He took her hand and led her to the door.
"Darling, be careful".
"I am, I am".
He looked through the peephole, and then opened the door.
"SURPRISE!"
It was his entire office and their dates and spouses. They had all changed into sweats and t-shirts and brought alcohol and appetizers.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We decided to bring the afterparty to you!"
They all started flooding the house.
He turned and kissed her.
"It's fine. They love you, it's sweet. We are only getting engaged once. It's fine".
She went to the bedroom and took her shoes off and then came back.
Everyone was pouring shots and making drinks and passing appetizers around.
"Mr. Hart, if you and Miss Edwards will pour yourselves a shot of whatever you want, we will do a toast."
"Got it."
They went behind the bar and he poured himself a shot of scotch, while she doctored something for herself. She found an almost empty vodka bottle behind the bar. While he wasn't looking, she poured the rest of it into another bottle, and rinsed and refilled the vodka bottle with water. She poured herself a couple "vodka" shots and then went and stood by him.
"To the greatest boss ever, and to his beautiful fiancé".
"Cheers!"
They all took their shots and refilled.
They did several rounds of shots. Everyone kept hitting their glass so Jonathan and Jennifer would kiss.
He introduced her to everyone who was there.
"Why don't we make ourselves a plate, darling?"
"Sounds great. I'm just going to go slip this dress off, so I don't get anything on it".
He handed her his cummerbund and tie and jacket. She took them in the bedroom with her.
She came back out of the bedroom a few minutes later in some yoga pants and a t-shirt.
They made themselves a plate and then came and sat with everyone in the living room.
"You guys are so sweet to want to celebrate our engagement with us".
"It's kind of an office tradition, to storm the house of the engaged person as soon as they announce it".
"So, Mr. Hart, how did you two meet?"
"Well, it's kind of a long story. We met in a bar in London, and then we ended up on a plane together coming to New York, that crashed. Jennifer and I were the only survivors".
"Did you know then that you wanted to marry her?"
"No, he didn't".
They all laughed.
"He told me in the cab on the way to the airport that I shouldn't plan on getting a second date with him."
"So, what was your first thought when you realized that you two had survived the plane crash?"
"I was absolutely frozen. And then we had to figure out how to survive. Thankfully, we only had to survive two days on an island before we were rescued. But we both went through the whole spectrum of emotions."
"Yeah, that's true. And we parted after that, after we were rescued, as friends. And then I came back to New York about a month or so after she moved to New York from London, and we started a relationship. We have been on and off for a few months, and for the past 2 months, we have been pretty much on".
"And now we are permanently on".
She leaned over and kissed him.
Everyone ate and chatted and then about 30 minutes later, Jonathan stood up and made an announcement.
"Ok, guys, this was fun. And we appreciate it. But we are also tired. So, one final toast and then the afterparty is shutting down".
He helped Jennifer up, and everyone refilled their shot glasses.
Jennifer got her secret "vodka" bottle out and refilled hers and then poured Jonathan a shot of scotch.
"To Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Hart".
"Oh, I love the sound of that".
"Cheers!
She leaned up and kissed him and they took a drink.
"Ok everyone, thanks for coming. Have a good rest of your weekend. If you aren't ok to drive, speak up and we will call you a cab".
"We all took cabs here, Mr. Hart".
"Smart move".
They called for several cabs and then said their goodbyes.
Jonathan locked the door behind them, and turned out the lights.
Jennifer was in the kitchen cleaning up.
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek.
"I love you, and I'm so thankful you are going to marry me".
"I love you too, Mr. Hart. I'm a little in shock that you want to marry me".
"You are? Why wouldn't I want to marry you?"
"Because like you said, we've been through a lot. And a lot of what we have been through is my fault, darling".
"It's all in the past, baby."
She turned and embraced him.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
He kissed her and picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, stopping only so she could turn the lights off as they passed them.
"Darling, you are going to hurt yourself!"
"You're worth it. I promise".
***The next morning***
Jonathan and Jennifer slept in till almost 11.
Jonathan woke up when he heard Max come in.
He eased off the bed after kissing her cheek and put his robe on, and headed to the kitchen.
His head was pounding.
"Morning, Mr. H."
"Morning. How was your poker game?"
"Great. I cleaned up. Can I make you and Miss Edwards anything?"
"Not just yet. My head is killing me and she's still asleep".
"I take it you two was up late last night".
"Well, we got home and she called her dad to tell him the news, and then we were headed to bed when the doorbell rang".
"Who was it?"
"My office. I completely forgot about their tradition of invading people's homes when they get engaged".
"Invasion? You mean like coming through the windows?"
"No, nothing like that. They ring the doorbell and everyone brings appetizers and alcohol. And you do a bunch of toasts and just sit around shooting the breeze. We got home from the ball around 11:30. They didn't leave till almost 3".
He finally found the headache medicine and took some while Max made some coffee.
Max closed the kitchen door and started making his famous hangover drink.
After it was all blended together, he poured it into a glass and handed it to Jonathan.
"Here, Mr. H. Guaranteed to cure any headache and put hair on your chest".
"His chest is perfect just the way it is. Morning darling".
They turned to find Jennifer standing there next to him.
"Morning". He leaned down to kiss her.
"Morning, Max".
"Do you need a hangover drink too, Miss Edwards?"
"No, Max. I don't have a hangover".
Jonathan turned to her and looked at her incredulously.
"Darling, you did as many shots as I did".
"I know. But mine were shots of water. I figured with all those people in the house, one of us needed to be able to drive people home if they weren't able to, and Max was gone to his poker game, so I did shots of water while you did shots of scotch."
