhere with a beach.

  ***

  After twenty minutes in the room, there was a knock at the door, and I could hear the people outside arguing with each other about some mundane thing. The two people were my parents, and I opened the door to greet both them and Jillian and Tara, who must’ve found them in the hallways or something after checking in.

  “There’s my baby girl!” my father said as he almost pushed my mother out of the way to come and hug me.

  “You’re such a putz! Give me my daughter,” my mother said as she pushed him aside be
fore hugging and kissing me.

  “You guys are terrible,” I said as she let go and I gave Jillian and Tara hugs, who were bringing in their hordes of suitcases.

  “You girls sure did bring a lot,” Roman said.

  “We’re women, what do you expect?” Tara replied.

  “So tell me, have you seen where the wedding is going to take place? Or the reception? Or the dress?” my mother asked frantically.

  “No, Mom, I haven’t seen any of it. We’re going to the reception hall later, and my dress is set to be here within the hour so I can try it on to make sure it fits,” I said.

  “You don’t know if the dress fits?” my father asked.

  “It fits, but they just want to be absolutely positive,” I replied with my hand out, as if signaling that I’ve got this.

  Jillian and Tara took their bags into their rooms, which were huge and caused them to gasp and giggle as if they were little schoolgirls. Everybody was happy, healthy, and excited for this most momentous of occasions. I think our wedding was going to go off without a hitch.

  ***

  Two hours later, while I was sitting and gabbing in my room with Tara, Jillian, my mother, and my Aunt Carol, there was a knock at the door, which meant only one thing: my dress was here. I hadn’t seen my dress for three months when I got fitted for it, and I must say, as embarrassing as it was, I’d kind of forgotten what it even looked like.

  I opened the door and saw three women standing there smiling as the bag, which held my dress, hung from the hotel luggage trolley.

  “Hello, Mrs. Parker. We’re here for the fitting!” one woman, Deandre, said.

  Mrs. Parker. The woman called me Mrs. Parker. That was the first time anybody had called me that, other than Roman when we played around with each other, and it made all of what was happening sink in. In just two short days I was going to become Mrs. Parker, and my life would finally be complete. I’d come so far from working in that awful store, to almost losing my scholarships and grants, and now to finally marrying a gorgeous billionaire who wanted to give me an amazing life.

  “Hello, please come in,” I said as I shook their hands.

  Everyone in the room was beyond excited as they shook the hands of the seamstresses, and sat back down to get ready to see the dress, which sat hidden and obscured behind a vinyl bag.

  “Well, we can get started right away. The best way to do this is for one of us to help you in the dress in your room, and to bring you out in it for full effect,” Deandre said.

  “Aw, we can’t see it first?” Jillian asked.

  “Nope, you have to wait,” I said with a smile, as if teasing her.

  “Well then hurry up!” my mother shouted out.

  Deandre led me into my bedroom, shut the door behind us, and began to unzip the giant bag. As the sound of the zipper echoed throughout my empty and waiting mind, I stood there…patiently I might add, as the zipper hit the bottom of the bag, and my dress flowed outward, as if it were water letting out of a balloon. I stared at it, my eyes wide, as I had forgotten how beautiful and elegant it truly was. Maybe it was just the fact the wedding was almost here, or I was just flustered with emotions anyway, but it took my breath away, and made me believe I was going to be a princess on this day.

  “What do you think? We worked very hard on the beading and small little touches to really tie it all together,” Deandre said.

  “I think it’s gorgeous!” I said as I wiped away a rogue tear that had come out.

  “Well then let’s get you into it so you can show your family and friends just how beautiful it really is. I’m sure they’re impatiently waiting,” she said with a smile as she took off the bag and tossed it on the bed.

  I was helped into my dress, which fit like a glove. I had room to breathe and move, but the dress couldn’t fall down and it accentuated my curves and figure, giving me that sought-after hourglass physique.

  Deandre walked over, opened the door, and I hiked up the front of my dress so I wouldn’t trip over it and look like an idiot the first time I showed off my dress. Roman hadn’t even seen it yet, and other than the seamstresses and myself, it was a complete mystery.

  As I walked out, I saw the eyes of all of the women in the room, especially my mother’s, tear up and turn red as they smiled and gasped in shock. Normally I hate being the center of attention, but there was something about everybody being in shock and awe that made me actually like it for once.

  “You look so beautiful,” my mother said.

  “I can’t believe how well that dress fits you,” Tara said.

  “Roman is one lucky guy,” Jillian chimed in.

  I turned and looked at myself in the mirror as tears began to run down my face just like they had on the faces of all of my guests. I looked absolutely beautiful, and my breath was taken away just like theirs. I thought I looked like an absolute princess, and now that I was wearing the final dress, especially after alterations, the thought of the wedding and what it signified hit me like a brick wall. In just two days, I would be wearing this dress down a long and expansive aisle—all to get to the man I loved more than anything in this world.

  I touched the dress, feeling every bead and crystal, before turning around and smiling at all of my waiting and eager guests.

  “It looks like it’s almost time for the wedding of the century,” my mother said.

  I smiled, nervously, as I was unsure if it were truly time to sign my heart away. Seeing myself like this, and the faces of everyone here, made me realize that I was scared, and that scared me to no end. Was I really ready to commit myself for all of eternity? I loved Roman with all of my heart, but I was beginning to get cold feet, and I was praying they could be warmed up before the wedding.

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