The Sweetest Ecstasy, The Perfect Sin.
One Hand, One Heart.
“It’s now or never, Gerard,” I looked at him sternly, “This is just for us.... Plus, you’ve always wanted to run away and do something crazy drastic. Why not now?”
So we were in San Francisco, walking around, it was lovely weather, lovely people, lovely shopping.
Love was in the air, and a crazy thought just popped into my head.
He looked at me, smiling because he liked my insanity. Then he started nodding, “Yeah... yeah... why the fuck not? I fucking LOVE you. And we’ve finally run away to California just like we were always supposed to... and now... now were gonna get married.”
I smiled and nodded rapidly. He grabbed my hand tightly and pulled me up the stairs to San Francisco City Hall.
“Wait...” He stopped short, half way through the flight of stairs, “My mom...”
“We’ll have a huge reception when we get back to Jersey-”
He frowned.
“A beautifully intimate reception.” I corrected myself.
His smile returned and his eyes were a light sage color in the sun, “Okay. Let’s do this, babe. You deserve this. I’ve made you wait this long.”
He grabbed me and pulled me into a breathtaking, staggering kiss.
“Guess what?!” I asked him, “If we get married here, have a honeymoon in Tokyo, we’ll have done it just like Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio!”
“Really? So I’ll have gotten hitched just like Marilyn Monroe? That’s awesome,” He turned up the stairs, but stopped again, “But wait... I get to be Marilyn.”
“Oh, Gerard!” I teased and ran past him up the rest of the stairs.
We entered the beautiful building in a blur.
Waiting in line, we didn’t say anything, just stared at each other and smiled vapidly like we were eighteen year olds in 1957.
“Goin’ to the chapel and we’re... gon’ get maa-a-a-rried,” He sang to me, swinging our laced hands back and forth, “Spring is here... the sky is blue... Today’s the day... We’ll say ‘I do’ ”
“And never... be lonely anymore...” I finished the song and rested my head on his chest, “This’ll work, right Gerard?”
“Of course it will. And if you can’t stand me at home, I’ll just go on tour for a while.”
“Okay... but not for too long.”
“Right. Anything you say...” He promised and started to play with my hair.
“Hey, where are we gonna live?” I asked looking up at him.
“Where do you want to live?”
“L.A.” I held my breath, not knowing what his response would be.
He wrinkled his brow in thought, then nodded in agreement, “I like L.A., I dig the whole art scene down there. We’ll live there then.”
I nodded in happy disbelief, “We’ll live there.”
It took almost an hour to get to the front of the line. We filled out the paperwork and pulled out our driver’s licenses.
“Okay, the license itself will take a few hours to process. Are you sure you want to complete the process today?-” The county clerk informed us in a monotone voice, she sweet looking old woman who has probably worked there since 1957.
“YES.” We both eagerly made sure in unison.
The clerk looked at us and shook her head with a smile. I looked at Gerard and he looked at me, and we knew.
It was time.
“Well, I’ll set this in motion. Your total’s gonna be $379.75. Here’s your receipt, but you can pay when you come back.... You two look more than ready,” She giggled, “... so I think I’ll put yours on the top of the pile, is that okay?” She smiled and looked at us over her glasses.
“Yeah.” Gerard said.
“Thank you so, so much.” I appreciated.
“Come back in a few hours, alright kids?”
We nodded like bobble heads and skittered away. Gerard squeezed my hand and towed me through the people traffic.
“Oooh, coffee!” I directed his attention to a small kiosk.
We sat at a table with a pretty tile mosaic to decide what we should do while we wait.
“Oh, my gosh, we need something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue!”
He gasped and put his hand to his mouth, mocking me, “You’re right! Well, let me think. Can our love be something old?”
“No, of course not!”
He laughed at my adamance.
“Wait, your ring!” He said, pointing at my finger.
“Duh...” I looked at Grandma’s ring and fiddled with the gorgeous round diamond in warm memories.
“Something new can be... uh... our coffee! It’s freshly brewed... on site!” He decided, “We’ll drink right before we say, ‘I do’.”
I giggled at his enthusiasm.
“Hey, something borrowed is my hat...” I pointed to the grey plaid newsboy cap on my head, “It’s Frankie’s.”
“Perfect. Okay, just something blue now... I bet I have something blue that’ll remind us of Mikey.”
