Ann: a Love Story

Once again my thanks and gratitude to my good friend Annanova for being the amazing person she is. Oh...and for doing the editing on this latest chapter. You're awesome!

© 2012, All rights reserved -- mimaster

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ann had parked her car just down the street from my parents' house, the engine still running. The tiny g-string I'd hung from her mirror was now in her hand, her fingers running back and forth over the material, feeling the fabric, her eyes locked onto mine. I could see her mind working, trying to figure out what I knew. I had her at somewhat of a disadvantage, and yet the twinkle in her stare made my cock stir.

"You got this from Tiffany," she said, the corners of her mouth offering the hint of a smile.

"Uh-huh," I answered, unwilling to give her any more information about the circumstances. "But like I said, her real name is Sarah."

She wasn't really asking; it was a statement more than anything. She brought it to her face, her eyes closed as she inhaled, suddenly lost in the sexy scent left behind. It was such a blatantly erotic display, a chill ran through me. "Yeah, that seems right," she nodded, her smile becoming a wicked grin. "So you want me to wear this tomorrow?" she asked nonchalantly.

"You're the one that said you needed something blue...and I'm pretty sure you said that you wanted it to say something about who we are as a couple. I can only assume you meant something that involves sex, right?"

"That would certainly be us," she giggled.

"Well, if I have my facts right, I think Sarah would agree that it qualifies."

"And I suppose you don't want me to wash it before I put it on."

"That would be up to you, babe. I don't want you to do anything --"

She was holding it to her nose again, taking another deep whiff when she cut off my sentence. "Can I ask you one question about last night?"

"Sure, although I won't promise that I'll answer it."

She thought long and hard, trying to decide if she really wanted to ask what was running through her mind. Or maybe she was just trying to figure out how she wanted to phrase it. I let her take her time, content to wait her out. She kept the garment close to her nose, closing her eyes again as the aroma stimulated memories of her encounter with the stripper she knew as Tiffany. She even let out a low moan at one point.

Soon after, she opened her eyes and locked back onto mine. "Did you eat her too?" she asked quickly, her confession visibly moving her in a way that convinced me she was turned on by what she was holding.

In that moment, I could see something in her eyes. Something that I'd seen time and time again; something that let me know where we were, and what I needed to do. Nodding, I took control of the moment, reading what Ann's body language was begging me to do.

"Yes, I did," I replied, taking the g-string from her hand and taking a little sniff for myself before hanging it back onto the mirror. "And perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been before. You're going to wear that tomorrow, and no, you're not going to wash it. You're wearing it just like that, Anna."

She grinned happily, putting the car back into gear and releasing the parking break. "You're

making

me, aren't you?" she said softly.

"Yes I am, my naughty little slut," I said as I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Okay, let's try this again," Pastor Kane said as he cleared his throat. "Do you, Anna Renee Franklin --"

For the fifth time in a row, Ann's eyes flashed, her fingers squeezing mine. She tried to fight it, but the corners of her mouth turned up into another naughty grin. This time

I

was the one that started laughing. And that was quickly followed by her infectious giggle.

"I'm sorry, Pastor Kane," I said, trying to control my laughter.

"It's okay," he smiled. "It's actually very refreshing to work with a wedding party that's having so much fun. Usually everyone's so uptight, the rehearsal becomes nerve-racking."

"We'll try to be serious," Ann said, her legs wiggling like a little kid that had to pee.

He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "You're fine. This is who you and Neil are, Ann. You have joy, and that's such a blessing. When you're like this now, it's exciting to think about how much laughter you're going to share once you're married."

"Married?" my friend Ted said from off to my side.

That was immediately followed by Matt and his dead-on impersonation of the Long Duk Dong character from

Sixteen Candles

, replying, "Married. Jeez!"

They'd already said those lines. In fact, that was actually what started all of the frivolity in the first place.

~*~*~*~*~*~

When we'd first gotten to the church for the rehearsal, Ann and I were both a little nervous. How could we not be? In many ways it had been such a long journey from that week when we'd fallen in love to where we were now. At the same time, there were parts of our life together that felt as if we'd been living on fast forward. In truth, it had been about six months, and that alone was remarkable.

