Without A Pail

by Michelle Marra

  But before the ribbon was cut on the five-star cuisine, there were some traditional events to get underway. Jill’s mouth watered at the thought of a gorgeous blonde in a sexy tux spinning her on the dance floor and the thought of a hopeful sexual tryst in the bathroom sent sparks through her body which settled between her legs. The announcement of the couple and the wedding party did not take long since it consisted of Jackie and Jason’s brother Keith.

  The cocktail hour seemed like four to Jill, she knew Jackie was off with the wedding party getting pictures taken and when she watched her jet through the door with Keith on her arm like a rock star it took everything she had not to go running to her. The first dance was beautiful, Joni and Jason dancing slowly, twirling and dipping. Their faces plastered with smiles, the sounds of their laughter heard well above the music playing and the love in their eyes was beautiful.

  Jackie watched from the dance floor as Jill’s focus was set on the couple of the hour. Her face displaying a sweet smile but with a tiny hint of sadness in her eyes and Jackie wondered what Jill was thinking about at that moment. She hoped Jill wasn’t thinking about the time Jackie confessed that she asked Suzanne to marry her and the harsh way she was rejected which subsequently destroyed her confidence in love and definitely in marriage. At that moment she truly believed it had, until she met an infuriating and infectious woman with eyes the color of caramel. Jackie fought it as hard as she could, but Jill was relentless and her defenses were no match for the woman’s charms. That woman in the gorgeous blue strapless, curve affirming dress with the images of peacock feathers in silver swathed elegantly on the left side of the garment. Jackie’s eyes traveled to Jill’s toned legs and the blue stilettoes…God she was beautiful and the need to take the woman in her arms was overwhelming her senses.

  Feeling the weight of Jackie’s stare, Jill’s eyes found those gorgeous blue ones through the dim lighting on the dance floor and suddenly she was reduced to a nervous school girl wanting to look away in shyness but afraid to lose her admirer’s attention. Her heart rate quickened when she saw Jackie take a step toward her and suddenly everything else faded away except the hot blonde in the tux walking her way causing her to swallow nervously. But suddenly the vision was interrupted when Keith, the best man, took Jackie by the arm and led her into a dance alongside the bride and groom. Then couple by couple began to fill the dance floor swaying to the beautiful sultry voice of Anita Baker. She stood there and watched as the tall man spun her girlfriend on the dance floor. The smile on her face was sweet and joyful, Jill knew Jackie was having fun and even though she knew it was stupid she still felt a pang of jealousy. Jill grabbed her purse and walked away from her table which was now void of occupants when Casey and Nicole also joined the others on the dance floor.

  It was an amazing early summer night and it reminded her of the very first one she spent in her Condo two years ago; staring out at the park, just like she was doing now watching the goings on and being enamored with the mystery of love. New York was an amazing city, filled with such diverse culture, with an open attitude of ‘live and let live’ and it was something she longed for and craved and soon adopted into her own lifestyle. Jillian Warner at the age of forty-seven years old found herself when she didn’t even realize she was lost.

  The wedding festivities were in high gear and soon the terrace would be full of guests enjoying their evening with a cigarette, cigar or just to inhale the warm evening air. The table in the far corner she reserved for her and Jackie and the surprise she had worked on for weeks sat on the table top wrapped in a box with blue foil and silver ribbon. She approached the table and smiled to herself slightly shaking her head at the craziness of this idea and had half a mind to forget the whole thing.

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  The voice behind Jill startled her making her visibly jump. “Hey, what are you doing out here?”

  “I’m coming to get my girl…you look amazing by the way.”

  Jill smiled and pursed up her lips, “You, my dear, look fucking incredible…so sexy.”

  Jackie’s signature smile splayed across her face, “You like?” She asked as she stepped back with her arms extended out.

  “Oh yes…very much.”

  Suddenly music began to fill the air around them. It was the song she had requested for their special moment, the surprise Jill had planned, but it was too soon. The surprise was supposed to take place much later in the evening. But when she saw Joni at the door smiling back at her and she knew it was the moment, it was now or never.

