More Than Enough

by Johnson, Ashley

  “Sounds good.”

  Once I finished the last arrangement, I placed them back in the bag she brought with her. “Please tell Oreo to stay away from these so I don’t have to do them again. Tying these are a bitch.”

  She laughed and stood up, pushing the chair in behind her. “I will make sure she knows.” She leaned in and then whispered, “Your dress came in and is at my house. I’ll hold it there until the wedding. Now I’m leaving, talk to Luke and tell him.”

  I groaned and hung my head in defeat. “Fine. Wait Hales, another reason I’m in your wedding again, well I’m going to need your help planning my wedding because Luke asked me last night!”

  “Shut the front door!” She screamed. Luke turned his head and when he realized what she was screaming about he simply flashed a grin and then went back to what he was doing. “This is going to be so much damn fun! Gah, can you imagine! Both of us getting married and oh my gosh what if we’re pregnant together?!”

  Ok she was seriously cracking me up with all this. I suddenly forgot I was ever mad at her and was more excited about sharing this news with my best friend. My conscious was grinning a rather evil grin as I thought about how much fun I was going to have torturing her with flowers. Payback could be quite a bitch.

  “Call me later ok, we have so much to discuss and plan! Thank you for helping me redo those. BYE LUKE CONGRATULATIONS!!” She hollered into the living room.

  Without turning his head he yelled bye back and she left.

  I stood there in the kitchen trying to decide the best way to tell him that I was going to have to walk with my ex fiancée in this wedding. He could react one of two ways. He would either be ok with it or he would be highly pissed. I crossed my fingers hoping for the first reaction. Luke and I have never been in a fight. We rarely argue about anything except who is doing the dishes or who will fold the clothes. I can’t imagine him mad at me for anything.

  I snuck into the bathroom and turned the shower on. I let the warm water run over me as I continued to think about how to tell Luke. The smell of shampoo and soap lingered in the air already from him and I just added to it. Once I felt clean enough, I dried off and ran to the room to get some clothes on.

  Luke was still watching the same movie. Something else just blew up as I walked into the living room. I pulled my still wet hair back into a ponytail and made my way into the living room. He was laid out on the couch and smiled as soon as he saw me walk up. This was seeming to get harder and harder. Smiling, I lay down beside him and rested my head on his chest. My eyes closed and I imagined happy moments with him. Moments that could be clung to in case everything went south. Moments that were bound to help me keep my sanity if all else failed. Please don’t let it fail.

  I lifted my head to find him watching me with an amused look on his face. He was so incredibly sexy; please don’t let him hate me after I talk to him.

  “Hey I need to tell you something Halley informed me about.” I felt my body tense as I prepared to let the cat out of the bag.

  “What’s that babe? You have to wear hideous shoes too?” Good, he was joking. At least he was in a good mood.

  I laughed as I replied, “Not that I know of yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all.” Since we got our jokes out of the way, it was time to get serious again. “No, she uh told me that Marcus put Trevor in the wedding and he and I have to walk together.”

  Luke was silent for a few seconds then looked me in my eyes and then kissed my cheek. “I’m not worried about him baby. I know you may feel uncomfortable with the situation but I trust you fully and I know it’s just for a few seconds. Once the wedding is over, he’ll be back out of our lives.”

  “So you aren’t upset?” I searched his eyes for any sort of pain or anguish he may be hiding but all I saw was the same simple Luke that I was so desperately in love with, the Luke I was going to marry. Thank you God.

  “Nothing to be upset about Mace, that is Marcus’ friend. We will just deal with it.”

  I let out a huge sigh and grinned. “Good, I was nervous you would be upset over nothing. Oh she also told me her bachelorette party is in two weeks and we and the guys won’t be in the same place at the same time so that’s good to know.”

  “Sounds good to me. I know you’ll be happy when all of this is over.”

  “You have no idea.” Really. He had no idea. Two more weeks and all of this mess would be behind me. I just had to survive until then.

