The Beginning, page 22
part #0.50 of Off Screen Series
Addison looked at Tom to clarify. Surely, he was not suggesting infidelity.
Tom glanced over and chuckled at the young woman’s expression. “I’m not suggesting you change cars,” he said. “Sometimes you do change drivers. One of you plots the course and the other follows along. Then you get tired and switch again. And then, when the kids come? Well, then it’s stop and go all the time. Sometimes you wish you could just be alone with your wife in the damn car again and drive forever without having to stop so often.”
Addison considered the analogy that Emma’s father offered. He had a way of breaking things down into common sense explanations that Addison appreciated.
Tom stole an occasional glance at Addison as she pondered his words. Her expression seemed to move from pensive to amusement until he noted a resolved smile. He tried not to smirk.
“When are you going to ask her?” he wondered. He laughed heartily when Addison’s body lifted from the seat in alarm. “I wasn’t born yesterday,” he winked. “You two have been together over a year. Makes sense to me.”
Addison sighed.
“Did you already buy a ring?” he asked curiously.
Addison nodded. “Would you be okay with it? I mean if Emma wanted to?”
Tom laughed harder. “Would that matter?”
“Yes,” Addison answered honestly.
Tom sighed. “I just want Emma to be happy,” he said. “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you it’s what I pictured.”
“I understand,” Addison said tacitly,
“But, yes, Addison. I’m more than okay with it.”
“If she says yes.”
“If?” Tom shook his head. “Why would she say no?” He watched as Addison shifted her gaze out the window. “I ended up asking Sherry in the middle of skinny dipping.”
“What?” Addison chuckled.
“No one knows that. I did. I was such a chicken shit. She made some crack about me getting her naked before I even bought her a ring. I told her I would never sully her good name, even though I already had done that repeatedly.” He winked.
Addison shook her head and continued laughing.
“So, I pulled her out of the river, made her get dressed, brought her to the jewelry store, and then got down on one knee with the ring she chose and asked her properly.”
“You made that up.”
“Nope. That’s how it happened,” he said.
Addison laughed.
“If you’re really worried, take her skinny dipping. That’s my advice.”
“I’ll consider it an option,” Addison said.
“Good. And whatever you do, when she wants the driver’s seat? Take my advice and let her have it. She’s a lot like Sherry. She’ll run your ass right into a pole just to wake you up if you’re not paying attention.”
Addison nodded. It was not the conversation she had anticipated, but oddly, she felt better. Skinny dipping, road trips, and watch out for poles. Maybe she could do this after all.
***
“What are we doing here?” Emma asked her mother.
“You suddenly have an aversion to dress shopping?” Sherry raised a brow.
“No. Culper’s is not a dress shop. It’s a bridal shop.”
“Can’t fool you,” Sherry said as she made her way toward the door.
“Mom!”
“What?”
“Why are we at Culper’s?” Emma asked suspiciously.
“Touchy?” Sherry asked. “Relax, I dropped off my dress for the Fireman’s Fundraiser for Delia to alter. She called this morning to say it was ready—before you had your little marriage breakdown over breakfast,” Sherry explained.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Sherry winked. “Come on, let’s go. Your father and Addison will end up beating us home at this rate.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Of all the places we could end up.”
***
Addison laid down on the bed in the room she was sharing with Emma and decided to close her eyes for a few moments. She had enjoyed the day with Emma’s father. It was nice to have a few minutes alone to decompress. She groaned when her cell phone rang. “Thank you for calling, Addison is unavailable at the moment. Please—”
“Knock it off Addy!” Tamara yelled. “I can’t believe you are really doing it.”
“Is taking a nap is a crime or something?”
“Getting married.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You and Emma getting married.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Addy! It’s all over the internet.”
“Tamara, last week one internet site claimed Emma was really a man. Come on.”
“So, you are not—”
“No. Wait, hold on—shit. Bellson’s calling. I gotta go.”
“Addy, they said—”
“Tam, please—I have to go. I will call you later,” Addison said before accepting Don Bellson’s call.
***
Emma was just about to enter her old bedroom when her phone rang. “Hey, Jeff.”
“Holy shit, Em.”
“What?”
“Is there something you want to tell me? I was wondering why you were acting weird last week.”
“What are you rambling about?” Emma laughed.
“Bellson is going nuts. He can’t believe how this has exploded,” Jeffery said.
“Jeffery–what the hell are you talking about?” Emma asked forcefully.
“Haven’t you been online at all?”
“No. Addy and I are on a deliberate press blackout, thank God.”
Jeffrey paused. “So—You aren’t getting married while you are in Kansas?”
***
“Bellson, what are you talking about?”
“Emma just happens to leave a bridal shop with a dress while you are in Kansas and that means nothing?” Bellson asked.
“Emma bought a wedding dress?” Addison asked. “You’re nuts,” she dismissed his comment.
“Addison, it is all over the internet, pictures of her leaving with a dress in a bag. I am not nuts. You’re trying to tell me that you are not getting married?” he asked skeptically.