  Jackie looked up as if the heavens were playing their song and when she regained her focus she had a puzzled look on her face when Jill handed her a gift.

  “What’s this Babe?”

  “It’s a gift for you of course. Please open it.”

  Jackie took the box with a smile, “I don’t think the maid of honor is supposed to get the gifts.”

  Jackie ripped off the paper like a kid at Christmas, pulled the lid from the box and looked in. Her eyes found Jill’s, “What is it?”

  Jill smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

  Jackie pulled what looked like a silver water pail, only it was quite a smaller scale. She looked inside the pail to see if there was more to the gift than just a bucket and knowing Jill it was probably platinum. She felt a roughness on the finish of the bauble and turned it to see what it was. “It’s engraved.”

  As she began to read the inscription her eyes filled instantly.

  Now you will always have a pail to take up that hill.

  I love you with all my heart, Jill

  With the other box in her hand Jill lowered herself to her knees since her dress was much too tight to kneel on one. She opened the small box and looked up at Jackie just as the words of the Boz Scaggs song filled her ears.

  “In all my life I could have never imagined a love like this. Truth be told, I didn’t believe it existed…something made up for books and movies. But from that very first moment I looked into those beautiful blue eyes, I knew you were the one. It might have taken some convincing on my part, but I finally made a believer out of you too.”

  Jackie spun around when she heard the laughter behind her, amazed that her sister and her new husband were standing there on their day watching this proposal without the least bit of resentment of thunder stealing. Then Casey and Nicole and many others came into view, she turned back to see the tears streaming down Jill’s face.

  “This love…this moment…two hearts and one flame. Saying I love you just doesn’t seem big enough at this moment, but I want you to know that I am so head over heels, crazy in love with you and I want to spend every second…of every minute…of every hour…of every day…and the rest of my life with you. So Jacqueline Erin Evans…will you marry me?”

  Jackie pushed the tears from her eyes as she stared down into the face of the woman of her dreams. This chestnut haired, caramel color eyed woman that got under her skin and invaded her heart was the one. “Jill, I’ve always loved you…before time existed, I loved you.” Then she looked at the ring, the diamonds glistening in the remnants of what was left of the sun and Jill’s face glowing with love.

  “Yes…yes, I will marry you.”

  Jackie pulled Jill into her arms as the crowd behind them whistled, clapped, and shouted. Their eyes connected and chills shot up Jackie’s spine. From the very first time she looked into Jill’s eyes two years ago in Central Park tangled in dog leashes and covered in dirt she saw it and at this moment she still sees it…like a mirror into this woman’s heart, her soul; the image of love staring back at her, so pure and so amazing.

  Jill couldn’t fight the tears any longer and they slid down her cheeks taking most of the mascara along for the ride. Those blue eyes, she almost couldn’t take one more second of the intensity when she felt the touch of Jackie’s fingers on her skin wiping the black smudges before their lips connected. Jill’s eyes closed and a whirlwind took her from reality for a moment as she suddenl
y could only hear the haunting lyrics of that song and memories of Jackie. Flashes of each smile, each kiss, every longing gaze, the infectious sound of her laugh and the passion in those blue eyes staring into hers as the night would swallow them into ecstasy.

  When the kiss broke, she smiled at the crowd behind her. “Well then, let’s finish this proposal so the newlyweds can enjoy the rest of their evening.” Jill pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto the finger of Jackie’s outstretched hand.

  Jackie eyed the ring with a smile before she turned to Joni and proudly stretched her hand out for her sister to get a look, “Well Sis, looks like we’ll be planning another wedding.”

  Joni pulled her sister into an embrace, “I’m so happy for you Jack. Now let’s get back to my day.”

  Jackie laughed as she pulled out of the embrace, “Yes, let’s get back to your day.”

  Jackie and Jill continued to receive congratulatory hugs and sentiments for the next several minutes until the crowd thinned leaving them standing there under the terrace lights and the stars of the New York sky, with a gentle warm breeze filled with the sweet scents of an early summer evening.