"You're very clever, did you know that?"
"I had an inkling".
She smiled at him and then grabbed a banana.
He pulled her into his lap.
"Ok, so after your headache is gone, I want to call my aunts. And we need to do some wedding planning before I call them".
"Like what?"
"Like we need to get an idea of when we want to get married. I know they are going to ask me. And while we are talking wedding planning, what do you think about having a private ceremony, just you, me, Max, Pa, my aunts, you know just family, and then having a big reception party for everyone else?"
"I want, whatever you want".
She puckered her lips for a kiss and he obliged.
In the end, they agreed to tell her aunts that they were engaged and getting married sometime in the coming months after her father was back in the states and that nothing else had been decided yet.
They headed to the den and sat on the couch. He was leaning up against her and she was scratching his chest with one hand and holding the phone with the other.
"Ok, here goes nothing".
She dialed Aunt Victoria's number, since she knew all three aunts usually had lunch there on Sunday.
She picked up on the third ring.
"Hello?"
"Aunt Victoria? It's Jennifer. Can you hear me?"
"Oh yes sweet girl, I can hear you. Hang on, let me put you on speaker phone so we can all hear you".
After they all chatted for a moment, Jennifer spoke up.
"Well, I called to tell you guys hi, and that we love you and we miss you, and we hope to see all of you in a few months at our wedding".
"Wedding? Did she say wedding?"
"I did. Jonathan asked me to marry him last night, and I was totally surprised."
"How wonderful! We are so happy for you, sweetheart!"
"Thank you. I will send you guys a pic of my ring soon, I promise".
"Jennifer, I will put the wedding box in the mail to you this week!"
"Thanks, Aunt Vic."
After saying their goodbyes, she hung up.
"Well, you have made three ladies in Boston, Massachusetts very, very happy."
"I gathered."
"But not as happy as one lady in Los Angeles".
"Mrs. Hawkins, my third grade teacher. She was always happy".
"No, I mean-"
"Now Mrs. Coleman, she was only happy on the days I was absent, and after I left her class".
"No-I was talking about-"
"Mrs. Diego, my 9th grade English teacher, she was never, ever happy".
"Are you done?"
"I can be".
"Good. Because I was talking about me, silly".
They sat there a little longer, and then Jennifer got up and went to get showered and dressed.
She had just gotten out of the shower, when Jonathan came in the bathroom.
"Baby, how about a drive along the coast?"
"Sure, that sounds fun".
They both got ready, and then headed out.
They talked about the wedding while they drove.
"I like the idea of an outdoor wedding, with lots of flowers, maybe an altar covered in flowers."
"That sounds nice. What about a beach wedding?"
"I love a beach wedding. But I'm a little concerned that my aunts can't really walk on the sand".
"We could find a venue with a view of the ocean".
"That's a good idea".
"Do you still want a ceremony with just family and then a big party?"
"Maybe, I don't know".
"Well, let's just take it one thing at a time. It will all come together."
She laced her fingers through his and rested her head against his shoulder as they drove.
"You know, I belong to a country club in downtown Los Angeles. I was going to cancel the membership, because I never go, but I haven't. We can go look at it, if you want. You have to be a member there in order to get married there, so there won't be a lot of competition for dates."
"That's a good idea".
"It's about 10 minutes up the road from here".
They pulled up and parked, and got out.
They walked inside and spoke to the receptionist.
"Hi, my fiancée and I would like to look at the wedding hall".
He handed his membership ID to them.
She looked at Jennifer.
"Are you a member here?"
"No, I'm not."
"Ok, here is a membership packet detailing our policies and pricing. Follow Ashley and she will give you a tour of the wedding hall".
They walked down a hallway towards the stand alone building at the other end of the property.
"Your guests will have their own entrance and parking lot. The wedding hall holds 750 guests. We offer a bridal suite to members, and you have the entire wedding hall for 12 hours on the day of your wedding."
They walked in and Jennifer was in awe. The room had a very European Renaissance feel to it. The room had everything that she loved-exposed brick walls, soft lighting, long tables with elegant centerpieces.
There was an outdoor patio area that had a street feel to it.
Jonathan stood back and let Jennifer just sort of plan everything out.
After about 20 minutes, she was positive she wanted to book it.
"So, if we had a private ceremony elsewhere and then came here for the reception, how long would we have the venue?"
"We cannot guarantee that you will be able to secure a date if you aren't getting married here, as we give priority to someone who wants to get married here".
"Ok, thank you".
They headed back to the receptionist desk, and Jennifer filled out the membership form and paid the dues. Jonathan filled out a form recommending her as a member.
"Someone will contact you this week regarding the membership decision".
"Thank you".
Jonathan spent a few moments inquiring about their latest remodeling campaign, and found out he was the only substantial contributor.
They headed back to the car, and she began to read the policy manual as they headed back home.
"Darling, we may need to find another place".
"Why?"
"Because this states that a ceremony and reception there will start at $75,000. That's too much for a wedding".
"We can more than afford it, if it's what you want, Jennifer. I mean, after all, you are supposed to only have one wedding day".
She put the book away and tried to enjoy the view as they headed back to the house.
Max had made them a special lunch, so they ate when they got home out on the patio.
"Darling, what do you have going on this week?"
"We have business dinners tomorrow night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night and Thursday night. Friday night we have a dinner party and Saturday night we have a gala to attend".
"I see."
"Plus, Wednesday afternoon, we are meeting with the appraiser at your house and we will finally get to go inside".
"Well, that makes me happy".
They spent a relaxing rest of the day together, and just enjoyed each other's company.