In North Carolina, the coldest and dreariest part of the winter is between January and March. That is when we usually get snow, if it's going to snow at all. That is also when we tend to get more of the rainy, cold weather that I hate. I don't remember the weather bothering me much that year, though. It was a very happy, satisfying time for both of us. Alicia was at her most dominant, demanding, and loving. I was at my most submissive and giving. I was spanked often and hard, with her hand, with the hairbrush, and with a cane that she bought. After each spanking, we made vigorous love. I cooked, we ate, we drank wine, we listened to music. We did all the things that people in love with each other do.
And, we planned our wedding. Between the two of us, we could have afforded a rather expensive, elaborate wedding. But we dismissed that out of hand. We had always kept our relationship an intimate secret, known to just a few people. Our wedding would be no different.
We decided on a wedding date in late March. Since neither Alicia nor I was religious, we decided to get married at City Hall by a Justice of the Peace, with just a couple of friends present. Afterward, we would all go to a nice restaurant and have an intimate dinner. Then, Alicia and I planned to spend three days at our beach, Sunset Beach, for our honeymoon.
We had a lot of fun shopping for the wedding. Alicia went to a great deal of trouble, picking out her wedding dress. She wanted something dressy and elegant, but not a traditional wedding dress. (I knew she wouldn't. We weren't exactly a "traditional" couple.) Alicia and Kathy must have gone to every ladies' apparel store in town. She must have tried on at least twenty dresses.
"You bastard," she said, half smiling. "You think it's funny, don't you?" She had just strutted into the apartment, empty-handed. During this past foray, she had finally come to the realization that she was one or two sizes larger than when we had first met.
"No, Mistress, I don't think it's funny. I think you look beautiful. I really do." Truthfully, I couldn't help smiling a little. I thought she looked better than she'd ever looked. Anyone would look better when they're loved and cared for.
"Well, you just wait until later," she said. "I'm going to paddle your ass good, Phillip."
"Do you promise?" I asked sweetly.
She sniffed haughtily, and walked back into the bedroom.
But she and Kathy perservered, and she did finally settle on a dress. Of course, she wouldn't let me see it until our wedding day.
As for me, we went out and had me fitted for a suit, the only one I've ever owned. It was charcoal-gray, and double breasted. I paired it with a crisp new white shirt and a burgundy tie. I also bought brand-new, jet-black tassel loafers. When we got everything back from the tailors, Alicia had me model it for her.
"Very handsome, Phillip," she said.
"Thank you, Mistress. Here, come stand beside me," I said. We looked at each other in the mirror. We made a good-looking, thought slightly mismatched couple. Alicia: tall, redheaded and beautiful. Phillip: short, dark-haired, and (I thought), dorky. But, Alicia, my Mistress, didn't think I was dorky, and that was all that mattered to me.
One day, just a few weeks before the wedding, I noticed a brown paper bag in the closet. I asked Alicia what it was. She said, "None of your business--yet. So stay out of it." I thought that it may have had something to do with the our nuptials, but I had been warned away, so I didn't look.
We were at home one evening, a couple of weeks before the wedding, watching television, when Alicia turned to me and said, "Oh, I meant to tell you. Twyla may not be coming to the wedding."
"Really? Why not?"
"Kathy told me today at work that she and Twyla were having real problems. Kathy was pretty upset about it when I talked to her."
"Well," I said, "I had an idea that it was coming. During the party, Twyla seemed to resent almost everything that Kathy did. I mean, she would roll her eyes when Kathy would tell jokes, and she apparently hated Kathy's music."
"Yeah," Alicia said, "but that wouldn't be enough to make them break up, would it?"
"She also said that Kathy was very bossy. I don't think Twyla wanted to be bossed around. And did you hear the way Kathy spoke to her about her drinking?"
"Well, that could account for it, I suppose."
"But there was something else, as well," I said.