  Jackie giggled when she looked at her silver bucket and read the inscription again. “Well my dear, I guess you thought this would be a good icebreaker?”

  “Not an ice breaker per se, more like a safety net…for you.”

  “Safety net?”

  “Yes…now you will always be prepared for whatever hill comes your way.”

  “Hmmm, guess I’m a broken record huh?”

  “Maybe just cautious.”

  “I’m so sorry for being stupid enough to let any fear get in the way of this,” Jackie said as she pulled the brunette toward her. “I love you Jill and I’m so lucky to have you…that you would want to marry me.”

  Jill smiled, “Oh Darling, I’m the lucky one. You are so out of my league, I can’t believe I’m the one you love. There was no way I wasn’t locking this down.”

  “Locking it down, huh?”

  “Oh yes…you are mine and I want to show the world.”

  Jill pressed her lips to Jackie’s smiling face, “I can’t wait to get you out of that sexy tux.”

  “Well my dear, that will definitely be arranged, but first I think we should get back in there.”

  A sly smile washed across Jill’s face, “I can wait…but I better go fix my makeup before the wedding photographer snaps pictures of me. You coming?”

  “Right behind you.”

  Jackie watched Jill walk back into the ballroom. Her eyes fell upon the gorgeous and ridiculously large diamond ring. “Turnabout is fair play,” she mumbled thinking of how she was going to make her own declaration of love with a ring for the woman that she loved. She turned back to the dimming scenery over the rail of the terrace and stared over the trees toward the city she loved so much as the buildings lit up draping the evening into a mystical wonderland. As she took a deep breath she blew it out into a contented sigh and she smiled at the memory of the first time she laid eyes on that ‘homeless person in Prada’ who berated her and captured her heart at the same time.

  Chapter 36

  With a microphone in her hand and three martinis under her belt, Jackie’s swagger was a bit more prominent and her smile a bit brighter.

  “I was instructed that my speech should be clean of…how did you put it Joni? Um, oh yeah, that’s right…clean of any novelties, filth or profanity.” Jackie broke out in laughter when she received the look of death from her sister. “I had a few zingers ready for the happy couple like ‘what were you waiting for…the senior citizen discount’…”

  Jackie paused when the crowded laughed and clapped, “I’m sorry Joni, I had to get that one out, it was just too good. That’s the only one, I swear.” Jackie winked at her sister who was shaking her head with a smile on her face.

  “Anyway, I want to thank my sister Joni for everything. She left her career, her dreams and aspirations behind to raise a very bratty and hard-headed seven-year-old. And believe me, I was no picnic and never made it easy for her. But Joni never gave up on me, she worked countless hours as a gypsy fortune teller, crafting her potions, spinning her glass and weaving her tapestries all to give me a life and put me through school. And yes, I had to go to Harvard. She was there every second of my life after our parents were killed, I never went without one meal…no matter how busy she was at work, the dinner hour was spent with me.” Jackie paused for a moment as she looked over at her sister pushing an errant tear from her cheek. “Yes, I went to Catholic school, so that did cut down on clothing cost for the most part which I was pretty happy about since she made all my clothes. I was the only fifteen-year-old in patchwork jeans and a halter top in the summer.” The crowd laughed again while Jackie sipped from her fourth martini.

  “As I thought about my younger years and all the bumps and scrapes Joni bandaged, the soup and juice she made when I was sick, the trips to Manhattan Central for stitches and that broken wrist…and of course, all the lectures; I don’t think I ever told her ‘thank you.’ So, Joni…” Jackie walked closer to her sister now seated at the sweetheart table, “I just want to say thank you for everything. You have been my support, my security, my comfort…you have been my punching bag, my sounding board, and a shoulder to cry on…you have been an amazing sister, my best friend, and the only mother I’ve really ever known. I love you.”

  Joni’s face full of a smile and tears stood from the table and pulled her now sobbing baby sister into her arms. “I love you, momma,” Jackie said as Joni held her tight and patted her back like always when she needed reassurance.

  Joni stepped back and pushed the tears from her sister’s face, “You are going to be okay. You have it in here…” She tapped Jackie’s chest, “and you always have. I’m glad you’re trusting it now. I love you too.”

