Good Neighbors

The teleconference went off without a hitch, thankfully. It was during the afternoon that Aubrey came into my office and closed the door. It was a weird thought.

"Aubrey, what are you doing?"

"I don't want to spoil the surprise about your fiancée's engagement party slash wedding."

"She changed her mind."

She paused for a moment. You could see her start to frown.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I thought she wanted to spend the rest of her life with you."

"She does."

She looked at me again. Then it dawned on her.

"Oh, she doesn't want the surprise wedding."

"She doesn't think we can pull it all together in two weeks."

"You would think your fiancée would know how you are used to making miracles happen."

I looked at Aubrey.

"The wedding is all about the bride, Aubrey. It was one reason Missy had hers so simple. It was her call."

Aubrey had that determined look on her face. She then turned towards the door.

"I'm gonna call her."

I let her walk out the door knowing full well that Aubrey can be just as stubborn as I am. I went back to the reports I had to review. As I was focusing on one particular section, my cell began to ring. I looked at it and saw my fiancée's face. I picked it up.

"Good afternoon, Beloved."

"Hi Romeo. So did you put Aubrey up to talking to me about the party?"

"I can't make Aubrey do anything, Amor. She was just so keyed up to plan the wedding and was shocked when I told her that you changed your mind."

"She is a bit of a dynamo, isn't she?"

"Did you want me to talk her down?"

"She mentioned how you've done the impossible before. What does that mean?"

"We have made things happen for the company on a few occasions. Nothing major."

"So does she honestly think we can put together a party slash wedding as she put it?"

"That depends on what you want, Sweetheart."

There was a pause at her side of the line before she spoke.

"What do I need to do?"

That afternoon, we were both at the Courthouse to get the marriage license. As we stood together, the person making it commented how good we looked together. This made us smile, even if it did feel like he was just saying it. As we drove back to the office, we started talking about the different things we could do for the ceremony. She was getting a bit more excited. We reached the office where Aubrey had a few ideas on food for the party. We looked at her options and smiled before my fiancée picked out what she wanted. It was then we heard from Matt's assistant that he was in his office.

We took the elevator up and went straight in. As Matt looked at me with the face of an exhausted soon-to-be first-time father, I smiled at him. He looked at me again before he smiled back.

"You crazy mother fucker!" he said before I even told him.

We hugged before he hugged my fiancée before sitting down. We started to tell him about our idea before Matt had a strange idea.

"Do you have a minister in mind?"

We paused. We didn't think about that idea. It was then that Matt told me about Mike's father. This was the same man who helped move Aubrey into my house and the father of our Chief of Security. It was then Matt paged Mike to come see him. Mike was up in a few minutes before he saw my fiancée and I in the office as well.

"Are you three up to something?"

"Can you keep a secret?" my fiancée asked.

"I can. Are we having another party here?"

"No, it's at my house and I need a huge favor from your father," I said.

Mike's concern turned to a smile.

"He was wondering when you were going to call. I'll give him a call and let you know tomorrow. What's the date?"

We told him and his face dropped.

"That's quick. Still, I'll let him know."

"Make sure your wife knows also that the party is that day. The wedding part is a surprise."

"That makes sense. I'll let you guys know tomorrow."

As Mike left, Matt looked at us again.

"I take it you'll be late tomorrow so you can go look at rings?"

My fiancée looked at me shocked.

"I forgot about the rings. I can't afford...."

I looked at her smiling.

"I might know a guy. "

Matt and my fiancée looked at me smiling when I made that statement. It was all starting to come together. As we made it home, it was then that my fiancée approached me.

"Leo, I have a problem."

"What's going on, sweetheart?"

"I can't afford everything we're doing for the party."

I stopped. The next words would be important. I walked closer to her and wrapped my arms around her before I spoke.

"Do you want to stop everything? Say the word and I'll call everyone."

She looked into my eyes before she spoke.

"Will you think less of me if I let you handle everything? I know I'm trying to be more independent and everything, but I really want this to happen. I just feel bad about..."

I kissed her on the forehead. I then bent down so I was looking her in the eyes.

"Sweetheart, if you let me, I'll make it happen. Whatever you want. I love you."

After a pause, she smiled and nodded her head. I breathed a sigh of relief before we started working on dinner. To say I wasn't nervous thinking about everything was an understatement. I had a good team though. It was going to be memorable to say the least.