  We lay there while the movie still played. My mind wasn’t on the movie; it was on the next two weeks. I could do it. I know I could. With everything I’ve been through, I could surely survive the next two weeks and walk in my best friends wedding with my ex fiancée.

  “I really like your parents Luke. They seem great.” I smiled letting the conversation take a turn to something more positive. I’ve never been more relieved in my life to hear his reaction to what I deemed to be an issue.

  “They are. I’m glad you like them. I was worried it would scare you off. They aren’t always at the restaurant.”

  I laced our fingers together and smiled at him. “No worries. It takes a lot to scare me Luke, they were far from scary. I know this sounds corny but I was so glad they accepted me.”

  “Baby,” he looked deep into my eyes, “I love you and they see that. They know we are good together. They don’t have to know you forever to see that. My mom is happy that I’m happy, she told me she really likes you and well you saw her face when I told her we were going to get married.”

  “I overheard her tell you not to let me go. What if I run before the wedding?” I joked with him knowing good and well that I wasn’t going anywhere he wasn’t. My life was nothing without him. I could never live without him by my side. Plus, I wasn’t too big on running. I used to be but I really hadn’t had the urge in a long time.

  “Then I’ll chase you. I won’t lose. Ever. I run fast too so you won’t get far.” He winked and I leaned in to kiss him. Knowing he wouldn’t let me go was one of the best feelings I’ve had. That was another thing to add to the reasons why I loved this man so much.

  He ran his hands up my back as we kissed and I let out a soft moan. Such a simple kiss but I wanted to cling to it and then put it in a box for later. I pulled my lips away and laid my head back down on his chest. He ran his fingers through my damp hair and within minutes I was fast asleep.

  I could hear the wedding march beginning. I was full of nerves. I don’t see why. I’ve been waiting for this day forever, or at least it seems that way. Randy and Sherry are seated up front. I’m so glad they are going to be my in-laws. From the moment I met them, I just knew this would all be perfect. I fixed my veil and held onto my flowers in my hand. Uncle Gary met me and stood by my side, linking my arm in his. I can’t believe my wedding was actually here. I was glad I decided against the courthouse. My bouquet consisted of blue and pink daisies and my dress was an ivory gown with some beading and lace. It had the sweetheart top; I saved all my money from working at The Lounge on it. Halley had done my hair in some up-do she had seen in some magazine. I had enough bobby pins to build a bridge to France in my head. Anyone want to go see the Eiffel Tower after this?

  I drew in a deep breath as the church doors opened and Gary whispered in my ear, “I am so proud of you baby girl.”

  I held my tears back determined not to let my mascara run. Everyone in the church stood as we made our way down the aisle. I was more anxious to see Luke standing at the altar. Once the vows were said, I would be Mrs. Lucas Nolan. I could see Randy and Sherry and when they made eye contact with me, I smiled at them. They weren’t smiling back though. Matter of fact, Sherry looked as though she had been crying, and not a happy cry. What’s going on? I looked over towards the altar to see why she was crying.

  Luke wasn’t up there. In fact, I couldn’t find him at all. My heart began to beat faster and I dropped my bouquet to clench my chest. Why was Trevor standing at the altar as if we were going to be married?

&nbs
p; Gary pushed me towards the altar and insisted this was how it was supposed to be. Tears began streaming down my face as I tried to decipher what was going on. I tried to turn away and run, but no one would let me. Where was Luke?

  I jumped up in a panic and Luke wasn’t on the couch anywhere to be found. I clenched my chest, just as I had done in the dream I just had. Where was he? Did he decide he couldn’t handle Trevor being at the wedding? Why didn’t he wake me up to talk about it? Wait that couldn’t be it, why would he leave me here in his apartment? I sat up noticing I was soaking wet from sweating. Great. I got up and went to shower again.

  Once I was done, I felt much better but I still didn’t know where Luke was. I dug my phone out of my purse and turned it on waiting to be able to try to call him. I grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and noticed a note on the counter.

  It read, “Macy, I ran to do a tattoo. You looked so peaceful and beautiful sleeping, I didn’t want to wake you. Be back soon. I love you.”

