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Designed Intent
Chapter 51
Saturday Afternoon
Bobby and Gleason sat across from each other in a booth beside the window. Gleason examined a pocket calendar.
"The Samhain is two weeks from today," she looked up at him – he had no clue, "Martinmas – the end of summer holiday. It's the Wiccan New Year." Bobby looked at her as if she was speaking Greek. "It's a good day, Love. You are off that weekend, too." She looked at him and saw joy.
"Two weeks. I can't wait." Bobby took her hands in his and rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles. He looked up suddenly, "Honey," and then he looked at the tabletop, "Honey, that isn't, uhm, is that, oh. . ."
"What?"
His head tilted left and he licked his lips, this was hard for him to ask, "Will your period be then?" he whispered, looked down and turned very red.
Gleason chuckled and squeezed his hands, "No, Sweet, it won't be then." She smiled and he still could not look at her. "Will we need witnesses, or will the court provide them?" Gleason asked, changing the subject.
Bobby looked up and said, "I'd like to ask Lewis to be my best man." He saw a shift in her look. Who would be her witness?
"Do we need two witnesses?" she asked.
"I think so."
Gleason thought and then looked at him and said, "Bobby, who else should be a witness? Do I need to find a female witness?"
Bobby looked at her and knew there was no one she could ask. It was apparent that Gleason had no real friends.
"I could ask Alex. Would that be ok?"
Bobby did not want Alex to be a part of their day. He did not want to say no to Gleason but, more importantly, he did not want Alex to be involved. He took her hand again and said, "What about Lewis's girlfriend, Sheila?"
Gleason knew Bobby did not want to mingle work with his private life. She had never met Sheila but said, "That's a good idea."
Bobby smiled and knew she acquiesced to please him. "Uhm, we, we need to look for a ring for you." He smiled, knowing that her ring was nearly complete. He and Tim had arranged to have Gleason come in and try on gold bands to get a size. Tim would then size the ring Bobby had designed and it would be ready for the big day.
"We each need a ring, Bobby. I want you to wear a ring, it is important to me. Will you wear one for me?"
"Of course Honey, of course. I want to. I want you with me all the time." They smiled silently. "Let's go to Tim's gallery and see what we can find."
Gleason smiled and looked down. Bobby saw a tear fall. "Honey, what's wrong? Gleason?"
She looked up and her blue eyes held puddles. Her nose was pink and she wiped it with a paper napkin.
"Honey? Why are you crying? What's wrong?"
She sniffed and said, "Nothing, Love. I just cannot believe we are going to look for wedding bands." She covered her face and cried softly. Bobby reached across the table and held onto her wrist.
The server stopped to refill their cups, saw Gleason crying and asked quietly, "Do you want a fill up or the check?"
Bobby smiled broadly and said, "The check, please." He reached into his back pocket for his handkerchief and gave it to Gleason, "Here, Honey." Gleason took the cloth and smiled at him. "Are you ok?" he asked bending to look up at her face.
She nodded and smiled, "You must think I'm crazy," she sniffed and smiled.
"Come on, Sweetheart; let's go find us some gold." Bobby pulled his money clip from his front pocket and set bills on the table. He took Gleason's hand and led her to the door.
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The door jingled and Tim looked up. A smile brightened his face as he and Bobby looked at each other. "Well, hello, my friend. What can I do for you today?"
"Um, we are, we're looking for wedding bands, Tim."
Tim feigned his surprise and shook Bobby's hand. He pressed Gleason's hand between his and looked at his friend. "She's a keeper, Bobby. You have done well."
Bobby and Gleason both blushed. "What have you got for us to see, Tim?"
They spent the better part of an hour looking at rings, trying them on and selected a matching pair of slim gold bands. Bobby's size eleven and Gleason's size five were set aside with engraving instructions.
Bobby and Tim shook hands and Tim gave Gleason a peck on the cheek.
The couple held hands as they walked back to the car. He opened her door and helped her up then rounded the front, watched for traffic and joined her.
"So, do you like the rings?" Bobby asked with a smile.
"Yes. I still cannot believe we are getting married!"
Bobby leaned over and kissed her. "I guess I should call the judge. What time should we do it?"