There were times when I thought about how

long

it was taking for us finally to be together, and that I thought our wedding day would never come. But now that we were less than a day away, it was hard to believe it was already upon us. The change in the perception of time was a bit overwhelming. We had been on an improbable adventure to that point, and as we entered the church, we both felt blessed that we'd actually made it that far. We were also excited at the idea starting the rest of our life together, knowing it would be an even bigger adventure.

The actual start had me feeling a little anxious, not because I was getting cold feet...far from it. I just wanted the wedding to be perfect for Ann.

The stage had certainly been set for just such an occasion to happen. My mom let out a gasp as she looked about the place, saying something about how beautiful the sanctuary had been decorated for the ceremony, which was true. Ann and her mom, as well as countless others, had done an amazing job transforming the cavernous room.

With the wedding being in December, we'd settled on a Christmas theme, the main centerpiece being the twenty-foot blue spruce in the very back of the stage in the front of the church. It was decorated with what seemed like thousands of twinkling white lights and dozens of red ribbons; a huge white angel adorning the very top. With the stage being three steps above the pews closest to the front, the tree looked even taller. Add to that the fifty or so poinsettias scattered around the front and the garland with red ribbons that were strung along railings and elsewhere, it was hard not to be in a festive mood.

The tree itself was the Franklins' gift to the church for letting us use it for the nuptials. Once the wedding was over, it would stay behind for the balance of the Christmas season. I would have loved to have seen how in the world Marlin and his friends actually got it into the sanctuary, but there it was as big as life, the fresh smell of evergreen wafting through the air.

While Mom commented on how perfect the church looked, my dad proceeded to say something about the unusual design of the sanctuary itself. Unlike a traditional church with doors in the back and rows of pews on both sides of a centered aisle, this one seemed to be turned on its axis. Instead of a rectangle, it was a big square...well, more like a diamond. And instead of the main entrance being on one wall and the stage and pulpit being on the opposite, the door to this church was on one of the corners.

That meant the front of the church was in the opposite corner. The three-sided stage jutted straight out from the adjoining walls, then cut across the front at an acute angle. It was an unusual design, leaving three rows of pews instead of two, and two main aisles instead of one.

As my dad looked around the room, eyeing the two balconies and the unique little nooks and crannies created by the architecture, he said, "I've never seen a church like this. I hope we don't have any people getting lost in here tomorrow."

That's when Matt first broke out his impersonation, saying "Jeez, this place is so confusing!"

Quickly recognizing the line, Ted responded by pretending to be the Jake character from the movie. When he said, "Open the door," that started the two of them going back and forth, reciting every line from the scene like they'd seen the movie a hundred times.

Ted was at least smart enough to clean it up a little, changing the part where he tells 'The Donger' he was grabbed, replacing the word 'nuts' with 'arm'. It was funnier because he made a pregnant pause, trying to think of what else he could say. That change only added to the hilarity of the moment. Sure, there were some people there, like my parents and Ann's, that had no clue what they were talking about. But that didn't stop us all from laughing.

Matt said, "Is that you?"

And Ted followed that by saying "Yeah, that me."

They finished out the scene, all the way to the line where Long Duk Dong says, "Married! Jeez."

The moment of levity that it created set the tone for the rehearsal. They kept going back to that scene, each time finding it funnier than the last. Hell, we all did. With all the kidding and cutting up, we were actually having a great time instead of thinking about the magnitude of what we were rehearsing for. It's awfully hard to be uptight when you're laughing all the time.

There was something else that added to the festive mood of the night. Yet another surprise, something you'd think I'd have gotten used to. Only this time it was one that both Ann and I knew nothing about; one concocted by Tina, who was serving as Ann's maid of honor.

She had delegated several tasks to Tina for the wedding, a couple of which came as a bit of a shock. The one that I found most amazing was that of finding a photographer for the wedding festivities. To me, that was one of the most important jobs, one that I would have assumed Ann or her mom would have wanted to keep for themselves.

