The Morning After
Elsie woke up. No Sam. Now what? “Fawn? Jigsaw?”
The dogs were gone as well. What time was it? For that matter, what day was it? Hearing the birds outside the window chirping was reassuring, but she still wanted to know where everyone was. She sat up and looked down. Still dressed? “Oh, oh yeah.” She wondered what she must smell like, and considered throwing herself along with her clothes into the washing machine.
Rising from the bed reminded her that she wasn’t a teenager anymore. “Owwww.” That marathon burr-surgery on top of the stress and sleep deprivation, plus being in bed for far longer than she was used to, added up to a sizeable body-ache. First thing’s first, though. She opened the bedroom door and called out, “SAM?”
Sam popped his head around the corner. “Ah, good timing. We have a new adventure today.” He made a full appearance, dressed in a robe and slippers.
“NO! No new adventures. Boring! Today will be boring by order of the Queen.”
“Sorry, the peasants, us, are revolting. Seriously, we are in serious need of a bath, of coffee, and of nibbles. So, come with me, your deposed highness. You’re just in time for a little surprise. Trust me. You’ll be pleased.”
He led her to the master bathroom, and pleased indeed was the ex-Queen. For the first time since they moved in, the original purpose of that monster Jacuzzi was finally achieved. Mugs and carafe were on the built-in table against the wall, and her house robe had been placed on the wall-peg by the tub steps.
“Took me a while to find the switch, but get this.” Sam reached to the far side of some shelves that they had stacked some towels and washcloths on and tripped the switch. There was a rumble at first, soon accompanied by the appearance of bubbles and currents in the tub.
Elsie began stripping, whispering, “Mine, mine, mine, mine…” It was a while before any other word found in Webster’s was uttered. ‘Ahh’ was heard a lot, featuring several variations on vowels.
The hour spent in the tub left fingers and toes wrinkled, but it was so worth it. “Sam, you are a keeper. Let’s elope.”
“Funny you should bring that up. After yesterday’s activities, I was thinking this morning that we’d better get that item on our bucket list accomplished before another tornado hits. Let me ask you a few things, and if you answer like I think you will, then I may have a nice idea to run by you. Game?”
Elsie held out her mug, which received the final drops of the carafe. “I’m listening.”
“First, how formal do you want our wedding to be?”
“I had formal with Raul. So did you with Gracie, you told me once. I’d rather we do it different, so make it less formal.”
“Gotcha, Dear. Now, I’m thinking something maybe three weekends from the last one. Would you mind something out of doors?”
Elsie had thought of the options of either a church or a synagogue before. Doing outdoors would eliminate the ethnic question. “I’m ok with that, weather permitting.”
“Good. I do have a back up plan if things go inclement on us, but here’s what I have in mind. Tell me what you think.”
Fifteen minutes later, Elsie simply said, “Perfect.”
The rest of the day was spent with preparations. Calls went out to some, e mails to others, post cards (computer generated) were sent to those who did not ascribe to electronic approach and weren’t close enough in their inner circles to warrant a phone call. Sam’s clientele list was contacted (including both customers and sales folk he had interacted with most often in the past), and Elsie’s former salon and current dog grooming clients received a blanket invitation. Similar cards were delivered all up and down their street. All invites gave the option of either bringing a covered dish or dessert for an after-ceremony pot luck, or a bag of dog or cat food that would be donated to the SPCA. Parking was a consideration that took a few days of reaching out to neighbors to accomplish, but all were more than willing to help once they heard the plans. A Justice of the Peace was opted for, again keeping theology overtones from entering into the equations, though a joint Jewish/Christian ceremony was discussed. The theme, though, was to keep it simple as possible.
In two weeks time, there were enough RSVP’s accounted for to get a ball park idea on numbers of tables, chairs, refreshments and, for those relatives traveling long distances, sleeping arrangements.
The time flew by. Regular office hours were kept up with both businesses, and the Romp continued its neighborhood popularity uninterrupted. There were more attendees to the Romp of late who didn’t have dogs, but loved to see the canine frivolity anyway.
Before they knew it, the morning of THE DAY arrived.