Our wedding was coming up quickly; in 90 days we'd be husband and wife. We were both excited, we were both nervous at the big step we were taking. It felt like we were leaving behind our youth and entering adulthood. Yes, I know we were both in our mid-20's and have been considered adults for several years, but it has never felt like it. Now I felt like that bar mitzvah line would finally feel real: "Today, I am a man."
Marriage meant more to me than just wedded bliss. I was looking forward to being part of a family. My whole life, it had been just my mom and I, although most of the time, it felt like just me. I remember being a very lonely kid. Not saying anything against my mom, but a single mother, working two, sometimes three, minimum wage jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads, meant that I spent a lot of my childhood alone.
When mom died five years ago, I was devastated. She was my whole world. I was in my final year of college, already having been recruited by a company for a great job, ready to start my career. I would finally be in a position to give mom the life she deserved, when she left me. I had been working since I was 10, doing everything I could, from mowing lawns to working fast food, just to help take the pressure off my mother. I had dreamed of buying her a house and being able to allow her to quit all her jobs. Now, when I finally could give her a life a leisure, I was alone.
But that's when Leslie entered my life. We had dated a few times before my mother's death, but then I withdrew from the world in my grief. It was Leslie who sought me out and made me re-enter the world. She wouldn't let me abandon my studies; she made me finish the semester, convincing me that my mother would have wanted me to begin my career, to move forward with my life. It was what my mother had worked so hard for, for so many years. I couldn't let my mom down.
Leslie became my world. Within two years, we were engaged. Now, five years after my mom's passing, we were to be wed. Leslie's family would be my family. Her two brothers and her sister would be my siblings. I got along with all of them, although her parents were a different story. From the beginning, they let it be known that they felt Leslie was too good for me. Leslie assured me that when they really got to know me, they'd change their minds. I loved Leslie, but in five years, the only change in their thinking seemed to be against me.
Leslie was now off in Europe with her college friends -- they'd gone on a spring trip every year, since they were sophomores at Strathmore. They started with spring breaks in Orlando, Cabo, and South Padre Island. Then after graduation, they traveled to Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. This year, they were in Prague, for the final concert of their favorite band, the Newberry Five.
There was a gulf between my life and Leslie's. I never dated -- any money I earned had to go into the family coffers. We were always just a step away from the streets. Leslie grew up with luxury, vacations, and security. She thought nothing of jetting off with her friends. If it had not been for scholarships and grants, I would never have been able to go to college. As a junior, I finally began getting enough funds to go one a few dates. Luckily, Leslie was one of those few. I think my inexperience was what attracted Leslie to me.
Leslie told me that she knew this trip would probably be her final tour with her friends, since we planned to start our family as soon as we tied the knot. She quit her job, planning to be a stay-at-home mom and homemaker. My salary was enough to support us. She was sure she'd be pregnant right away. She'd already gone off the pill, wanting to have it cleared out of her system before our honeymoon. "You won't mind using condoms till then, honey. It'll make our wedding night so special." I didn't really mind, although I missed going bareback. But I wanted children as desperately as she did. Our engagement was coming to an end after three years, and we were both ready for a family.
Her mother was angry with her daughter, since several "important" wedding planning events had been set for the period while she'd be gone. Since the two big events were choosing the caterer and the wedding cake, Leslie insisted that I could do it. Other events could be moved. Her mother, never one of my fans, reluctantly agreed to walk me through the process.
"Steve, it'll give you a chance to bond with my mother and give her the opportunity to see how wonderful you are." Leslie insisted. I had my own doubts, but as I was running my hands over her naked body and she was returning the favor, I could only agree with whatever she wanted. When I left her at the airport, I assured her that I'd do my best to impress her mother.
When I saw that the Prague concert was going to be available on pay-per-view, I signed up immediately, setting up to record it for Leslie. I hoped to find her in the crowd shots -- she'd love that, and it would give her a memory to last a lifetime.
It gave me a memory to last a lifetime. There was my fiancée, with two of her friends, dancing topless on the stage. Shaking their breasts at the audience, then pressing them against the bare backs of the band members, who were dressed in just pants and bling around their necks. I could see my wife's hands snake around the torsos of the guitar players, while she licked their shoulders and necks.
As I watched, this didn't seem like an impromptu act; this wasn't audience members rushing onto the stage. There was no security hurrying to clear the stage, there were no other topless dancers or anybody else on stage who wasn't either a band member or part of my wife's group.
As the concert came to a close, the band members took a bow while the girls jumped around, clapping and screaming. Then, to a standing ovation, the Newberry Five left the stage.
There my fiancée, leaving the stage with two guitar players, both grabbing a cheek of her ass as she laughed and kissed one, then the other. While I could only see their backs, I could tell by the position of their other arms that her breasts were not being ignored.
I'm sure the credits rolled. I don't know if I didn't see them because my sight was blurry, or because I was staring blindly at the TV, seeing only the end of my love.
The next day, the phone rang while I was boxing up the last of Leslie's stuff in my house, minus the jewelry I'd bought her, which included her engagement ring. "Oh, I don't want to risk losing it in Europe," she'd offered when I noticed it wasn't on her hand the morning she left. Now in hindsight, I thought that was funny. She had actually lost it in Europe. When I answered the phone, her mother angrily inquired why I wasn't at the caterer for the tasting.
It took me a moment to realize that somehow, she didn't know. I had thought of nothing else every waking minute through the night and that morning, I just couldn't believe that everyone didn't already know. "Why?" I asked. "Why would I go to the caterers?" I was honestly bewildered.
"Why?" her mother almost screamed over the phone. "To pick the food for the wedding. What's wrong with you? Are you drunk?"
"No, I wish. No, I'm just packing up Leslie's shit. I'll leave it in your driveway later." I realized I was mumbling. No wonder she thought I was drunk. I cleared my throat and spoke up. "There's no reason for the caterer, since there'll be no wedding."
After a short silence, she began to stutter. "Wha, wha, wha..." She paused and regrouped. "What do you mean there's no wedding? We've already paid all the deposits." Her anger seemed to solidify her pronunciation. "You better get your head out of your ass, Steve. There is definitely going to be a wedding."
It was my turn to be silent for a moment. Then, "OK," I said. "But not with me. Your daughter has made some new connections in Prague, although she'll have to pick her groom from her multiple choices."
I hung up and shut off my phone. I didn't need this, and truthfully, I wasn't a fan of Leslie's mother, or her father. Both had always seemed to tolerate me for Leslie's sake but just barely. They always had made it clear that they considered me to be pond scum, unworthy of their beautiful, talented daughter. They only begrudgingly admitted that having a good job and owning my own home made me a barely acceptable candidate.
Luckily, I was able to unload all Leslie's boxes onto her parents' driveway before her mother got home. I imagine that her old man was out playing his weekly golf game. I even had time to stack the boxes in a wall, blocking their garage doors.