When she told me she'd asked Tina to take care of it, she'd said that she wanted her to feel a real part of the wedding instead of just a convenient stand-in. After all, she'd only know her for a short time. When we'd first gotten engaged, there were a lot of friends that I'm sure Ann would have liked to have by her side that she'd known much longer, like Dana or Missy from California. But with them not being able to make the wedding, Tina became a logical choice.

Yet in the short time since they actually met, they became closer than Ann had been with many of her other friends. They were more like sisters. It wasn't the time they known each other that mattered to Ann; it was the depth of their friendship. Still, she knew that Tina was self-conscious about being her maid of honor, thinking she was at least her third choice, if not fourth or fifth.

That was the reasoning she had given me for her asking Tina to find us a photographer. She wanted her to know with absolute certainty that she not only wanted her to be her maid of honor, but that we both trusted her as well. It was a big chance to take, but one that Ann was convinced was the right one. She was so sure of it that she never even questioned Tina about it, other than to ask a week before if things were set. When she assured her that they were, Ann crossed that off her list and told me not to worry about it, because she wasn't going to.

Still, I'd be lying if I said that we weren't a little nervous about whom Tina had hired. Even more so when at ten minutes past six there was no sign of Tina

or

a photographer. We would have been a lot more concerned it weren't for Matt and Ted's antics. We were all too busy laughing. Still, it was a bit of a relief when Tina walked in the side door, letting us know she was there.

"Where've you been?" Ann asked as she gave her a huge hug.

"Sorry Ann. I had to go to Fort Wayne," she answered breathlessly.

"Fort Wayne? What were you doing there?"

"I promised you I'd take care of the photographer. I had to pick her up."

My eyes narrowed as I processed that. "You hired a photographer that doesn't have a car?"

"Actually, I don't know if she has a car or not. I just didn't want her to have to rent one."

"Rent one?"

"Yeah, I was already cutting it close as it was just getting her here from the airport. It would have taken longer if she had to rent a car and find her way here."

"Airport...what in the world are you talking about?" Ann laughed.

"Your photographer," she grinned as she looked over her shoulder, pointing at the doorway. Walking through carrying two huge bags of equipment was Rose, the camera store owner we'd befriended in San Francisco.

Giving a little wave, she set down the bags while Ann and I picked our jaws up off the floor. "Hi," she said, her long jet black hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Rose was dressed exactly as I would have expected; everything was black leather, refusing to change from her gothic style just because she was visiting rural Indiana. Frankly, I would have been disappointed if she had. Her black lipstick and nail polish stood out against her alabaster skin. Just the hint of the black rose tattoo above her left breast was visible in what for her had to be a rather conservative top as she took off her long black leather trench coat.

As Ann rushed over to hug her, I looked at Tina who was standing there with a huge grin of satisfaction on her face.

"You're proud of yourself, aren't you?" I chuckled.

"Wouldn't you be? Do you know how hard it is to surprise both you

and

Ann? I never thought I'd be able to pull it off."

Giving her a hug, I kissed the top of her head. "You're awesome, Tina. I'm so glad you're a part of our wedding."

Ann was saying the same thing to Rose, before taking her around to introduce her to everyone. She left out the part of how we really met, deciding there was probably never going to be the right place or time to explain we'd had her develop rolls of film containing X-rated pictures of us. And if there ever

were

going to be one, it certainly wasn't going to be in a church. Then again, it was Ann, so I held my breath as I waited to see exactly how she was introducing her.

When Rose started getting her equipment out of the bags so that we could finally get started with the rehearsal, Ann and I had a brief moment to visit with her. Ann asked what was on both of our minds, her voice filled with excitement. "What are you doing here?"

"I hope I'm taking pictures of your wedding. If not, this was a bit of a wasted trip, other that I get to see you two for a little while."

"I meant, how can Tina possibly be paying you enough to cover your flight? I gave her a budget."

