Chapter 18 A refreshing burst
Leah and Gabe were doing great on their resolution. Especially now that Leah was unemployed she had nothing to do but research wedding stuff when she wasn’t applying for jobs. Both tasks were daunting and sometimes repetitive with little reprieve that caught her interest. Sure, sometimes she found a job listing that sounded exciting, and sometimes she saw a flower arrangement or table setting that was beautiful, but she really didn’t connect with either of her daily missions.
That morning she read a few articles about what your linen color says about your relationship and read about getting an interfaith Ketubah, which was the Jewish marriage contract. The traditional Ketubah was between a man and his father-in-law, a promise of what the man would bring to the marriage and his obligation to care for his wife. The modern Ketubah is between a man and his wife. Most Jewish couples ordered elaborately decorated ones with watercolors, cutouts, and artful depictions of Israel that they hang on the wall of their home. Leah’s parents’ Ketubah hung above their mantle. It had the contract written in beautiful Hebrew script surrounded by painted symbols of Judaism. Leah always thought it was beautiful and she had hoped to sign one herself one day. She didn’t know if a rabbi would allow Gabe to sign one, but a few minutes on Google showed her that many couples were creating interfaith Ketubahs. Couples could write their own vows, their own promises to each other, or use Hebrew text that had been written without mention of religion. Leah liked that idea and hoped Gabe would be open to it.
Once she was tired of that, she went to the library and checked out a few romance novels with happily ever afters. They would make her more excited about wedding planning, she thought.
Then it was early afternoon and she started walking downtown to meet Gabe at his office. It was a long walk, but she had time—lots of it—and it was a crisp and sunny winter day. With a scarf wrapped tight on her neck and earmuffs on her head, she briskly headed south. It wasn’t long until she felt warm under her coat.
She was meeting Gabe outside his work for their first wedding venue visit. She had scheduled a meeting at a midtown hotel with a ballroom for 150 people. The price wasn’t too far out of their budget, and the pictures online showed beautiful antique exposed wood and brick.
“How was your day?” Gabe asked when he greeted her. He kissed her gently on the lips, which were slightly damp from sweat after her long walk.
“Good,” she said. She wanted to talk to him about the Ketubah but thought she should wait a little first. “Yours?”
“Boring,” he responded. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t know how much longer I can stand this job.”
“You don’t want to apply for a new one?”
“For what? A raise? More money doing the same thing at a different firm? Or more responsibilities? Eh,” Gabe trailed off and then changed the subject. “Where are we off to?”
Leah told him about the venue, the exposed wood and brick, and the nice woman she had spoken with on the phone who was meeting them to show them around. “They even do their own catering, so we wouldn’t have to find our own caterers.”
“Sounds great,” he responded. They took the subway uptown and emerged above ground a few steps away from the hotel. They walked through the front doors to a high-ceiling lobby with red carpeting and wood panels all around.
“We have a meeting with Lucy,” Leah told the boy—he looked twelve—at the front desk. “About renting the ballroom,” she added, feeling the need to explain. He nodded and picked up the phone. He spoke into it so softly that Leah couldn’t even hear what he was saying.
“She’ll be right with you,” he said and invited them to wait on the shiny wooden benches in the lobby. While they sat, Leah admired a giant vase showcased in the middle of the floor.
“What would someone do with a vase that big?” Gabe joked while they waited. “A man must have messed up pretty badly to have to buy that many flowers.”
Leah was about to laugh when a woman approached them with a clipboard and a smile. Leah straightened her smile so as not to appear immature, joking about this vase which was probably very expensive and special.
“I’m Lucy,” the woman said. “Congratulations on your engagement! Let me see the ring!” She said it with such enthusiasm and studied the ring that Leah held out to her so carefully that Leah felt like the woman was genuinely excited for them and not just trying to book their wedding at the hotel.
“Let me show you around,” Lucy said with a big smile. “I think you’ll love the rustic look. Wedding guests, especially those not from the city, are always so impressed!”
They followed Lucy to an elevator. “Where did you two meet?” Lucy asked while they waited. The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. She pressed fourteen and the elevator slowly started up.
“On the subway,” Leah said with a smile as she nudged Gabe with her shoulder. “He saved me.”
“He saved you? What happened?” Lucy was so interested in them, so Leah described the moment she and Gabe met on her first night in New York City. How she had just moved into her upper Upper East Side apartment and was heading to a singles event by herself. She had smiled at a homeless man singing on the subway platform! How ridiculous that was, she shook her head at how na?ve she was. When the homeless man wanted money, Gabe saved her by handing him a dollar, and then Leah was whisked downtown to her event where she met Maya, one of her bridesmaids, and the two girls went out to Curry Hill for Indian food and then coincidentally ran into Gabe and his friends.
“It was fate!” Lucy exclaimed and Leah enjoyed the warm feeling she was getting from Lucy. By that time, they had already gotten off the elevator and were standing in a small lobby outside a row of closed double doors. Gabe was walking around and looking all over the room while Leah stayed close to Lucy. “So this is where the cocktail reception is generally held. We can set up a buffet, and a bar, and waiters will be passing around the appetizers of your choice. Imagine your guests grabbing a bite-size shrimp cocktail right when they arrive!”
Leah could not imagine her guests grabbing a bite-size shrimp cocktail. Probably most of her guests would be offended by the unkosher offering. “We won’t be having shrimp,” Leah blurted out.
