Chapter 34 Dustin
DUSTIN
A warm summer breeze blew over our faces. Winterborne, Phil from Cat’s hospital, her friend Phoebe, Chip, Jenny and I all sat around a big table on the patio at a seafood restaurant in Washington, D.C. as Winterborne finished his story.
“So I say to my boss, ‘you really think this couple is fake? The man admitted to getting dressed up in a bunny suit for his wife, for God sake! And a man who would do that,” he paused. “Is seriously, hopelessly in love—for real.”
I smirked. Cat’s jaw was wide open. “That’s really how you knew we were a real couple?”
Winterborne grinned. “Yes. Well, that and how much he raved about your big brains. That was too silly not to be true.”
I poked her underneath the table.
“You kicked us out of your office for that,” I reminded him.
“Right—but I realized after the fact, if you were faking a marriage, that would have been a damn stupid thing to say. And then I remembered that DeMarco had smashed up against the boards pretty good, so I figured your head was just off a little or whatever.”
Rubbing Cat’s knee, I cleared my throat. “Well, you sure had us nailed. Thanks, everyone here, for believing in us. A toast.”
I looked at Cat. She had a dark emerald green dress tonight, per my request. I had managed to convince her that green was her best color.
And in a way, it symbolized our journey as a couple.
She had grown, in my mind at least, from the flashy, gorgeous girl in the red dress who I couldn’t take my eyes off of on the elevator, into something evergreen that would last forever, God willing.
I raised my glass. “Misunderstandings happen. I’d like to thank you all for sticking up for us as the second video was making the rounds. True love comes in all shapes, sizes, and time frames. It just so happens that ours was accelerated. And involves bunny costumes. Here here!”
Chip shot me an ‘are you serious?’ look, and Cat began choking on her drink.
I patted her on the back. “You okay, honey?”
She nodded. “Wrong pipe. That’s all.”
“Right,” I winked.
After dinner, we said goodbye to Phil and Winterborne, unlikely allies in our fight for Cat’s visa approval. But after Jackie released the video, Winterborne couldn’t believe we weren’t totally in love after his visit to our house, and he went to bat for us to his higher-ups.
They noted that her citizenship wouldn’t be far off.
Sometimes, you just never know who your allies are, and who your enemies are.
Chip, Phoebe, Jenny, Cat and I headed to a bar on the hill in downtown D.C. We were intent on keeping the party going.
They were also infinitely curious about the true nature of our relationship.
Chip rubbed his forehead as we explained the circumstances of our first meeting. Jenny had the video on her phone, and she pulled it up.
Their jaws dropped.
Mine even did, too.
“So you two had a one night stand in college, and forgot all about it?” He shook his head.
“We both sort of blocked it out of our memory.”
“That is by far the craziest love story I’ve ever heard,” Phoebe added.
With my arm around Cat, I pulled her into me for a kiss. She looked as sexy as the first night, in the red dress.
Cat shrugged. “Fortunately, both of us are crazy. I think if just one of us was crazy, that wouldn’t work. But since we both are, we get along just fine.”
“Crazy is as crazy does, ma’am,”
“So what’s next for you two?”
“Well,” I said. “We’ve got to have a wedding.”
Cat shot me a confused look. “I think one disaster is enough.”
I gave her a sly smirk. “Disaster? Our wedding was beautiful. We couldn’t have asked for a better place than Freddie’s Walk-In Chapel.”
She rolled her eyes and rubbed my back. “I’m glad you look at the past with rose-tinted glasses. But there’s no need to hit up Freddie’s again.”
“Who said anything about Freddie’s?” I asked, feigning anger.
“Babe, let’s just…talk about this later.” She stroked my forearm and tried to calm me down.
Our friends noticed our conflict, and there was a palpable tension in the air.
“No,” I smirked, calmly. “I want to talk about this now.”
She squinted and I thought I might be on the brink of seeing angry Cat so I decided the little ruse had gone far enough.
“Because,” I continued, getting on one knee. “Sometimes it takes more than one wedding to get it right.”
My heart pounding, I reached into my pocket and grabbed hold of the ring box. She covered her face with her hands, her eyes as wide as saucers.
“Catarina,” I began, my voice shakey. “I’ve fallen in love with you three times.
The first time, in college, I felt it in my bones after one night.
The second time, I asked you to marry me.
Now it’s the third time, and I’m asking you to marry me again.
I’ve gotten to know you—the real Kit Cat Vidal—and I’d like to give you a real wedding this time, one that you deserve.
The ones they talk about in story books.
Because I’m madly in love with you, Kit Cat.
You’re my drug, and I need you every day for the rest of my life.
We need a proper wedding, and you need a proper ring.
” Her eyes reflected the green of the sparkling emerald I had found for her. “Will you marry me—again?”
By the time I was done with my spiel, many onlookers in the bar had turned their attention to us.
“Get up,” Cat said, her voice barely above a whisper.
I grinned. “I didn’t hear you. Was that a yes?”
She reached out and wrapped her hand around my wrist. I could feel her trembling.
“I’m not getting up until I get a yes or no. ”
“It’s a yes, you doofus.”
Running my hand over her finger, I took off her old ring, then slipped on the emerald green ring. She was wearing green tonight—it hadn’t been easy to convince her that I was ‘just in the mood’ for her to wear green.
But now it was done, we were
She pressed her forehead into mine, and our mouths fumbled to find each other.
I stood up and kissed her hard, pressing her body into the brick wall of the bar.
“Yes times a thousand,” she said softly, and I swallowed up her words with a kiss.
I could feel the people looking at us, snapping pictures, and it was the best feeling in the world to know that none of what they said mattered.
It was Cat and I versus the world. We were a team of lovers and we didn’t have to hide any more.
Our story, as crazy as it was, could be out in the open now.
I gripped Cat tight, palming her lower back. She ground her hips into me, and I was getting almost a little too turned on for a public place.
Just then, Cat pulled back. “Where would we have the wedding though. My family is in Spain. And yours is in Ohio,” she pointed out.
I smiled. “Ever heard of the Canary Islands?”
“The ones off the coast of Morroco?”
“I think that would be the perfect midway point for a wedding. I hear it’s gorgeous there.”
She shook her head.
“What?” I asked.
“How did I get stuck with you?”
“I ask myself that question every day.”
She laughed. “You know I’m kidding, right?”
“I know. I’m not, though. I’m stuck with me. It’s a conundrum I’ve thought about for years.”
Our friends had gone back to socializing with each other after the spectacle of my proposal, though Cat and I were still causing a little bit of a scene in the bar. It didn’t surprise me people wanted to look at us. She was gorgeous, I was in a suit, and we were in love.
I stepped back for a moment. She brought her hand closer to her face and looked at the emerald ring.
“Do you like it?” I asked.
“I love it. I love you.”
“And you’re stuck with me,” I reiterated, smirking.
“And you’re stuck in me.” Her eyes widened. “I meant stuck with me. Damn English language.”
I smiled. “Freudian slip. Now I know what you’re really thinking about, Kit Cat.”
“I swear I was just thinking about this ring and how gorgeous it is. That’s all.”
I tipped her chin up to me. “You should know better than to put dirty ideas in my head.”
She swallowed. “Sorry.”
I looked around. “You ready to get out of here?”
“Are you propositioning me for a one night stand?”
“If that’s what you’re into tonight,” I winked.
“We’re weirdos, aren’t we.”
“Yes,” I said. “We’re misfits. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
THE END