"Well, when she called to ask, at first I thought the same thing. Then I realized that if it weren't for you and Neil, I wouldn't have met the Armstrongs. And if I hadn't met them, my store wouldn't be doing as well as it is. Between Gracie's marketing advice, Todd's financial stability and frankly, the earthquake, I wouldn't be standing here."

"The earthquake?" I asked.

"I guess in every tragedy there are a few silver linings. I'm one of them. I got a lot of publicity and good word of mouth from the animal shelter I ran. And even though that's done now, people haven't forgotten," she said as she pulled out a huge camera from a bag and attached a long lens to it. "Gracie had a lot to do with that because of she's so media savvy. As a matter of fact, she also was the one that said I should do this. She talked me into it."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. I'm only charging you for my time and the film. Then, I'm going to give you the pictures as a wedding gift. Somehow, Gracie said I can write the flight and the hotel off as a business expense. I don't really understand all of that, but I trust her, and she's handling it. So, as far as the business goes, it's a wash. You get me to take your pictures, you get them as a gift from me, and I get to be here for your wedding. All in all, how could I say no?"

It seemed a little too good to be true, but there she was, taking light readings as she walked around the church, talking to Pastor Kane about where she could be during the ceremony. The best part was she fit right in, joking and laughing with the rest of us as she did her job. Once Pastor Kane started explaining how the ceremony itself was going to proceed, she blended into the background to take photos of the rehearsal.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ann was having a hard time. Sure, the guys in the wedding party were joking around. So were the girls. Hell, even the parents were joining in the fun. But Ann's incessant giggle fits weren't caused by the jovial camaraderie in the room. That started it, but I knew why she snickered in the first place, and why she had been smiling ever since.

It started just after Marlin handed her off to me the very first time we walked through the ceremony. We'd faced each other to join hands and Pastor Kane had addressed those who were attending. Well, those that were there sitting in the pews watching as we got ready to practice our vows. He got to the part where we were going to commit our lives to one another, and he turned to her.

She squeezed my hands, her eyes widening as she stared at me. I knew what she was thinking. I could see it in those swirling, chocolate brown eyes. As one would expect, he'd called her by her given name, but as soon as he said 'Anna,' the fire in those eyes ignited.

The naughty grin didn't appear until a few seconds later, when he asked her if she'd obey me as part of the traditional wedding promise. When he finally asked her that age old question, 'If so, answer I do,' she arched her left eyebrow and said, "I don't know. Do I?"

When I quickly answered by saying, "Oh yeah, you definitely do," nodding with a little attitude of my own, she started giggling uncontrollably.

When she finally calmed down, he started over, only to be interrupted as soon as he said obey. She squeezed my hands again, her eyes showing a lust in them that made me jerk back just a little. That had her laughing a second time, to the point we had to stop once more.

The next two times were the same as the first two, with Ann cracking up. Pastor Kane even asked if he should change the line to something different.

"You appear to have a problem with me saying you should obey Neil. Perhaps we should substitute that part."

"Oh, I don't have a problem obeying Neil," she said, biting the corner of her lip. Bobbing up and down, she raised her hand to let him know she was serious. "I love the traditional vows, Pastor Kane. Please don't change them."

"Well okay, but I hope we don't regret that tomorrow."

"Oh, we won't."

Of course, the next time,

I

started laughing. I did it because I knew she was seconds away from starting up again and I didn't want her to feel like she was the only one struggling. After all, I knew the real reason why. It had nothing to do with the vows. It had everything to do with him calling her Anna, because that was what I called her whenever she was naughty.

I'd said something to her about that before; how I was going to associate that name with how she acted when I called her that during our wedding vows. Instead of me, it was Ann who was making the association and it had her literally squirming on the stage as we tried to make it though the vows. Pastor Kane was going to try and start another time, but then he started smiling at her giggle fit, especially when she snorted.

"You know, why don't we take a little break?" he said graciously.

"I could use some air," she gasped, nodding at his suggestion.

"That's a good idea. While you're doing that, I can go over what the groomsmen are going to do as ushers, and what the bridesmaids will be doing."