“What the hell is it with you and marriage?” Addison yelled. “No! It’s not happening. I think I would know if I was getting married, don’t you? I am not getting married, so just get over it!” Addison turned and found Emma staring at her from the doorway. The expression on Emma’s face caused a large lump to rise into Addison’s throat. It was an expression Addison was sure she had never seen. “I have to go,” she said. Without another word, she disconnected the call.
Addison stood staring silently at Emma. She wasn’t sure what to say. Emma appeared to be teetering between breaking down into tears and screaming in anger. Addison realized that her words must have sounded harsh to Emma’s ears. She was sick and tired of Don Bellson and still angry with him for his insistence on changes to Off Screen. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Em…”
Emma nodded thoughtfully. “Heard the news, huh?” she asked far more stoically than Addison would have anticipated.
Addison nodded. “Look, it’ll pass.”
“What will pass, Addison?”
“Once they realize we aren’t getting married it will settle down.”
“That would be horrible,” Emma said.
“What?”
“Us getting married,” Emma said.
Addison felt her heart lurch in her chest.
“What is it that you find so offensive, Addison?” Emma asked.
Addison was confused.
“Is it the entire concept of marriage or just the concept of being married to me that you find so objectionable?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Addison asked.
“I’m just asking a question.”
“Jesus, Emma. Where is this coming from? You are the one who compared the importance of a marriage to me to drinking coffee!” Addison shot back.
“What?”
“Didn’t you? That’s what you told Jennifer Daly, right?”
“I swept in to save your ass because apparently the mere idea that anyone might possibly suggest that we might ever get married freaked you out so much you were rendered speechless!”
“I was not freaked out!”
“Really? So, it is just being married to me then. Right?”
“Emma, I seriously do not know where this is coming from.”
“I don’t have an issue with marriage. I have a problem with marriages made for the wrong reasons. It would never happen. I should know. Isn’t that what you said to Bellson? It would never happen. Your words, not mine,” Emma said as her tears began to surface.
Addison put her face in her hands and started to chuckle.
“You think this is funny?” Emma yelled as her tears spilled over.
Addison closed the distance between them and smiled at Emma. She reached out and Emma jerked away from her touch.
“It’s not funny, Addison,” Emma said as her tears continued to fall.
Addison wiped Emma’s tears away with her thumbs and took Emma’s face in her hands. She kissed Emma tenderly on the lips and tucked Emma’s hair behind her ears. “It is kind of funny,” Addison said. Emma bristled, and Addison directed her face upward. “I didn’t know you heard any of that conversation,” she said.
“Obviously.”
“Em,” Addison said as he held Emma’s face tenderly. “I wasn’t talking to Bellson about us.”
Confusion and hopefulness played in Emma’s eyes.
“I was talking about Genevieve.”
“I don’t understand.”
Addison chuckled and kissed Emma again gently. She wondered if this was one of the poles Emma’s father had warned her about earlier. “Bellson signed Dan Starr. That’s why I was at the office all week. He wants the character written in as Genevieve’s faux husband.”
Emma stood dumbfounded.
Addison wiped away a few remaining tears from Emma’s cheeks and sighed before she turned toward the door.
“You’re leaving?” Emma asked in disbelief.
Addison made her way to her bag and reached inside. She turned back around to face Emma and shook her head. “This is not exactly how I imagined this, but I guess it beats skinny dipping.”
“What are you talking about?” Emma asked.
Before Emma could say another word, Addison had dropped to one knee in front of her. She held out the box and opened it for Emma to see. “I really planned this to be more romantic. I mean, I certainly didn’t plan to ask you at the end of an argument.”
“Addy?”
“You think I don’t want to marry you? Emma, there isn’t anything in this world I want more than to marry you. I’m sorry if I ever made you question that in any way. I guess—I’m asking if you would consider—"
“Get off your knees, you fool.” Emma giggled. She pulled Addison up and kissed her. “Of course, I will marry you, Addy.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” Emma chuckled.
Addison pulled out the ring and slipped it onto Emma’s finger shakily.
Emma steadied her hand. “It’s just me, Addy.”
Addison shook her head as a tear rolled over her cheek. “Em, you are everything to me,” she said honestly.
Emma kissed Addison passionately and then rested their foreheads together. “Will you just hold me for a while?” she asked. The emotional toll of the last few minutes left her unsteady.
“As long as you want me to,” Addison promised. She took Emma’s hand and led her to the bed.
Emma’s head collapsed onto Addison’s shoulder. She played with the ring on her finger, admiring it. “How did you know?”
“How did I know?” Addison was puzzled.
“What kind of ring to buy.”
“Oh. You were looking at them late one night on your computer. You had your headphones on when I came into the kitchen. You didn’t hear me.”
Emma propped herself up and looked at Addison. Her eyes sparkled with affection and Addison smiled. “You saw me looking at rings?”
Addison shrugged.
“When did you buy this ring?”
