The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[abrightboy]

He took a breath, nodding as he glanced around.

"Yeah. It's beautiful. A perfect day." He looked over at her. "It's going to be a perfect day," he assured her.

[thatsfascinating]

"It really will be," she sighed happily. "I can't wait until you see the dress! It's really lovely. Total fairytale princess." She spread some butter and jam on her croissant and took a bite. "Mmm..." She swallowed. "What time were they delivering the wedding clothes?"

[abrightboy]

"Eleven o'clock." He took a tentative sip of tea. His stomach was not entirely happy and he wanted to keep the peace with it. "And the flowers are coming for twelve."

[thatsfascinating]

"The musicians are coming at twelve, too! Hopefully an hour is enough time for them to set up."

She took another bite.

The doorbell sounded.

She looked at Malcolm, eyes widened. "What time is it?"

[abrightboy]

He frowned faintly and tilted his hand back to look at his watch.

"It's only ten," he told her.

[thatsfascinating]

"Could they be early?"

She stood and headed inside to answer the door. A delivery man stood on the doorstep holding a huge floral arrangement and a bottle of champagne. He began to speak to her in French and she shook her head.

"I don't...Bright?" she called over her shoulder. "Someone sent us flowers."

[abrightboy]

He hurried over, asking the delivery man to start again.

"It's from the police," he told her, taking the items from the delivery man, handing Edrisa the champagne.

[thatsfascinating]

"Oh! That's so nice of them!" She took the champagne and smiled at the delivery man. "Merci beaucoup," she said, before heading in to put the champagne on the table.

[abrightboy]

"I guess it's a good thing we haven't told people. We have to fly back to the States in a few days."

Getting showered with gifts was... not the best for traveling.

He set the flower arrangement down, picking at a few of the ends on the pretense of straightening it a little, then he looked over at Edrisa.

"How are we going to tell everyone? Have you thought about how you're going to tell your parents?"

[thatsfascinating]

"I'll call them when we get home," Edrisa said, coming out of the kitchen with a pair of champagne flutes. She set them down on the table next to the bottle. "I have told them about you." She smiled warmly, a visible sign of all the love in her heart. "A lot about you." She raised her eyebrows. "How about your parents? I'd imagine it would be best to do it in person."

Of course, that would look a lot different for his father than for his mother.

[abrightboy]

"You have? Are they concerned?" he asked, assuming they wouldn't be happy with her choosing someone in his line of work if they didn't approve of hers.

At the mention of his parents, he huffed a laugh.

"Parent. My father doesn't need more ammunition."

[thatsfascinating]

"Concerned? Why would they be concerned? They know that I love you. And that you've been treating me extremely well." She smiled. "I never told them you're rich, but you did take me to France." His wealth didn't matter to her, but it did impress her parents.

She came over to him, slipping her hand into his.

"He's going to find out," she said softly. "Especially if your mother throws us a huge party."

[abrightboy]

He pressed his lips together.

"Maybe that's how he should find out," he said quietly.

[thatsfascinating]

"Maybe." She wasn't going to push. How they would deal with his father was entirely up to Malcolm. She just wanted to widen his perspective a little.

"How are we going to tell your mom?"

[abrightboy]

He sighed heavily and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I've been trying to think of a way that won't turn dramatic and uncomfortable and haven't found one."

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa watched him, her brow furrowed. She knew it wasn't an easy question. Knew Jessica wouldn't be happy that they eloped like this. There were good reasons to do it this way, and on the whole it was what she wanted...but he was obviously tormented by it.

Was this the way she wanted to get married.

"We don't have to do this," she said softly. "We can send everyone away. We could bring our wedding clothes home and get married in New York."

[abrightboy]

He shook his head vehemently.

"No," he insisted. "That's just doing it for everyone else and that's not what we wanted," he said desperately.

[thatsfascinating]

She pressed her lips, nodded, then threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.

"I love you, Bright," she said, burying her face in his neck. "I want you to be happy. That's the most important thing to me. I will be so, so happy to marry you today. But if you're happier getting married in New York, with your mother and sister there, I will be happy to do that, too. I don't want you to regret marrying me, ever."

[abrightboy]

He clung to her.

"How could I regret it? It's what I want. And I want to do it today. I just... don't know how to handle what's coming after today. But that's not about you or about what I want for us. It's about my anxiety and the problems with my brain."

[thatsfascinating]

She held onto him tightly.

"Whatever happens, we'll face it together. Your mother loves you, Bright. She might be upset at first, but at the end of the day she wants you to be happy, too. We can tell her together, first thing once we get back to New York."

[abrightboy]

He nodded, pressing his face against her temple.

"Okay. ....Okay. We'll... go over to her house and... tell her."

[thatsfascinating]

"Okay." She turned her head and kissed him gently, then pulled back to give him a smile.

"I should take a shower. Want to join me?"

[abrightboy]

A hint of a smile was starting to ghost back onto his face. He nodded, then looked at his watch. "Do we have time?"

[thatsfascinating]

She loved that smile so much, and beamed back at him.

"Assuming people aren't really early, I think we do." She stepped away, taking his hand and tugging him in the direction of the bathroom. "Come with me?"

[abrightboy]

"I'll go with you anywhere," he told her, letting himself be led. "And when the doorbell rings, I'll get it. The bride should have the extra time to get ready."