He rummaged through my bag, which had become our bag since he shoved shit in it all day long.
“Uh-oh... look...” He pulled out a Tron keychain.
He un-ringed it and pushed it into his tight black pants.
“We’re ready. Wait, give me your wedding ring.”
I looked up at him with a questioning look.
“So I can put in on. And I’ll give you mine.”
“Oh, right. Okay.”
We exchanged rings. I looked down at the engraving on my wedding band that I still had on.
‘After all the things we put each other through.’ Was on the outside with, ‘...We’ll show them,’ on the inside.
I laughed out loud at how true the phrases were.
He grabbed my hand, realizing what I was thinking, then put it to his lips for a kiss.
After an hour of non-stop conversation, we left to see if things were ready. Before we got the the desk, I stopped him.
“Wait, I want a white dress.” I expressed.
He pulled me close by the hand, “I hate to break this to you, but you’re not exactly a vir-” He started, jokingly looking around to see that no one was listening.
“Oh, I know!” I said and hit his chest, he smiled, “But I want to at least be wearing a white dress.”
“Okay, then. Let’s go.”
We walked out of the S.F. City Hall, down the steps, and down the street until I saw a small boutique with some cute stuff in the window.
I pulled Gerard in and our hands never separated while we looked around.
“What do you think about this one?” I asked, holding up a short strapless dress.
He looked over from what he was perusing, “Hot.” He complimented with sarcastically wide eyes, then gave me a smile, “Go try it on.”
I entered the dressing room and slipped the dress over my head. It was a bright white with a pattern of navy blue anchors all over it. The flowy skirt had about an inch of of lace peeking out of the bottom and hit me right above the knee, a perfect fit.
“Oh, shit!”
Gerard scared me from behind. I looked back at him and he covered his eyes.
“I was peeking like an idiot and saw you in the dress. Is that bad luck?” He worried.
“You don’t believe in that, do you? Besides, we have Mikey’s something blue! What bad luck could over power that?”
He spread his fingers and peeked at me, “You look beautiful, babe.”
I got flushed and looked down at the floor, “Thank you, darlin’.”
He poked his head back out of the dressing room curtain, “We’ll take this one,” He told the girl behind the counter.
I walked out and had the girl scan the price tag while still wearing the dress.
“Are you gonna need shoes?” He asked me.
“Um, do you think so?”
“Why not?”
“We have some cute white shoes, if you want.” The cashier girl suggested.
“Sure.” I said and slipped out of my sneakers.
I left the store in my new dress and a new pair of white patent leather sandals. My heartbeat quickened with every step we took.
We entered City Hall again and Gerard paid all the fees. Then the county clerk directed us to a ‘marriage official’ who was just some guy in a suit. He showed us into a small room with wonderfully tacky decorations.
“This place totally reminds me of Jersey.” Gerard whispered in my ear.
But then opened door across the room, which led to a great lobby, that looked like a ballroom. It had this amazing fight of marble stairs with a handrail made of bronze and intricately detailed. I could see three stories up until my eyes met huge, bewildering stained glass windows. The ‘official’ led us to the bottom of the stairs, where a mahogany table with a lace runner was set up. We set our cups of coffee down in preparation.
“Are you ready?” He asked us.
We looked at each other nodded our heads.
“The rings?”
“Right,” Gerard said, patting his pocket then taking out our rings and handing them over.
“Okay, then. Please face each other. Hold her hands.” He directed Gerard.
“Oh,” Gerard looked over the the official and nodded nervously, “Of course.”
My palms got sweaty, but he only grasped them tighter.
“Now repeat after me... I, Gerard, take you-”
“Wait. I’m marrying a girl named Kat. Katmandu.” Gerard corrected, making me blush and smile.
“Okay, then... repeat after me, I, Gerard, take you, Kat,”
“I, Gerard, take you, Kat,”
“I, Kat, take you, Gerard,”
“For richer or poorer,”
“In sickness and in health,”
“To love and to honor,”
“To hold and to keep,”
“From each sun to each moon,”
“From tomorrow to tomorrow,”
“Now and forever,”
“Till DEATH do us part,”
“With this ring, I thee wed.” He finished and slipped the ring on the fourth finger on my left hand.
“With this ring, I thee wed.” I finished, and did the same.
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride, young man.” The official made us official.
