“I don’t care. What do you prefer?”
“I don’t really care either, but I don’t want to spend the entire time at a beach, plus we were in Hawaii not too long ago. I think it might be boring. I don’t know if I want to go back to Europe since we were just there as well. Honestly, we could just stay home all day for two weeks, and I’d be OK with that.” Anywhere with Jake sounded heavenly.
“How about we go to an island in Southeast Asia for about five days and stay in one of those huts you mentioned on your list? I have to keep pecking away at your list. Then, let’s go to Japan for the rest of the honeymoon. You can eat a formal kaiseki meal this time without any tears, and even take some cooking classes. I’d love to get a better sense of where you lived. There are many hot springs we can visit and we can also stay in Tokyo and enjoy the city life.”
“That’s a fantastic idea! My students would love to meet you. I’ll call the travel agent and make all the necessary arrangements.”
“OK, what’s next?” he asked, trying to get up from his corner to come toward my corner. I stopped him and told him we needed to finish our discussion first.
“Dinner menu. What do you want to eat? I’m not crazy about the usual steak and potato meal, but I also don’t want to have all fish just in case our guests may not like fish.”
Jake had no problem coming up with an answer for this quandary.
“Emily, that one is easy. Let’s not do a sit-down dinner. Let’s have different food stations and hire local restaurant chefs. For example, we can call your dream sushi chef—you know the one who studied under Masa—and have his crew come and do a sushi and sashimi station. We can also have a pizza station, and a tapas station. I’ll have Dad call his connections, and there will be a nice steak and veggie station. Oh, we should also call Gram’s favorite Italian restaurant and have the chef come over and do a pasta station.”
Jake’s idea sounded divine. I could only think of two problems. First, could the chefs commit at the last hour and second, the cost. We were looking to have at least five of LA’s best chefs come and cater our wedding. As much as I liked the idea, I didn’t think it was realistic.
Jake saw the doubtful look on my face.
“What’s the matter now?” The foot massage stopped.
“Do you think we can get all these chefs to cater our wedding on such short notice?”
“Fourth of July is on a Sunday, and most of these chefs don’t work on Sundays. I’ll have my dad, the chief, and Gram call all of them. They won’t be able to refuse. If they themselves can’t come, they can always send sous chefs.” He seemed quite sure of himself, so I decided to trust him on this one. “What else?”
This last point I didn’t know if I should bring up. I knew that Jake didn’t like me talking about money.
“Well…what about the cost? The chefs and sous chefs alone will be a fortune, plus you’re talking sushi and Wagyu beef.”
“Emily, you really worry too much about how much things cost. We’re only having seventy-five guests. Let’s splurge on the food. I thought you’d be ecstatic with this idea. You’re the foodie.”
“I am excited! This is probably the best idea I’ve heard all week but…”
“No, buts. It’s decided. Are we done?” He came toward me with a naughty grin.
“No.” I pushed him back to his original corner. “Just a little more and we’ll be done.
Jake obediently sat back in his seat, waiting for me to continue so he can go on with his agenda for the evening.
“What shall we do about…?” I couldn’t bring up this topic. It was so embarrassing. Maybe I would just talk to Mom and not include Jake. But, then again, he was the other half of a baby so it would be wise to include him in this discussion.
“About what?”
“Never mind.” I changed my mind. I couldn’t do it. “I’ll talk to Mom tomorrow about it.”
“Emily. Speak now or we’re done talking for the night. I didn’t come home early just to talk. We, no I, have more urgent needs.”
“OK. What do we do about birth control? Do you want to have a baby right away?”
“Are we actually talking sex?” Indubitably, his face lit up.
“Yes, we’re talking about sex. What do you want to do?”
“That’s up to you. What do you want to do? I’m OK with trying to make a baby tonight if you agree to it,” he shined a devious grin, “or we can wait till whenever you are ready. Do you want to come see Carole at the hospital? She’s an OB/GYN.”
“You’re OK with whatever I decide? Maybe I’ll go on the pill. I don’t know. Can you make an appointment for me so I can go in and see the doctor?”
“Sure. Are we finally done?” Jake was agitated now.
“Just one more topic. I need to talk to you about Max.”
Jake looked perplexed and tentative when he heard Max’s name. We still couldn’t seem to talk about my ex without any tension.
“What about him? I actually saw Max and Peter at the hospital today.”