“OK, well you will choose the appetizers you love,” Lucy said. “We have this delicious melon ball wrapped in prosciutto, it’s sort of dated, but it’s such a delicious combination!” Lucy must have noticed Leah’s face, because she immediately said, “No prosciutto? We have plenty of vegetarian and vegan appetizers! Our chef does a heavenly fried cauliflower!”
“We’re not vegetarian or vegan,” Leah explained. “I’m Jewish, my family doesn’t eat ham or seafood.”
“No problem at all!” Lucy said. “Let me show you the ballroom. We set up a space on the side of the ballroom for the ceremony and then there are tables and a dance floor where guests will go after the ceremony.” She motioned them to follow her to one of the closed double doors. “Jewish, huh? I never would have guessed from the last name Russo. We’ve had a few Jewish weddings here! They are so beautiful with the Chuppah, is that what it is called?”
Leah nodded and Gabe then appeared at her side and put his arm around her shoulder.
“So whose rabbi is doing the ceremony?” Lucy asked them both. “We had one couple where they seriously fought over that, they each wanted the rabbi from their home synagogue to do the ceremony.”
“I’m not Jewish,” Gabe clarified.
“Oh, that makes sense with the last name then,” Lucy commented. “All right, so let’s check out the ballroom!” Lucy seemed to use all of her strength to pull open the double doors and as she did there was a strong whoosh. Lucy motioned for Gabe and Leah to step inside and just as they did, Leah felt something hit her from above. It took her a moment to realize she was soaking wet and the ceiling was raining on her and Gabe. “Oh my God!” Lucy screamed, holding the clipboard above her dry head still on the other side of the threshold. “A pipe must have burst! I’ve heard that happens sometimes in old buildings! Oh my God, I am so sorry!”
Leah felt the weight of her drenched coat and looked at Gabe, whose wet hair was dripping into his eyes. Gabe grabbed Leah’s hand and squeezed tight as he started pulling her back from where they came. It took a second to be back in the lobby, the place for passed appetizers like shrimp cocktails and prosciutto-wrapped melon balls. The carpet squished under every step.
The pipes above the lobby were intact, but the carpet was becoming a swamp. Lucy continued apologizing profusely as she led them to a stairwell. “I’m not sure the protocol with elevators when a pipe bursts,” she explained. “I’m so sorry! This is awful! This has never happened before! Sure, this hotel was built in 1832, but everything has been redone! Just recently we had an inspection by the city! Everything is to code! Are you two all right?”
Leah and Gabe’s eyes met. Gabe’s gaze asked her if she was OK, and she nodded. Just cold and uncomfortable. Lucy led them down the spiral staircase. The ballroom had been on the fourteenth floor and Leah felt herself getting dizzy after a few landings.
“Watch your step so you don’t slip! I’m calling the hotel manager when we get to the bottom!” Lucy said as though this solved the problem. “I’m sure we can work something out with a discount if you’d like to get married here! I didn’t even have a chance to show you the balconies! They are great for pictures! You can get the whole New York skyline behind you!”
Leah stopped listening to Lucy who continued citing the hotel’s merits all the way down to the ground floor. In the lobby, Lucy called for towels and waited with them while they dripped all over the floor. Gabe pulled Leah into a hug, the squeeze of which created a huge splash beneath them. Inside the hug, Leah looked up at Gabe.
“That was…” she started to say.
“Refreshing?” Gabe finished her sentence with a laugh. A bellboy came with towels for them and immediately started cleaning the floor.
“Let me pay for a cab,” Lucy offered. “Why don’t you come back tomorrow? Or another time that is good for you. We’ll fix this and someone can make a joke about this in one of the wedding speeches!”
“We’ll call you,” Gabe said to Lucy, as he rubbed the towel around Leah’s shoulders. Lucy reluctantly let them take the towels with them into the cab only because the driver wouldn’t let them in without them.
“Please bring the towels back when we reschedule!” she said before the cab pulled away.
Leah shivered and snuggled into Gabe’s arm in the back of the cab. Neither of them said anything until they thanked the driver who let them out in front of their building. Leah could feel blisters forming on her feet as they squished around in her soaked shoes.
As soon as they got into their apartment, they both immediately shed their clothes and entered their tiny shower. Showering together was supposed to be romantic and sexy, but not in a Manhattan apartment. There, it was a show of flexibility and care not to hit the wall as they moved around each other to stay under the hot water stream.
“What did you think of the hotel?” he asked. “Should we reschedule? I think not, but only because I want to keep the towels. They are so thick and soft!”
Leah had to agree. The towels were heavenly and it was worth forgetting about the hotel as a wedding venue just to keep them. They kissed under the hot water stream until the temperature started to drop. Then they dried off with the thick and soft hotel towels. Gabe gave her one more kiss before he left her alone in the steam in the bathroom. She enjoyed the warm steam of the bathroom for a little longer and then opened the door to see Gabe standing there with a cup of hot chocolate.
“In case you haven’t warmed up enough yet,” he said. “Although you’ve been in the bathroom so long, it’s more like lukewarm chocolate.”
“I like lukewarm chocolate,” Leah commented and took the cup from him. They were both still in towels and they sat together on their bed and drank hot chocolate together. There were other venues, ones with pipes installed after 1832 that would probably be better options for their wedding. Tomorrow she’d schedule to visit somewhere else. But for now, she would simply enjoy the moment with her husband-to-be.