Gerard leaned in to give me a kiss, the action was a lot like the other thousands of kisses we’ve shared, but this time I felt completely different.
And I could only imagine that he could feel it, too.
THE END.
So we were in San Francisco, walking around, it was lovely weather, lovely people, lovely shopping.
Love was in the air, and a crazy thought just popped into my head.
He looked at me, smiling because he liked my insanity. Then he started nodding, “Yeah... yeah... why the fuck not? I fucking LOVE you. And we’ve finally run away to California just like we were always supposed to... and now... now were gonna get married.”
I smiled and nodded rapidly. He grabbed my hand tightly and pulled me up the stairs to San Francisco City Hall.
“Wait...” He stopped short, half way through the flight of stairs, “My mom...”
“We’ll have a huge reception when we get back to Jersey-”
He frowned.
“A beautifully intimate reception.” I corrected myself.
His smile returned and his eyes were a light sage color in the sun, “Okay. Let’s do this, babe. You deserve this. I’ve made you wait this long.”
He grabbed me and pulled me into a breathtaking, staggering kiss.
“Guess what?!” I asked him, “If we get married here, have a honeymoon in Tokyo, we’ll have done it just like Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio!”
“Really? So I’ll have gotten hitched just like Marilyn Monroe? That’s awesome,” He turned up the stairs, but stopped again, “But wait... I get to be Marilyn.”
“Oh, Gerard!” I teased and ran past him up the rest of the stairs.
We entered the beautiful building in a blur.
Waiting in line, we didn’t say anything, just stared at each other and smiled vapidly like we were eighteen year olds in 1957.
“Goin’ to the chapel and we’re... gon’ get maa-a-a-rried,” He sang to me, swinging our laced hands back and forth, “Spring is here... the sky is blue... Today’s the day... We’ll say ‘I do’ ”
“And never... be lonely anymore...” I finished the song and rested my head on his chest, “This’ll work, right Gerard?”
“Of course it will. And if you can’t stand me at home, I’ll just go on tour for a while.”
“Okay... but not for too long.”
“Right. Anything you say...” He promised and started to play with my hair.
“Hey, where are we gonna live?” I asked looking up at him.
“Where do you want to live?”
“L.A.” I held my breath, not knowing what his response would be.
He wrinkled his brow in thought, then nodded in agreement, “I like L.A., I dig the whole art scene down there. We’ll live there then.”
I nodded in happy disbelief, “We’ll live there.”
It took almost an hour to get to the front of the line. We filled out the paperwork and pulled out our driver’s licenses.
“Okay, the license itself will take a few hours to process. Are you sure you want to complete the process today?-” The county clerk informed us in a monotone voice, she sweet looking old woman who has probably worked there since 1957.
“YES.” We both eagerly made sure in unison.
The clerk looked at us and shook her head with a smile. I looked at Gerard and he looked at me, and we knew.
It was time.
“Well, I’ll set this in motion. Your total’s gonna be $379.75. Here’s your receipt, but you can pay when you come back.... You two look more than ready,” She giggled, “... so I think I’ll put yours on the top of the pile, is that okay?” She smiled and looked at us over her glasses.
“Yeah.” Gerard said.
“Thank you so, so much.” I appreciated.
“Come back in a few hours, alright kids?”
We nodded like bobble heads and skittered away. Gerard squeezed my hand and towed me through the people traffic.
“Oooh, coffee!” I directed his attention to a small kiosk.
We sat at a table with a pretty tile mosaic to decide what we should do while we wait.
“Oh, my gosh, we need something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue!”
He gasped and put his hand to his mouth, mocking me, “You’re right! Well, let me think. Can our love be something old?”
“No, of course not!”
He laughed at my adamance.
“Wait, your ring!” He said, pointing at my finger.
“Duh...” I looked at Grandma’s ring and fiddled with the gorgeous round diamond in warm memories.
“Something new can be... uh... our coffee! It’s freshly brewed... on site!” He decided, “We’ll drink right before we say, ‘I do’.”
I giggled at his enthusiasm.
“Hey, something borrowed is my hat...” I pointed to the grey plaid newsboy cap on my head, “It’s Frankie’s.”
“Perfect. Okay, just something blue now... I bet I have something blue that’ll remind us of Mikey.”
He rummaged through my bag, which had become our bag since he shoved shit in it all day long.
“Uh-oh... look...” He pulled out a Tron keychain.
