Page 25 of Fervor

“Oh my goodness! Harlem, that’s so cool! So, listen. You have to do some nice shit for her. Do you know anything about her?”

“Not really. I have the colors she chose for the wedding, which I’m cool with. I left everything up to her, but when it came to the food, she made a list of shit for me to choose from to be sure we had something I liked.”

“She’s thoughtful. So make sure her room is filled with flowers on the wedding day. Go buy her a gift. Will her family be there?”

“As far as I know, yeah. It’s my side that will look kind of shabby. It’ll just be you and Harlan.”

“Let me see the colors.”

I pulled up the email that Mrs. Joan sent me. When she looked at it, she said, “These colors are beautiful. Where will y’all honeymoon?”

“I’m taking her to Tahiti.”

“Damn, bruh! How long is that flight?”

“Damn near a whole day. Like fifteen hours from Houston since we couldn’t get a direct flight from Tallahassee.”

“Shit!” they said in unison, then laughed.

“I bought first-class tickets. I want to show her luxury and give her the world. I want this shit to work.”

“Well, fuck. If a nigga was taking me to Tahiti, I would want that shit to work too!” Char laughed more, then said, “Let me check this shit out.”

She started looking up shit on her phone, while Harlan and I talked about our attire and where he needed to be fitted. We would be wearing gray suits. I was wearing the purple tie, and he would wear the seafoam green. I was getting somewhat anxious. The nuptials were two weeks away, and I just wanted to get to the venue outlined in the email. Our wedding would be in the evening, so I booked our flights for late that night, arriving in Tahiti early evening the next day. Well, with the five-hour time difference, it would be afternoon.

“Make sure you have adapters to charge your devices. Their electrical outlets are different there. You also want to have a VPN so nobody can steal your information. I’m gon’ get you all hooked up with the shit y’all need to make sure you have the best experience possible. Just make sure you buy her a gift and book massages and shit while y’all are out there.”

“Thanks, Char. My travel agent did all of that for me already. We got all kinds of shit to do. We’ll be there for nearly two weeks.”

“Damn. Honestly, Harlem, I could see this in you. You’ve always been kinder than your hardheaded ass brother.”

Harlan frowned as I chuckled. They had me excited about marrying my mystery woman, but for some reason, Yunique came to my mind again. I hate I missed out on her. I didn’t even know her, but shit if I didn’t want to attach myself to her in everyway. Harlan and Charmaine were going back and forth, but I just wanted to call Yunique.

This shit was on my last nerve. It was like I was craving her simply because I couldn’t have her. This wedding couldn’t get here fast enough.

They had me in a room with my brother, and I was pacing back and forth. I was nervous and anxious all at the same damn time. Those two weeks had dragged the fuck on. It seemed like it took a whole month to get to this day. Now we had to wait another thirty minutes before the wedding started.

As I paced, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see Mrs. Joan. She smiled big. “You look so nice, baby.”

“Thank you. This is my brother, Harlan.”

She smiled even bigger. “Are y’all twins?”

“No, ma’am. We’re a year apart.”

She nodded, and I glanced down at the box in her hand. She lifted it and handed it to me. “This is from your bride.”

My eyebrows lifted. I wasn’t expecting her to get me anything. I’d bought jewelry for her that I hoped she liked. I pulled the note from it and read it with a slight smile on my lips.

Hey, husband.

While I don’t know your interests, I wanted to get you something that I thought you might use. If not, there are no hurt feelings. I just didn’t want you to not have anything showing that I was thinking about you. I hope to please you inevery way, and I can’t wait to build a life… a beautiful life with you. See you in a little while.

Your Wife

I opened the box to find two boxes inside of it. I opened the smaller of them first to find a piece and chain. Shiiiiid, this was right up my alley. “Damn. This is nice.”

When I held it up, Harlan said, “Hell yeah. That’s diamonds on that cross.”