“We may be on the same schedule but definitely not on the same pay scale. What’s up? You need to talk to Max?”
“No, I called to see if you and Max wanted to have dinner with us tonight. We have reservations at Urasawa at six.”
Peter salivated at the thought of eating at such a luxurious restaurant, but was unsure that they could get the night off. Listening to our conversation, Jake got on the line.
“Peter, I’ll talk to Carter and make sure that you and Max get a free night. I know he’s been working you. There’s a chance that he may want you to come in this morning instead so be ready.”
Jake got off the phone and jumped off his seat when he realized that he was going to be late. I walked out with him to say good-bye rather than grossing out Jane and Nick.
“I’ll see you tonight at six,” Jake said between kisses.
“You can’t join us any earlier?” I frowned at another day without Jake. “Are you always going to be this busy? I might go get a night job too if you’re going to come home in the wee hours of the morning all the time. It’s lonely without you.”
“I’m sorry, Emi. It should get better when the chief hires a new surgeon. Just think, in a couple of weeks, we’ll be off on our honeymoon and we’ll be together twenty-four hours a day for fourteen days. And finally, I won’t get kicked out of my own bed.”
We said another round of good-byes, and Jake left.
I finished getting ready and Nick, Jane, and I met Sarah at the department store for a final dress fitting for the ladies. We then walked a few blocks over and fit Nick in his groomsman’s tuxedo. When Nick walked out of the dressing room, all three of us ahh’ed.
“Nick, you look almost as handsome as your brother,” I gushed.
“Only in your eyes, Sis. I’m definitely the handsome one in the family,” Nick joked.
After Nick’s fitting, I finished registering for our wedding gifts. We made a pit stop at the dress shop so I could show Sarah and Jane the wedding dress. I felt like a princess again when they opened the curtain to show the bride.
“Oh, Emily. You look gorgeous! Has Jake seen you yet?” Jane asked in awe.
“No, he hasn’t. He won’t see me till the wedding day.”
“He’s going to go berserk when he sees you in this gown. As it is, he can’t keep his hands and lips off of you. Yuck! I shudder at the thought.” Jane literally shuddered at the thought. It was funny.
We had some time to kill so we walked into random shops and looked around. Without my knowledge, Jane and Nick had purchased a whole luggage set for us as a wedding gift. Since Nick was unemployed, Jane most likely paid for most of it. I was grateful for their generosity and love.
“Thank you both,” I said from the bottom of my heart. “I couldn’t ask for a better brother and sister.”
“We love you too, Emily. I’m glad that my brother found such a cool wife. You’re a great addition to our family,” Nick uttered while giving me a hug.
Going from an adult orphan to a big happy family, my less than stellar luck with family finally reversed itself.
With six o’clock fast approaching, we put half the suitcases in Jane’s car and the other half in Sarah’s car. They barely fit, but we got them all stored away before we walked to dinner.
We walked through the sliding wooden door into Urasawa and found Jake waiting for us at the sushi bar. There were only ten seats at the sushi bar and one table of four at this restaurant. The chef and owner would serve anywhere from twenty-five to forty courses during this one seating.
My walk hastened to a sprint toward Jake in this tiny restaurant. We embraced and I sat right next to him, holding his hand.
“Geez!” Jane and Nick commented on our affectionate hug. I could feel their eyes rolling without actually seeing them. Within minutes, Charlie walked in and he and Sarah had a similar exchange. Peter and Max were the last to walk in. We all sat, Charlie, Jake, myself, Sarah, Jane, Max, Peter, and Nick. Hiro started with the appetizer courses, and we all broke into our own conversations.
Charlie spoke about his movie star architectural project, but still wouldn’t give us a name. Jake, being an architecture buff, enjoyed listening to Charlie. Though the two of us didn’t talk much tonight, any time we weren’t eating, Jake held my hand or caressed my back to acknowledge my presence. Sarah and I discussed wedding details. Peter and Nick mainly talked about med school and college life. Those two were in the same fraternity so they had lots of mutual friends. Surprisingly, Jane and Max appeared quite engrossed in whatever conversation they were having. They didn’t look away from each other unless one of us spoke to them. Sarah and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“What’s going on over there?” Sarah whispered.