“Right before we left for New York,” Addison explained.
“So—it was you buying the ring.”
“What? How did you—”
Emma kissed Addison. “Jeffrey called. Apparently, my visit to the dress shop was online within minutes. That prompted a certain jewelry store clerk to make some comments.”
Addison shook her head. “Did you actually buy a wedding dress?”
Emma laughed. “Don’t believe everything you hear,” she reminded Addison. “Things are not always as they appear.”
“So, you didn’t?”
“No. Mom had a dress altered. We stopped to pick it up after lunch.”
Addison laughed. “Will it ever end?”
“What’s that?” Emma asked.
“People who assume they know what we are doing when we don’t know what the hell we are doing?” Addison asked.
“Probably not,” Emma admitted. “Still want to marry me?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Good,” Emma said. “Now, keep practicing those three words.”
“What three words?”
“Yes. I. Do,” Emma said with a yawn.
Oh, boy. I guess we know who gets the driver’s seat first.
Chapter Fifteen
“Are you sure that you are all right with this?” Emma asked.
“With what? Getting married, getting married in Kansas, or getting married in front of other people?” Addison asked.
“Cute, Addy. All of it, I guess.”
Addison moved to Emma and took her into an embrace. “Yes. Yes. And, as the song says I will survive.”
Emma giggled. “It’s not that many people, honey.”
“Emma, I would have gotten married at the Hollywood Bowl if that is what you had wanted.”
Emma knew that was true. “I love you.”
“I know,” Addison answered.
“Mm. Channeling Han Solo today?” Emma asked.
“Why? Do you want to play stormtrooper invasion before we leave?” Addison wiggled her eyebrows.
Emma rolled her eyes. “You should write sitcoms.”
“Are you saying my love scenes are funny?” Addison asked indignantly.
Emma burst out laughing. “Only when you fall off the end of the bed,” she said. With a kiss to Addison’s cheek. She started toward the door.
“Once! I fell off the bed once!”
“And, it was a graceful fall.” Emma kept laughing.
“Are you ever going to let me forget that?”
“Maybe after fifty years,” Emma offered.
“Great. Do I get credit for time served or does the clock start ticking when it becomes official on Saturday?” Addison asked.
“Time served?” Emma turned around.
“Yeah.”
“Addison, are you comparing our marriage to imprisonment?” Emma asked stoically.
“What? No! I,” Addison fumbled.
Emma folded her arms across her chest and pretended to be annoyed.
“Em, I—”
Emma couldn’t hold back any longer and started laughing.
“Oh. That was mean,” Addison grumbled.
“I’m sorry.” Emma kept laughing. “You are adorable when you ramble.”
“Glad that I can keep you amused.”
Emma winked at Addison. “Come on. Maybe after dinner I will take you to the dark side.”
“Lesbian storm troopers?” Addison chuckled.
“No, Lesbian Jedi,” Emma replied as she stepped through the front door.
“Oo! They can levitate, you know?” Addison called after her.
“It’s not the levitation that you need to worry about, honey. It’s the landing.”
Addison closed the door behind her. “One time! It was one time!”
***
“What is wrong with you?” Tamara asked her best friend through a fit of giggles.
Addison Blake looked at the woman across the room and frowned. Right now, she was finding it difficult to see the humor in anything. A year had passed far more quickly than Addison was able to fathom. Life was good. In actuality, life was better than good, it was incredible. The television show she had created, Off Screen, was a critical and commercial success. She was fortunate that she had cultivated a positive atmosphere on the set and enjoyed friendships with much of the cast and crew off of the set. Best of all, she went home every night to the person she loved more than anyone.
Addison closed her eyes and sucked in a ragged breath. She was a nervous wreck and she wasn’t sure why. Tomorrow, she would stand next to Emma as they committed their lives to one another. She had thought she would be excited. At this moment, all she felt was terrified. “What is wrong with me?” she mumbled.
“Addy? You’re not having second thoughts, are you? Cold feet?” Tamara inquired gently.
Addison chuckled. “About marrying Emma? Never,” she said definitively.
Tamara raised her hands in questioning. Addison sighed.
“It’s all the people.”
“Addy, there aren’t that many people coming. That’s why you two decided to get married here,” she reminded her friend.
“A hundred people is a lot!” Addison argued.
Tamara laughed. “You’ve been in front of thousands of people. Strangers, I might add,” Tamara said. “These are all people that one of you knows. Why are you so nervous?”
Addison shrugged. “I just want it to be perfect for Emma,” she confessed.
“Well, far be it from me to ride that sappy wagon we all know you love, but I think as long as you are there, that will be all Emma needs for it to be perfect,” Tamara said sincerely.
“I knew you were a romantic at heart,” Addison winked.
Tamara rolled her eyes.
“She’s dreamed about this day her whole life.”
“So, have you,” Tamara replied.
“I guess. Maybe not the same way, though.”
“I know. You’re weird, Addy.”
Addison laughed. “Don’t hold back, Tam.”