  “Me too,” Jackie mouthed as she kissed her sister’s cheek. “Okay, Jason. I’ve gotten to know you really well these past couple years and I see what an amazing guy you are and how happy you make my sister. Plus you are really handsome which I’m sure she appreciates,” Jackie winked at him, “Welcome to the family.”

  Jason stood up and hugged his sister-in-law. “Well, now we should get back to the festivities.”

  Several minutes later the wedding planner had Joni up ready to toss her bouquet behind her while the female guests stood huddled waiting to plow anyone down if the lump of flowers came anywhere near them. Jackie wanted no part of the pack of women with the crazed look in their eyes, she just hoped that her beautiful fiancée would not be trampled. But when the bouquet was tossed, Jill was like a basketball player as she jumped into the air coming down with flowers, tucking them into her body as she hit the floor curling herself into a ball as several women pulled at her. But she stayed strong and held onto the flowers, as she stood up and brushed herself off nonchalantly she raised the bouquet in the air to celebrate her victory.

  Jackie’s smile soon waned when she saw the smiles on the faces of the men now lining up for a chance at the garter and pushing it up the leg of her girl. “Oh hell no.” She yelled out as she gulped down the rest of her martini gave a thumbs up to Casey and Nicole and ran into the crowd of guys determined to snag the garter from the grasp of their pervy hands. But the height of these men would definitely prove to be a difficult hurdle, so Jackie stood on one of the chairs and when Jason launched the garter into the air she jumped from the chair into the air as high and as fast as she could shoving one guy out of the way as she plucked it from the air toppling onto Keith, the best man. With a thud and a grunt, Jackie stared into the dark smiling eyes of Jason’s brother. “Not tonight big man, no one touches my girl’s leg but me.” Then she sprang to her feet with a guffaw and the band of lace in her hand extended above her head. Smiling at Jill, she took a bow for the crowd as they cheered.

  Not five minutes later, Jill was seated in a chair dead center of the room awaiting Jackie and the tradition of slipping the band
up the leg of the girl who caught the bouquet. The crowd gathered making Jill feel a bit self-conscience, she craned her neck trying to find that blonde in the crowd and not seeing Jackie anywhere was making her nervous. Then the DJ began to play a song she remembered from Junior High which stirred her curiosity of all things carnal. A sexy beat with provocative lyrics awakening her mind and body to a new dimension of feeling and when the crowd parted and she watched Jackie strut toward her to the beat of the music she about came in her chair.

  Jackie pulled every sexy move she had out of the hat to the sultry beat of A Little More Love by Olivia Newton-John; swaying her hips, provocatively sliding her hands over her body and shaking her ass in front of Jill. It had been a while since she had danced, especially to entice and was glad the alcohol in her blood was helping her not only be uninhibited, but help with the dance moves. She smiled when she saw Jill’s mouth drop open, so she played it up even more; singing the lyrics aloud and pulling her hand between her legs every time Olivia sang the line ‘will a little more love bring a happy ending’ and by the time she crouched down to pick up Jill’s leg for the sliding of the garter, her own special place was thrumming.

  As she pulled Jill’s right foot out of her stiletto, their eyes locked. She could see the desire, the want and the need all over Jill’s face. Pursing her lips up and giving that all-knowing cocky grin, Jackie kissed the top of Jill’s foot and proceeded to lay slow kisses up her shin, lifting her eyes just enough to watch Jill’s face contort to one she had seen so many times and she wished at that moment she could push her head under Jill’s dress and make her scream. But remembering where they were and what they were doing, she began to slide the garter up Jill’s leg slowly, gently gliding her fingertips along the flesh of Jill’s leg as their eyes were locked in a gaze. Then the shouts started coming from the crowd, ‘get a room’ seemed to be the staple. And as Jackie pushed past Jill’s knee and up her thigh she had no intentions of stopping until the resistance of Jill’s panties and the delights it held. But Jackie’s brow furrowed when Jill pinched her legs together and waggled her finger as she shook her head making the crowd laugh.