  All the panic inside me vanished. I don’t know why I even thought he would just up and leave, especially since this is his house. I downed half the bottle of water and then sat on the recliner. Nothing was on TV, that’s about right. I turned it off and sat there trying to figure out what my dream meant. Part of me really wanted to back out of the wedding more than ever now. Trevor shouldn’t have been in that wedding. Gary was wrong. That is not how things are supposed to be. Gary of all people knew how torn I was after everything had happened. That’s another sign that it was only just a dream.

  I thought about calling Halley but I decided this needed to be kept to myself. She may think I’ve officially gone off the deep end and lost my mind if I told her about the dream. My thoughts were interrupted when the doorknob turned and Luke came walking in with bags of Chinese food. Yum! I smiled and got up to go meet him.

  “You got my note babe?”

  “Yeah, thanks. I woke up in kind of a panic though. I had a crazy dream.”

  He looked at me with concern in his eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I don’t really remember it.” I lied. I couldn’t exactly say, well I had a dream we were supposed to be getting married but then my ex fiancée was standing at the altar instead of you. “Thanks for picking up dinner, it smells amazing.”

  “I got two of just about everything that looked good. Plus, I know what you like so I made sure to get extras of those.”

  I kissed him then began digging through the cartons. I could live off of lo mein and general chicken. I wasn’t too keen on trying some of that other stuff. I just liked to stick to the basics. Luke tried to be all suave and eat with the chopsticks. He was failing miserably. I don’t know how I managed to eat and not choke because I was laughing so hard.

  I put one of the noodles in my mouth and motioned him over with my finger. He bit into the other side and I tried to make us look like the lady and the tramp. It almost worked. Almost.

  I took a sip of water and finished my dinner. He eventually grabbed an actual fork and didn’t look so silly anymore.

  I watched him as he ate. He was beginning to get a little stubble on his face, I got up and walked behind him and began slowly rubbing my hand against it. It was incredibly sexy. I kissed his shoulder and playfully nibbled on his ear. He began lightly chuckling and I ended up in his lap straddling him leaning into his chest.

  The dream had to leave my thoughts and this was the only way I knew to help me. I stopped kissing him and looked into his eyes. “You make me so happy you know that?”

  “Really now?” He grinned.

  “Yes, thank you for making my dreams come true.”

  He let out a small laugh and then kissed my forehead. “You’re perfect Mace. I know you’re mine and I’m yours. I swear I can’t wait to make you Mrs. Nolan. Hands down, it’s going to be the best day of my life.”

  Butterflies began swarming again in my stomach. All I could do was wear the ridiculously big grin on my face. I leaned into him to kiss him rather forcefully. A little too forceful, the chair went crashing backwards with us in it. Luke laughed as he grabbed the back of his head. I threw my hand over my mouth in shock. I can’t believe that just happened. Both of us were laughing, but neither bothered to try to move. Those green eyes were mesmerizing me like always. My hair was falling towards his face and he lay there letting it rest around his frame. I leaned down and kissed him. He began kissing me back, running his hands through my hair and then down my back. Holy moly this was hot. I fumbled with the hem of his shirt trying to raise it up and I was almost there until he let out a painful groan.

  “What’s wrong baby?”

  “The back of the chair is digging into my back.”

  I jumped off him and helped him up. “Ohmigod I’m so sorry!” I began laughing. He picked the brown kitchen chair up off the floor and slid it back under the table. He looked at me with hunger in his eyes and mine met him with the same look.

  We stood there testing one another with our looks. After a minute of our sexy stare down I let out a fake yawn. “I’m so tired; I’m going to lie down. Don’t turn the TV too loud you hear?”

  I grinned and turned to walk towards the room and before I could take my second step. Luke ran up behind me scooping me up in his arms. He was so fast I barely had time to take a breath. He went in the room, shut the door, tossed me on the bed then jumped on top of me.

