"How do I look, V?" I asked Vanessa as I smoothed down the same curl for what felt like the eightieth time. Damn thing wouldn't stay put!
My best friend came up to me and whirled me around with a hand on my shoulder. Her brown eyes scrutinized me from head to toe, and she let out a 'hmm' as if she was uncertain. When her eyes met mine again, she was grinning. "Christina, you look beautiful. I wish I could look this good!"
"Pfft," I scoffed at her, turning back around to face myself in the mirror, but it did feel good to hear her say that and the small smile that tugged at my lip proved it.
Vanessa had done my makeup herself: champagne smoky eyeshadow to bring out the brown in my eyes with deep burgundy lips. The makeup was bold and unlike me. Vanessa convinced me it would be perfect because what we were doing was bold. And it was the perfect contrast to my simple sweetheart white dress. When we were shopping, she wanted me to go for something with sequins and rhinestone embellishments and could not understand why I'd gone for satin with hints of lace. Since you can't win them all with Vanessa, regardless of the occasion, I now had large curls cascading out of a bun, a few strands framing this incredibly bold makeup. For once in my life, I couldn't look away from myself. Were we really going to do this?
A knock jolted me out of my thoughts and Vanessa swore under her breath.
She opened the door a crack, not letting me get a look, but I knew who it was. Blake had been knocking every ten minutes or so. My heart fluttered at his eagerness. I can't believe it's already been a year since that fiasco! I thought as I half-listened to Vanessa tell Blake that it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding for the seventh time today.
I remember being so unsure of myself with Blake when we first started dating all the way until I thought he was engaged to the woman who shall not be named. I didn't know how much he loved me and I couldn't comprehend that he'd loved me all of those years we'd been talking online. He loved me for me and no one else could match up, I'd heard it a billion times it felt like. He told me every morning when we kissed me awake and brought me breakfast in bed, he told me throughout the day through texts while we're at work, and he told me at night while we cooked dinner together. (We decided having a cook is simply not as fun as sharing a bottle of wine while cooking our favorite dishes together.)
Now I know exactly where we stand. He used to be so mysterious to me, and while he's still an incredibly alluring man in control of everything, his thoughts and decisions aren't a surprise anymore. It warmed me to know that he's still exactly as sexy as he always was, but now I know how he sees me and that we are and always will be one strong unit. Forever, after today.
After closing the door with her hip, Vanessa walked back over to me, grinning with two vodka martinis in her hand and shaking her head.
"He insisted," she said with a shrug as she handed me one. "Said something about limos and the first night you met?"
My cheeks flushed red as I remembered the night we met. I shifted in my wedding dress as I tried to push the dirty thoughts out of my head.
Quickly, I took a sip of my martini. As the flavor washed over my taste buds in what felt like forever, I couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear. "He remembered!"
Vanessa looked puzzled. "Remembered what?"
"This is the drink I ordered when we first met at that bar."
V and I giggled together as she started going off yet again about how she knew we were perfect for each other from the minute I told her I was chatting with him. We sat on the plush loveseat as we chatted and waited for the clock to strike and for it to be time to walk down the aisle. I didn't know what was in store for our future, but as I took another sip of my martini, I knew one thing for certain: Blake was still full of surprises. As Mrs. Slate, I intended to discover every single one.