"Doesn't that depend on when the judge is available?"
"No, he's a good guy. Any preferences?"
"It doesn't matter so long as it's on the half hour."
"You mean like two-thirty, four-thirty?"
"Aye, a legend says that marriages that occur with the minute hand rising will last longer."
"Ok, what time?"
Bobby called Judge Weisenstein and asked if he would be available at four-thirty the Saturday after next. The judge was delighted, and honored, to do the deed. Next, they drove to Lewis's auto shop in Long Island City and Bobby asked his best friend to be his best man.
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"Are you kidding me?! Married?" Lewis was in shock.
Bobby nodded, smiled, shuffled and blushed.
"Oh. My. God. Bobby! I cannot believe this," Lewis was stunned. He stood with his mouth open, looking from Bobby to Gleason. Then, to Gleason he said, "Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your life with this man? Have you even met him?"
Gleason laughed with her head thrown back, "Oh, yes, Lewis, I have met him and I love him. He is the rest of my life."
Bobby put his arm around her and hugged her close. Lewis went on, "Bobby Goren is getting married. Oh my God! The end of an era. Wait till I tell Mom – Bobby, this will kill her. Do you know what kind of pressure you are putting on me now? She'll never leave me alone. Good grief, she's finally eased up a bit with the, 'Well, Bobby has a real job. He wears a suit everyday.'" Lewis mimicked in a falsetto voice.
"Oh, come on, Lewis. Let up. It's not such a big deal," Bobby told his friend then quickly added, "Yes, it is a big deal. Isn't it?" He smiled down at Gleason and she smiled back up.
Gleason asked Lewis if Sheila would be her witness.
"Uh, well, you see, uh, Sheila and me, we kinda, well, I kinda broke up with her. Sorry."
"Oh, I see. Ok." Gleason was embarrassed and stepped closer to Bobby. He hugged her closer.
Bobby moved the conversation away with, "Well, Lewis, this means a suit and tie. You have two weeks to clean up. Do you have a suit?" Bobby laughed but secretly wondered.
"Yes, I have a suit, Jesus Bobby. Listen, I have to go pick up Mom. I'll talk to you this week. Congratulations again, man. Gleason he's a lucky, lucky guy."
She smiled and looked down and the two men shook hands. Lewis walked back into his garage and the couple turned.
They were quiet as they drove back to the apartment. Bobby's cell rang on the way and he checked the number, "Lewis, what's up?"
"Uh, Bobby, Mom wants to know if she can come to your wedding. She says she wants to see at least one of her boys be an honorable man."
Bobby chuckled and said, "Well, sure, I guess. Let me see what Gleason says." He put the phone against his chest and said, "It's Lewis, his mom wants to come to the wedding. She would always take me in when Mom was really bad."
"Certainly, that would be wonderful." Maybe she would be my witness, Gleason thought. Then her mind went to Mrs. Goren. Bobby's mother said she wanted to be at their wedding. Gleason looked at Bobby.
"Yes, four-thirty. I'll talk to you before then. Bye." He slipped his phone back into his left pocket and reached for her hand.
"Bobby, what about your mom, she has said she wants to be there when we get married." She looked at him and saw the change. Bobby's head tilted to the left and his hand went slack around hers. His lips were tight and he breathed deeply through his nose. "Love?"
Bobby said nothing and they were silent the whole way home. He parked around the block from their apartment and they walked home hand-in-hand. Neither said a word until he was hanging up her wrap and his jacket. Gleason knew he needed this silent time to think through the idea of his mother being at the wedding.
"Gleason, I'm not sure about having Mom there," he said softly. "She's, she's not stable. This last thing, her new hallucination, she lost it pretty badly. Honey, I'm not sure."
Gleason crossed to him, took his arms in her hands, and looked up at him. "Dearheart, it is up to you if you want your mother there. You know what is best for her. What will we tell her? She will know when she sees the rings. You don't want to keep this from her, do you?"
He took her in his arms and spoke into the top of her head. "No, no, we need to tell her. She will want to know; we will just tell her we did it on the spur of the moment. That no one knew but us."
"Whatever you want, Love. She is your mom, you know what's best." She hugged him and they rocked gently.
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