  Chapter 7

  The past two weeks were more than I ever imagined they would be. I went by Halley and Marcus’ a few days ago to try my dress on one more time and then we had to go shoe shopping. The dress was pink like the flowers. It was a halter dress and it hugged all my curves just the way it should. Halley suggested silver shoes so we had to go to about five different stores before we found the perfect pair. Most of the ones I liked, she hated and vice versa. It was a shopping disaster. Oh she has no idea the hell I plan to put her through when I begin to plan my wedding.

  Luke had been busy at work which was a good thing. In a way I hated it because I had gotten used to him being home when I was. He made up for it though, trust me. He always came home with either candy or flowers, red roses to be exact. Most times, he carried me straight to the bedroom which honestly I didn’t mind one bit. Ahhh. He made me a bigger hot mess than I already was.

  Halley’s bachelorette party was tomorrow night. I was pretty excited. We haven’t been out together by ourselves in I don’t know how long. After the break up with Trevor, I didn’t do much of anything but sit and home and cry or drink. She really did try to be there for me but she could only do so much until she just let me be. She did a lot with Marcus so we just never could find that alone time.

  I won’t lie, I am extremely nervous about the wedding but that’s why there is liquor before and after. I can drown myself into oblivion and still be able to walk down the aisle like a pro. My nerves will be calm and at the end of the night I will be with Luke, where I am supposed to be.

  Luke was at work so and the house needed cleaning. This is not how I want to spend my day, but it needs to be done. I don’t remember the last time I dusted or even swept, is that bad? I let out a small groan and decided it was time to get to work. I plugged the iPod into the dock and turned the volume up. The feather duster was in my hand and I swiftly began dusting in the living room and wiping everything down with Pledge. After vacuuming and spraying the furniture with Febreeze, I smiled at the progress made and walked into the kitchen.

  After taking a deep breath and seeing the mess we left in here from taco night, I got to work. I scrubbed for what seemed like forever to get the counters clean. I think that was taco sauce, but I wasn’t too sure. I scrubbed that one a little more until it disappeared. It took a whole two minutes to load the dishwasher and I was silently thankful that I didn’t have to unload it. Luke must have already done that because he knows how much I hate it. As a matter of fact, I’ll just rewash them over and over again until he does unload the di
shwasher.

  The music faded out and my text tone started going off. I groaned and walked over to my phone wondering who it could possibly be. As soon as Luke’s name appeared, I smiled. The text read, “Should be home soon. I love you :)”

  “:) love you too!”

  I went back to scrubbing the counters until I felt like I could see my reflection in the granite. My brain felt like it were swimming in the Clorox wipes. Immediately after, the dishes that couldn’t fit into the dishwasher were tackled. It’s amazing how I can keep water off the floor when Luke isn’t there to play water fight with me. It also didn’t take as long to do them by myself.

  The tile floor in the kitchen didn’t seem too dirty but I planned on sweeping anyway since it had been a while. As I grabbed the broom, ‘Mickey’ by Toni Basil came on and the broom suddenly wasn’t for sweeping anymore. It became my microphone and I danced in the kitchen like a ballerina on crack. By the time the song ended, I realized I had never started sweeping. I let out a breath and began to start sweeping in the corner by the sink as the next song came on. A snicker came from behind me and my eyes grew wide. Shit. How long had he been there watching me? I put on a brave face and spun around.

  Luke’s face was beet red from laughing. His teeth were the only white I could see on his face since his eyes were closed. This was the perfect opportunity to sneak up on him. My jaw dropped when I thought I could see tears welling in his eyes, I also tried not to begin laughing. I thought about whacking him with the broom or even pinching his arm but instead I just stood there still holding the broom in one hand and the other on my hip. I tried to look pissy but it didn’t work at all, he was just too damn cute looking.

  He opened his eyes and saw me standing there. He set his keys on my freshly cleaned counter and crossed his arms over his chest. He had a teal polo on that clung to his chest with a pair of cargo shorts. He was suddenly trying to look serious. We had a stare down for a few seconds and as I held our gaze I asked, “See something funny?”