He un-ringed it and pushed it into his tight black pants.
“We’re ready. Wait, give me your wedding ring.”
I looked up at him with a questioning look.
“So I can put in on. And I’ll give you mine.”
“Oh, right. Okay.”
We exchanged rings. I looked down at the engraving on my wedding band that I still had on.
‘After all the things we put each other through.’ Was on the outside with, ‘...We’ll show them,’ on the inside.
I laughed out loud at how true the phrases were.
He grabbed my hand, realizing what I was thinking, then put it to his lips for a kiss.
After an hour of non-stop conversation, we left to see if things were ready. Before we got the the desk, I stopped him.
“Wait, I want a white dress.” I expressed.
He pulled me close by the hand, “I hate to break this to you, but you’re not exactly a vir-” He started, jokingly looking around to see that no one was listening.
“Oh, I know!” I said and hit his chest, he smiled, “But I want to at least be wearing a white dress.”
“Okay, then. Let’s go.”
We walked out of the S.F. City Hall, down the steps, and down the street until I saw a small boutique with some cute stuff in the window.
I pulled Gerard in and our hands never separated while we looked around.
“What do you think about this one?” I asked, holding up a short strapless dress.
He looked over from what he was perusing, “Hot.” He complimented with sarcastically wide eyes, then gave me a smile, “Go try it on.”
I entered the dressing room and slipped the dress over my head. It was a bright white with a pattern of navy blue anchors all over it. The flowy skirt had about an inch of of lace peeking out of the bottom and hit me right above the knee, a perfect fit.
“Oh, shit!”
Gerard scared me from behind. I looked back at him and he covered his eyes.
“I was peeking like an idiot and saw you in the dress. Is that bad luck?” He worried.
“You don’t believe in that, do you? Besides, we have Mikey’s something blue! What bad luck could over power that?”
He spread his fingers and peeked at me, “You look beautiful, babe.”
I got flushed and looked down at the floor, “Thank you, darlin’.”
He poked his head back out of the dressing room curtain, “We’ll take this one,” He told the girl behind the counter.
I walked out and had the girl scan the price tag while still wearing the dress.
“Are you gonna need shoes?” He asked me.
“Um, do you think so?”
“Why not?”
“We have some cute white shoes, if you want.” The cashier girl suggested.
“Sure.” I said and slipped out of my sneakers.
I left the store in my new dress and a new pair of white patent leather sandals. My heartbeat quickened with every step we took.
We entered City Hall again and Gerard paid all the fees. Then the county clerk directed us to a ‘marriage official’ who was just some guy in a suit. He showed us into a small room with wonderfully tacky decorations.
“This place totally reminds me of Jersey.” Gerard whispered in my ear.
But then opened door across the room, which led to a great lobby, that looked like a ballroom. It had this amazing fight of marble stairs with a handrail made of bronze and intricately detailed. I could see three stories up until my eyes met huge, bewildering stained glass windows. The ‘official’ led us to the bottom of the stairs, where a mahogany table with a lace runner was set up. We set our cups of coffee down in preparation.
“Are you ready?” He asked us.
We looked at each other nodded our heads.
“The rings?”
“Right,” Gerard said, patting his pocket then taking out our rings and handing them over.
“Okay, then. Please face each other. Hold her hands.” He directed Gerard.
“Oh,” Gerard looked over the the official and nodded nervously, “Of course.”
My palms got sweaty, but he only grasped them tighter.
“Now repeat after me... I, Gerard, take you-”
“Wait. I’m marrying a girl named Kat. Katmandu.” Gerard corrected, making me blush and smile.
“Okay, then... repeat after me, I, Gerard, take you, Kat,”
“I, Gerard, take you, Kat,”
“I, Kat, take you, Gerard,”
“For richer or poorer,”
“In sickness and in health,”
“To love and to honor,”
“To hold and to keep,”
“From each sun to each moon,”
“From tomorrow to tomorrow,”
“Now and forever,”
“Till DEATH do us part,”
“With this ring, I thee wed.” He finished and slipped the ring on the fourth finger on my left hand.
“With this ring, I thee wed.” I finished, and did the same.
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride, young man.” The official made us official.
Gerard leaned in to give me a kiss, the action was a lot like the other thousands of kisses we’ve shared, but this time I felt completely different.
And I could only imagine that he could feel it, too.
THE END.